Postdoctoral Scholar

Department: Law Administration
Salary/Grade: RES/

Job Summary:

The SCALES - OKN (Systematic Content Analysis of Litigation EventS Open Knowledge Network) team is composed of data scientists, legal scholars, journalists and policy experts. The team is developing a suite of tools to enable access to court records and analytics. These tools aim to improve transparency and efficiency in the legal system. For more background information, please refer to this law review symposium article.

The SCALES-OKN team (https://scales-okn.org/) is seeking a postdoctoral fellow to work with Northwestern Law, Professors David Schwartz and Zach Clopton on empirical studies of federal litigation. The position will have the opportunity to work with a unique collection of complete court documents from federal court, including conducting independent research with this data.

https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/nulr/vol119/iss1/3/

This position is well-suited for someone with a legal studies or social science background who has, or is interested in quickly building, quantitative text analysis and processing skills.

Position Details:

The position is a two-year term, full-time appointment. It requires in-person work in Chicago, IL 3 to 5 days per week. The compensation is between $60,000 and $75,000 per year plus benefits. The preferred start date is before the end of 2024 but start dates through June 2025 will be considered.

**In your cover letter, please include information on when you would be able to start the position, how your experience matches the specific qualifications noted above, and contact information for three references.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Create data cleaning and processing scripts: the postdoctoral fellow will spend the majority of their time, especially over the first year, creating processes to turn highly-varied raw documents into text and data that is useable for analysis. This will also include manual review of documents and data as needed.
• Collaborate with other team members on technical data processing work, data analysis, and research investigations.
• Contribute to research publications and presentations as an author or co-author.

We are willing to consider applications from individuals who are ABD (All but dissertation)

Miscellaneous

Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• PhD or JD degree. All degree requirements must be completed before starting the position. We are willing to consider applications from individuals who are ABD (All but dissertation)"
• Experience independently performing data analysis using any programming language (e.g. R, Python, MATLAB).
• Sufficient programming experience to learn Python quickly, if it is not already known.
• Experience conducting statistical analysis in previous research projects.
• Strong interest in conducting research on litigation

Preferred Qualifications:

• Basic knowledge of litigation
• Experience with text analysis and natural language processing.
• Experience collaboratively developing code, especially in Python, with a team and using git/GitHub.

Benefits:
At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful, competitive, high-quality health care plans, retirement benefits, tuition discounts and more! Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.

Work-Life and Wellness:
Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life's challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.
We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/work-life/index.html to learn more.

Professional Growth & Development:
Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you're interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/learning/index.html to learn more.

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