The Study Spot Guide (NOT the BC Law Library)

/ Haley Cole / 1 Comment

This is part one of a two part study spot series. Catch part two covering on-campus options on 11/20.

Happy finals season! We are in the homestretch of the fall semester, which means BC Law students find themselves with their heads in their books and spending far more time inside. As we are all preparing for finals, I would like to offer some alternative study spots in the Newton-Boston area that are NOT the BC Law Library we are all very (too) familiar with. Happy studying, you’re almost there!

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Breaking Down a Big Week in the Net Neutrality Case

/ BC Law Impact Guest Posts / Leave a comment

This guest post by BC Law Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Daniel Lyons first appeared in the AEIdeas Blog.

While the eyes of much of the country were on Pennsylvania and Georgia last week, the tech community was focused on Cincinnati, where the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in the net neutrality case. As I’ve noted before, it’s unwise to predict a decision based on oral argument alone. But the arguments signaled that the court is far more interested in the merits of the case than most anticipated. This post discusses that shift, while acknowledging that events last Tuesday may ultimately overshadow those on Halloween.

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The Art of Letting Go: From Division 1 Gymnastics to LP Memos

/ Malcolm Baytop / Leave a comment

As a former collegiate gymnast, I am no stranger to the discipline and intensity of mastering a technical craft. Excellent performance in the sport requires grueling hours dedicated to conditioning your mind and body for precise alignment. For example, when flying over the high bar, stretching your arms just a bit more after you let go of the bar could be the difference between catching it and falling flat on your face. 

Even at its most foundational level, like holding a handstand, gymnastics requires an extremely detail-oriented and analytical approach. When I decided to become a lawyer, I knew that years of painstakingly paying attention to detail in gymnastics would come in handy for the high standards of diligence in the legal profession. However, I did not expect the personal insights I gained from years of striving towards perfection in the sport to apply in my 1L law practice course.

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How the God of Wine and Madness (and Pinecones) Helped Me Find My Lawyer Mask

/ Michael Deere / Leave a comment

I was supposed to write this post last week, but you know how it is. Busy, busy, busy. And in the grand scheme of things, who cares? The universe is billions of years old, so what’s an extra week? And a week wouldn’t really matter at all except that last week was Halloween, and Halloween got me thinking about masks. Masks and Dionysos. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: what in the pumpkins does any of that have to do with law school? But sit tight; I’m getting there. You’ll see.

Everybody knows Dionysos. The god of wine, madness, and somewhat oddly, pinecones. But nobody actually gets to see the god. That’s the funny thing. Dionysos is always masked, always appearing as something he is not. On the one hand, that’s pretty typical for the Greeks. Mortal eyes cannot gaze upon the divine form and all that jazz. But on the other hand, Dionysos is unique in that regard. You don’t see him; you just feel him looking at you, like a disappointed grandmother. And even though you can’t look at him, when Dionysos looks at you, you feel it right down to your soon-to-be dancing toes. That’s when you learn about a whole new dimension of yourself. 

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Traded One Gavel for Another: Meet Samina Gagné

/ Sangeeta Kishore / 8 Comments

There are numerous roads to law school, and no one-size fits all path to a successful legal career. Follow along with our new series highlighting BC Law students and how they got here! 

Our first and second entries were with Sara Womble, a 2L from Winston Salem, NC, and Elias Massion, who comes from Nashville, TN and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Today’s Q&A is with Samina Gagné from London and Columbia University.

What did you do before coming to law school?

Before law school, I was an Auctioneer and Senior Client Development Manager in the art auction industry.  I worked my way up in the ranks of Sotheby’s and Phillips—working for both organizations in New York and London—to become one of the youngest auctioneers at a major auction house. Here’s a video link! This career allowed me to be both analytical and creative, while also constantly pushing me out of my comfort zone.

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Building the Case: The Thrill of Mock Trial

/ Alex Mostaghimi / Leave a comment

BC Law’s Mock Trial competition has been an exhilarating part of my law school experience. This year, 22 teams litigated the fictional case State of Lone Star v. Justice Jackson, where the defendant was suspected of felony theft and burglary in a late-night smash and grab of the boutique clothing store, Fox + Cat Vintage.

Our team had to dive deep into the case materials, examining every detail—from the eyewitness testimony to the intricacies of the fingerprint evidence on a pipe allegedly used in the crime. We practiced creating opening and closing statements, each word carefully chosen to create a smooth, coherent, and convincing story. 

While each round involved the same case materials, the endings always varied. The name of the game is admitting evidence that benefits you while trying to exclude evidence that harms you. Different teams have different case theories. One team of prosecutors may think an exhibit is crucial to proving their case, while another team may think the same exhibit is irrelevant or bad for their case.

