What was your Legislative Clinic placement and your role there?
I worked with Massachusetts State Senator Susan Fargo. She was a chairwoman of the Joint Community on Public Health at the state capital. We were researching a potential solution to distribution of contaminated meat of which Massachusetts would be powerless to inform its citizens. The state couldn’t get access to where the contaminated food products were distributed so they could tell consumers directly. There is a federal debate now, and we wanted to see if there was a state remedy.
My job was to look at other solutions in other sates, especially in California where they had already passed a law. I researched requirements for notification and looked at proposing a similar bill. I met with the senator and her chief of staff, and I drafted the bill after meetings with them.
In the Legislative Counsel Clinic, each student was assigned a senator or representative at the State House, and each person had a bill they were working with specifically. Professor Kealy did a good job pairing us with projects that interested us and would be most beneficial to us.
What was your most memorable experience in your placement, and why?
I enjoyed the classroom experience the best. I found working with Professor Kealy to be the best part; he was really enthusiastic. I enjoyed the class debates that would come up about different issues. Professor Kealy gave us a new perspective on certain issues, and I really enjoyed the perspectives of other classmates. We met once or twice a week and would bounce ideas off of each other. It was definitely very helpful for us to understand the issues. The biggest question we discussed was, “What is our role with the legislators or the interest groups? What do they expect from us, and what are we obligated to tell them or to really produce for them?” It was fun figuring out a new role. Especially as a young attorney, you don’t usually get that experience of reading case law and writing memorandum on that law.
What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in the program, and how did you overcome this?
The biggest challenge was probably learning some of the different procedural rules and overcoming the learning curve of the political process. On one side, it seems simplistic to write a bill and take it to a legislator with a report. But we had to learn the specific concerns of the legislator and their constituents. You have to find a common ground or a workable solution or else it won’t solve the problem you intended to solve. It’s helpful to meet face to face with people and tell them if you have a question.
What did you gain from participating in the program?
I think I got something very unique out of the experience with the clinic, especially combined with other class I took. Most of our classes in law school are focused on case law and judge-made law, so to have a class almost entirely on statutory construction and legislation intent, it seemed to be the other side of the coin. It was an incredibly useful tool, which I’ve used already in my summer internship at a law firm in Washington, D.C. where we looked at a lot of legislative concerns.
How did your expectations going into the program differ from the actual experience?
I was very pleased with the breadth of the program. I kind of expected a more do-it-yourself type thing. But I found there was a lot more collaboration with Professor Kealy and every individual legislator. The communication lines were very open between students and them. Even though you might not be working on a similar bill as your classmates, you can still gain a lot from hearing them advocate on that bill or talk about issues they’ve already had.
What are your plans after BU Law?
I’m currently looking for a job in Philadelphia, and I’m also interested in working in Washington, D.C. I think that would be a great way to use the clinic experience. Anybody who’s had this kind of experience has a leg up on other students who haven’t had an in-depth experience in a political environment where statutory construction and a forward-thinking mentality take dividend. Especially for a lawyer looking to work in D.C., working with statutes and regulatory issues is very important to understand both the process and the underlying theory. It’s absolutely useful.
What advice would you give to incoming students curious about the clinical programs?
It’s absolutely necessary to do. Seminars are great, and they provide a much-needed break from lecture, but this takes that concept further. In the clinics, you’re working with your colleagues and professors to actually go out there and take on a client and work for them. You really have to hold yourself to a much higher standard because you’re providing a very important work product. Your writing will definitely improve, and you’ll get a different perspective. Through my experience with the clinic, I learned a little more about what it's like to be an attorney.
