Eternal January has ended, and Forever February has entered the picture. This winter has been particularly brutal, and, at least according to the baseless claims of that godforsaken groundhog, spring is still a long way off. Yet, sandwiched in the middle of what may be the dreariest month of the year is one of my favorite commercialized holidays: Valentine’s Day.
Continue reading“Fully Mindful of the Treachery of Superlatives:” Memories of Associate Dean Francis J. Larkin
This guest post was written by The Hon. David Mills ’67.
I am eighty-three years old today, and I was twenty-two in September of 1964 when I walked into my first class at Boston College Law School. The school was still in the old building across from Saint Ignatius Church. My first class was Real Property with Professor Richard G. Huber, a rite of passage for every first-year student. We entered nearly two hundred strong; by second year we were about one hundred twenty, and most of us made it through to the end.
To this day, I believe I could not have found finer professors or a better place to begin learning to love the rule of law. Frank Larkin was Associate Dean. Our Dean, Jesuit Robert F. Drinan, S.J.—often described as “peripatetic ”—was, in my experience, a very good man. Frank’s office sat down the hall on the second floor. His indispensable right hand was Charlie Pepper, who typed faster than anyone I have ever seen. Charlie came to know most of us simply by transcribing the hundreds, if not thousands, of letters Frank wrote to law firms, judges, and potential employers on behalf of BC Law graduates. We often joked that Charlie Pepper wore out more IBM Selectrics than any typist in modern history. Each letter was tailored to the student it concerned, and each contained Frank’s signature phrase: “fully mindful of the treachery of superlatives.” I adopted that phrase myself in the many letters of recommendation I later wrote for my law clerks, interns, and colleagues—letters typed by the generous and competent people who endured my dictation over the years in both public and private offices. When graduation approached in the spring of 1967, I cannot say that Frank and I had an immediate friendship. Yet he seemed to know every graduating student—our backgrounds, our interests, our hopes, and our intentions.
Continue readingWhy You Should Take Classes Outside of Your Comfort Zone
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” — Maya Angelou
Gaining control of your class schedule is one of the most exciting aspects of leaving 1L behind and moving forward in your law school journey. Aside from the anxiety it induces as everyone gathers around tables in the yellow room or library to sign up for classes at the exact time that the registration window opens, the chance to pick all your courses is one of the most fun parts of law school. But not enough people take full advantage of this freedom. I understand the temptation to use your future career path as a guide for course selection. Yet more students should utilize their time in school to explore various areas of the law. Studying at Boston College Law School means we have access to some of the sharpest and most thoughtful legal minds across a wide variety of subjects. Take advantage of that bounty of intellectual acumen while you can. Doing so will make us all better lawyers and students, and, more importantly, more well-rounded people, regardless of our future professional track.
Continue readingSupreme Court Considers FCC’s Jury Trial Problem
This guest post by BC Law Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Daniel Lyons first appeared in the AEIdeas Blog.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has loomed large on the Supreme Court’s docket recently. Last term, the Justices addressed E-Rate fraud prevention efforts, the agency’s authority to bind courts, and the constitutionality of its Universal Service Program. Now the Commission is before the High Court. This new case, FCC v. AT&T, asks whether the FCC’s power to levy punitive fines violates the Seventh Amendment right to a trial by jury—a question whose resolution could reshape not just telecommunications regulation but the balance of power among agencies, courts, and juries.
Continue readingTo Clinic or To Extern? That ‘Tis the Question
Another semester is well underway, and for 1Ls currently staring down approximately a couple hundred pages of reading per week, it might be heartening to remember that with 2L comes opportunities to practically build your legal skills.
Two of these opportunities, externships and clinics, allow students to engage with the legal profession practically. This all sounds amazing, but when I was a 1L I had questions: what’s a clinic? What’s an externship? How are they different? Can you do both?
Continue readingFive Key Tips for the Transition From 1L 1st to 2nd Semester
Happy (belated) new year everyone! While it may be cold and stagnant outside, there is a lot of change going on at the school right now. I remember my second semester of first year and it was a messy start. I have some tips for the first few weeks back from winter break.
Continue readingThe Great White Hurricane: When Providence Showed Off
This weekend’s bitter cold reminded me of a three-day storm long in the past that makes our modern Nor’easters look positively quaint. On March 11-14, 1888, the “Great White Hurricane” buried the Northeast under 50 inches of snow coupled with 85 mph winds. According to contemporary account in the New York Evening Sun, “It came in whirls, it descended in layers, it shot along in great blocks, it rose and fell and corkscrewed and zigzagged and played merry havoc with everything it could swing or batter or bang or carry away.”
Continue readingA Tale of Two Newtons: Life as a Freshman and Law Student
Before I ever stepped foot onto the grounds of Boston College, I learned that I would be living on the Newton campus my freshman year.
I did not think much of it at first, but as I descended the hill to Duchesne Hall for the first time, I prepared myself for an entire year of living in the lowest place on campus, both figuratively and literally. Although I had some challenges adjusting to my new living situation, I came to love Newton campus and defend it against anybody willing to talk poorly about it. I met some of my best friends in Duchesne and on the Newton bus, and I would not trade those experiences for anything. Only on Newton campus will you see people being hurled down a hill of snow and ice in a trash can and call it “sledding.” Only on Newton campus will freshmen buy BC Law sweatshirts to try to study in the Law Library.
Continue readingFrom Imposter Syndrome to Winning a Jury Trial: My First Semester in the BC Defenders Clinic
This guest post was written by Natalie Reysa, a third-year student at BC Law.
“Oh boy, am I glad to see you!” This reaction was the opposite of what I expected from the first client I met in lockup, on my first duty day in the Dorchester Division of the Boston Municipal Court.
I had imagined this day repeatedly, convinced that my future clients would take one look at me and immediately doubt my abilities to represent them. The potential reasons floated in my head: young female law student, intimidated by public speaking and thinking on my feet, no background in public defense trial work…the list went on.
Continue readingFour Tips for Navigating Grade Disappointment
Once again I am directly addressing the 1L class, and also airing out my dirty laundry. Everything I write below—like all my Impact posts—is what I wish someone could have told me before coming to school. As always, all opinions and experiences are my own, as I can only speak to what I endured during my 1L year.
“Endure” will be the theme here. It’s a strong word I typically find only in my romantasy books. Merriam-Webster tells us it means “to remain firm under suffering or misfortune without yielding.” Very dramatic. But to say a student endures his or her 1L year does not fail to satisfy Merriam-Webster’s definition. Some of you may feel like you’re hanging by a thread, trying to go through the motions of law school one day at a time. You are enduring.
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BC Law: Impact 