University of St. Thomas

 
A passionate advocate for the protection of human life and the family, Professor Teresa Collett is a nationally sought-after scholar and speaker on the topics of marriage, religion and bioethics. She has published numerous legal articles and is the co-author of a law casebook on professional responsibility and co-editor of a collection of essays exploring "catholic" and "Catholic" perspectives on American law .

Professor Collett is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and has testified before committees of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, as well as before legislative committees in several states. Most recently she represented Congressman Ron Paul and various medical groups in the defense of the federal ban of partial-birth abortion, and the Governors of Minnesota and North Dakota defending the N.H. requirement of state parental involvement prior to performance of an abortion on a minor before the United States Supreme Court. She is often asked to represent the interests of government officials before federal appellate courts. She has served as special Attorney General for the States of Oklahoma and Kansas , as well as assisting other state Attorneys General in defending laws protecting human life and marriage. Prior to joining St. Thomas in 2003, Professor Collett taught at the South Texas College of Law where she established the nation's first annual symposium on legal ethics.

Representative Scholarship

Michael Scaperlanda & Teresa Collett, Recovering Self-Evident Truths: Catholic Perspectives on American Law ( Catholic University Press, 2007)

The Supreme Court's Confused (and Confusing) Understanding of the Creation and Taking of Human Life,Mt.L.Rev. (2007)

Constitutional Confusion: The Case for the Minnesota Marriage Ammendment, 33 Wm. Mitchell L.Rev.100 (2007)

Transporting Minors for Immoral Purposes: The Case for the Child Custody Protection Act & the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act , 16 Health Matrix 107 (2005)

Teresa S. Collett, Dissenting Opinion in What Roe Should have Said (NYU Press 2005) (Jack Balkin, ed.)

Teresa S. Collett, Restoring Democratic Self-Governance through the Federal Marriage Amendment, 2 U. St. Thomas L. J. 95 (2004)

Teresa S. Collett, “No Hymns, No Sermons”? Faith-Based Pro Bono Initiatives and the Challenge of Interfaith Activities, 72 U.M. K.C. L. Rev. 327 (2003)

Teresa S. Collett, Fetal Pain Legislation: Is it Viable?, 30 Pepp. L. Rev. (2003)

Robert F. Cochran, Jr. & Teresa S. Collett, Cases and Materials on the Rules of the Legal Profession (2d ed., West 2003)

Teresa S. Collett, Independence or Interdependence? A Christian Response to Liberal Feminism, in Christian Perspectives on the Law (Michael McCornell, Angela Carmella & Robert Cochran, eds. 2001)

Teresa S. Collett, Seeking Solomon's Wisdom: Judicial Bypass of Parental Involvement in a Minor's Abortion Decision, 52 Baylor L. Rev. 513 (2000)

Teresa S. Collett, "The King's Good Servant, But God's First," the Role of Religion in Judicial Decisionmaking, 41 S. Tex. L. Rev. 1277(2000)

Teresa S. Collett, The Common Good and the Duty to Represent: Must the Last Lawyer in Town Take Any Case? 40 S. Tex. L. Rev. 137 (1999)

Teresa S. Collett, Love Among the Ruins: The Ethics of Counseling Happily Married Couples, 22 Seattle U. L. Rev.139 (1998)

Teresa S. Collett, Recognizing Same-Sex Marriage: Asking for the Impossible? 47 Cath. U. L. Rev. 1245 (1998)

Teresa S. Collett, Speak No Evil, Seek No Evil, Do No Evil: Client Selection and Cooperation with Evil, 66 Fordham L. Rev. 1339 (1998)

Teresa S. Collett, Professional versus Moral Duty: Accepting Appointment in Unjust Civil Cases, 32 Wake Forest L. Rev. 635 (1997)

Teresa S. Collett, Sacred Secrets or Sanctimonious Silence, 29 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 1747 (1996)

Teresa S. Collett, To Be a Professing Woman, 27 Tex. Tech L. Rev. 1051 (1996)(expanded and reprinted as a chapter in Thomas Baker & Timothy Floyd, Can a Good Christian be a Good Lawyer? A Book of Reflections (Notre Dame Press 1998))

Courses Taught

Bioethics
Professional Responsibility
Property

Mailing Address

MSL 400
1000 LaSalle Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403-2015