A New Chapter: The Appellate Project Moves to NYU Law's Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law
Yesterday, The Appellate Project and the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at NYU School of Law jointly announced that TAP is moving to CRIL. You can read the full announcement here.
When TAP launched in 2019, appellate law was one of the most elite and least diverse corners of the legal system—and most law students from underrepresented backgrounds didn't even know it existed. We set out to change that. What followed was five years of rapid growth: we trained more than 600 students across 100+ law schools, engaged 1,000+ volunteers, have alumni clerking in appellate courts across the country as the "firsts" in their fields, and developed a community that has quietly begun to shift the culture of appellate practice from within.
Along the way, we learned a great deal about what this community needs, and what it will take to build the next stage of this work. Beginning in 2024, we embarked on a strategic planning process—engaging our community in a more structured and intentional way than ever before. We spoke with more than 200 students, alumni, mentors, judges, funders, and partners, and asked hard questions about where appellate law is headed and what role TAP should play in shaping it.
Our Move to the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law (CRIL)
Those conversations gave us a sharper picture of what TAP can become. They also confirmed that the appetite for this work, and the need for it, has never been greater. When the opportunity to join the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law (CRIL) at NYU Law emerged, it became clear that this was the right home for TAP’s next chapter.
TAP's mission and vision remain unchanged: to foster emerging leaders as they build a more just and representative appellate field, and to build an appellate system where the advocates, judges, and rulings from our highest courts reflect the communities they most impact. With CRIL, TAP now has an institutional home to scale and grow its mission, drawing on the strategic vision this community helped shape.
CRIL exists to confront and upend the laws, policies, and practices that lead to racial oppression and injustice. It is home to some of the most distinguished legal minds working on race and inequality today—scholars, litigators, and advocates who are not only connected to the broader legal community but actively shaping it. In this new home, TAP will have a mission-aligned partner who can help it reach more students, strengthen its national network of mentors and alumni, expand educational programming, and create new opportunities for aspiring appellate advocates. In short, TAP can amplify its impact at a scale it could not achieve alone.
Looking Ahead
This transition also marks a planned leadership change: after seven years building and leading the organization, TAP Founder and CEO Juvaria S. Khan will step down. TAP's next Executive Director will step into a pivotal moment, with a thriving national community and the institutional backing of one of the country's foremost centers of racial justice scholarship. This is a rare opportunity to lead an organization at the start of a new chapter, with the resources and platform to take its mission further than ever before. The job listing will be posted soon; sign up for our email list to be the first to know.
The Work Continues
To our alumni, mentors, and partners: we know many of you have been waiting for news, and we are so glad to finally be sharing it. This community is the reason this work exists and the force that drives it forward. That has never been more true than it is today.
There is more to share in the weeks ahead. Stay on our email list to be among the first to hear updates as this next chapter takes shape, connect with each other through our LinkedIn group, and know that everything we have built together is the foundation for everything that comes next.
