Making our work work.

• Author: Forman, Jonathan Barry
• Position: Thoughts about how to disseminate research outside the legal academy

Over the course of my career, I have received a lot of good advice that I want to share with my colleagues in the labor and employment law academy. Specifically, I want to share my thoughts about how to disseminate our research outside the legal academy by testifying before Congress, state legislatures, and government agencies; writing op-eds and magazine articles; and speaking to the general public.

1. SOME GENERAL ADVICE

   At the outset, I want to offer some general advice. Some is based on things that I was told early in my academic career, and some I have learned on my own.

   1. Make Your Research Count at Least Three Times

      Perhaps the best advice that I ever received was to "make your research count at least three times." For me, this has often meant using my research in various capacities: for law review and bar journal articles, for the classroom, for chapters in practitioner-type treatises, for continuing legal education programs, in testimony and submissions to government agencies, for op-eds, and for speeches to community groups like local chapters of the AARP and Kiwanis clubs. (2)

      For example, in the early 1990s, I became interested in how the Social Security system works. Pertinent here, the Social Security system is a system that uses payroll tax "contributions" to fund a wage "insurance" program of sorts. Social Security provides disabled or elderly and retired individuals with benefits that replace their lost wages. (3)

      I spent about a year figuring out how the Social Security system worked and published my first law review article on the subject in 1992. (4) Building on that initial research, I have since published several more law review articles, (5) multiple chapters, (6) numerous op-eds, (7) and a bar journal article (8) about Social Security and Social Security reform; and, of course, a chapter of my recent book, Making America Work, is devoted to the question of how to make Social Security work. (9)

      I also testified about Social Security taxation before the Senate Finance Committee in 1993, (10) and I submitted statements for inclusion in the record of House Ways and Means Committee hearings about Social Security in 1991, 1992, 1998, and 2005. (11) Furthermore, I submitted comments to the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security in 2001 and to the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform in 2005. (12) Finally, in addition to teaching about Social Security in my classes on Elder Law, Pensions, and Basic Income Tax, I regularly take advantage of opportunities to speak about Social Security reform outside the classroom. (13)

   2. Always Say Yes to Opportunities to Write or Speak

      The second best advice I ever received was to "always say yes to opportunities to write or speak, lest people stop asking." You will always have something new to say, and if you write two articles on a subject you will be an "expert." For example, as a result of my early publications on Social Security, I was invited to participate in symposia at Chapman University School of Law in 1998 and at Ohio State University in 2003. (14) Both of these presentations resulted in additional articles on Social Security. (15) I also got to meet other academics in my field of expertise, got reimbursed for my travel expenses to attend those symposia, and received modest honoraria.

   3. Sow the Seeds for Future Opportunities

      Along the same lines, the third best advice I ever received was to "sow the seeds for future opportunities." It helps to attend the same meetings every year and offer to help committee chairs with service and topics. This advice has worked for me many times before with the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) and the American Bar Association (ABA). As I was working on and completing articles, I often offered to share my research at committee meetings of the ABA and AALS.

      For example, early in my academic career, I wrote an article about the earned income tax credit, (16) which led to my speaking about it at an ABA Tax Section meeting, (17) and that, in turn, led to my being invited to serve on an ABA Section of Taxation Child Care Credit Task Force. (18) That ABA service led to even more presentations (19) and articles. (20) Of particular importance, the ABA Tax Section often reimbursed a portion of my travel expenses so I could attend more professional meetings.

      Another way to sow the seeds for future opportunities is to submit abstracts and proposals whenever you see a pertinent call for papers. That approach has led to my participating in numerous law review symposia, (21) chapters, (22) and interdisciplinary conferences; (23) it worked for me in applying for and being selected to participate in this AALS Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law program and symposium. The upsides of publishing in a symposium are that you can often write a shorter article, you are virtually assured of a solid placement in a volume with similar articles, you may get a chance to participate in a conference with the other participants, and, I have found, symposium editors are less intrusive. (24) The downside is that you miss the chance to float the article and possibly place it in a more prestigious journal.

   4. Promote Yourself

      As a fourth bit of advice, I want to encourage you to promote yourself in almost every way that you can think of. Send at least 100 reprints of every law review article that you write to professors, government officials, and reporters who might be interested. Have current business cards, a one-page vita, a full vita, and a Web page. (25) Participate in, create, and manage listservs to remain connected to colleagues in your field. (26) Ask to speak, apply for grants, ask committee chairs to put you on programs, and offer to participate in all manner of symposia. Although this strategy does not always work, it is certainly worth trying--that is how I was chosen to participate in this symposium. (27)

      Additionally, you should write and send press releases whenever you do anything especially noteworthy. Talk to reporters and be generous with them. I get press almost every year and so can you. (28)

      To be sure, you will want to temper your self-promotion efforts with your colleagues. Be generous in your praise of them and celebrate their successes. Help them promote themselves, and by so doing, they too, will promote your law school.

   5. Work on a Hot Public Policy Issue

      Fifth, keep track of what is hot on the national and state public policy agendas, and always work on at least one hot topic. Help legislators and their staffs draft legislation; help agencies formulate policies and regulations; and submit statements for the record of hearings. You may even get the opportunity to testify or to serve on an advisory committee.

      In that regard, in addition to serving in all three branches of the federal government before I entered full-time academia, I have found many opportunities to serve government since then. I have testified before Congress, (29) before the Oklahoma Legislature, (30) and before a number of task forces and agencies. (31) I have submitted numerous statements for inclusion in the record of hearings before Congress, commissions, and agencies. (32)

      I have also had many chances to serve directly in both the federal and state governments. For example, at the federal level, I was appointed by President George W. Bush, Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, and leaders of Congress to be a delegate to the 2002 National Summit on Retirement Savings, (33) and previously, I was appointed by President Clinton to be a delegate to the 1998 National Summit on Retirement Savings. (34) I was also appointed by Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill to be a founding member of the Internal Revenue Service's Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT), on which I served from 2001 through 2003. (35)

      At the state level, in 2003, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry appointed me to be a member of the Board of Trustees of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS), and he reappointed me for another term in 2007. (36) Since 2005, I have served as Vice Chair of OPERS. Serving on the OPERS Board has offered me many new perspectives on pension plans and investments, and I have benefited from numerous additional continuing education opportunities and speaking opportunities. (37)

2. TESTIFYING, WRITING, AND SPEAKING

   The remainder of this essay explains the nuts and bolts of testifying before Congress, state legislatures, and other government bodies; writing op-eds and magazine articles; and creating opportunities to speak to the general public.

   1. Testifying and Other Public Service

      Working for the federal government, and especially for Congress, gave me a good understanding of how laws and government policies are made. The key here is that committees and agencies want all the help they can get from outsiders, and there are many opportunities for academics to get out of the ivory tower and help our governments. As most of my research is on law reform, I am always trying to keep up on many of the hottest issues in my areas of interest. In that regard, I often feel that I have special expertise on a couple of hot topics, and I am always willing to share that expertise with government officials from both parties.

      Despite the availability of these opportunities, however, one does have to make an effort to get noticed. I recommend sending copies of your new and relevant articles to key staffers in the appropriate agencies and legislative committees. I have found it helpful to publish timely articles in newspapers and in the trade journals that those staffers are likely to read. More specifically, I have published articles in The Washington Times, (38) the Los Angeles Times, (39) Barron's, (40) Roll Call, (41) and Tax Notes. (42) It is also beneficial to meet agency and legislative staffers at professional meetings and presentations. For example, I have met key government staffers...