Education
B.A., 2004, University of Chicago
M.A., 2005, Jagiellonian University
J.D., 2008, University of Notre Dame Law School
Courses
Income Taxation of Individuals, Fiduciaries & Business Associations; Trusts & Estates; Family Law; International & Comparative Family Law; Juvenile Law
Bio
Margaret Ryznar teaches and researches in the areas of family law, tax, trusts & estates, property, and juvenile law. Her scholarship focuses on the rights of family members under federal and state law, with particular emphasis on how family members hold and transfer property among themselves. Professor Ryznar has published over two dozen journal articles and book chapters on law, and her work has been featured in the media as well as cited in law journals and judicial materials. She edits the Family Law Prof Blog and is a contributor to the Huffington Post blog.
Prior to joining the faculty in 2012, Professor Ryznar served as a law clerk to the Honorable Myron H. Bright of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and practiced law with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in Washington, DC.
Professor Ryznar is a graduate of Notre Dame Law School, where she served as a Note Editor of the Notre Dame Law Review, competed in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court, and received the Bainbridge Fellowship for the Study of International and Comparative Law. She holds a master’s degree in European Studies from Jagiellonian University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago with majors in Economics; English Language & Literature; Political Science; and Law, Letters, & Society.
Publications
(SSRN: http://ssrn.com/author=1258999)
Books and Chapters
- Baby M, in SOCIAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN FAMILIES: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA (Lawrence Ganong, ed., forthcoming).
- Grandparents' Rights, in SOCIAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN FAMILIES: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA (Lawrence Ganong, ed., forthcoming).
- College, Financial Support for Children of Divorce, in CULTURAL SOCIOLOGY OF DIVORCE: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA (Dr. Robert Emery et al. eds.) (2013).
- Divorce Law in Poland: A New Regime Needed?, in INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF FAMILY LAW (with Dr. Anna Stępień-Sporek & Paweł Stoppa) (forthcoming 2013).
- National Constitutional Approaches to Family Policy, in ARBEITSKREIS EUROPÄISCHE INTEGRATION (with Dr. Anna Stępień-Sporek) (Nomos Publishers, forthcoming 2013).
- Intergenerational Obligations: Post-Majority Child Support in Poland and the United States, in THE SOLIDARITIES BETWEEN GENERATIONS (with Dr. Anna Stępień-Sporek) (Hugues Fulchiron ed., 2013).
- The Rules on the Administration of Community Property in Poland, in INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF FAMILY LAW (with Dr. Anna Stępień-Sporek & Paweł Stoppa) (2012).
- Palimony, in SOCIAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN FAMILIES: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA (Lawrence Ganong, ed., forthcoming).
Law Review and Journal Articles
- Incentivizing Parental Support for College Tuition through the Tax Code, MICH. ST. L. REV. (forthcoming 2013).
- Au Revoir, Will Contests: Comparative Lessons for Preventing Will Contests, NEV. L.J. (with Angelique Devaux) (forthcoming 2013).
- Two Direct Rights of Action, CATH. U. L. REV. (forthcoming 2013).
- A Crime of Its Own? A Proposal for Achieving Sentencing Consistency in Infanticide Cases, U. SAN FRAN. L. REV. (forthcoming 2013).
- A Tale of Two Federal Systems, 21 CARDOZO J. INT’L & COMP. L. 598 (with Dr. Anna Stępień-Sporek).
- Child Support for Adult Children, 30 QUINNIPIAC L. REV. 359 (with Dr. Anna Stępień-Sporek) (2012).
- Underwriting Credit Cards, Overwriting Congress, and Rewriting Family Law: The Treatment of
Household Income in Consumer Lending, ST. JOHN’S L. REV. (forthcoming).
- Anti-Bribery Legislation in the United States and the United Kingdom: A Comparative Analysis of Scope
and Sentencing, 415 MO. L. REV. 453 (with Samer Korkor) (2011).
- Harmonizacja Małżeńskiego Prawo Majątkowego w USA i w Unii Europejskiej, 9 PROBLEMY
WSPÓŁCZESNEGO PRAWA MIĘDZYNARODOWEGO, EUROPEJSKIEGO I PORÓWNAWCZEGO 35 (wraz z
Dr. Anna Stępień-Sporek) (2011) (Pol.).
Translation: The Harmonization of Matrimonial Property Law in the United States and European
Union, ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL, EUROPEAN AND COMPARATIVE
LAW 35 (with Dr. Anna Stępień-Sporek) (2011) (Pol.).
- The Honest-Services Doctrine in White-Collar Criminal Law, 34 HAMLINE L. REV. 83 (2010).
- All’s Fair in Love and War: But What About in Divorce? The Fairness of Property Division in American
and English Big Money Divorce Cases, 86 N.D. L. REV. 115 (2010).
- The Proper Guardians of Foster Children’s Education, 42 LOY. U. CHI. L.J. 147 (with Chai Park) (2010).
- The Legal Treatment of Cohabitation in Poland and the United States, 79 UMKC L. REV. 373 (with Dr.
Anna Stępień-Sporek) (symposium issue) (2010).
- International Commercial Surrogacy and Its Parties, 43 J. MARSHALL L. REV. 1009 (2010).
- Nabywanie Przedmiotów Majątkowych przez Małżonków z Mieszanych Funduszy, 11 PAŃSTWO I PRAWO
83 (wraz z Dr. Anna Stępień-Sporek) (2010) (Pol.).
