After graduating from law school, Professor Estin served as a law clerk for Judge Zita L. Weinshienk of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, and then practiced law in Denver. In 1989, she joined the faculty of the University of Colorado School of Law, where she taught for ten years. Professor Estin has been on the law faculty at the University of Iowa since 1999.
Professor Estin teaches and writes primarily in the area of family law and international family law. She has written numerous articles and is co-author, with Barbara Stark, of Global Issues in Family Law, and with Homer H. Clark, Jr., of Cases and Problems on Domestic Relations (7th ed. 2005). Professor Estin also teaches Contracts and Federal Indian Law, and she serves as a pro bono consultant on professional responsibility issues for the Native American Rights Fund. She is a member of the bar in Colorado and Iowa.