Boston College Law School gives its students a wide range of classes to take that are taught by some of the best scholars in the field. Yet, while learning about the law in a classroom is crucial to becoming a successful attorney, nothing prepares you for day-to-day practice more than getting hands-on experience before graduating. That’s where BC Law’s clinics come in.

Law students in their second and third years of study can apply for coveted spots in any of the school’s fifteen clinics. No matter what someone’s legal interest is, there’s a clinic for them! To help students better understand the opportunities available to them, the BC Law Impact Blog is highlighting each of these clinics this semester. Here is our interview with a co-director of the Massachusetts Attorney General Civil Litigation Program, Tom Barnico.

Tell us about your clinic!

The Massachusetts Attorney General Civil Litigation Program provides a full-year clinical experience in civil litigation in the Government Bureau of the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General (AGO). Students in the Program get to work directly with Bureau assistant attorneys general in the representation of state agencies and officials in state and federal courts. This is also the only clinic offered at BC Law where students get to conduct civil litigation in a public law office.

At the AGO, students are assigned to either the Constitutional & Administrative Law Division, or the Trial Division. In the former, they work on cases involving administrative and constitutional law, federal courts, and statutory construction. In the latter, they work on cases involving employment, torts, contracts, and eminent domain and land use law. No matter where students are working, they gain hands-on experience with all kinds of litigation skills and strategy, including the drafting of pleadings, motions, discovery requests and responses, and other litigation documents; the writing of briefs in trial and appellate courts; possible oral argument in state courts; and other litigation tasks, including the taking and defense of depositions.

What’s the origin story of the Program, or of your time teaching it?

The Program was started in 1975 by then-Attorney General Francis Bellotti. As a BC Law alum (class of 1952), Bellotti teamed up with then-assistant attorneys general Stephen Rosenfeld and Donald Stern to help bridge the gap between the law school and the Massachusetts AGO. Don Stern was also a clinical professor at BC Law before joining the AGO, so he had some experience teaching in this capacity.

Both my co-director of the Program, Jim Sweeney, and I were students in the clinic during our time at BC Law. We both became assistant attorneys general and decided to give back to the Program by directing it for future students.

Does the Program have any exciting success stories to share?

Our first success stories have to do with our students, approximately 20 of whom have returned to the Massachusetts AGO as assistant attorneys general. I have no doubt that their work in this clinic prepared them for these roles.

But, we also have had success in the courtroom! Several recent students have argued motions to dismiss and motions for judgment on the pleadings in Superior Court under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act and the Massachusetts Administrative Procedure Act. A current student, Morgan Lloyd (class of 2024), is arguing a motion to dismiss in Superior Court in March in a case against the Massachusetts Contributory Appeal Board. Another current student, Jenna Stevens (class of 2024), is handling a deposition this spring. And Julianne O’Connor (also class of 2024) is working with the trial team on the Attorney General’s pending case against Uber and Lyft regarding the employment statuses of their drivers. In 2018, Patrick Ciapciak (class of 2019) even argued a case before a full panel of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, as described here.

Does the Program have any fun traditions?

At the end of the year, the Attorney General of Massachusetts joins our class during one of our weekly seminars. This is an intimate opportunity to meet with the AG, ask questions, and even receive advice about future career paths. The fact that the AG takes time out of their schedule to meet with our students in this capacity shows how appreciated and respected they are in the AGO!

You can read more about one student’s experience in the AG Civil Litigation Program here.

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Tess Halpern is a third-year student and president of the Impact blog. Contact her at halperte@bc.edu.