Kathryn Birks Harvey has a Ph.D. in history from Northwestern and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School. Her recent dissertation traces the history of the personal injury bar in the twentieth century and how the advertising regulations placed on attorneys intersect with tort reform. Before her Ph.D., she practiced law for six years (usually on the side opposite of the personal injury bar!). Her other research interests include professional regulation, attorney/client relationships, and the internal politics of the bar. Her recent article, “Monopolizing Misfortune: A Story of Stratification in the Personal Injury Bar,” was published in the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.
Education
Ph.D., Northwestern University
M.A., Northwestern University
J.D., Vanderbilt University Law School
B.A., University of Chicago
Research Interests
Professional Regulation; History of the Legal Profession; Access to Justice; Lawyer Advertising; Tort Reform; Consumer Movement
Professional Affiliations & Memberships
American Society for Legal History; Law and Society Association; Midwestern History Association; Indiana Association of Historians
Publications
Attorney Advertising, Image, and Access to Justice: Rural America Left Behind (in progress).
Monopolizing Misfortune: A Story of Stratification in the Personal Injury Bar, Geo. J. Legal Ethics (forthcoming 2025).
Review of Unequal Profession: Race and Gender in Legal Academia, by Meera Deo, in Law and Society Review, Volume 55, Issue 2.
Review of Policing the Open Road: How Cars Transformed American Freedom, by Sarah E. Seo, in Law and History Review, Volume 39, Issue 1.
Grants
Northwestern University Travel Grant, Summer 2024
Community Service
Moot Court Judge at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Fall 2017
Presentations
American Society for Legal History's Summer Research Workshop, Personal Injury Law and Access to Justice: Rural America Left Behind, August 2022.
Rural Sociological Society, Personal Injury Law and Access to Justice: Rural America Left Behind, July 2024.
Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Image, Advertising, and Access to Justice: The Legal Profession from Progressivism to Watergate, June 2024.
Junior Scholars Conference, Northeastern University School of Law, Shining Light on Protectionism: The Personal Injury Bar in the Sunshine State, March 2024.
Law and Rurality Conference, Manufacturing a Crisis: How Lawyers and Lobbyists Created Chaos with Tort Reform in the 1970s, November 2023.
American Society for Legal History's Summer Research Workshop, Manufacturing a Crisis: How Lawyers and Lobbyists Created Chaos with Tort Reform in the 1970s, August 2023.
American Society for Legal History Panel Organizer and Commentator, Local Legal Institutions: Capitalism, Inequality, and the Grassroots Negotiation of Power in the United States, November 2022.
University of Chicago History of Capitalism Workshop, Monopolizing Tragedy: A Story of Personal Injury and Protectionism, October 2022.
Law and Rurality Conference, Monopolizing Tragedy: A Story of Personal Injury and Protectionism, October 2022.
AALS Professional Responsibility Junior Scholars Early Idea Workshop, Monopolizing Tragedy: A Story of Personal Injury and Protectionism, October 2022.
International Legal Ethics Conference, Monopolizing Tragedy: A Story of Personal Injury and Protectionism, August 2022.
American Society for Legal History's Summer Research Workshop, Monopolizing Tragedy: A Story of Personal Injury and Protectionism, August 2022.
Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Monopolizing Tragedy: A Story of Personal Injury and Protectionism, July 2022.
Law and Rurality Conference, Billboards and Ambulances: The Business of Tragedy, November 2021.
Midwest Law and Society Retreat, Billboards and Ambulances: The Business of Tragedy, November 2021.