Civil Justice Research Initiative

The Civil Justice Research Initiative (CJRI) is a think tank chaired by Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of Berkeley Law School and Founding Dean of the UC Irvine School of Law. CJRI Berkeley is housed at Berkeley Law under the management of Executive Director, Anne Bloom. The organization’s Advisory Board, chaired by attorney Roman Silberfeld, Executive Board Member of Robins Kaplan LLP, includes prominent attorneys in private practice from around the United States as well as established legal scholars and researchers from prominent law schools around the country. CJRI’s mission is to systematically identify and produce highly credible, unbiased research on critical issues concerning the civil justice system, including expanding access to justice. Research focuses on the growing limits on access to the court system, including inadequate funding of state and federal courts; increased use of compulsory arbitration clauses; restrictions on class-action lawsuits; and limits on punitive damages. The Initiative also examines potential remedies to help level the judicial playing field for litigants. These efforts ensure that leaders, legislators and courts have the factual research and data they need to set policy to ensure continued access to the courts.