Deborah L. Rhode Center on the Legal Profession
Through a multidisciplinary approach to teaching, research, and policy, the Rhode Center works to make civil justice more equitable, accessible, and transparent and to promote the legal profession’s commitment to the public interest.
Rhode Center in the Spotlight
Read the Rhode Center report from the March 2025 MDL Case Management Convening
at Stanford Law School
Rhode Center’s detailed toolkit on MDL management assists federal judges
Nora and David Freeman Engstrom are editors in the newly released title,
Rethinking the Lawyers’ Monopoly
Rhode Center team wins 2026 NCJI Civil Justice Scholarship Award for Secrecy Settlements work
This follow-up report provides insights into regulatory changes in Arizona and Utah
Rhode Center and Legal Design Lab publish a blueprint for expanding access to justice in LA Superior Court
Focus Areas
Access to Justice and Innovation
The U.S. in the grips of an access-to-justice crisis. We seek to address this crisis through policy and system-level reform and designing tools to help people access legal assistance.
Courts and Lawyers in the Digital Age
A wave of new technologies is transforming the legal system. We aim to equip lawyers with the tools they need to help society chart a wise, ethical, and humane course.
Protecting Consumers and Clients in Litigation
The civil legal system is experiencing fundamental transformation. We are dedicated to a rigorous assessment of how it protects consumers, particularly those enmeshed in complex litigation.
Legal Education in the 21st Century
The practice of law is changing rapidly. We are developing new pedagogical practices, that are deeply practical, to teach legal ethics.
About Deborah L. Rhode
Before her death on January 8, 2021, Deborah L. Rhode was the Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and the Founder and Director of the Center on the Legal Profession. She was the nation’s most frequently cited scholar on legal ethics and the author of 30 books in the fields of professional responsibility, leadership, and gender, law and public policy.