Background

Zoe Niesel is a Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law, where she teaches Civil Procedure, Legal and Equitable Remedies, and Drafting with Generative AI. Her scholarship explores the intersections of law and technology, civil procedure, federal courts, administrative law, and innovations in legal education.

Professor Niesel has published on civil procedure, jurisdiction, administrative law, and the impact of emerging technologies on the legal system. Her recent work addresses artificial intelligence in judicial review, complex jurisdictional questions in the federal courts, and administrative procedure. Her articles have appeared in the Alabama Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, Tulane Law Review, and SMU Law Review. She is also co-author of Legal Research Guide: Patterns and Practice (Carolina Academic Press, 8th ed. 2019; 9th ed. forthcoming 2026), a legal research textbook that integrates artificial intelligence into the research process.

An active contributor to legal education and professional organizations, Professor Niesel has presented nationally and internationally on topics including civil and administrative procedure, AI in the legal profession, and innovations in pedagogy.

Before joining the Joseph F. Rice School of Law, Professor Niesel served as the Albert Herrmann Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. She earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Wake Forest University School of Law and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Southern Methodist University.

Recent Scholarship

• Hertz and the Hard Cases: Fifteen Years of the Nerve Center Test, __ Kan. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2026). 
• The Collateral Order Doctrine's Administrative Odyssey: Ending the Question of Interlocutory Review for Administrative Agency Determinations, 76 Ala. L. Rev. 647 (2025).
• An Artificial Intelligence Report Card for Judicial Review, 14 Mich.J.Env’t&Admin.L. 143 (2025).
• Artificial Intelligence x Arbitrary and Capricious, 25 Minn. J.L. & Tech. 1 (2024). 
• Crypto Contacts: Jurisdiction and the Blockchain, 98 Tul. L. Rev. 917 (2024). 
• Seismic Shifts: Post-COVID Legal Education and the Profession, 15 Elon L. Rev. 81 (2023). 

Education

• B.A. (2008) Southern Methodist University
• J.D. (2012) Wake Forest University, School of Law 

Teaching

• Civil Procedure (LAWS 544)
• Legal and Equitable Remedies (LAWS 663)
• Drafting with Generative AI (LAWS 855)