Appellate Project Inc

Too often, appellate courts make high-stakes decisions with little connection to the communities most affected. Were changing that. By fostering emerging appellate leaders, were ensuring our courts better reflect the people, values, and realities of our time. In 2025, The Appellate Project equipped emerging leaders with the skills, networks, and community they need to thrive. TAP strengthened partnerships with law firms, bar associations, and judicial institutions. Key collaborations to help advance future leaders included conversations with judges and clerks in the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, the U.S. Supreme Court for the Seventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. TAP also fostered community and mobilized collective power through alumni gatherings and networking events, and partnered with organizations including the Asian American Bar Association and Black Women in Law. We completed our first formal strategic planning process, engaging hundreds of community members. As recommended by that process, we laid the groundwork for future initiatives by strengthening TAPs governance infrastructure, growing the Board of Directors, hiring a COO and refreshing our brand and redesigning our website to better reflect our programs and impact to better communicate how we contribute to our vision of an appellate system where the advocates, judges, and rulings from our highest courts reflect the communities they most impact. When appellate courts reflect the perspectives and lived experiences of the full public, the outcomes will be more just, the reasoning more rigorous, and the legal system more credible.