Legal Research

The Christopher Baldy Prizes for Innovation in Law and Social Policy have been established to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy at UB. The prizes are aimed at stimulating and rewarding innovative research, scholarship and uses of communication and information technologies that advance our knowledge and understanding of socio-legal issues. In keeping with the Baldy Center?s mission to promote interdisciplinary research and scholarship in law and social policy, the prizes will be awarded to individuals who have demonstrated creative and original thinking or developed novel approaches in socio-legal research and practice. Professor Rebecca French, Director of the Baldy Center, explains: ?Perhaps the most important quality needed in our society today is innovation in social policy - advances in how we think about and create the social world that we live in. Law has been a vital resource in these innovations.?

The Baldy Center will grant three $7,500 prizes in the following categories:

* Online Communication: This prize will be awarded to an individual, group or organization that effectively integrates online technology in innovative ways to communicate creative ideas and best practices in law and social policy. The online work will typically combine such elements as text, audiovisual media, and social networking technologies that have a significant practical impact on law and social policy.

* New Scholarship: This prize is designated as a subvention for either a first or second manuscript in the area of law and social policy. It is intended for a new scholar in the field who demonstrates innovation and ingenuity by bringing fresh ideas to longstanding problems, exploring previously unacknowledged issues, or developing novel methods and approaches to analysis of law and social policy.

* Distinguished Contribution: The last prize will be given to a distinguished scholar who has consistently demonstrated a commitment to innovative thinking in the area of law and social policy. The recipient will be someone whose groundbreaking and substantial body of work in the field has profoundly influenced the way we talk and think about law in its social contexts.

The Christopher Baldy Prizes are open to all fields of law and social policy. Nominations can be made through the Baldy Center?s website and will be accepted up to December 1st of this year. The winners will be announced in January of 2010, and each winner will be invited to come to the University at Buffalo Law School to receive their prize and give a talk on their work. For more information on eligibility and nomination procedures, please visit law.buffalo.edu/baldycenter.

The Baldy Center is an endowed, internationally recognized institute that supports the interdisciplinary study of law and social institutions. More than 100 UB faculty members from 17 academic departments participate in Baldy Center research, conference and scholarship activities, as do an increasing number of graduate students. The center maintains cooperative ties to other interdisciplinary research centers and co-sponsors a regional network of socio-legal scholars in New York State and Canada. The Baldy Center also hosts distinguished scholars from around the world as visitors, speakers and conference participants.

Since its founding in 1887, the University at Buffalo Law School -- the State University of New York system's only law school -- has established an excellent reputation and is widely regarded as a leader in legal education. Its cutting-edge curriculum provides both a strong theoretical foundation and the practical tools graduates need to succeed in a competitive marketplace, wherever they choose to practice. A special emphasis on interdisciplinary studies, public service and opportunities for hands-on clinical education makes UB Law unique among the nation's premier public law schools.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.

Contact information: James Milles, 716-645-5543, jgmilles@buffalo.edu