Publications
Access to Justice
Legal Insurance and Its Limits, 124 Mich. L. Rev. 1 (2025) [www]
Rethinking the Lawyers’ Monopoly (with David Freeman Engstrom) [www]
Unauthorized Practice: Assessing Available Evidence (August 13, 2025) (with Natalie Knowlton) [ssrn]
Auto Clubs and the Lost Origins of the Access-to-Justice Crisis, 134 Yale L.J. 123 (2024) (with James Stone) [www] [Jotwell Rev.]
Mental Health Screening in Lawyer Licensing, Report of the Deborah L. Rhode Center on the Legal Profession (2024) (with Graham Ambrose & Brianne Holland-Stergar) [www]
The Making of the A2J Crisis, 75 Stan. L. Rev. Online 146 (2024) (with David Freeman Engstrom) (Symposium Introduction) [www] [ssrn]
Rhode Center Comment on the Montana Legal Services Association Petition to Adopt a Certified Lay Advocate Program, Nov. 25, 2025 (with David Freeman Engstrom and Natalie Knowlton) [www]
Rhode Center Comment on Support for the D.C. Civil Regulatory Reform Task Force Recommendations, Oct. 30, 2025 (with David Freeman Engstrom and Natalie Knowlton) [www]
Rhode Center Comment on the Arizona Community-Based Justice Worker Service Proposal, Dec. 20, 2024 (with David Freeman Engstrom) [www]
Rhode Center Comment in Support of the Interim Report of the Commission on Indiana’s Legal Future, Sept. 17, 2024 [www]
Rhode Center Comment on Nonlawyer Assistance/Representation in Agency Proceedings, Aug. 30, 2024 (with David Freeman Engstrom and Natalie Knowlton) [www]
Rhode Center Comment on the Washington Entity Regulation Pilot Project, Aug. 28, 2024 (with David Freeman Engstrom) [www]
She Stood Up: The Life and Legacy of Deborah L. Rhode, 74 Stan. L. Rev. Online 1 (2021) [www]
Legal Access and Attorney Advertising, 19 J. Gender, Soc. Pol’y & L. 1083 (2011) [www]
When Worlds Collide: Mapping the Collision Between Lawyer Regulatory Regimes, Jotwell Rev., June 28, 2024 [www]
Justice for All? Why We Have an Access to Justice Gap in America—and What Can We Do About It, Legal Aggregate, June 13, 2024 [www]
Effective Deregulation: A Look Under the Hood of State Civil Courts, Jotwell Rev., Oct. 31, 2022 [www]
Why Do Blue States Keep Prioritizing Lawyers Over Low-Income Americans?, Slate, Oct. 18, 2022 (with David Freeman Engstrom) [www]
California Should Not Bar Access to Justice, Bloomberg L. News, Aug. 4, 2022 (with Scott Cummings) [www]
UPL, Upsolve, and the Community Provision of Legal Advice, Legal Aggregate, Jan. 27, 2022 [www]
Bridging the Gap in the Justice Gap Literature, Jotwell Rev., May 6, 2013 [www]
Tort Law
Secrecy by Stipulation, 74 Duke L.J. 99 (2024) (with David Freeman Engstrom, Jonah Gelbach, Austin Peters, and Aaron M. Schaffer-Neitz) [www] [Jotwell Rev.]
Felons, Outlaws, and Tort’s Troubling Treatment of the “Wrongdoer” Plaintiff, 16 J. Tort L. 1 (2023) (with Robert L Rabin) [www] [ssrn]
Tort Theory and Restatements: Of Immanence and Lizard Lips, 14 J. Tort L. 333 (2022) (with Michael D. Green) [www]
Pursuing Public Health Through Litigation: Lessons from Tobacco and Opioids, 73 Stan. L. Rev. 285 (2021) (with Robert L. Rabin) [www] [ssrn] [Jotwell Rev.]
When Cars Crash: The Automobile’s Tort Law Legacy, 53 Wake Forest L. Rev. 293 (2018) [www] [ssrn] [Jotwell Rev.]