Translation: The Acquisition of Assets with Spousal Funds, 11 STATE AND LAW 83 (with Dr. Anna
Stępień-Sporek) (2010) (Pol.).
- To Have and to Hold, for Richer or Richer: Premarital Agreements in the Comparative Context, 13
CHAPMAN L. REV. 27 (with Dr. Anna Stępień-Sporek) (2009).
- To Work, or Not to Work? The Immortal Tax Disincentives for Married Women, 13 LEWIS & CLARK L.
REV. 921 (2009).
- Two to Tango, One in Limbo: A Comparative Analysis of Fathers’ Rights in Infant Adoptions, 47
DUQ. L. REV. 89 (2009).
- Majątek Małżonków po Rozwodzie w Prawie Polskim i w Prawie Amerykańskim, GDAŃSKIE STUDIA
PRAWNICZE (wraz z Dr. Anna Stępień-Sporek) (2009) (Pol.).
Translation: Marital Property After Divorce in Polish and American Law, GDANSK SCHOOL OF
LAW JOURNAL (with Dr. Anna Stępień-Sporek) (2009) (Pol.).
- Note, Adult Rights as the Achilles’ Heel of the Best Interests Standard: Lessons in Family Law from
Across the Pond, 82 NOTRE DAME L. REV. 1649 (2007) (Third Place, 2008 Judge John R.
Brown Award for Excellence in Legal Writing).
- Achieving the Lisbon Strategy: Compensating for Lost Time, 38 ECONOMIC PAPERS 21 (2005) (Pol.).
Other Publications
- Margaret Ryznar, "A False Dawn for Mother Breadwinners," forthcoming.
- Quoted in John Kiernan,"Ask The Experts: Evaluating the CFPB’s Final Rule for Stay-at-Home Parents & Credit Cards," CardHub, May 23, 2013.
- Margaret Ryznar, "Stay-at-Home Parents’ Access to Credit," Huffington Post, May 28, 2013.
- Margaret Ryznar, “American Father Wins Supreme Court Case in Custody Dispute,” Huffington Post, March 5, 2013.
- Margaret Ryznar, “Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl,” Huffington Post, March 18, 2013.
- Margaret Ryznar, “The Prop 8 and DOMA Cases Before the Supreme Court,” Huffington Post, February 20, 2013.
- Margaret Ryznar, “The Controversial Kansas Sperm Donor Case,” Huffington Post, January 10, 2013.
- Margaret Ryznar, “Science Outpacing Family Law?,” Huffington Post, December 26, 2012.
- Interviewed by Dave Stafford, “E-state Planning,” Indiana Lawyer, November 21, 2012.
- Interviewed by Radio Host Carmen Russell-Sluchansky of Capitol Affairs, “Can US Family Courts Determine Custody When One Parent Takes Child Abroad?,” in Washington, DC on 1390 AM and in New York City on 1430 AM, December 6, 2012.
- Margaret Ryznar, “Rare Family Law Case Heard by U.S. Supreme Court,” Huffington Post, December 10, 2012.
Presentations
- University of Chicago Law School Legal Scholarship Workshop, Chicago, IL (November 18, 2013).
- Reflections on Law Teaching, AALS Workshop for New Law School Teachers, Washington, DC (June 21, 2013).
- Child Support Collection on Both Sides of the Atlantic, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies - SAIS, Washington, DC (June 10, 2013) (with Ambassador András Simonyi).
- Incentivizing Parental Support for College Tuition, Washington University School of Law, St.
Louis, Missouri, Regional Junior Faculty Workshop (April 5, 2013).
- Women in Business Law Panel, Moderator, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Indianapolis, IN (April 9, 2013).
- Two Private Rights of Action, Second Annual Younger Comparativists Committee Conference, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Indianapolis, IN (April 19, 2013).
- Exposing the Myth of Consent: Strictures from Neuroscience, Economics, and Relational Contracting, Invited Commentator, Annual Conference of the Society of Socio-Economists, New Orleans, Louisiana (January 3, 2013).
- Two Private Rights of Action, invited to be delivered at the University of Kentucky College of Law Colloquia Series, Lexington, Kentucky (November 30, 2012).
- Two Private Rights of Action, invited to be delivered at the University of Chicago Law School Legal Scholarship Workshop, Chicago, IL (October 8, 2012).
- Incentivizing Parental Support for College Tuition, Junior Faculty Forum, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Indianapolis, IN (October 16, 2012).
- An Introduction to the European Union, Invited Lecture, University of Mary, Fargo, ND (October 1, 2008, January 20, 2009, & May 21, 2009).
- The Pursuit of Life, Liberty, Happiness . . . and Fairness? Property Division in American and English
Big Money Divorce Cases, delivered at the 13th World Conference of the International Society of
Family Law, Palais Trautson (Austrian Ministry of Justice), Vienna, Austria (September 16-20, 2008).
- Politics in the European Union, Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, Georgetown University (June 15-16, 2007).
Other Activities
- Faculty Advisor, Family Law Society at McKinney Law School of Law
- Faculty Advisor, Law Review Notes on Family and Juvenile Law
- 2009-2012 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition; Judge for Regional, National, and
International Rounds
- Member, American Bar Association and Indiana State Bar Association
- Member, Illinois and District of Columbia Bars