One memorable part of the Mock Trial competition is questioning witnesses. With each cross-examination, it’s crucial to expose inconsistencies in the story or reveal new facets of a witness’s personality or reliability. For example, I questioned Angel Nguyen, the defendant’s ex-wife and main alibi witness who said the two were watching The Bachelor together at the time the burglary occurred. While you can prepare to your heart’s content, you can never fully anticipate exactly what the witness’s responses will be. Witnesses will squirm and try their hardest to avoid the traps the cross-examining attorney is laying in front of them. That’s the fun of the game.

That process was a mix of adrenaline rushes and critical thinking. It’s public speaking, trial practice, evidence, and thinking-on-your-feet all wrapped into one. Things will go fast and you have to act faster. If you don’t make a timely objection, the judge will tell you, “the horse has already left the barn.” For that reason, knowing the material and concepts well enough to invoke their substance and argue it on the spot is crucial. At the very least, you won’t be bored.

If participating as an attorney isn’t your thing, I’d strongly recommend being a mock trial witness. Not only is embodying a character fun, but there is also a skill component in helping evoke the story your side wants to tell, while making it as hard as possible for the other side to do the same.

I’d like to thank Caleb Brady, Noah DeRossi, and Christian Bilgrien for co-chairing the tournament. Without them, it simply wouldn’t be possible. They put on great presentations teaching the basics of trial advocacy and brought in fantastic judges who provided invaluable advice to our young legal minds, giving us a glimpse on what the real courtroom looks like.

Alex Mostaghimi is a second-year student at BC Law. Contact him at mostagha@bc.edu.

Halloween in the Heart of Fenway: Spooky Tales of a BC Law Tradition

/ Catherine Beveridge / Leave a comment

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Fall is an amazing season all around, but Halloween is the apex. My birthday is right around the end of the month, so to me it’s a whole week of cake and candy. Ending it by getting dressed up in costumes is a bonus.

I heard about the BC Law Halloween Party during my tour as a prospective student. The pitch was that while the end of October marks the big shift towards memos and finals, this was the big release everyone takes part in before exams. I can say the mood on campus has gotten seasonally spooky with how busy everyone has been. However, I got all my readings done, put down my memo draft, and swore I would make the most of the evening off.

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TikTok’s No Good, Very Bad Day in Court

/ BC Law Impact Guest Posts / Leave a comment

This guest post by BC Law Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Daniel Lyons first appeared in the AEIdeas Blog.

I have previously discussed the First Amendment implications of a potential TikTok ban. Removing TikTok from US markets implicates not just the speech rights of TikTok US—an American subsidiary of China-based ByteDance—but also those of its 170 million American users, many of whom actively create content on the platform. To prevail, the government must demonstrate that the ban furthers an important governmental interest unrelated to free expression and that it does not substantially burden more speech than necessary to achieve that interest. The latter is particularly challenging, which is why courts enjoined earlier bans on TikTok and WeChat.

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Is International Law Even Real?

/ Sangeeta Kishore / Leave a comment

At law school, I wanted to pursue international law. I studied International Relations in college, worked in foreign policy — anything with the word “global” in it, I was in. But what is international law? Some people say that it doesn’t exist. Others define it as a confusing mess of conventions, treaties and standards, with no real enforcement. 

I’d like to draw a different picture. International law sets the norms for global politics and helps facilitate socio-economic development across the world. Perhaps most importantly, international law regulates the conduct of war.

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What’s the Deal with the 1L Elective?

/ Sangeeta Kishore / Leave a comment

We’re nearing the end of the fall semester, and course registration is almost upon us. For 1Ls, that means being able to choose your spring 1L elective. While the idea of an extra class may seem overwhelming, for me, the 1L elective ended up being an opportunity to discover a new area of the law.

The 1L electives fall into three buckets. The large majority are “Experiential” classes that allow 1Ls to gain practical knowledge from practitioners, in topics ranging from Mergers & Acquisitions to Criminal Law to Work Law. Some are “Perspectives” courses which push students to think about the meaning of “law” and “justice” through the humanities and social sciences. My 1L elective, Introduction to Human Rights, Refugee, & Humanitarian Law, was a Perspectives course, and taught me both the successes and challenges of defining and litigating human rights issues. Our class also visited the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington D.C. to see this work in action (check out Alex’s great article about the trip!). Finally, the policy-oriented courses, like Restorative Justice in Courts, take a critical look at our legal institutions and explore pathways for reform. 

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