Learn from the best at Suffolk Law School

Suffolk Law School graduates have a remarkable impact on the region and the country. They’ve gone from students to game changers, whether as head of legal affairs for the New York Jets, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund or head of the legal department (Americas) for TikTok.

Dubbed “an innovative force” by PreLaw Magazine, those who graduate from Suffolk Law stand out because they continue to make a difference. LLM alumnus Janeth Moreno, for example, founded a boutique law firm in downtown Boston, where she empowers immigrant communities.

Located in the heart of Boston, Suffolk Law has strengths in several disciplines. It is the only law school in the United States with four of the top 35 legal skills specialties—clinical, dispute resolution, legal writing, and advocacy—in U.S. News and World Report for seven consecutive years. Suffolk was also named the 1st school in the country for legal technology since PreLaw Magazine began its technology rankings in 2018. Its IP program is ranked #28 in the United States.

Add a focus on the practical elements needed to succeed on the job, and it’s no wonder the students made headlines in the Washington Post for their victory over “one of the industry’s most contentious brand warriors.” and on NBC and Telemundo for their free site helping people with emergency housing issues and domestic violence protection orders during the pandemic.

One of the programs that takes advantage of this is the Master of Laws (LLM) degree. The “middle-sized” program has a faculty full of seasoned experts and practitioners. Many professors have held high-ranking positions in government, the judiciary, and business, ranging from justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to senior counsel for the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and a member of the Massachusetts Facial Recognition Commission. These faculty members provide their students with a legal education focused on real-world practice and experiential learning. Here’s what some students had to say about the distinguished scholars who gave them life-changing moments in law and helped them achieve extraordinary professional success:

Marty P. Cachapero

Now a trial court judge, Filipino-born Marty P. Cachapero’s most cherished moment as a general LLM student was when he worked as a research assistant for Professor Michael Rustad. Cachapero had the rare opportunity to write a “practice pointer” section in the aforementioned professor’s software licensing book, which added a lot of value to his resume.

He shares that working with the Co-Director of the Intellectual Property Concentration has been a rewarding experience – Rustad’s guidance, encouragement and willingness to share his wisdom in various areas of law ultimately inspired Cachapero’s new found passion for ‘education. “When I returned to the Philippines, I immediately started teaching law as well,” he said.

For Cachapero, studying at Suffolk Law gave him an experience he never would have had in his home country – learning antitrust law. “Although antitrust law has been around in the United States for a very long time now, the concept had not turned into concrete law in the Philippines until the year I graduated from Suffolk Law in 2014 with the 10667, otherwise known as the Philippine Competition Act 2014,” he says. The course was taught by Elbert Robertson, who had served as Antitrust Special Counsel for the Office of the Attorney General (Competition Division) Federal Communications Commission, Washington DC

Ankit Gupta

Ankit Gupta praises Suffolk Law’s student-faculty collaboration. Source: Suffolk Law

Close student-faculty relationships are possible thanks to the dedicated professors at Suffolk Law. Ankit Gupta, originally from India, fondly remembers working with Professor Elizabeth Stillman, who taught the course in American law, legal reasoning and writing. “From the first week, she gave us mission after mission which included analyzing the patterns of facts, synthesizing the rule, interpreting the laws and after only two weeks we had our first quiz, which was surely a wake-up call,” he said. Although it was a struggle for Gupta at the time, he now realizes that these assignments have provided him with a solid foundation to draft contracts and review documents for his current workplace.

The professor also taught Gupta — now a corporate attorney for SoftBank Robotics America, Inc. — how to adopt precise writing methodology, use proper terminology, and other skills needed to craft a thorough legal research paper. Thanks to Stillman’s extensive knowledge of topics such as criminal law and constitutional law, Gupta completed his comparative study research paper under his direct supervision, which afforded Gupta plenty of personal attention and a product of final work that can be used as a writing sample.

Tissiane Pinto de Souza

Tissiane Pinto de Souza credits her career success to her law professors in Suffolk. Source: Suffolk Law

“I agree 100% with the statement that Suffolk law professors are the best,” says Tissiane Pinto de Souza. “Most faculty members have extensive professional experience in addition to being subject matter experts. This makes it possible to present the legal material in a very realistic and practical perspective. »

De Souza works for Rio de Janeiro State University as a prosecutor, an opportunity she says was only possible because of the high standards of learning at Suffolk Law. “Prof. Renée Landers guided me through the intricacies of Administrative law in the United States, which has enhanced my understanding of this area of ​​law. His depth of knowledge and professional experience in this area of ​​law is unmatched. As former Assistant General Counsel for the United States Department of Health and Human Services and Assistant Deputy Attorney General in the Office of Policy Development for the United States Department of Justice during the Clinton Administration, Professor Landers is able to bring real-world experience into the classroom.

Landers was just one of many faculty members who helped shape de Souza’s success – the latter confirms that learning from the best is what allowed him to build better legal constructs in many processes. judicial and non-judicial. “By learning new rules and different ways of looking at certain societal issues, I can work to better rebuild the legal system in my workplace by developing diverse and more consistent legal solutions,” says de Souza.

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