Northern Illinois University
College of Law

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Professor Laurel Rigertas joined the NIU law faculty in 2006. She teaches professional responsibility, torts, advanced torts, products liability, and a mindfulness course for law students. Professor Rigertas’ research and scholarship focuses on the legal profession, particularly in the areas of ethics, professionalism, the unauthorized practice of law, and access to the legal system. She served as the College of Law's Interim Dean during the 2019-2020 academic year. In 2023 she was the inaugural recipient of the Lenny and Stacey Mandell Faculty Excellence Award.

Prior to joining the NIU law faculty in 2006, Professor Rigertas practiced complex commercial litigation as a partner with Michael Best & Friedrich LLP in Chicago, which she joined in 1999 as an associate. She has litigated cases at the trial and appellate levels in both federal and state courts, as well as in arbitrations and mediations. Professor Rigertas began her law career in 1997 at Jenner & Block in Chicago, where she also focused on complex commercial litigation.

Professor Rigertas graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1997. There she was a member of the honorary scholastic society, Order of the Coif, and served as articles editor of Law & Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice.

| SSRN Author Page | HeinOnline Author Profile |

News

Courses

• Torts
• Advanced Torts
• Products Liability
• Professional Responsibility
• The Mindful Lawyer

Articles

• Demonstrating Civility: A Law School Learning Outcome, 112 Ky. L. J. ___ (forthcoming). (Also available on SSRN) 
• The Birth of the Movement to Prohibit the Unauthorized Practice of Law, 37 Quinnipiac L. Rev. 97 (2018). (Also available in SSRN)
• The Twenty-First Century Delivery of Legal Services: Thoughts for Legal Education, 1 Ind. Tech L. Rev. 1 (2016). (Also available in SSRN)
• Collaborations between Lawyers and New Legal Professionals: A Path to Increase Access to Justice and Protect Clients, 24 Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 539 (2015). (Also available in SSRN)
• The Legal Profession’s Monopoly: Failing to Protect Consumers, 82 Fordham L. Rev. 2683 (2014). (Also available in SSRN)
• USA: Regulating Non-Lawyers to Close the Access to Justice Gap, 16 Legal Ethics 384 (2014).
• How Do You Rate Your Lawyer?: Lawyers’ Responses to Online Reviews of Their Services, 4 St. Mary’s J. Legal Mal. & Ethics 242 (2014). (Also available in SSRN)
• The Supreme Court and Recusals: A Response to Professor Lubet, 47 Val. U. L. Rev. 939 (2013). (Also available in SSRN)
• Post-Watergate: The Legal Profession and Respect for the Interests of Third Parties, 16 Chapman L. Rev. 111 (2012). (Also available in SSRN)
• Stratification of the Legal Profession: A Debate in Need of a Public Forum, J. Prof. Law. 79 (2012). (Also available in SSRN)
• Lobbying and Litigating Against "Legal Bootleggers" - The Role of the Organized Bar in the Expansion of the Courts' Inherent Powers in the Early Twentieth Century, 46 Cal. W. L. Rev. 65 (2009). (Also available in SSRN)

Select Presentations

• Speaker, Lawyers’ Mental Health and Tools for Reducing Stress, 1-hour CLE for Northern Illinois University (March 2022).
• Speaker, Helping Law Students with Time Management, AALS Section on Balance & Well Being in Legal Education summer speed-sharing series (August 2021).
• Co-panelist, Regulatory Reform as a Means to Increase Access to Justice, Gonzaga University School of Law’s Clarke Family Prize in Legal Ethics annual program (April 2021).
• Co-presenter, Mindfulness and Resiliency, a three-hour CLE program on with the P. Michael Mahoney Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (April 2021).
• Speaker, Mindfulness: A Growing Path to Lawyer Wellness, Kane County Bar Association's Elder Care, Disability & Mental Health Seminar (May 2019).
• Speaker, Law Schools: How Are They Preparing Students?, Illinois State Bar Association CLE Program, Profession Under Pressure: The Causes of Stress in the Legal Profession and How to Better Cope (November 2017).
• Speaker, Mindfulness and Civility, Kane County Bar Association Women in Law Committee CLE Program (April 2017).
• Speaker, Introduction to Mindfulness for Lawyers, NIU College of Law CLE Program (Feb. 2017).
• Fellow, Educational Interventions to Cultivate Professional Identity in Law Students, National Institute for Teaching Ethics and Professionalism (NIFTEP) Fall Workshop, Mercer University School of Law (October 6-9, 2016).
• Speaker, Mindfulness and Thriving Legal Practices Conference, University of Colorado Law School (August 2016).
• Speaker, Introduction to Mindfulness for Lawyers, Kane County Bar Association's 2016 Elder Care, Disability & Mental Health program on Personal Wellness in the Legal Profession (May 2016).
• Panelist, Changing Landscape of Litigation: Evolving Requirements, Illinois State Bar Association’s Allerton Conference (May 2015).
• Panelist, One Stop Shops: Multiple Service Providers and the Unauthorized Practice of Law, American Bar Association’s 2^nd Unauthorized Practice of Law School (April 2015).
• Speaker, Re-conceptualizing Supervision of Nonlawyer Legal Professionals to Increase Access to Justice.” Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy’s symposium Commemorating the 50^th Anniversary of the Criminal Justice Act (February 2015).