With BigLaw recruiting already knocking on the door for this year’s 1Ls, I thought this might be a good time to reflect on my own 1L summer experience—and offer a reminder that there is plenty to learn, explore, and enjoy outside of a traditional law firm setting.
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The Accidental Advocate
This guest post was written by Margie Palladino ’85, Executive Director of Mass Family Advocacy Coalition (MFAC) and candidate to serve on the Governor’s Council for Massachusetts.
Boston College Law School teaches the practice of law in the Jesuit tradition of service to others. Of all the lessons I learned there, one has stayed with me throughout my life: our legal system does not affect everyone equally.
As a law student, I was taught that people who are marginalized or lack resources can experience our justice system very differently. When you don’t have the money, the support, or even the “right-color” skin, justice can be much harder to reach.
That lesson planted a seed. I just didn’t pay much attention to it at the time.
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 readingA Tool for Accountability and Justice: Meet Leena Alasaad
There are numerous roads to law school, and no one-size fits all path to a successful legal career. Follow along with our series highlighting BC Law students and how they got here!
Previous entries: Sara Womble (Winston Salem, NC); Elias Massion (Nashville, TN); Samina Gagné (London);Alvin Synarong (Murfreesboro, Tennessee); Ruchita Jain (Edina, Minnesota); Nicole Bauer (Michigan);Carlos Robles-Cruz (Puerto Rico); Taha Din (Naperville, IL); Timothy St. Pierre (Brunswick, Maine); Tobias Wilcken Jørgensen LLM ’25 (Denmark).
Name: Leena Alasaad
Hometown: Dracut, Massachusetts
Educational Background: Undergraduate degree in Political Science, with a minor in Philosophy and Law, University of Massachusetts Boston
An Immersive Experience: Meet LLM Alum Tobias Wilcken Jørgensen ’25
There are numerous roads to law school, and no one-size fits all path to a successful legal career. Follow along with our series highlighting BC Law students and how they got here!
Previous entries: Sara Womble (Winston Salem, NC); Elias Massion (Nashville, TN); Samina Gagné (London); Alvin Synarong (Murfreesboro, Tennessee); Ruchita Jain (Edina, Minnesota); Nicole Bauer (Michigan); Carlos Robles-Cruz (Puerto Rico); Taha Din (Naperville, IL); Timothy St. Pierre (Brunswick, ME).
Name:
Tobias Wilcken Jørgensen
Home Country:
Denmark
Degree:
LLM, Class of 2025
Building on Advocacy and Compassion: Meet Timothy St. Pierre
There are numerous roads to law school, and no one-size fits all path to a successful legal career. Follow along with our series highlighting BC Law students and how they got here!
Previous entries: Sara Womble (Winston Salem, NC); Elias Massion (Nashville, TN); Samina Gagné (London); Alvin Synarong (Murfreesboro, Tennessee); Ruchita Jain (Edina, Minnesota); Nicole Bauer (Michigan); Carlos Robles-Cruz (Puerto Rico); Taha Din (Naperville, IL).
Name: Timothy St. Pierre
Hometown: Brunswick, Maine
Educational Background: Swarthmore College (2021, Political Science, French & Francophone Studies)
Discovering Advocacy Before the Courtroom: My Journey to Law School
One Monday morning in the summer of 2022, I was greeted at work by my boss eagerly telling me today I would be meeting the defendant in the self-defense case I just started working on. After anxiously waiting until lunch, I watched with surprise as a young boy—barely five foot seven and still sporting a baby face—walked through my door and told me he was just seventeen yet was being tried as an adult for second-degree murder.
Continue readingHow My Grandmother’s Escape from Persecution Helped Me Discover My Own Path
Ilovik, Croatia, is a sparsely developed island with a compact area of just five square miles. With only 60 permanent residents and a modest influx of expatriates each summer, Ilovik’s way of life is characterized by its isolation and limited resources. The idyllic beauty of the island belies the history and complex legal struggles of many of its inhabitants. I have spent most of my childhood summers visiting my Baba, Croatian for grandmother, in Ilovik. During these visits, as I listened to Baba’s poignant recollections of her time on and off the island, I discovered my calling to pursue a career in law.
Continue readingA Sit Down Chat with BC Law Legend Professor Bloom
Generations of BC Law alumni have found common ground in relating their experiences with the institution’s most revered fixtures, names like Hillinger, Brodin, Blum, and Katz. This week, I had a chat with Professor “Bob” Bloom, an alum himself and a remarkable legal educator whose one-of-a-kind style has left an indelible mark on any student privileged enough to take his courses (BC Law Magazine published a lengthy Q&A with him last spring; read that here).
Continue readingFinding Creative Solutions to Human Problems: Meet Taha Din
There are numerous roads to law school, and no one-size fits all path to a successful legal career. Follow along with our series highlighting BC Law students and how they got here!
Last year’s entries: Sara Womble (Winston Salem, NC); Elias Massion (Nashville, TN); Samina Gagné (London); Alvin Synarong (Murfreesboro, Tennessee); Ruchita Jain (Edina, Minnesota); Nicole Bauer (Michigan); Carlos Robles-Cruz (Puerto Rico).
Name: Taha Din
Hometown: Naperville, IL
Educational Background: I graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 2021, where I studied History, Classical Civilization, and Arabic Language.
