Professor Porter specializes in commercial and consumer law, including bankruptcy, mortgage foreclosure, and credit cards. Her research focuses on empirical studies of consumer bankruptcy. She is a co-author of textbook, The Law of Debtors and Creditors (Wolters Kluwer 2014), and the editor of Broke: How Debt Bankrupts the Middle Class (Stanford Press 2012).
In March 2012, Professor Porter was appointed by California Attorney General Kamala Harris to be the state's independent monitor of banks in a nationwide $25 billion mortgage settlement. The Monitor Program, with a staff of a dozen professionals, has reviewed and responded to over 5,000 complaints and has intervened with the banks in hundreds of situations. Professor Porter founded a Consumer Protection Clinic at UCI Law to involve students in the Monitor's work.
Professor Porter has received awards for her academic and service work, including selection as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California in 2012 and Champion of Consumer Rights Award from the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. She earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School.