Alumni/ae Admissions Ambassadors
Our alumni/ae admissions ambassadors welcome your questions. To connect with them, please send an email to lawadmissions@northeastern.edu and let our admission’s staff know which graduates you would like to speak with about Northeastern Law.
Emily Gray Rice ’84
Current Role: City Solicitor, Manchester, New Hampshire
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Undergraduate Institution: Boston University
Emily Gray Rice currently serves as the city solicitor for Manchester, New Hampshire, the state’s largest city, where she provides legal counsel and oversees all legal matters involving the city, including the city’s domestic violence prosecution unit. Previously, she served as the first woman appointed by the president of the United States to serve as the US Attorney for the District of New Hampshire, the chief federal law enforcement officer for the district. Ms. Rice has enjoyed a long career as a trial lawyer and public servant, beginning with her tenure as a member of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office, where she served as chief of the bureau of civil law. She has been extensively involved in New Hampshire’s civic life, co-chairing the Governor’s Judicial Selection Commission, founding and leading nonprofit boards and fundraising efforts, including the Campaign for Legal Services, and advancing access to justice for all. Ms. Rice is intensely interested in helping our community shoulder the burdens imposed by substance misuse and unmet behavioral health needs. She has been an adjunct faculty member at both UNH Law, where she taught in the Daniel Webster Scholar’s Program, and in the UNH undergraduate program in Security Studies. Ms. Rice has been recognized by the New Hampshire Bar Association with the Dufresne Award for Outstanding Professionalism; by the New Hampshire Women’s Bar Association with the Marilla Ricker Achievement Award; and by the New Hampshire Bar Foundation as an Honorary Fellow. She is a proud graduate of the Philadelphia public schools, Boston University and Northeastern University School of Law.
Geoffrey Spofford ’89
Current Role: Partner, Lian Zarrow
Hometown: Bedford, Massachusetts
Undergraduate Institution: University of New Hampshire
Geoffrey Spofford is a proud member of the illustrious class of 1989. In addition to getting a great, experiential education at Northeastern Law, Geoff met his future wonderful wife, Juliana (de Muinck Keizer) Spofford, also Northeastern Law, class of 1989. Geoff and Juliana live in Westborough and have three terrific daughters (one who is getting a master’s degree at Northeastern and another who will graduate as an undergrad in May 2024 from Northeastern).
Geoff’s first co-op was with the Worcester firm of Gould & Ettenberg, where he began his legal career in 1989. Geoff joined Lian Zarrow in Worcester in 1995 and some 29 years later he is still there. Geoff has tried jury and jury-waived cases at all levels of the Massachusetts court system and has argued cases before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and Massachusetts Appeals Court.
Geoff’s practice focuses on the representation of individuals and families affected by serious injuries. In addition, his practice includes criminal defense and general civil litigation, as well as criminal appeals. He has represented individuals charged with motor vehicle offenses; rape and sexual assault; computer crimes, including possession of child pornography; crimes of violence; drug offenses; and larceny.
At the request of the justices of the Worcester Probate and Family Court, Geoff has represented individuals in dire life circumstances. In one such case, he established the competency of a young man seeking the right to die after suffering a devastating brain-stem stroke, and obtained a court order to that effect.
Geoff co-chairs the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Tiered Community Mentoring Program, a nationally recognized program created 15 years ago by his 1989 classmate, the Honorable Angela Ordoñez. The TCM matches up high school, college and law students with lawyers in mentoring teams. The program has received two national awards.
In 2019, Geoff was honored to receive the MBA’s Community Service Award. Geoff served as president of the Worcester County Bar Association in 2021-2022. Geoff has been involved in many activities involving his children and his community.
