Who We Are

Established in 2014, the Center on Civil Justice (CCJ) at NYU School of Law was created to promote research on how the civil justice system can better serve the public—from mass action litigants in federal court to self-represented persons in high-volume state courts. Advancing NYU Law’s mission of promoting policy investigation regarding justice-oriented reforms, CCJ is committed to problem-solving around the most pressing civil justice issues. Working with NYU Law faculty experts, leading practitioners from the plaintiffs’ and defense bars, judges, court administrators, legal services and community advocates, and individual community members, CCJ engages in research and education to inform debates aimed at successful and sustainable court reform policies. In our first decade, we have focused on important topics such as complex civil litigation, third-party funding, artificial intelligence, and the myriad access to justice issues confronting pro se litigants seeking to navigate housing, consumer, and family justice matters.

Founded by renowned litigators and civil practice experts, CCJ draws on the expertise of faculty advisors Samuel Issacharoff, Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law; Arthur Miller, University Professor and Warren E. Burger Professor of Constitutional Law and the Courts; Geoffrey Miller, Stuyvesant P. Comfort Professor of Law; and Dean Troy McKenzie ’00, Cecelia Goetz Professor of Law, who bring years of deep academic and courtroom experience on civil justice issues from complex litigation to artificial intelligence. 

CCJ’s Board of Advisers is chaired by Sheila Birnbaum, a nationally recognized products liability and mass tort defense attorney. The Board includes a diverse group of highly respected jurists and plaintiff- and defense-side lawyers. 

Janet Sabel ’84, the director of CCJ and former CEO of The Legal Aid Society in New York City, is founding director of the Center’s Access to Justice Initiative, which fosters reform and innovation to ensure that state civil justice systems address the vast unmet needs of everyday people.