As of August 2022, Nell Jessup Newton is the interim dean at the Wake Forest University School of Law in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She served previously as interim dean of the University of Miami School of Law for the 2021-2022 academic year, and prior to that served as professor of law at Notre Dame Law School and Notre Dame Law School's dean from 2009 to 2019. Her academic focus is on federal law relating to Native Americans.