LSSC Social Justice Fellowship

The Social Justice Teaching Fellowship at Northeastern Law provides public interest attorneys who may be interested in a legal academic career the opportunity to engage in law teaching through our innovative Legal Skills in Social Context program (LSSC). LSSC is the cornerstone of the first-year curriculum at Northeastern Law. Through LSSC, first-year students develop a wide array of essential lawyering skills and have an opportunity to put their skills to immediate use in support of underserved communities, all while learning how to examine law critically through a social justice lens.

The LSSC program combines traditional legal research and writing instruction with work on a faculty-supervised social justice research project in partnership with a community organization. The curriculum challenges students to grapple with the social construct of law, its impact on historically excluded populations, and the proper role of lawyers in the pursuit of justice and equity. For more than three decades, Northeastern Law students have assisted more than 300 organizations, both local and national, across a wide array of legal areas. More information on the LSSC program can be found here.

Teaching fellows are hired for an initial one-year term to teach one section (14-16 students) of LSSC. Fellows are encouraged to engage in both scholarship and professional development and are given the necessary resources and support to do so, including mentorship, research assistants and funding.

In making faculty appointments, Northeastern Law seeks to enhance its innovative curriculum, which combines experiential learning with rigorous analytical training and interdisciplinarity. In addition, Northeastern University has a strong tradition of diversity and accessibility. We enthusiastically welcome nominations and applications from members of groups that have been underrepresented in academia. We encourage applications from racial and ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ community. We also encourage applicants to share how their background and experience will contribute to the Northeastern community and to the legal academy generally.

Successful candidates will have demonstrated commitment to fostering diverse and inclusive environments as well as to promoting experiential learning, which are central to a Northeastern University education. Applicants must have a JD and a minimum of two years of legal experience in the United States. Candidates must also possess excellent written and oral communications skills and a demonstrated commitment to social justice. We are also highly interested in individuals with experience in working with students at the undergraduate or graduate level (through internships or similar settings) and an interest in developing law pedagogy. Fellows may expect reappointment for a second year based on satisfactory performance.

Meet Naomi Oberman-Breindel, Social Justice Teaching Fellow

Naomi Oberman-Breindel joined Northeastern Law’s Legal Skills in Social Context program as a Social Justice Teaching Fellow in 2023. She previously served for eight years as a public defender in New York City criminal courts. From 2021-2023, Oberman-Breindel worked in the Criminal Defense Practice at the Neighborhood Defender Service (NDS) of Harlem; before joining NDS, she spent six years with the Criminal Defense Practice at The Bronx Defenders. As a public defender, Oberman-Breindel has represented hundreds of individuals in misdemeanor and felony cases from arrest to resolution. In this capacity she has extensively litigated various Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment issues in addition to trying numerous cases to verdict.

Oberman-Breindel received her JD from New York University School of Law, where she was a member of the NYU Defender Collective, the Coalition on Law and Representation and a publication editor for Review of Law and Social Change. While in law school, Oberman-Breindel represented children facing criminal charges in delinquency proceedings through the Juvenile Defender Clinic and students facing suspension and expulsion from New York City public schools through the Suspension Representation Project. Prior to law school, Oberman-Breindel taught academic enrichment and conflict resolution to elementary school students in Brooklyn through the Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility.

Meet Rebecca Chapman, Assistant Teaching Professor and Former Social Justice Fellow

Rebecca Chapman joined the LSSC program in 2021 as a Social Justice Teaching Fellow and was recently appointed an assistant teaching professor. Professor Chapman also served as a fellow with the law school’s Center on Law, Equity and Race (CLEAR). Prior to starting her teaching career, Professor Chapman worked as a staff attorney with the Civil Liberties Defense Center and The Bronx Defenders Office. She was also an associate with Fick & Marx and J.W. Carney and Associates.