Before joining the faculty at NIU, she worked as the Legal Director at the Center for Justice & Democracy, a non-partisan consumer advocacy group, where she was responsible for political and legislative campaigns to support the civil justice system. Her primary research and teaching interests are in tort theory, administrative law, and the legislative process. Her articles on accountability and access to justice have appeared in the Florida Law Review, the Cardozo Law Review, the Yale Law and Policy Review, the Journal of Health Policy, Politics, and Law, and many others. She has also testified before Congress on these issues. Professor Widman is a cum laude graduate of New York University Law School and holds a B.A. from Northwestern University in Comparative Literary Studies.