Zoe E. Niesel

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs | Albert Herrman Professor of Law 

Biography

Professor Niesel joined St. Mary’s University School of Law in May 2016. Professor Niesel’s legal scholarship focuses on civil procedure, federal court jurisdiction, and conflict of laws. In her scholarship, she examines difficult issues of civil and administrative procedure and how procedural concepts are challenged by advanced technology. Her work has been published in the Indiana Law Journal, Cardozo Law Review, SMU Law Review, and George Mason Law Review, among others.

Professor Niesel also serves as the law school’s Director of Assessment and Statistics. In this role, she uses data and research-based best practices to design programming and assessments for use throughout the law school curriculum and in bar preparation.

Professor Niesel began her teaching career as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Wake Forest University, where she taught classes in Civil Procedure, Complex Commercial Litigation and Transnational Litigation. In addition to her experience in academia, she previously clerked for the Hon. Thomas D. Schroder, U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina, and spent time in private practice as an associate attorney in the area of complex commercial litigation.

Professor Niesel received her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Southern Methodist University, and her law degree, summa cum laude, from Wake Forest University School of Law. She and her husband Tom reside in San Antonio.

Publications