In 1997, the American Foreign Law Association (“AFLA”) established the John N. Hazard Fund to promote the study of comparative law among law students. The Fund was named in memory of Professor Hazard, who was our past President (1973¬–1975) and a preeminent scholar of Russian law at Columbia University Law School.

Each year, the AFLA awards small-scale research scholarships to law students and recent graduates to promote the understanding and application of foreign, comparative and international law.

Funded in part by contributions from AFLA members, Hazard Fund research scholarships are intended to ensure that recipients have access to modest financial assistance towards logistics, travel, housing, living expenses and other costs related to their research.

For the upcoming year, the AFLA intends to offer up to two $3,000 grants to 1 & 2L students who write a 20-25-page research paper on an international comparative law topic of their choosing. Applicants are asked to submit a 250-500 word research proposal, a current CV and an unofficial transcript to the AFLA by Friday, April 2, 2027. Accepted applicants will be notified by the end of May, 2027.

Students will have until August 31, 2027, to submit their final paper to the AFLA. If the AFLA finds the paper sufficiently worthy, the students will receive the honor of being a Hazard Fund Fellow and the paper may be published on the AFLA website.

Applications should be submitted electronically.  Please contact William B. Bierce (wbierce@biercekenerson.com), Stephen M. Harnik (stephen@harnik.com) or Nicholas M. Harnik (nicholas@harnik.com) with any questions.