To those of us who are not lawyers, it can sometimes seem puzzling why anyone would choose to be one. From the outside looking in, the rigors of the job can seem monumental: the time—often years—and the effort required to try a case, reach an agreement, or seal a deal; the emotional stakes for oneself and one’s clients when working in the criminal and public service sectors; and the tenaciousness needed when trying to fix broken laws, address corruption, ensure justice, and uphold the Constitution.
At least at Boston College Law School, there are some answers to that puzzle. After reading an article in the Summer 2024 issue of BC Law Magazine about students’ transformative experiences in the Law School’s clinical programs, Delaware Family Court Judge James G. McGiffin ’85 wrote to his former clinical professor Paul Tremblay.
Judge McGiffin said this: “I read about your experiential learning activities today…. I felt like I was reading about my life. It was an exciting experience. This gives me an opportunity to reflect on the profound impact you had on my life and career. I always tell the kids on my delinquency docket that everything good they do makes our community better. It multiplies. The good you have done, just with me, has helped countless folks—domestic violence survivors, tenants facing wrongful eviction, kids in precarious custody circumstances, and more. And how many hundreds of students can say the same?”
For much of this community—students, faculty, alumni—lawyering has never been so much about the prestige and income potential of a JD degree—though those certainly matter—as it has been about using the legal skills and insights acquired to make the world a better place. And a lot of them are doing that—in law firms, businesses, nonprofits, government, and more.
Examples are on nearly every page in this issue. Kate Barton ’87 expresses her leadership philosophy as the new CEO of Dentons, the largest global law firm. In “The Game Changers,” alumni demonstrate a healthy competitive spirit—another attribute of BC Law—that is changing the entire sports industry. Erica Brody ’11 unearths truths about an abusive foster family—and dramatically changes lives and the law.
And Public Service Scholar Bret Jacob ’26 and Marco Cobian ’25 describe their experiences with the BC Law phenomenon in the most touching way possible—poetically—which says it all.
Vicki Sanders, Editor
vicki.sanders@bc.edu