Jennifer K. Robbennolt has been elected to The American Law Institute (ALI). Founded in 1923, ALI is the preeminent scholarly organization in the United States dedicated to clarifying, modernizing, and improving the law. Robbennolt joins a class of 24 newly elected members, which includes prominent judges, lawyers, and scholars.

“Our Restatements, Principles, and Model Codes continue to guide American lawyers, courts, and legislatures, and that is due in great part to the continuing dedication of our membership,” said ALI President David F. Levi. “As ALI nears its 100th anniversary, I am pleased to welcome this group of lawyers, judges, and scholars and look forward to the insight their expertise will bring to our work, both now and into our second century.”

Robbennolt joins 10 other Illinois faculty who are members of ALI, including Dean Vikram Amar, Ralph Brubaker, John Colombo, Matthew Finkin, Richard Kaplan, Robert Lawless, Andrew Leipold, Jason Mazzone, Charles Tabb, and Robin Fretwell Wilson. 

Robbennolt is an expert in the areas of psychology and law, torts, and dispute resolution. Her research integrates psychology into the study of law and legal institutions, focusing primarily on legal decision-making and the use of empirical research methodology in law.

She is co-author of several books, including "The Psychology of Tort Law"; "Psychology for Lawyers: Understanding the Human Factors in Negotiation, Litigation, and Decision Making"; a textbook on "Empirical Methods in Law" (with Illinois colleagues Robert M. Lawless and Thomas S. Ulen); and the influential casebook, "Dispute Resolution and Lawyers". 

A graduate with highest honors of the University of Nebraska College of Law, she also earned master’s and doctoral degrees in social psychology from the University of Nebraska. In 2016 she was presented with the inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Nebraska Law-Psychology Program. Before joining the faculty at the University of Illinois, Professor Robbennolt was associate dean for faculty research and development, associate professor, and senior fellow in the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. She has also served as a research associate and lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and at Princeton University’s Department of Psychology and as a law clerk to the Honorable John M. Gerrard of the Nebraska Supreme Court.

View the full list of newly elected members at ali.org.