Biography
Ms. Donovan received her JD, cum laude , from Boston College Law School in 1993. After graduating, Ms. Donovan joined the New York City Law Department, Office of the Corporation Counsel, where she worked as a prosecutor and then in the City’s tort department. She then spent numerous years in private practice, as a medical malpractice insurance defense attorney.
Ms. Donovan is currently the lead seminar trainer for SEAK, Inc., an education company for expert and testifying witnesses. She has trained countless expert witnesses in testifying skills, report writing, and practice development at SEAK conferences, customized on-site expert witness training programs, and via one-on-one training and mentoring.
Ms. Donovan received her BA, summa cum laude , from Fordham University and has studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. Ms. Donovan has taught at the law school for 24 years.
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Courses
Health Justice Practicum
2 credits
The Health Justice Practicum is a new one-semester, two-credit course enrolling a maximum of six students. Students will collaborate with frontline health care providers who serve marginalized populations on projects that require legal and problem-solving skills and where providers and/or patients have identified a systemic problem affecting patients' health and wellbeing. In Spring 2022, we will be collaborating with Project RESPECT, an integrated obstetrics, addiction medicine, and behavioral health clinic at Boston Medical Center that serves low-income pregnant and parenting people in recovery from substance use disorders (SUDs), especially opioid use disorders (OUDs). Project RESPECT providers have identified a problem in Massachusetts law that significantly harms low-income parents in recovery from SUDs and their children, disproportionately harming Black, Indigenous, or other people of color (BIPOC) families. Children born to women in evidence-based medication-assisted recovery (e.g., methadone treatment) must be reported at birth to the Department of Children and Families as if the mother were actively using drugs. Children born to BIPOC mothers are more likely than children born to white mothers both to be reported to child protection authorities and to be separated from their families as a result. The trauma of custody disruption has demonstrated serious effects on both recovering parents and child health and development. We will explore and advocate for possible legal and policy advocacy solutions to these issues--for example, changes in mandatory reporting laws and reformed child protection agency practices to eliminate discriminatory decisionmaking. Students will attend group meetings as well as work on research and advocacy. The project work will allow students to hone their research, analytical, writing, presentation, and problem-solving skills. Regular group meetings will deepen students' understanding of their projects by providing a broader context. Students will also meet individually or in teams with the faculty supervisor to discuss their project work. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2026: LAW JD 893 A1, Aug 31st to Dec 3rd 2026
LEGAL WRITING FOR CIVIL LITIGATION
3 credits
This class is designed to give students experience in legal writing for civil litigation. Over the course of the semester, students will work on the various stages of a federal court litigation from pre-complaint investigation through dispositive motions. There will be opportunities to draft a variety of litigation documents, including complaints, discovery, motions, and research memos. Students will complete multiple drafts of key documents and will meet individually with the instructor to discuss the drafts. Students will focus on using the facts to tell their clients' story and making persuasive, winning arguments. In class, students will discuss a range of strategic questions including developing viable causes of action, identifying critical facts, and using written discovery to obtain information. Additionally, students will participate in several in-class exercises designed to improve the students' skills in writing, fact-gathering and argument. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This Dedicated Writing Class may be used to satisfy the requirement. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in both Legal Writing for Civil Litigation and Persuasive Writing: Trial Level (JD 713). ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
FALL 2026: LAW JD 712 A1, Aug 31st to Dec 3rd 2026
Research and Writing Seminar (LLM)
2 credits
This two-credit Legal Research and Writing seminar is required for LL.M. students in the American Law program and optional for students in the LL.M. programs in Banking and Financial Law and Taxation. It is specifically designed to introduce foreign lawyers to the basic principles of American legal writing. In small class settings and individual conferences, students receive guidance on drafting and editing memoranda and agreements. Their work is critiqued and rewritten. The research component of the seminar trains students to locate cases, statutes and secondary material through indexing systems and the latest computer technology. Research assignments are integrated into writing assignments -- exposing students to the methods of US legal analyses -- so that by the end of the term, students obtain the skills needed to write memoranda appropriate for submission to US law firms.
FALL 2026: LAW AM 704 A1, Aug 31st to Dec 3rd 2026 FALL 2026: LAW AM 704 B1, Aug 31st to Dec 3rd 2026 FALL 2026: LAW AM 704 C1, Aug 31st to Dec 3rd 2026 FALL 2026: LAW AM 704 D1, Aug 31st to Dec 3rd 2026 FALL 2026: LAW AM 704 G1, Aug 31st to Dec 3rd 2026 FALL 2026: LAW AM 704 H1, Aug 31st to Dec 3rd 2026 FALL 2026: LAW AM 704 I1, Aug 31st to Dec 3rd 2026 FALL 2026: LAW AM 704 J1, Aug 31st to Dec 3rd 2026 SPRG 2027: LAW AM 704 B2, Jan 11th to Apr 21st 2027 SPRG 2027: LAW AM 704 Y1, Jan 11th to Apr 21st 2027 SPRG 2027: LAW AM 704 Y2, Jan 11th to Apr 21st 2027