Joel Rosen ’94
Current Role: Managing Partner, Rosen & Goyal
Hometown: Haverhill, Massachusetts
Undergraduate Institution: Brown University
Joel Rosen is the managing partner of Rosen & Goyal, a business litigation firm concentrating in healthcare, employment, real estate and other business disputes. Joel represents doctors, dentists, nurses and other professionals before the state licensing boards, in court and in disputes with public and private insurers. He advises on general practice issues including employment, partnership, real estate, and regulatory matters. He has argued many appellate cases and has appeared in the state and federal courts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire and before many administrative tribunals including medical, dental and nursing boards, municipal zoning and planning boards, the MCAD, the Civil Service Commission, the Architectural Access Board and many others.
Prior to founding his own practice, Joel was a partner at Metaxas, Norman & Pidgeon, a mid-sized business law firm, where he supervised the litigation department. Additionally, Joel worked at the Massachusetts Appeals Court under Justice Roderick Ireland, taught business law at Bradford College and served on the faculty of continuing education panels. He is a conciliator in the Superior Court and has served on the hearing committee of the Board of Bar Overseers. A former journalist, he has published hundreds of articles on legal and other topics.
John Lanza ’95
Current Role: Partner, Foley Hoag
Hometown: Hialeah, Florida
Undergraduate Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology
John Lanza offers business-focused counsel on acquiring, transferring and protecting intellectual property rights. With extensive experience advising both startups and established companies in a wide range of industries, he helps his clients successfully navigate diverse business challenges. John has been an adjunct professor and frequent guest lecturer, contributing valuable insights on intellectual property and commercialization, at Suffolk University School of Law, Boston University School of Law, Northeastern University School of Law and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also a certified patent valuation analyst.
Lennox Chase ’98
Current Role: Founder, MyBarPrep.com
Hometown: Dorchester, Massachusetts
Undergrad Institution: UMass Boston
Lennox Chase started his career managing a network of more than 1,000 attorneys for an online lawyer referral company. He then founded an online tutoring company for law school students. Lennox now represents numerous nonprofit organizations. He has been privileged to sit on the boards of directors of corporate and nonprofit organizations. Lennox has been an officer, and/or an advisor for companies, such as The Boston Foundation, Casa Myrna, The Dimock Center, Hale Education, Needham Bank, Storytime Crafts and the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts. Lennox’s services have included: community outreach; drafting and filing organizational documents; structuring the board of directors; advising the board of directors and officers.
Lennox grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, where he was a Head Start student before attending Bedford Public Schools via the METCO program. Lennox’s mother was a detective for the Boston Police Department’s Sexual Assault Unit and his father was a small business owner.
Adam Kessel ’04
Current Role: Principal, Fish & Richardson
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Undergraduate Institution: Princeton University
Adam Kessel is a principal at Fish & Richardson. His international practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, particularly involving software and the internet, as well as open-source licensing. He’s been at Fish since 2007 and worked at Wolf Greenfield (starting as a co-op) before that. He also maintains an active pro bono caseload, with a focus on civil and criminal cases involving civil liberties and free speech online, and has also served on multiple nonprofit boards, including several years at the ACLU of Massachusetts. He lives in Roslindale with his wife and high-school-aged daughter and has another daughter attending college in Philadelphia. He’s also the founder of WalkUP Roslindale, a “YIMBY” (Yes In My Backyard) group working to make the neighborhood the most pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly in Boston.
Andrea Evans Zoia ’12
Current Role: Partner, Morgan, Brown and Joy
Hometown: Foxborough, Massachusetts
Undergraduate Institution: Boston College
Andrea Zoia is a partner at Morgan, Brown and Joy, where she completed one of her Northeastern Law co-ops and where she currently handles a variety of employment matters facing businesses, working closely with clients’ in house counsel and human resources leadership teams. Her practice involves providing day-to-day employment law counsel and advice on issues such as policy drafting, performance management and accommodations and leaves issues. When litigation is necessary, Andrea defends employers against workplace allegations such as employment discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge, Family and Medical Leave Act claims, breach of contract, and wage and hour class actions. She lives just north of Boston with her spouse and two elementary school-aged children. In addition to working with clients, mentoring students, and cheering on her children at their favorite activities, Andrea enjoys breaking out her oil paints and getting outside with the family as much as possible.
