Laura Dooley
Laura Dooley

Laura Dooley is a Professor of Law at Touro University, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. She has been teaching about the civil justice system for almost thirty years, after clerking for Judge Pasco Bowman on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and teaching as a Bigelow Fellow at the University of Chicago. She has published widely in top-tier law reviews, including the flagship journals at NYU, Vanderbilt, Cornell, and Illinois among others. Her work has been cited by both federal courts and the popular press, including the Wall Street Journal and Vice News. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Arkansas and Coif graduate of Washington University School of Law.

Columns by Laura Dooley
Federal Jurisdiction and the Limited Liability Company: Should the Diversity Statute be Amended?

Touro University, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, professors Meredith R. Miller and Laura A. Dooley discuss the complexities of federal jurisdiction in cases involving limited liability companies (LLCs), suggesting an amendment to the diversity statute to simplify determining an LLC’s citizenship based on its state of creation and principal place of business. Professors Miller and Dooley evaluate the strategic implications of such a change from both procedural and business law perspectives, considering the impact on litigants’ access to federal courts, the influence of recent legislative efforts on ownership transparency, and the balance between offering fair legal proceedings and maintaining the advantages of state versus federal litigation.

Personal Jurisdiction Makes Strange Bedfellows: An Assessment of the Supreme Court’s Decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.

Touro University, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, professors Rodger D. Citron and Laura A. Dooley discuss the U.S. Supreme Court’s unexpectedly divided decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. case, which addressed whether a corporation can be sued in a state where it has registered to do business but is not a citizen. Professors Citron and Dooley argue that the case is notable for the alignment of ideologically diverse justices and its potential to significantly alter the landscape regarding where plaintiffs can sue corporations, shedding light on the current Court’s approach to originalism and federalism in the context of personal jurisdiction.

You, Me, “Purely Legal” Issues on Appeal, and Dupree

Touro Law professor Laura Dooley comments on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dupree v. Younger, which held that there is no procedural requirement that a litigant who lost a “purely legal” issue at the summary judgment stage file a post-trial Rule 50 motion to preserve that issue for appeal. Professor Dooley points out that while the procedural issue raised in Dupree is ostensibly technical, it implicates numerous policy and strategy matters at the core of civil litigation in federal courts.

Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.: Of Corporate Registration Statutes and Personal Jurisdiction

Touro Law professors Laura Dooley and Rodger Citron discuss a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of a state statute authorizing the exercise of general personal jurisdiction over corporations registered to do business in the state. Professors Dooley and Citron argue that the Court will almost certainly declare the state statute violates the due process rights of the defendant corporation, and they explore why that outcome is such a foregone conclusion.

Here We Go Again: The Supreme Court Considers Whether to Further Narrow the Law of Personal Jurisdiction

Laura Dooley and Rodger D. Citron—both law professors at Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center—comment on two consolidated cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court that present questions of the exercise of personal jurisdiction. Dooley and Citron summarize the facts and procedural history of each case, analyze the issues raised by the defendant, and consider how the recent death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg might affect the Court’s decision.