Senior Fellow, Dispute Resolution Institute; Professor of Law
About Professor Hilbert
Jim Hilbert is currently professor of law at Mitchell Hamline School of Law where he has taught full-time since 2010. He is the former interim president and dean (2023–24) and former vice dean (2020-2023) at the law school and currently also serves as Senior Fellow at the Dispute Resolution Institute. He teaches Transactions & Settlements, Civil Rights Litigation and Policy Externship, Education Law, Expert Witness Advocacy, Deals & Dispute Resolution, and International Business Transactions. He is a long-time executive committee member of the St. Paul NAACP. He is also ad hoc counsel for the State NAACP. In addition, Professor Hilbert is the co-director of the Expert Witness Training Academy, which is funded by the National Science Foundation and provides training to climatologists on communicating in courtrooms and legislative hearings.
Professor Hilbert’s scholarship covers police reform, state constitutional law, school desegregation, expert witness testimony, and negotiation. Before joining the academy, Professor Hilbert was a civil rights attorney for over ten years and a former legal fellow at the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota Law School.
Education
J.D., University of Minnesota
B.A., Carleton College
Experience
Mitchell Hamline School of Law: professor of law, 2019–; interim president and dean, 2023–24; vice dean, academic and student affairs, 2020–23; associate professor of law, 2015–19; co-director, expert witness training academy, 2012–
William Mitchell College of Law: associate professor, 2015; executive director, center for negotiation and justice, 2007–15
Alignor: vice president, professional services, 2001–15
University of St. Thomas Center for Business Excellence: instructor, 2007–10
Shulman Law Firm: attorney, 1997–2007
Jujitsu Films: producer, 2003–04
University of Minnesota Carlson School: guest lecturer, 2003
Institute on Race and Poverty: legal fellow, 1996–97
NAACP, Minneapolis branch: research associate, 1995–96
Hennepin County Public Defender: law clerk, 1995