3-D Printing and Product Liability: Identifying the Obstacles, 162 U. Pa. L. Rev. Online 35 (2013) [www] [ssrn]
ISO the Missing Plaintiff, Jotwell Rev., Apr. 12, 2017 [www]
Boilerplate and the Boundary Between Contract and Tort, Jotwell Rev., Apr. 22, 2016 [www]
Big Data and Deterrence, Jotwell Rev., Mar. 4, 2015 [www]
“The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself”: How Physicians’ Exaggerated Conception of Medical Malpractice Liability Has Become the Real Problem, Jotwell Rev., Apr. 9, 2014 [www]
No-Fault Systems
The Road Not Taken: Perspectives on No-Fault Compensation for Tobacco and Opioid Victims, 70 DePaul L. Rev. 395 (2021) (with Robert L. Rabin) [www] [ssrn]
Exit, Adversarialism, and the Stubborn Persistence of Tort Law, 6 J. Tort L. 75 (2015) [www] [ssrn]
A Dose of Reality for Specialized Courts: Lessons from the VICP, 163 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1631 (2015) [www] [ssrn] [Jotwell Rev.]
An Alternative Explanation for No-Fault’s “Demise,” 61 DePaul L. Rev. 303 (2012) [www] [ssrn]
Coronavirus Vaccines and the Law, Legal Aggregate, Dec. 22, 2020 (with Peter H. Meyers) [www]
Heeding the Vaccine Court’s Failures: Shortcomings of the Compensation Program do not Bode Well for Other Alternative Tribunals, Nat’l L.J., June 29, 2015 [www]
Transparency
Shedding Light on Secret Settlements: An Empirical Study of California’s STAND Act, 91 Chi. L. Rev. 103 (2025) (with David Freeman Engstrom, Jonah Gelbach, Austin Peters, and Garrett Wen) [www]
Secrecy by Stipulation, 74 Duke L.J. 99 (2024) (with David Freeman Engstrom, Jonah Gelbach, Austin Peters, and Aaron M. Schaffer-Neitz) [www] [Jotwell Rev.]
Brief of Nora Freeman Engstrom et al., as Amici Curiae Supporting the Appellant and Reversal, Federal Circuit, Entropic Communications, LLC v. Charter Communications, Inc., Case No. 24-1896 (Aug. 2024) [www]
New Data on an Old Problem: Protective Orders and Court Secrecy, Legal Aggregate, June 24, 2024 [www]
Complex Litigation
Managing MDLs: A Report from the March 2025 MDL Case Management Convening at Stanford Law School (with Brianne Holland-Stergar and Owen Foulkes) (2025) [ssrn]
Plaintiffs and Attorneys in Multidistrict Litigation: Strengths, Deficits, and Paths Forward, Report of the Deborah L. Rhode Center on the Legal Profession (May 2023) (with David Freeman Engstrom, Todd Venook, and Silvie Saltzman) [www] [ssrn]
The Participatory MDL: Toward Low-Tech Solutions to Improve Access and Promote Litigant Autonomy, in Legal Tech and the Future of Civil Justice (Cambridge University Press, 2023) (with Todd Venook) [www] [ssrn]
Harnessing Common Benefit Fees to Promote MDL Integrity, 101 Tex. L. Rev. 1622 (2023) (with Todd Venook) [www] [ssrn]
Pursuing Public Health Through Litigation: Lessons from Tobacco and Opioids, 73 Stan. L. Rev. 285 (2021) (with Robert L. Rabin) [www] [ssrn] [Jotwell Rev.]
Lone Pine Orders: A Critical Examination and Empirical Analysis, 167 U. Pa. L. Rev. Online 91 (2020) (with Amos Espeland) [www] [ssrn]
The Lessons of Lone Pine, 129 Yale L.J. 2 (2019) [www] [ssrn] [Jotwell Rev.]
Civil Trials
The Trouble with Trial Time Limits, 160 Geo. L.J. 933 (2018) [www] [ssrn]
The Diminished Trial, 87 Fordham L. Rev. 2131 (2018) [www] [ssrn]
Tort Trials and Tribulations, Jotwell Rev., June 21, 2023 [www]
Claim Integrity
Harnessing Common Benefit Fees to Promote MDL Integrity, 101 Tex. L. Rev. 1622 (2023) (with Todd Venook) [www] [ssrn]
Lone Pine Orders: A Critical Examination and Empirical Analysis, 167 U. Pa. L. Rev. Online 91 (2020) (with Amos Espeland) [www] [ssrn]
The Lessons of Lone Pine, 129 Yale L.J. 2 (2019) [www] [ssrn] [Jotwell Rev.]
