Northwestern Pritzker School of Law is a leading research institution whose faculty produce scholarship that shapes doctrine, influences policy, and changes practice. Their work reaches from legislative chambers to the highest court in the country. This past year our most renowned faculty have published groundbreaking works in the legal field’s best journals, spanning a breadth of topics including asset forfeiture, electoral due process, corporate criminal law doctrine, and more. This wide array of scholarship demonstrates the myriad ways Northwestern Pritzker Law faculty are advancing the understanding of law and legal institutions.
77 Stanford Law Review 159 (2025)
By Stephanie Holmes Didwania, Professor of Law
Under the law of asset forfeiture, a person loses ownership of money and property that were used in or constitute the proceeds of a crime. Asset forfeiture is a significant financial consequence for people who have (in some cases, tenuous) contact with the criminal system. Asset forfeiture also is a crucial way that federal, state, and local governments generate revenue from criminal investigation and prosecution. In the federal system, the government’s acquisition of forfeited assets (such as cash, electronics, cars, and homes) brings in around $2 billion in annual revenue. … Read More
Keywords:
asset forfeiture, criminal system, revenue-generating forfeitures
112 Virginia Law Review 409 (2026)
By Myriam Gilles, Catharine Waugh McCulloch Professor of Law
In Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., the Supreme Court addressed a question that has arisen frequently in recent years: If a party initially pursues litigation instead of immediately invoking the right to arbitrate pursuant to a contractual agreement, at what point can it be deemed to have waived arbitration? In deference to the judicially created “federal policy favoring arbitration,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit had required a showing that plaintiff suffered prejudice as the result of defendant’s foot-dragging. Unanimously reversing this prejudice requirement—which had been the rule in nearly every circuit—the Justices emphatically declared that arbitration agreements be treated no differently from other contractual terms. Morgan marks a reversal to what has become a hallmark of modern arbitration jurisprudence: arbitration exceptionalism. For decades, federal courts have developed a body of rules that elevate arbitration agreements above ordinary contract law, often in direct conflict with statutory and doctrinal norms. By signaling an end to arbitration exceptionalism, Morgan paves the way for a critical reexamination of these doctrines and a restoration of parity between arbitration and other contractual arrangements. Read More
Keywords:
arbitration exceptionalism, arbitration, Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., contract law
120 Northwestern University Law Review 925 (2026)
By Michael S. Kang, Class of 1940 Professor of Law
Hyperpartisanship has hit century-long highs in American politics and is emboldening state government attempts to undermine election outcomes by using control over state lawmaking structure to strip away authority, and sometimes outright unseat, partisan opponents after they win elected office. Even as traditional norms against such moves have eroded, the Supreme Court has taken a pro-partisanship turn in removing judicial checks against such moves under equal protection and constitutional structure. This Article proposes shifting from challenges under those doctrines to a new approach under electoral due process for confronting this new generation of antidemocracy. It explains the jurisprudential advantages of shifting from equal protection and constitutional structure to electoral due process as well as details the political context of hyperpartisanship and the multiplying threats to democratic elections. Read More
Keywords:
electoral due process, hyperpartisanship, equal protection, constitutional structure, elections
112 Virginia Law Review 495 (2026)
By Deborah Tuerkheimer, Class of 1967 James B. Haddad Professor of Law
Nearly a decade ago, the #MeToo movement surfaced deep failings in our criminal and civil legal systems. But the work of retrofitting these systems to meet the needs of victims remains largely incomplete. To that end, survivors’ conceptions of justice are of profound importance for theorists and reformers alike. Centering survivors recasts the virtues of restorative justice processes while clarifying the critical functions ideally served by traditional legal systems. Rather than forsaking reliance on these systems, I argue for their institutional redesign. To anchor this shift, I identify three overarching principles: access, control, and support. I close by reflecting on the promise of justice reimagined. Read More
Keywords:
survivors, sexual assault, restorative justice, criminal and civil legal systems
__ Journal of Law, Economics & Organization __ , (forthcoming 2026)
By Dhruv Aggarwal, Assistant Professor of Law, Assistant Professor of Finance (Courtesy)
This paper explores the impact of corporate criminal law doctrine on firm value. I study stock market reactions to an Indian Supreme Court decision holding that a corporation’s mens rea (i.e., criminally culpable state of mind) is established when its controller has criminal intent. Companies controlled by individuals and families declined in value in response to this decision, likely because they had human controllers—dominant individuals or families—whose misconduct now left the firms vulnerable to prosecution. This value destruction is concentrated in business group companies, which are tightly controlled by founding families and whose reputation is linked to that of their controller. The effect is smaller for firms that have more foreign institutional ownership, and larger for consumer-facing firms. Firms with individual and family controllers relatively increased legal spending after the decision. Criminal liability’s effect on firm value is thus influenced by the identity of controllers, and institutional investors seem to be better ex-ante monitors of misconduct than consumers. Read More
Keywords:
corporate criminal liability, controlling shareholders, business groups, foreign institutional investors
140 Harvard Law Review __ , Northwestern Public Law Research Paper No. 25-55 (forthcoming 2026)
By James E. Pfander, Owen L. Coon Professor of Law (Co-authored with Samy Abdelsalam [JD ’25])
For well over one hundred years, the Ex parte Young decision has served as a controversial landmark in the development of constitutional litigation. Celebrated for assuring a federal forum for the vindication of federal constitutional rights, the decision has also been criticized by those who view its rejection of the state’s sovereign immunity defense as a transparent fiction. Embracing this fictional account, the Court has expanded state immunity and needlessly complicated analysis of officer suits as a vehicle for the enforcement of federal law. What’s more, the recent holding in Trump v. CASA, Inc. sets a standard of equitable traditionalism that Ex parte Young litigation cannot obviously satisfy. This Article seeks to understand Ex parte Young on its own terms, explaining how the Court adapted the emerging law of constitutional litigation in the latter half of the nineteenth century to the challenges of the twentieth. Read More
Keywords:
ex parte young, sovereign immunity, constitutional litigation, legal history
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law is home to an incredible group of faculty members working at the intersections of law and many other disciplines. Their research and scholarship has helped ...
From students arguing cases before federal and state courts to faculty scholarship shaping opinions in the U.S. Supreme Court, from alumni arguing on behalf of the United States to judges ...
At Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Len Rubinowitz has spent more than five decades building a career defined by intellectual curiosity, public engagement, and an enduring ...
