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.

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.” ⁴

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.” ⁵

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. ^{6 7}

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.” ⁸

Leadership

As of 2019, Todd A. Smith was the president of the AAJ Endowment according to its tax returns. ⁹

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. ¹⁰

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. “AAJ Robert L. Habush Endowment.” Justice.org. Accessed October 31, 2022. https://www.justice.org/advocacy/aaj-endowment.
5. “AAJ Robert L. Habush Endowment.” Justice.org. Accessed October 31, 2022. https://www.justice.org/advocacy/aaj-endowment.
6. “National Legal Nonprofit.” NCJI.org. Accessed October 31, 2022. https://ncji.org/.
7. “AAJ Robert L. Habush Endowment.” Justice.org. Accessed October 31, 2022. https://www.justice.org/advocacy/aaj-endowment.
8. ^[1] “AAJ Robert L. Habush Endowment.” Justice.org. Accessed October 31, 2022. https://www.justice.org/advocacy/aaj-endowment.
9. American Association for Justice Robert L. Habush Endowment. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2019. Part VII, Section A.
10. “AAJ Robert L. Habush Endowment.” Justice.org. Accessed October 31, 2022. https://www.justice.org/advocacy/aaj-endowment.