The scientific study of judicial politics stands at the brink of becoming marginal to the discipline. Recent trends indicate articles have not increased despite the increase in journal space, fewer than half of the doctoral dissertations completed in the subfield are empirical or formal rather than prescriptive or doctrinal, and the top 25 universities employ relatively few scholar in the area of law and courts - even fewer with a scientific orientation. To respond to these disturbing patterns, a series of annual conferences is planned. These conferences will increase interaction among members of the subfield, serve to attract and socialize graduate students, and build bridges between research in the subfield and the rest of the discipline.
