I am the Max L. Rowe Professor of Law at the University of Illinois College of Law. My research work focuses on bankruptcy and especially the financial distress experienced by everyday households. This web site shares a little bit more about who I am and what I do.

In August of 2025, the University of California Press published Debt’s Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy. I am honored to have as co-authors Professors Pamela Foohey of the University of Georgia and Deborah Thorne of the University of Idaho. The book is the culmination of a decade-long project that uses data from consumer bankruptcy filings to illustrate what it means to live in financial precarity in the United States.

There are pages about how to order the book, my other research and activities, and how to contact me for media inquiries. You also can find me on the Credit Slips blog or occasionally on Bluesky.