Laura Beth Nielsen

Laura Beth Nielsen headshot

Research Professor

750 N. Lake Shore Drive
4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60611

Joint appointment

Associate Professor of Sociology and Law, Northwestern University

Education

Ph.D., Jurisprudence & Social Policy, University of California, Berkeley; J.D., University of California, Berkeley

Curriculum vitae

Bio

Laura Beth Nielsen is a Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation, Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of Legal Studies at Northwestern University. She is a graduate of the…

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Research focus

The sociology of law, with particular interests in legal consciousness and the relationship between law and inequalities of race, gender, and class.

Projects

Public Interest Law Firms: Latest finding: Feb 21, 2008, with Catherine R. Albiston; Using a multi-method research design, this project investigates how lawyers in public interest law organizations (PILOs) conceptualize and pursue their goals. At the organizational level of analysis,…
Cause Lawyering in Context: Latest finding: Feb 12, 2008, with Catherine Albiston; The Constraints and Opportunities of Practicing Public Law in Public Interest Law firms will provide an unprecedented, empirical portrait of a national sample of the public interest bar. Aenean eros…
Employment Discrimination Litigation: Latest finding: Feb 11, 2008, with Robert L. Nelson, Ryon Lancaster, John Donohue III, Peter Siegelman; At the center of current debates about the role of anti-discrimination law in American society is the system of discrimination litigation. Despite the sheer magnitude of changes in employment…

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Commentary

Discrimination suit filed against Panera Bread

Jan 13, 2012

Laura Beth Nielsen quoted here about a federal class-action lawsuit against Panera Bread, Inc., and what factors tend to make a discrumination suit successful.