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Director's message
Mary Gallagher, Director, Marketing & Communications
Dear Friends,
We’ve just welcomed another remarkable class of students to BU Law. I hope you’ll have the chance to meet some of them when you visit the School for alumni events or recruitment interviews. You will find that BU Law is attracting some of the brightest and most accomplished students across the nation.
The University has made a substantial investment in the quality of the BU Law academic experience by significantly reducing the entering class size from a high of 450 in the 1980's to approximately 275 today. As we’ve become more selective, our students’ accomplishments and skill levels have become ever more impressive. The combination of smaller classes, a highly qualified student body, a broad curriculum and a faculty acclaimed for their scholarship and superb teaching skill enables BU Law to offer an outstanding educational experience.
This year, we welcomed four new faculty members who will add even more depth and strength to the School: James E. Fleming, Linda C. McClain, Kevin Outterson and Sean J. Kealy. You can read more about them later in this newsletter.
Under Dean O’Rourke’s leadership, we are making a concerted effort to keep you informed about the School and to communicate the strength of BU Law and its graduates to the broader legal community. We worked with a specialty firm to develop a brand campaign, initiating a new look for BU Law, redesigning our publications, totally revamping our Web site and expanding our communication with critical audiences in the legal community.
Like all other law schools today, we also must address the impact of the U.S. News and World Report Survey. Some aren't convinced that the U.S. News survey results are a true measure of law school quality and yet the survey results are constantly referenced by law students and their potential employers. Did you know that 40% of the U.S. News score is dependent upon “reputation?" 25% of “reputation” is determined by the academic community and 15% is determined by the practicing legal community -- judges, attorneys general and the hiring partners or recruitment managers of law firms. Thus, perception plays a strong part in the establishment of the U.S. News scores, making communication of the School’s strengths a vital task.
Would you like to help? Only 27% of recipients actually complete and return their surveys to U.S. News. You can make a difference in this process by doing a few simple things:
- Encourage your firm’s hiring partner or recruitment manger to complete the U.S. News survey and share information about BU Law and its graduates with him/her. If you don’t work with a law firm, please share information about BU Law with your colleagues in the profession.
- When you or your organization are hiring, please consider BU Law students. As you’ll see below, many employers across the U.S. consistently recruit BU Law students and graduates.
- If you receive the U.S. News survey yourself, please complete the survey and consider the following information when you do:
- Quick Facts about BU Law, our Entering Class and our Faculty
- Top Feeder Schools for BU Law
- BU Law graduates are achieving success in all fields of law, across the U.S. and around the world. View Employers Interviewing BU Law Students On-Campus this Year
- Employers Interviewing BU Law Students Off Campus this Year
- Sampling of Government/Public Interest Groups Interviewing BU Law Students
We hope that you’ll share this information with your colleagues in the legal community and remember BU Law when you’re hiring.
Mary Gallagher,
Director, Marketing & Communications
New direction in the Career Development Office
CDO Names Maura Kelly Director and Jennifer Perrigo Associate Director
Coinciding with the start of a new school year, the CDO has named Maura Kelly as its new director and Jennifer Perrigo as associate director, as well as director of the Pro Bono Program.
>>Full story
BU Law alumni victorious in landmark civil suit
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| From left: Joseph B. Burns, Austin J. McGuigan, Dean Maureen O'Rourke, Victor Garo and Dan Rea |
“There is no scientific method for deciding how much money constitutes lack of life,” said U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner, who ordered the federal government to pay over $101 million for its role in the wrongful conviction of four men framed for a 1965 gangland murder. The landmark decision was delivered to a packed courtroom of friends, family and attorneys who remained committed to the case over the years: Victor Garo (‘65), Austin J. McGuigan (‘72), Joseph Burns (‘82) and Dan Deutsch (‘86). BU Law alumni and WBZ-TV reporter, Dan Rea (‘74) helped draw attention to the case.
>>Full story & photo flipbook
New faculty at BU Law
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This fall, BU Law welcomes nine permanent and visiting professors to its faculty. This distinguished group adds a wealth of skills and knowledge to the School's community. The professors’ diverse backgrounds range from specializing in Intellectual Property Law to Family Law, and they have found success in both law and education, being published and honored for their achievements. Adding to their long lists of accomplishments, they will now enrich student experience by teaching at BU Law.
>> Full story
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BU Law & the Morin Center bid farewell to lifelong supporter Charles H. Morin ('49)
Charles H. Morin, a 1949 graduate of Boston University School of Law and an original member of the Morin Center Board of Advisors, passed away on August 20, 2007. At BU Law, Morin was an editor of the Law Review and graduated cum laude. “Charlie Morin was a distinguished member of a particularly distinguished class,” says Ernest M. Haddad, BU Law’s Associate Dean for Graduate Programs. “I got to know Charlie in 1967 and immediately developed an enormous respect for him.”
>>Full story
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Alumni in the news
Three BU Law Alumni Named Leading Plaintiffs' Lawyers in America >>Full story
Lawdragon Magazine Names 11 Alumni "Leading Dealmakers">>Full story
Maia Councheva (LL.M. ’07) Accepted Into FDIC Program >>Full story
Marshall A. Gallop, Jr. (LL.M. ’77) Named North Carolina "Super Lawyer" >>Full story
State Immigration Advocacy Coalition Honors Iris Gomez (‘80) >>Full story
Alumna O. Rogeriee Thompson Appointed to Commission to Commemorate Slavery’s History in Rhode Island >>Full story
Philip W. Savrin (’85) Successfully Argues Case Before Supreme Court >>Full story
Paul Sugarman (’54) Awarded Lifetime Achievement Award >>Full story
David Zaslav (’85) Collaborates with DiCaprio to Build “Eco-Town” >>Full story
Have you had your work published recently? Do you have news you would like to share with us for the next newsletter? Please let us know.
*Alumni features are automatically populated by a news alert system
Faculty Focus
Professor Fleming Publishes Securing Constitutional Democracy: The Case of Autonomy
Putting forth “a Constitution-perfecting theory, one that aspires to interpret the American Constitution so as to make it the best it can be,” is the project of Professor James E. Fleming’s recent book, Securing Constitutional Democracy: The Case of Autonomy. He argues that not only procedural liberties related to democracy but also substantive liberties associated with autonomy are integral to our Constitution.
>>Full story
Professor Hecht Releases New Work on Jewish Law
In 1983, Professor Neil S. Hecht founded BU Law’s Institute of Jewish Law. Still the director of the program, Hecht continues to add to the growing list of articles on Jewish law that have been published by the Institute with his latest work, Volume 17 of The Jewish Law Annual.
>>Full story
Associate Professor Sloane Receives Award from Hague Academy of International Law
On August 11, 2007, Associate Professor Robert D. Sloane received the very prestigious “high-level diploma” from the Hague Academy of International Law.
>>Full story
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Did you know?
The History Behind the Garo Lounge
In 1987, Law Alumni Association President Victor J. Garo ('65) made a donation to be used to furnish a space on the first floor for students to commune and study. The donation was made in honor of his father and mother, Joseph and Katherine Garo. Pictures of past recipients of the Metcalf Award, which honors members of the law faculty who excel as teachers, are hung on the walls, along with a large screen TV and numerous outputs for Internet access. Students congregate in the Garo Lounge to study, grab a quick bite between classes and unwind with other students.