Stephanie Swanson ’12
Current Role: Executive Vice President of Government Affairs, Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM)
Hometown: Buffalo, New York
Undergraduate Institution: Tufts University
Stephanie Swanson serves as executive vice president of government affairs at the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), where she leads policy, regulatory and overall lobbying efforts on behalf of the organization’s more than 3,400 member businesses.
Prior to joining AIM, Stephanie spent more than a decade working on Beacon Hill in the Massachusetts Senate. She served as chief of staff and general counsel to former Senator Eric Lesser, managing a robust legislative and policy portfolio and overseeing both strategic planning and day-to-day operations for the office. During her eight years with Senator Lesser, she worked on major 2018, 2020 and 2022 economic development packages which provided billions of dollars to businesses, communities and families across the commonwealth.
Stephanie began her Senate career as legislative director and legal counsel to Senator Barry Finegold, where she assisted Senator Finegold in passing both the 2014 election reform and campaign finance reform bills into law. She also worked on Senator Finegold’s successful 2012 state senate campaign.
A political science and economics graduate of Tufts University, Stephanie studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science before earning her law degree in 2012 from Northeastern University School of Law. She has been a member of the Massachusetts bar since 2012.
Barry Bisson ’13
Current Role: Principal, Bisson Law
Hometown:Worcester, Massachusetts
Undergraduate Institution: Johnson & Wales University and Newbury College
Barry Bisson is a sole practitioner in downtown Boston. His practice focuses on criminal defense and breach of contract cases. In addition to his practice, attorney Barry is an adjunct professor, chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Council Member, president of the Northeastern University School of Law Alumni/ae Board, board member of the New England Regional Judicial Opioid Initiative, vice president of Starting Out Solo and a board member of the Massachusetts LGBTQ+ Bar Association.
Desiree Murphy ’13
Current Role: Senior Legal Counsel for Labor and Employment Law, CVS Health
Hometown: Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
Undergraduate Institution: Brandeis University
Desiree Murphy is a senior legal counsel for Labor and Employment Law at CVS Health, where she provides strategic legal advice to internal business and Human Resources partners with respect to labor and employment law. In her role, Desiree counsels and provides legal support as it relates to CVS’ compliance with a variety of federal and state labor employment laws, including Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
Desiree started her legal career in Boston, Massachusetts, as a labor counsel in the Department of Labor Relations at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), where she represented and advised management in various labor matters and disputes. Following her tenure at the MBTA, Desiree joined the firm Morgan, Brown, & Joy as an associate, expanding her practice to include the defense of employers from a variety of industries and jurisdictions in both labor and employment law matters, i.e., employment discrimination, wage and hour violations, breach of contract. Finally, just before joining CVS, Desiree was a senior labor and employee relations specialist at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she managed the medicalcenter’s union relationship and collective bargaining obligations, including collective bargaining negotiations, grievances and arbitration proceedings.
Outside of her legal work, Desiree is an active member of the Massachusetts bar and legal community. More specifically, Desiree is an active member of the Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys (MBWA), for which currently serves as president; the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association (WBA); the Boston Bar Association (BBA); and the Massachusetts Bar Association (MBA).
Deepa Desai ’16
Current Role: Labor and Employment Attorney, Fisher Phillips
Hometown: Agawam, Massachusetts
Undergraduate Institution: Boston University
Deepa Desai is a labor and employment attorney at Fisher Phillips and focuses her practice defending employers against claims of harassment, discrimination and retaliation, as well as wage and hour violations and contract disputes. Deepa also counsels clients on day-to-day workplace matters, including the preparation of employee handbooks, hiring, terminations, discipline, leaves of absence and accommodations. Her clients span multiple industries, including institutions of higher education, retail companies, restaurants and staffing agencies.