Robert M. Lawless

Robert M. Lawless is the Max L. Rowe Professor of Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, where he has established himself as a nationally recognized expert in bankruptcy law, consumer finance, and empirical legal studies. He co-directs the College of Law's Program on Law, Behavior & Social Science and serves as a faculty affiliate of the university's Center for Social & Behavioral Science and Cline Center for Advanced Social Research.

Professor Lawless's research focuses on financial distress, business and consumer bankruptcy, and the intersection of law and social science. His scholarly work bridges academic research with real-world policy impact, particularly through his leadership of the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, a long-term research initiative studying persons who file bankruptcy. His upcoming book Debt's Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy (August 2025) combines empirical data with personal narratives from bankruptcy filers to document what it means to live in financial precarity.

Professor Lawless has served in leadership roles in major legal organizations including the National Bankruptcy Conference and the American College of Bankruptcy. As reporter for the American Bankruptcy Institute's Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy (2017-2019), he played a pivotal role in shaping its findings and earned the ABI's 2019 Annual Service Award. He has testified before the U.S. Senate on consumer protection and bankruptcy reform and has been an influential voice in policy discussions.

• ABI's 2019 Annual Service Award

Professor Lawless is a co-author of leading textbooks in secured transactions and empirical methods in law. He administers and contributes to the blog Credit Slips, a discussion on credit, finance, and bankruptcy. His teaching includes Bankruptcy, Consumer Finance, Empirical Methods in Law, and Secured Transactions courses. Born and raised in Illinois, he earned both his undergraduate degree in accounting and his law degree from the University of Illinois, where he served as editor-in-chief of the University of Illinois Law Review.