Jamie Franklin is a civil rights litigator and clinical professor who brings a deep commitment to social justice and public interest law to her teaching and practice. As Associate Clinical Professor and Supervising Attorney of the Civil Litigation Clinic at Chicago-Kent College of Law, she trains the next generation of lawyers to be strong, ethical advocates for people facing discrimination, exploitation, and systemic inequality.
Under her guidance, clinic students represent real clients in cases involving employment discrimination and retaliation, wage theft, whistleblower protection, class actions, and other complex litigation. Her goal is to give students meaningful, hands-on experience while advancing cases that can drive change. Professor Franklin also teaches employment-related and litigation practicum classes.
Before joining Chicago-Kent in 2020, Professor Franklin spent nearly a decade running her own firm, where she represented workers, consumers, and whistleblowers in high-impact litigation across the country. Her practice focused on litigation that sought to hold powerful institutions accountable. She also resolved dozens of cases through mediation and arbitration, always with a focus on client-centered advocacy.
Earlier in her career, Professor Franklin was a partner and an associate at Meites, Mulder, Mollica & Glink, a plaintiff-side firm in Chicago that specialized in employment matters, class actions, and consumer law. There, she practiced in federal courts throughout the country, seeking to bring cases that served two goals: to help the employee or plaintiff in need and to have a broader impact on an area of the law affecting plaintiffs. Before that, she practiced consumer law at Edelman Combs Latturner & Goodwin. Professor Franklin’s interest in plaintiff’s law extended to law school, where she was awarded a Consumer Law Fellowship while attending the University of Chicago Law School, which enabled her to represent consumers at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago.
Professor Franklin is a member of the Illinois State Bar and the federal Trial Bar, and she is admitted to numerous federal circuit and district courts. She is rated as AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and was selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer each year from 2017 until she joined Chicago-Kent's faculty.
B.A., Duke University
J.D., University of Chicago Law School
“There are very few workers who want to stick their necks out and be named plaintiffs in class action lawsuits. Their name is on the court case. That’s going to be something that’s going to be with them for life,” Chicago-Kent assistant clinical professor Jamie Franklin said.
WTTW
“There are very few workers who want to stick their necks out and be named plaintiffs in class action lawsuits. Their name is on the court case. That’s going to be something that’s going to be with them for life,” Chicago-Kent law professor Jamie Franklin said. “Even finding an attorney to represent them can be a challenge. Because these cases take so long, attorneys who take them may end up bearing years and years of risk of not being paid.”
WTTW