The Washington University School of Law’s Center for Empirical Research in the Law (CERL) serves as a hub for the law school’s research and teaching related to data science and the law. CERL provides support for law faculty and their collaborators who are doing empirical research relating to the law, the legal profession, courts, and other legal institutions. It does so by helping to manage the collection, curation, maintenance, and dissemination of datasets used in faculty research.
In addition, CERL focuses on the possibilities and challenges posed by data science, machine learning algorithms, and artificial intelligence. CERL faculty teach courses on technology and the law, provide education about the risks of bias and unfairness in the use of AI, and conduct interdisciplinary research on legal, policy, and ethical issues surrounding digital technologies that are transforming society.