Eve M. Brank Professor of Psychology and Courtesy Professor of Law
Dr. Brank received her J.D. (2000) and Ph.D. (2001) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the Law-Psychology Program. She joined the UNL faculty in 2008 and is part of the law/psychology and social programs. Prior to joining the Nebraska faculty, Dr. Brank was on the faculty in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of Florida.
Her research primarily focuses on the way the law intervenes (and sometimes interferes) in family and personal decision making. In particular, she studies the public support, implementation, and effectiveness of parental responsibility laws within the context of the juvenile justice system and the lega requirements of elder care giving. Dr. Brank also studies issues related to decision making in the context of government searchs and plea negotiations.
Lori Hoetger Assistant Professor of Law
Professor Hoetger primarily researches how individuals make decisions regarding their legal rights, especially in the areas of criminal law and procedure. She is especially interested in applications of the Fourth Amendment, studying how expectations of privacy are evolving and how courts’ approaches to searches might need to change in response to new technological developments. Professor Hoetger uses her background in psychology to inform her research and utilizes empirical methods to help address the behavioral assumptions courts make.
Professor Hoetger received her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 2009. As a student in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Law-Psychology Program, Professor Hoetger received rigorous training in both legal reasoning and psychological methods. Professor Hoetger graduated first in her class from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 2014 and completed her PhD in Psychology with an emphasis on quantitative methods in 2018.
Following graduation from law school, Professor Hoetger worked as a Project Evaluator at the Center on Children, Families, and Law, helping government agencies design, implement, and evaluate programs to help improve the child welfare system. Professor Hoetger also clerked on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and then represented indigent clients in criminal court as a public defender in Omaha, Nebraska. Before coming to the University of Nebraska, Professor Hoetger was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois College of Law.