Marie Failinger was a professor and dean of the Hamline School of Law as well as a board member of the National Equal Justice Library. She was an editor in Chief of the Journal of Law and Religion. In addition, Marie belonged to various organizations such as the American Association of Law Schools, the Council on American Islamic Relations-MN chapter, Church Innovations, Central MN Legal Services, the Infinity Project, Minnesota Women Lawyers, the American Indian Policy Center, and the Journal of Lutheran Ethics. She wrote an article on NEJL called Necessary Legends: The National Equal Justice Library and the Importance of Poverty Lawyers' History in the St. Louis University Public Law Review, Vol. 17, No. 2, 1998.