A Journey Toward Empowering Future Lawyers

Kimberly Richardson was still a law student when she negotiated her first labor contract. Her professor, Dr. Kenneth Dau-Schmidt, owned “Labor Law Inc.,” and in response to the company’s unfair practices, Richardson and her classmates unionized. 

When their needs were unmet, the students elected to strike, and their picketing outside the Indiana University Maurer School of Law attracted the attention of a curious NPR reporter. Richardson was part of the group that negotiated with management.

The company was fictitious, but the exercise helped students understand the National Labor Relations Act and advocacy. “It was an absolutely amazing class, and it was taught in a way that transferred our skills to the outside world,” says Richardson, who graduated in 2006.

Dr. Dau-Schmidt is one of the influential mentors who has led Richardson to the head of the classroom. “I have always wanted to teach,” she says. 

Since last July, she has been an associate professor at the Wilmington University School of Law, where her classes include Sales and Leases, as well as Agency and Partnerships. Richardson is also the chair of the Career Services and Professional Development Committee, the Academic Standards Committee, and a member of the Student Life Committee. 

Richardson’s impressive résumé includes eight years with DuPont de Nemours, where she was the sole attorney overseeing health, safety, and security legal issues worldwide. She entered the safety and health practice area after joining the U.S. Postal Service in 2009. There, Richardson also handled union-related litigation and collective bargaining.

Wilmington University School of Law marks Richardson’s first full-time teaching role. Previously, she served as an adjunct professor at several institutions, including Davenport University in Michigan, where she taught Business Law; Maurer School of Law, where she taught Workplace Safety and Employment Law in 2020; and Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law from 2023 to 2024.

The Wilmington resident is talented at using Dr. Dau-Schmidt’s tactics. For instance,  in a Health and Safety course, students were the in-house counsel for Santa Claus, who encountered boobytraps from children displeased with their gifts. He also faced a discrimination lawsuit filed by reindeer lacking Rudolph’s red nose. Consequently, they were forbidden to guide the sleigh. 

Richardson’s creative techniques aren’t surprising, given her many interests. She studied Mathematics at the University of Michigan. However, she says if she had to do it over again, she’d double major in History and Sociology. Her favorite undergraduate class was Sports and Society, which focused on the cultural and societal impact of sporting activities in the United States — starting with the European settlers. 

While working as an actuarial analyst, the young graduate became fascinated with the rise of cash balance plans and associated litigation, which led her to law school. Along with Dr. Dau-Schmidt’s classes, she enjoyed HIV and the Law, taught by Prof. Susan Williams, a former clerk to the Hon. Ruth Bader Ginsberg. 

Other interests include birding, wildlife photography, gardening, live music, her two dogs, and film. “I love attending the Tribeca Film Fest and related events in New York,” she says. “I had the opportunity to hear Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro talk about the making  of ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Godfather  Part II.’ I’ve also listened to Martin Scorsese and DeNiro talk about the making of ‘Mean Streets.’”

Adept at thinking outside the box, Richardson was intrigued by Wilmington University’s new law school. “WilmU provides an amazing legal
education at an affordable price in a way that is accessible to people who [otherwise] may not have gone to law school,” she says. “The inventive curriculum and robust academic support structure make law school available to a broader group of people.”

Her students have included recent college graduates and high-level corporate executives. “The diversity brings interesting perspectives to classroom discussions,” she says. Some plan to take the bar; others want legal knowledge to broaden their career. WilmU has two years of required courses to ensure a solid foundation. The third year can be an externship.

Delaware’s bar exam is challenging. “Delaware is a small but legally powerful state,” she says. “The bar includes requirements that some states do not have, such as the preceptor requirement akin to a legal apprenticeship. The law school has built these considerations into their curriculum to prepare the students.”

Richardson is doing her best to do the same. “I just want to convey complex ideas in a way my students understand and to make sure I’m listening to them,” she says. It’s important to know what each student needs and where they want to go with their law degree. In short, she says, “My main goal is to be a good professor.”

— Pam George