Francesca Schultz is the Deputy General Counsel at the Institute for Justice. In her role, she advises IJ on a broad range of legal and operational matters, including contracting, employment law, corporate governance, compliance, intellectual property, and risk management.
Before joining IJ, Francesca spent more than a decade serving as in-house counsel for technology companies and other organizations. Her practice focused on commercial contracting, technology transactions, software licensing, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, employment matters, regulatory compliance, and strategic business initiatives. She has advised organizations ranging from growing businesses to multinational enterprises and supported operations across multiple jurisdictions.
Earlier in her career, Francesca worked in government and public-sector contracting and served as a judicial law clerk, gaining experience in litigation, legal research, and judicial decision-making.
In addition to her legal practice, Francesca is an adjunct professor teaching legal research and writing to first-year law students. She has also taught business law and has extensive experience in legal education and professional training.
During law school, Francesca served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of a law journal focused on the intersection of law, economics, and public policy.
She brings a combination of legal, business, and operational experience to support IJ’s mission of advancing and defending individual liberty.
Francesca received her B.S. in Marketing and Management Information Systems from Penn State University, her J.D. from Widener University School of Law, and her LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Alabama School of Law.