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A day long look at the law

April 11, 2003

The students stammered and squirmed in their seats as their "teacher" called on them randomly and pummeled them with question after question about a 1963 court decision involving a Maryland man who had fatally shot an intruder.

Later, these same students got an earful from Tufts graduates about life as a lawyer in 2003 - the long hours, intellectual stimulation and varied opportunities in law firms and in non-traditional legal careers. Don't expect Ali McBeal, they were told.

Forty-seven Tufts undergraduates got a first-hand look at the legal profession on April 3, at the first-annual "Tufts Law Day on the Hill," sponsored by the Tufts Lawyers Association (TLA), a chapter of the Tufts University Alumni Association (TUAA).

The TLA, along with the Tufts Office of Alumni Relations, organized a series of programs and panel discussions on the legal field and the law school admissions process, as well as a reception that featured remarks by Tufts President Lawrence S. Bacow and the Hon. Daniel B. Winslow, A80, chief legal counsel to Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and a presentation by the TUAA. Nearly 50 alumni from the Boston and New York areas and elsewhere served as moderators and panelists for the afternoon sessions in Dowling Hall and attended the evening reception in the Coolidge Room of Ballou Hall.

The TLA presented "Law Day" in alliance with Tufts Career Services and the Tufts Office of Academic Services, with sponsorship from the law firms of Berluti & McLaughlin, Boston; Bressler, Amery & Ross, Florham Park, NJ; Blank Rome, Philadelphia; and Foley Hoag, Boston.

The TLA is a new alumni organization consisting of Tufts graduates in the legal profession. For George R. Hirsch, A74, TLA's founder and president, "Law Day" was a way to fulfill the group's three primary objectives: service to the university, advancing the study of legal issues at Tufts, and providing social and networking opportunities for its members.

The TLA is among the first Tufts alumni groups organized by profession, rather than by class year or geography. The TLA, incorporated as a not-for-profit Massachusetts corporation in February, currently has more than 50 members, and organizers expect many more to join as word spreads. Annual dues are $35 (regular), $20 (law students) and $100 (voluntary sustaining). Tufts graduates in the legal profession who are interested in joining the TLA may obtain an application by contacting Gretchen Dobson of the Tufts University Alumni Association, 95 Talbot Avenue, Medford, MA 02155. She also can be reached at 617-627-3964 or gretchen.dobson@tufts.edu.

Planned membership benefits include listings in print and online directories; social and networking functions, including a reception in New York City; continuing legal education programs; and career services, according to Hirsch, of Bressler, Amery, & Ross, Florham Park, NJ.

At the April 3 "Law Day" on campus, the day kicked off with a mock classroom, in which the mock teacher, Debra Moss Curtis, J90, an assistant professor of law at Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., drilled the students about the two-page Maryland appellate decision and offered pointers on what to expect in law school.

The students worked on another hypothetical case with discussion leaders Jeffrey Carp, A78, of Hale and Dorr, Boston; James Swartz, A87, of Swartz & Swartz, Boston; Richard Bier, A69, of St. John & Wayne, New York; Gary W. Smith, A80, of Posternak Blankstein & Lund, Boston; and Jennifer Covell, J86, of Gulielmetti & Gesmer, New York.

Students learned about working in different sized law firms in a panel discussion, "Understanding the Practice of Law." The panelists were Carp; Covell; David London, A90, Senior Enforcement Counsel, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Boston; and Jody Acford, J77, senior vice president, John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. The moderator was Amy Brownstein, J92, of Blank Rome, Philadelphia.

Students also were exposed to alternative legal careers by panelists Keith Ainsworth, A87, of Evans, Feldman & Boyer, New Haven, Conn.; Bill Stone, A88, of Outside GC, Warwick, RI; Melissa Norden, J94, Associate Counsel, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, New York; and Doug Kline, E84, of Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, Boston. The moderator of this panel was Christopher Chung, A95, of Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, Boston.

Later, John C. Deliso, Associate Dean, Suffolk University Law School, and Joan L. Horgan, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Boston University School of Law, offered tips for law school applicants at a panel discussion moderated by Jeanne Dillon, Tufts Associate Dean and Pre-Law Advisor. At the alumni and student reception, undergraduates, alumni and other guests mingled and listened to brief remarks from Bacow, Winslow, Hirsch, Bill Labovitz, A90, of Lewis & Sargent, Pittsburgh, and Tim Brooks, Director of Alumni Relations. Ann L. Palmieri, J78, TUAA president elect, and former TUAA President William R. O'Reilly, Jr., A77, of Hale and Dorr, bestowed official recognition to Hirsch and the TLA with a certificate of chapter status.

In his comments to reception attendees, Winslow, a former Massachusetts trial judge, discussed the value of his undergraduate education at Tufts and the rewards of a legal career. He also urged students to consider public service.

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