Brenda Carlson teaches legal writing and advocacy and also assists with the Academic Success Program. She served as a law clerk for the Honorable Justice Thomas Homer, Illinois Appellate Court, Third District, before beginning her teaching career as a writing instructor at NIU-COL. After taking time off to raise her children, she returned to teaching as an adjunct professor of legal writing for two semesters. She then served as a law clerk for the Honorable Justice Donald J. Hudson, Illinois Appellate Court, Second District, and briefly, as a law clerk to the Honorable Justice Margaret J. Mullen who was appointed after Justice Hudson's passing.