Retaliatory RICO and the Puzzle of Fraudulent Claiming, 115 Mich. L. Rev. 639 (2017) [www] [ssrn]
Shining a Light on Shady Personal Injury Claims, 2 J. Ins. Fraud Am. 13 (2011) [www]
Law Practice: Fees, Costs, Advertising, Technology, and Third-Party Litigation Finance
Competition and Contingency Fees, 114 Geo. L.J. __ (forthcoming 2026) (with Brianne Holland-Stergar) [www]
Legal Tech and the Litigation Playing Field, in Legal Tech and the Future of Civil Justice (Cambridge University Press, 2023) (with David Freeman Engstrom) [www]
Lawyer Lending: Costs and Consequences, 63 DePaul L. Rev. 377 (2014) [www] [ssrn]
Re-Re-Financing Civil Litigation: How Lawyer Lending Might Remake the American Litigation Landscape, Again, 60 UCLA L. Rev. Disc. 110 (2013) [www] [ssrn]
Attorney Advertising and the Contingency Fee Cost Paradox, 65 Stan. L. Rev. 633 (2013) [www] [ssrn]
Sunlight and Settlement Mills, 86 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 805 (2011) [www] [ssrn] [Jotwell Rev.]
Legal Access and Attorney Advertising, 19 J. Gender, Soc. Pol’y & L. 1083 (2011) [www]
Run-of-the-Mill Justice, 22 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 1485 (2009) [www]
Select Appellate Briefs
Brief of Law Professors as Amici Curiae Supporting Petitioner, on Petition for a Writ of Certiorari, Skinner v. Louisiana, Case No. 25-1 (July 2025) [www]
Brief of Amici Curiae 775 Law Professors in Support of Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Declaratory and Permanent Injunctive Relief, Susman Godfrey v. Executive Office of the President, Civil Action No. 25-cv-1107-LLA in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Apr. 2025) [www]
Brief of Amici Curiae Law Professors Nora Freeman Engstrom & David Freeman Engstrom Supporting En Banc Reconsideration, Texas Court of Appeals, Team Indus. Servs. v. Most, Case No. 01-22-00313 (Aug. 2024) [www]
Brief of Nora Freeman Engstrom et al., as Amici Curiae Supporting the Appellant and Reversal, Federal Circuit, Entropic Communications, LLC v. Charter Communications, Inc., Case No. 24-1896 (Aug. 2024) [www]
Brief of Legal Ethics Law Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner, Glossip v. State of Oklahoma, U.S. Supreme Court, Case 22-7466 [www]
Brief of Law Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents, Supreme Court of Texas, Gregory v. Chohan, Case No. No. 21-0017 (Nov. 2022) [www]
Brief of Legal Ethicists as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents, U.S. Supreme Court, Nat’l Inst. of Family & Life Advocates v. Bacerra, Case No. 16-1140 (Feb. 2018) [www]
Brief of Professors of Law as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners, Supreme Court of Connecticut, Soto v. Bushmaster Firearms Int’l, LLC, Case No. 19832 (Apr. 2017) [www]
Brief for Equality Maryland, Inc. et al., as Amici Curiae in Support of Appellees, Maryland Court of Appeals, Conaway v. Polyak, Case No. 24-C-04-005390 (Oct. 2006) (Counsel of Record) [www]
Casebooks
Legal Ethics: The Plaintiffs’ Lawyer (Foundation Press, 2025) [www]
Tort Law and Alternatives: Cases and Materials (Foundation Press, 11th ed. 2021), with Marc A. Franklin, Robert L. Rabin, Michael D. Green, & Mark A. Geistfeld [www]
Legal Ethics (Foundation Press, 8th ed. 2020), with Deborah L. Rhode, David Luban, & Scott L. Cummings [www]
Legal Ethics (Foundation Press, 7th ed. 2016), with Deborah L. Rhode, David Luban, & Scott L. Cummings [www]
Restatement Volumes
Restatement (Third) of Torts: Miscellaneous Provisions (Tentative Draft No. 4, 2025), with Michael D. Green [www]
Restatement (Third) of Torts: Miscellaneous Provisions (Tentative Draft No. 3, 2024), with Michael D. Green [www]
Restatement (Third) of Torts: Miscellaneous Provisions (Tentative Draft No. 2, 2023), with Michael D. Green [www]
Restatement (Third) of Torts: Concluding Provisions (Tentative Draft No. 1, 2022), with Michael D. Green [www]
Restatement (Third) of Torts: Medical Malpractice (Tentative Draft No. 2, 2024), with Mark Hall & Michael D. Green [www]
Restatement (Third) of Torts: Medical Malpractice (Tentative Draft No. 1, 2023), with Mark Hall & Michael D. Green [www]