Quick Navigation

Jennifer L. RosatoJennifer L. Rosato
Dean and Professor of Law

B.S., Cornell University
J.D., University of Pennsylvania

 

 


Email: jrosato@niu.edu
Phone: 815-753-1380
Room: 270

Biography

Jennifer L. Rosato serves as the 10th dean of the Northern Illinois University College of Law.  Appointed in July 2009, Dean Rosato became only the second Latina law school dean in the nation.  She is an expert on family law, bioethics, civil procedure and legal ethics.

A leader in legal education, Dean Rosato brings a wealth of experience to NIU Law as an administrator, a long-time advocate of active learning and professionalism, and a scholar. Prior to coming to NIU, Dean Rosato served as acting dean for Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law during its inaugural year and then as senior associate dean for student affairs and professor of law. Previously, she served as associate dean for student affairs at Brooklyn Law School, where she also served as co-director of the Center for Health, Science and Public Policy and as professor of law.

Since joining the academy in 1992, Dean Rosato has also taught at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, New York University School of Law and Villanova University School of Law.

An accomplished scholar, Dean Rosato has published extensively on diverse legal issues that affect children and families. Her articles include, “Reflections of a Reluctant Pioneer,” in the California Western Law Review, “What Are The Implications of Roper’s Dilemma For Adolescent Health Law?,” in the Journal of Law and Policy, “The Children of ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology): Can the Law Protect Them from Harm,” in Utah Law Review, “The Ethics of Clinical Trials: A Child's View,” in the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, and “Children of Same-Sex Parents Deserve the Security Blanket of the Parentage Presumption,” in Family Court Review.

Dean Rosato’s impressive reputation and scholarship have resulted in presentations before a number of national organizations including the Association of American Law Schools and National Association of Women Judges. She has been an active member in numerous organizations such as the Association of American Law Schools (including having served as Chair of the Family and Juvenile Law Section) and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. She is also a member of the American Law Institute.  Dean Rosato has also appeared as an expert in numerous legal topics on television programs including “Good Morning America," “It’s Your Call with Lynn Doyle,” and as a regular contributor to the Court TV and WWRL 1600 radio program "Legally Speaking."

Dean Rosato earned her B.S. degree with distinction from Cornell University and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. At Penn, she was editor-in-chief of the University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Business Law and won the Edwin R. Keedy Moot Court Competition. She began her legal career as a clerk for the Honorable Thomas N. O’Neill Jr. of the United States District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, before becoming an associate with Hangley, Connolly, Epstein, Chicco, Foxman & Ewing in Philadelphia, PA.

Curriculum Vitae (.pdf)

Recent Activities

  • Panelist, "Deaning in the 'New Normal,'" Association of American Law Schools Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, January 6, 2013.
  • Presenter, "Nuestra Historia: Lucha, Sacrificio y Trinfo," 39th Annual DePaul University LLSA Banquet, Chicago, IL, April 19, 2012. 
  • Presenter, “Affirmative Action: Where we've been? Where are we now? What impact will policies have on the future of higher education and the legal profession?,” DuPage County Bar Association, April, 2012.
  • Speaker, “With Liberty and Justice for All: How to Acknowledge and Address Unconscious Perceptions in the Justice System,” Kane County Bar Association, March, 2012.
  • Keynote Speaker, Diversity Lunch, Peoria County Bar Association, November, 2011.
  • Presenter, “So You Want to Be a Law Professor?,” Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, October, 2011.
  • Presented, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois Event, Chicago, IL, October 11, 2011.
  • Presenter, Workshop on Unconscious Bias in the Legal Profession, Winnebago County Bar Association, September, 2011.
  • Panelist, "Hiring from the Dean's Perspective," Society of American Law Teachers, The John Marshall Law School and Northern Illinois University College of Law's Breaking In: How to Become a Law Professor or Law School Administrator, Chicago, IL, September 16, 2011.
  • Presented, "Adolescent and Health Care Decision Making:  The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same," Brooklyn Law School Symposium, "Adolescents in Society: Their Evolving Legal Status," New York, NY, March 18, 2011.


Books and Chapters

  • Regulating Assisted Reproductive Technology: Avoiding Extremes, in The Penn Center Guide to Bioethics (Arthur L. Caplan et al. eds., 2009).

Articles

  • Reflections of a Reluctant Pioneer, LatCrit XVI Symposium (forthcoming 2012). 
  • What Are The Implications of Roper’s Dilemma For Adolescent Health Law?, 20 J.L. & Pol'y 167 (2011).
  • Foreword to Medical Decision Making for Children/Adolescents Symposium, 8 Hous. J. Health L.  & Pol'y 195 (2008).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*|  |Hein On-line*|
  • Reforming a Traditional Family Law Professor, 44 Fam. Ct. Rev. 590 (2006).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*| 
  • Children of Same-Sex Parents Deserve the Security Blanket of the Parentage Presumption, 44 Fam. Ct. Rev. 74 (2006).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*|
  • The Children of ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology): Can the Law Protect Them from Harm?
    2004 Utah L. Rev. 57 (2004).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*|  |Hein On-line*|
  • Bringing the Outside In: Recipes for Integrating Child Protection Policy and Practice into Our Classrooms, 41 Fam. Ct. Rev. 439 (2003).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*|
  • Symposium, Domestic Violence in Legal Education and Legal Practice: A Dialogue Between Professors and Practitioners, 11 J. L. & Pol'y 409 (2003).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*|  |Hein On-line*|
  • Let's Get Real: Quilting a Principled Approach to Adolescent Empowerment in Health Care Decision making, 51 DePaul L. Rev. 769 (2002).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*|  |Hein On-line*|
  • The Ethics of Clinical Trials: A Child's View, 28 J.L. Med. & Ethics 362 (2000).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*|   |Hein On-line*|
  • The Future of Access to the Family Court: Beyond Naming and Blaming, 9 J. L. & Pol'y 149 (2000).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*|  |Hein On-line*|
  • Using Bioethics Discourse to Determine When Parents Should Make Health Care Decisions For Their Children: Is Deference Justified?, 73 Temp. L. Rev. 1 (2000).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*|  |Hein On-line*|
  • The Socratic Method and Women Law Students: Humanize, Don't Feminize, 7 S. Cal. Rev. L. & Women's Stud. 37 (1997).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*|  |Hein On-line*|
  • A Color of Their Own: Multiracial Children and the Family, 36 Brandeis J. Fam. L. 41 (1997-98).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*|  |Hein On-line*|
  • The Ultimate Test of Autonomy: Should Minors Have a Right to Make Decisions Regarding Life-Sustaining Treatment?, 49 Rutgers L. Rev. 1 (1996).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*|  |Hein On-line*|
  • All I Ever Needed to Know About Teaching Law School I Learned Teaching Kindergarten: Introducing Gaming Techniques into the Law School Classroom, 45 J. Legal Educ. 568 (1995).
    | Westlaw*|  |Hein On-line*|
  • Putting Square Pegs in a Round Hole: Procedural Due Process and the Effect of Faith Healing Exemptions on the Prosecution of Faith Healing Parents, 29 U.S.F.L. Rev. 43 (1994).
    | Lexis*|  |Westlaw*|  |Hein On-line*|
  • Comment, Restoring Justice to the Doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens for Foreign Plaintiffs Who Sue U.S. Corporations in the Federal Courts, 8 J. Comp. Bus. & Cap. Market L. 169 (1986).
    |Hein On-line*|

* must be a subscriber to access

Areas of Expertise:

Family Law, Bioethics, Legal Ethics, Civil Procedure