By: Stevie Leahy & Trevor Pilkington (Suffolk ‘28) What type of law do you want to practice? All law students are asked this question at some point in their journey, and many continue to grapple with it once in practice. Choosing a professional track from the vast possibilities can be daunting. To this end, the… Continue Reading Finding Purpose in Practice: Litigation Writing as a Tool for Identity Formation

By Kathleen Elliott Vinson and Rosa Kim As legal educators, we stand at the intersection of two powerful forces reshaping the legal profession: globalization and artificial intelligence. How can GenAI enhance global lawyering skills? GenAI can be a valuable tool, not a substitute, for developing culturally competent, human-centered legal leaders. Globalized legal practice demands more… Continue Reading Fostering Cultural Intelligence and Leadership in the Age of GenAI

By: KP Hunsinger A few months ago, 15 law students joined a unique course offering at Suffolk University Law School: the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Design Lab. This experiential course challenged us to collaboratively design a cutting-edge ODR process for simple divorces in Massachusetts, creating a blueprint for a live client tool to be launched… Continue Reading WRITING BEYOND THE BRIEF: REFLECTIONS ON PRACTICAL LEARNING IN THE ONLINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION DESIGN LAB

By: Rosa Kim Picture this: You’re sitting in your law school classroom, but instead of looking at the familiar faces of your classmates, you’re connected to 170 students and 25 faculty from 15 different countries. Your student team includes future lawyers from Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and your professors represent diverse legal traditions from… Continue Reading Cultivating Lawyers Without Borders In the Global Law Classroom

By: Prof. Samantha Moppett In the first year of law school, students learn about the structure of the American legal system through the lens of federal and state courts. Professors will explain jurisdiction, types of authority, the three branches of government, court hierarchy, weight of authority, and how these systems interact. But there’s something critical… Continue Reading Beyond Dual Sovereignty: Tribal Justice Systems in the American Legal System

By: Professor Adam Eckart Many students often have anxiety, insecurity, or other apprehension about participating in oral arguments. Students consistently report that oral arguments make them nervous, especially since oral arguments are often new to students, marking the first time students participate in such an assignment. Despite these challenges and apprehensions, oral arguments remain a… Continue Reading AI for Oral Advocacy

By: Prof. Samantha Moppett In an era where artificial intelligence is reshaping the legal profession, one skill remains irreplaceable for law students and practitioners alike: critical thinking. As AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude become increasingly integrated into legal work, the ability to think critically has never been more valuable—or more at risk. AI in… Continue Reading The Importance of Critical Thinking in the Age of AI

By Professor Kathleen Elliott Vinson As a legal writing professor, I often see students grappling with the transition from undergraduate writing to legal analysis. Many become frustrated when their previously successful writing strategies don’t immediately translate to legal writing. If you’re feeling this way, a concept that might help is: the Learning Pit. The Learning… Continue Reading Navigating the Learning Pit: A Guide for Legal Writers

By: Prof. Stevie Leahy As a legal writing professor, I often remind my students that their legal writing journey does not end after their last LPS (Legal Practice Skills) or upper-level writing class. In fact, writing in the legal field is a longitudinal practice that, for proficiency, requires continual self-reflection. Our skills continue to grow… Continue Reading Deadline Stress: Navigating Legal Writing in School and Beyond

By: Adam Eckart Legal Writing Matters Blog   During the summer of 2024, I caught an Uber to Boston Logan Airport to fly to a conference in Indianapolis. Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity software used by Microsoft to support technology used in banking, broadcasting, and airline industries, crashed that morning—leaving me and thousands of other travelers throughout… Continue Reading Clickwrap Agreements and Designing the Future of Contracts

By Kathy Vinson The legal landscape is continuously evolving, and it’s more important than ever to stay ahead of the curve to actively shape the future of law through innovation and strategic leadership. At the All Rise | Uniting to Advance Women and the Future of Law | 2024 Forum at Suffolk University Law School,… Continue Reading Embracing Innovation: Shaping the Future of Law

By: Bailey Bartel Top Three Tips for Effective Communication at a Law Firm Communication is important in every profession but particularly in the legal field. The abilities to speak and write effectively are some of the most important skills a lawyer can possess. Law school teaches foundational communication skills, like how to compose yourself in… Continue Reading Top Three Tips for Effective Communication at a Law Firm

By: Laura Hennessey As generative AI has taken the world by storm, its role in the legal profession has only just begun to take shape. Initial skepticism and words of warning have given way to a tentative embrace of the new technology in legal research and writing. With the advent of legal-specific generative AI tools,… Continue Reading The Ethics of Generative AI – More of the Same?

By: Adam Eckart Legal Writing Matters Blog Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of being invited to participate in a Discussion Group at the 2024 Biennial Conference of the Legal Writing Institute on the topic of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”) in higher education. While much of the discussion focused on ways to a)… Continue Reading A Private (Contract) Right: Drafting in Today’s Legal Landscape

By: Kathy Vinson Writer’s block—a formidable foe faced by all writers, from seasoned novelists to novice law students—inevitably strikes when the words seem to elude you, when the cursor blinks mockingly on an empty page, and when the weight of deadlines bears down heavily upon your shoulders. At its core, writer’s block stems from a… Continue Reading The Blank Page: Write On to Break Through Writer’s Block for Legal Writing Success