Annual Comparative Law Work-in-Progress Workshop

December 19, 2025

Announcement and Call for Papers

Co-Organized and Co-Hosted by

Kim Lane Scheppele (Princeton University)

Jacques deLisle (University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School)

Jacqueline Ross (University of Illinois College of Law)

and

Co-Sponsored by the American Society of Comparative Law

Hosting institution for 2026: Princeton University

We invite all interested comparative law scholars to submit a paper for the next annual Comparative Law Work-in-Progress Workshop, which will be hosted by Princeton University held in-person in Princeton, May 7-9, 2026.

Authors should submit papers through the following Google Form: https://forms.gle/UMrqFxHwGgS5dZX38

Papers must be submitted by February 20, 2026. Authors will be informed of decisions by March 20, 2026.

The annual workshop is a vibrant forum in which comparative law works in progress are discussed by colleagues in a serious and thorough manner that past participants have found valuable. A “work in progress” is scholarship that has reached a stage that is substantial enough for serious discussion and critique but has not yet appeared in print and (if it has been accepted for publication) can be substantially revised after the workshop.   Appropriate work includes law review articles, book chapters, and other similar genres.

Each author may submit only one work for consideration, and the work should be no more than 15,000 words (including notes).   If the work is longer, the author should indicate which 15,000-word portion they would like to have read and discussed.

The objectives of the workshop are both to discuss the selected works in progress and also to provide an opportunity for comparative lawyers to gather to engage more broadly. We hope that this will foster more dialogue and an increased sense of community in the discipline.

Participants in the workshop will include paper authors, designated commentators, and scholars from the host institutions and elsewhere. The group will be small enough to gather around a single table and engage in robust discussion. Authors do not present their papers. The papers will be distributed well in advance.

Each paper will be introduced and discussed by two commentators before opening the discussion to other workshop participants. At the end of the discussion, the author will have an opportunity to respond and ask questions.  Authors are expected to offer comments on the other works presented at the workshop. 

There are no plans to publish a collection of the workshop papers. Paper authors may seek publication wherever they wish.

The workshop begins with an evening reception / dinner on Thursday May 7, continues all day Friday and ends shortly after lunch on Saturday May 9.   Authors are expected to attend the entire workshop. 

This year’s Workshop is supported by Princeton University and the American Society of Comparative Law.   The sponsors will cover the costs of accommodation and meals in Princeton and travel costs, of up to $600 per person, with limited flexibility to provide greater reimbursement for those travelling greater distances.