perspectives

Time, Time, So Little Time

/ Jaegun Lee / Leave a comment

Heads up: There is so much to read in law school. And the case materials are not written in plain English. You will have to read some cases twice or even three times to get a clear picture of what’s really going on.

Then there are a myriad of 1L events to welcome us law-newbies – and overwhelm us further – on this exciting journey into the world of jurisprudence.

You have half-a-dozen student organization meetings to attend. Socialization follows.
Of the little time you have left for yourself, you’re given the choice to sleep or…

…go rock climbing, kayaking, run, hangout at the beach, and try out kiteboarding.

Continue reading →

Spoiler Alert: It Was BC Law

/ marylorenzo / Leave a comment

Sometimes, life has a funny way of telling you where you’re supposed to be.

In February, I had decided on a law school. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t BC Law. The school I chose was a highly-ranked choice close to home. I was beyond excited to send in my seat deposit, but for some reason I felt obligated to justify my decision to my friends and family. I remember pining over the ABA 509 Reports for some kind—any kind—of justification to back my decision. Now, of course, I know that the only person I needed to convince was myself.

Continue reading →

Lessons From My Leave

/ Caroline Reilly / 1 Comment

If you’ve been following my law school journey here on the BC Law Impact Blog, you know that it hasn’t been an easy one. I was diagnosed with endometriosis – a chronic reproductive health condition that can cause back pain, pelvic pain, fatigue, and infertility among other debilitating symptoms – in my first year of law school. After a failed surgery between my first and second years of law school, and a successful, more intensive one in the winter of 2L, followed by a semester long leave, I am happy to be back on campus.

I spent the spring and the summer doing research for If/When/How on abortion access for teens, watching way too much of the X-Files, and working on my recovery. Getting your life back after a chronic illness sidelines you is a longer, and harder process than I expected, and I’m still working on getting my body and my mind back to where it was before I got sick. In the meantime, I’m taking it slow at school, and reflecting on what I’ve learned in the last few months. Here are some things I’ve learned about myself and law school along the way, and how you can apply them to (hopefully) make your time at BC Law a little easier:

Continue reading →

The Infamous Cold Call: Should You Be Terrified?

/ Alex Bou-Rhodes / 2 Comments

In law school, the primary method of teaching, at least in larger classes and especially during the first year, is referred to as the Socratic method. A professor will call on and question a student (usually at random) about the day’s assigned reading, typically a judge’s written decision or case. You’re asked what happened to cause the dispute, what position the opposing sides took and argued, and how the court reasoned through the issue. This happens in front of the eighty or so other students in class.  Public speaking consistently ranks among our greatest fears. The cold call in law school has you speaking in public without much preparation because you cannot know exactly what question will be put to you.

I didn’t know cold calling was a thing in law school until family and friends started asking me if I was nervous about it. I did some research and became terrified – and while it’s normal to feel that way, let me tell you why it might not be justified.

Continue reading →

Project Dignity: A Happy Experiential Learning Accident

/ Caroline Reilly / Leave a comment

I’m so excited to be hosting a guest blog from 2L Lauren Koster on her public interest experiential learning experience.

For the spring semester of our 1L year, Boston College Law introduced an exciting element of choice: selecting an experiential learning elective to start building the skills it takes to be a lawyer. Some of our classmates opted for a course to practice negotiation or civil litigation. In the course of my choosing, “Leadership, Communication, and Social Justice for the Public Interest Practitioner,” our experiential element was driven entirely by a team project of our own design.

Continue reading →

Want to Practice in New York?

/ Venus Chui / Leave a comment

In the summer of 2016, I was faced with a dilemma: should I attend law school at BC, a school that I absolutely love, and at which I know I’ll receive a quality education? Or should I attend law school in New York – my home city, and the city where I want to eventually practice law – even though the school has a lower ranking?

After months of deliberation, speaking with lawyers and law students, and prayer, I decided to attend BC Law. I was convinced that it was the best place for me to receive the education I need to be a good lawyer, and to also enjoy the law school experience (and as a rising 3L, I can say that I was right!). However, a concern still lingered in my mind throughout my 1L year: will I be able to find a job back at home in New York City once I graduate? This blog post is for any prospective or current students who are wondering the same thing.

Continue reading →

Now Playing: The IPTF Podcast, Episode 4

/ Charlene Ochogo / Leave a comment
I’m delighted to guest host 2L Ryan Sullivan today, who is bringing us the first ever Intellectual Property and Technology Forum podcast. The IPTF is dedicated to providing readers with rigorous, innovative scholarship, timely reporting, and ongoing discussion from the legal community concerning technology law and intellectual property. The Forum is designed, edited and published by students at Boston College Law School. And if you missed Episodes 2 and 3, check them out here!
What does the FCC’s rollback of limitations on ISPs really mean for consumers? Is the hysteria surrounding the rollback warranted? Are we closing in on the end of Net Neutrality under the Trump administration?
Tune in to Episode 4, where our guest is Gesmer Updegrove Litigation Partner, Joe Laferrera. In additions to leading Gesmer’s Data Security and Privacy practice group, Joe is a techie through and through.

Unlock the Vote: Restoring Felons’ Rights

/ Alex Bou-Rhodes / Leave a comment

In April, I had the privilege of presenting a talk to the Boston College community as part of BC’s Graduate Student’s Association’s program GradTalks. It’s an annual event that provides a forum for a diverse selection of graduate students to present ideas that interest them. I spoke about felon disenfranchisement, and what we have to do in Massachusetts to overcome barriers to voting rights.

Watch the video after the jump.

Continue reading →

Here’s Why I Wouldn’t Go to Law School Anywhere Else

/ Brianna Marshall / Leave a comment

I’m very pleased to host a guest blog today from 2L Vaishali Goyal. Vaishali has been a staff writer for the Law Review and served as President of the American Constitution Society. She can be reached at goyalv@bc.edu.

Like many, I decided to attend BC Law for the community. But it was not just the student community I came for; I came to BC Law because of what BC did for me and for my family during my senior year of college.

Senior year, right after spring break, I had an unexpected and life threatening brain bleed. I was in the hospital for a month and a half.

Continue reading →

Humans of BC Law: Matthew Rapkowski

/ Venus Chui / Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2017-03-27 at 5.37.31 PM.png

“What am I doing right now? Oh, I’m researching the necessary components for a reverse mortgage in New York. I work part time for the firm that I’ll be working for this summer. They kindly gave me the opportunity to work while I was in school. They understand that I’m a student and I have other things going on, so they’ve allocated up to 20 hours a week that I can work whenever I feel I have the time. I have a five-hour break between my morning and afternoon classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, so this is pretty perfect. Right now I’m also working on our moot court brief, but, yeah, it’s cool that I get to do both.”

Matt is a 2L at BC Law, hoping to eventually practice real estate and commercial litigation.