American Association for Justice Robert L. Habush Endowment

American Association for Justice Robert L. Habush Endowment (AAJ Endowment) is the grantmaking nonprofit affiliated with the American Association for Justice (AAJ), a left-of-center professional association of trial lawyers.

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3)
Issue Areas: Multi-Issue Advocacy
Website: www.justice.org/advocacy/aaj-endowment
President:

Todd A. Smith

Location: Washington, DC View on map
Tax ID: 52-1964499
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2025): Assets: $26,388,556 Revenue: $1,870,998 Expenses: $1,111,012

Contents

    The endowment’s support for civil justice initiatives covers three main areas: the Roscoe Pound Judges Forum, think tanks, and research grants to academic scholars whose work aligns with AAJ’s interests. It also funds and supports a host of symposiums and programs dedicated to left-of-center issues. 1

    Activities

    AAJ Endowment provides grants to the American Association for Justice (AAJ), its affiliated foundations, universities, scholars, and think tanks. 2

    Funding

    In 2019, AAJ Endowment had a total revenue of $1,161,780, total expenses of $1,059,350, and net assets of $23,753,515. 3

    AAJ Endowment supports the “Legal Tech and the Future of Civil Justice” webinar series. It is hosted by Stanford Law School and occurs in the form of 90-minute discussions with diverse panels on topics like “Access to Data as Access to Justice.” 1

    AAJ Endowment supported the “Police Misconduct and Qualified Immunity: Reimagining ‘We the People’” virtual conference hosted by Thurgood Marshall School of Law. It centered around the “disproportionate use of force by police against black people” and “how the Constitution must be reimagine [sic] to protect everyone.” 1

    AAJ Endowment provided support to a discussion on COVID-19’s effects on the court system that took place on October 1, 2020. The event was hosted by the RAND Institute for Civil Justice (ICJ) and the Berkely Law Civil Justice Research Initiative (CJRI).

    Pound Judges Forum

    The Endowment supports the Roscoe Pound Judges Forum, which is an initiative of the National Civil Justice Institute (NCJI). It is a single-day annual event that invites judges, legal scholars and attorneys to discuss the central problems of civil justice in the United States. The AAJ Endowment funds the forum for the research reports that academics share with practicing lawyers. 4 1

    Civil Justice Research Initiative (CJRI)

    The Civil Justice Research Initiative (CJRI), an ongoing webinar series that explores the civil legal issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, is supported by AAJ Endowment. It has presented webinars on topics such as “attacks on the judiciary,” the “effects of ideology, race and gender on the voting behavior of judges,” the “obligation of employers to provide safe work environments for essential workers,” and “the impact of the pandemic on inequality.” 2

    Leadership

    As of 2019, Todd A. Smith was the president of the AAJ Endowment according to its tax returns. 5

    Robert L. Habash, the endowment’s namesake, was a past president of the organization. He was a Wisconsin trial lawyer, chairman of the board of Habush Habush & Rottier S.C., and centered his legal career on lawsuits against corporations that had allegedly caused injury or death through defective products. 1

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2025 $26,388,556 $1,870,998 $1,111,012
    2024 $25,446,142 $1,813,895 $1,157,338 View
    2023 $23,250,916 $491,468 $823,190 View
    2022 $22,983,564 $1,129,809 $1,138,155 View
    2021 $26,209,523 $2,125,617 $1,081,709 View
    2020 $24,203,278 $1,161,780 $1,059,350

    Prior year filings: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

    Revenue Detail

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Anjali JesseramsingGENERAL COUNSEL$370,132
    Anne B EnosCHIEF OPERATING OFFICER$354,545
    Thomas FischettiCHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER$305,904
    Susan H SteinmanSR DIR, POLICY & DEP GEN COUNSEL$293,356

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $6,031,644
    • Number of Grants: 81
    • Number of Recipients: 34

    Selection of highest value grants given from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $207,0002022 Berlin Rosen, Ltd.FORCED ARBITRATION GRASS ROOTS CAMPAIGN
    $206,0002025 National Civil Justice InstituteANNUAL FORUM FOR STATE APPELLATE COURT JUDGES
    $200,0002024 National Civil Justice InstituteANNUAL FORUM FOR STATE APPELLATE COURT JUDGES
    $200,0002022 National Civil Justice InstituteANNUAL FORUM FOR STATE APPELLATE COURT JUDGES: AGGREGATE LITIGATION IN STATE COURTS: PRESERVING VITAL MECHANISM
    $168,0002025 Center for Justice and DemocracySUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION SUPPORT OF CJ&D REPORTS
    $168,0002024 SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATIONSUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUDATION SUPPORT OF CJ&D REPORTS
    $162,0002023 SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATIONSUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUDATION SUPPORT OF CJ&D REPORTS
    $162,0002022 SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATIONSUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUDATION SUPPORT OF CJ&D REPORTS
    $162,0002021 SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATIONSUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUDATION SUPPORT OF CJ&D REPORTS
    $162,0002020 SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATIONSustainable markets foundation support of CJ&D reports
    $145,8002021 Berlin Rosen, Ltd.FORCED ARBITRATION GRASS ROOTS CAMPAIGN
    $100,5002021 National Civil Justice Institute29TH ANNUAL FORUM FOR STATE APPELLATE COURT JUDGES – JULY 2021: AGGREGATE LITIGATION IN STATE COURTS: PRESERVING VITAL MECHANISM
    $90,3902022 Panorama GlobalFORCED ARBITRATION KNOW YOUR RIGHTS AND LIFT OUR VOICES CAMPAIGNS
    $75,0002023 Cornell UniversityRESTRICTIVE COVENANTS AT WORK RESEARCH
    $75,0002020 National Civil Justice Institute28TH annual forum for state appellate court judges – july 2020: aggregate litigation in state courts
    $74,9482021 Center for Progressive Reform IncCLOSING THE DOOR ON FORCED ARBITRATION
    $59,1772024 Center for Progressive Reform IncPROTECTING COMMUNITIES FROM HARM
    $52,5002020 STANFORD UNIVERSITYStanford law school workshop-white paper on legal tech, civil procedure etc.
    $50,9252021 Earl Carl Institute for Legal and Social Policy IncPOLICE MISCONDUCT AND QUALIFIED IMMUNITY
    $45,0002025 Children's Hospital CorporationJUDICIAL PRIMER ON ALGORITHMIC SYSTEMS
    $45,0002024 Civil Justice Research InstituteSYMPOSIUM ON PLAINTIFF SIDE LITIGATION
    $45,0002024 New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association IncJUSTICE FOR PATIENTS OVER CORPORATE PROFIT
    $41,9502021 Institute for Civil JusticeCOVID 19 AND THE COURTS SPONSORSHIP
    $38,7312022 National Civil Justice InstituteAWARD FOR CIVIL JUSTICE SCHOLARSHIPS
    $35,0002024 Civil Justice Research InstituteARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE AND EVIDENCE SYMPOSIUM

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    Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. “AAJ Robert L. Habush Endowment.” Justice.org. Accessed October 31, 2022. https://www.justice.org/advocacy/aaj-endowment.
    2. [1] “AAJ Robert L. Habush Endowment.” Justice.org. Accessed October 31, 2022. https://www.justice.org/advocacy/aaj-endowment.
    3. American Association for Justice Robert L. Habush Endowment. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2019. Part I, lines 12, 18, 22.
    4. “National Legal Nonprofit.” NCJI.org. Accessed October 31, 2022. https://ncji.org/.
    5. American Association for Justice Robert L. Habush Endowment. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2019. Part VII, Section A.