Sean Ahern

Sean Ahern

Lecturer

Biography

Sean Ahern is a practicing legal services attorney and a BU Law Class of 2017 alumnus. Sean is currently a senior attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services and a part-time lecturer at BU Law. Sean has lectured in the LLM program since fall 2021, teaching courses in legal research & writing and courses in legal interviewing and client counseling. During the spring and summer 2023 semesters, Sean held a temporary appointment as a full-time lecturer in the Civil Litigation & Justice clinic, where he supervised JD students and co-taught a course in trial advocacy. Sean is experienced as a litigator in a range of legal aid practice areas, including in class action litigation. Sean’s experience and research interest is largely in the intersection between consumer rights and housing. He has provided civil legal aid in employment, immigration, and government benefits cases as well.

Profile Types
Faculty, Lecturers & Adjunct Professors, and Part-Time Faculty

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Publications

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  • Sean Ahern, How Bad is Bad Enough?: Gatekeeping a Tenant's Right to 100% Habitable Housing 69 Wayne Law Review (2024)
    Scholarly Commons

Activities & Engagements

No upcoming activities or engagements.

Courses

LAW AM 892

LEGAL INTERVIEWING & CLIENT COUNSELING

3 credits

This is a practical skills seminar designed to introduce LLM students to the theory and practice of legal interviewing and client counseling. Through a combination of classroom discussion, readings, reflective writing, simulations and role-plays, students will learn the skills and techniques lawyers use to help clients make sound decisions. These include: identifying and obtaining relevant facts; effectively formulating questions; actively listening; identifying legal problems; clarifying client needs and objectives; formulating potential strategies; assisting clients in evaluating options; and communicating difficult information to clients, in litigation and transactional contexts. This course will provide opportunities for experiential learning, allowing students to develop and practice interviewing and counseling in real- world contexts. Enrollment limited to 18. **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.

SPRG 2026: LAW AM 892 A1, Jan 12th to Apr 22nd 2026
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Wed 4:20 pm 6:20 pm 3 Sean Ahern
LAW AM 704

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 2025: LAW AM 704 A1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Wed 9:00 am 10:15 am 2 Nadine Nasser Donovan
FALL 2025: LAW AM 704 B1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Wed 9:00 am 10:15 am 2 Benjamin Shorey
FALL 2025: LAW AM 704 C1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Wed 2:10 pm 3:25 pm 2 Niles
FALL 2025: LAW AM 704 D1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Wed 4:30 pm 5:45 pm 2 Christina R. Schaper
FALL 2025: LAW AM 704 G1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Thu 8:30 am 9:45 am 2 Hoerner
FALL 2025: LAW AM 704 H1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Thu 10:50 am 12:05 pm 2 Maureen T. Leo
FALL 2025: LAW AM 704 I1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Thu 11:00 am 12:15 pm 2 Jason Klumb
FALL 2025: LAW AM 704 J1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Thu 11:15 am 12:30 pm 2 Liliana Mangiafico
FALL 2025: LAW AM 704 K1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Thu 2:10 pm 3:25 pm 2 Brooke Arlington
FALL 2025: LAW AM 704 L1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Thu 6:30 pm 7:45 pm 2 Sean Ahern
FALL 2025: LAW AM 704 M1, Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Thu 6:30 pm 7:45 pm 2 Jin-Ho King
FALL 2025: LAW AM 704 Y3, Sep 2nd to Dec 4th 2025
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Thu 4:20 pm 6:20 pm 2 Liliana Mangiafico
SPRG 2026: LAW AM 704 A2, Jan 12th to Apr 22nd 2026
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
ARR 12:00 am 12:00 am 2
SPRG 2026: LAW AM 704 B2, Jan 12th to Apr 22nd 2026
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
ARR 12:00 am 12:00 am 2
SPRG 2026: LAW AM 704 Y1, Jan 12th to Apr 22nd 2026
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Wed 2:10 pm 3:25 pm 2 Liliana Mangiafico
SPRG 2026: LAW AM 704 Y2, Jan 12th to Apr 22nd 2026
Days Start End Credits Instructors Bldg Room
Wed 3:45 pm 5:00 pm 2 Liliana Mangiafico