News and Announcements - School of Law

LSSC: News and Announcements

Quisquella Addison Joins Northeastern Law’s LSSC Program as Assistant Teaching Professor
Northeastern Law is pleased to announce that Quisquella Addison will join the university on July 1, 2022, as an assistant teaching professor in the Legal Skills in Social Context program. Addison has experience in legal service, public service and public interest technology. Addison brings a passion for understanding identity and performs her work through a lens of equity, inclusion and belonging. Originally from Boston, she attended Boston Latin School and received her BA from Mount Holyoke College, where she designed her own major in ethnicity and identity formation. Her research focused on themes of race, ethnicity and identity within Latin American communities in the United States. She has dedicated her legal career to leveraging technology to amplify the reach of legal and social services and increase legal empowerment for under-resourced, underserved and marginalized communities.

Irina Gott Joins Northeastern Law
Northeastern Law’s Legal Skills in Social Context (LSSC) program is delighted to welcome Irina Gott as a teaching professor. Gott joins Northeastern with more than 12 years of experience teaching legal skills. Most recently, she was a faculty member at Roger Williams University School of Law, where she also developed and piloted a course on Wrongful Convictions and the Role of Legal Advocacy and acted as co-advisor to the Roger Williams University Law Review.

Haile Appointed Assistant Teaching Professor at Northeastern Law
Andrew Haile has been appointed an assistant teaching professor at Northeastern University School of Law, effective July 1, 2022. During the 2021-2022 academic year, he was a visiting assistant professor in the school’s Legal Skills in Social Context (LSSC) program.

Morale Violation: Whistle-blowers Report Culture of “Retaliation,” “Nepotism” at Parole Agency
DigiBoston cites a 2022 report by students in LSSC Law Office 3, “Parole, Power, and Punishment The Massachusetts Parole Board’s Discriminatory Treatment of People with Mental Health Disabilities.” The report was produced in partnership with the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee (MHLAC) under the supervision of Professor Andrew Haile.

CRS and Northeastern Law School to Present Harm Reduction Research
A group of 14 first-year LSSC students collaborated with Health Care and Rehabilitation Services (HCRS), southeastern Vermont’s nonprofit community mental health agency, on a research project related to expansion of harm reduction policies within both the healthcare setting as well as within employment practices and policies.

Social Justice Baked Into the Laws Regulating Massachusetts’ Budding Marijuana Industry
As the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission prepares the framework for legal marijuana businesses, research conducted by LSSC students has informed the foundation of its plan to address a disparity in the way authorities used to apply anti-drug laws.

Mass. “Student Loan Bill of Rights” Passes Senate with Recommendations from NUSL Student “Law Office”
The “Student Loan Bill of Rights,” which was passed in April 2018 by the Massachusetts Senate, included key recommendations made by a group of Northeastern law students. As part of the law school’s Legal Skills in Social Context program, a “law office” of 15 first-year students provided research and recommendations to the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM) in its effort to stop the predatory practices that frequently plague student loan borrowers, particularly marginalized borrowers who are most often the victims of these practices.

Experts Look to Northeastern Law Students' Report on Racial Equity in Marijuana Legalization
In the wake of Massachusetts voters opting for marijuana legalization, a report by Northeastern law students is being used by the Northeast Cannabis Coalition and Union of Minority Neighborhoods to ensure racial equity in cannabis legalization efforts.

First-Year Student to Present LSSC Findings at “Meet in the Middle: Expanded Learning Summit”
Peter Colin ’17 traveled to Washington, DC, to present on the “State Initiatives” panel at the "Meet in the Middle: Expanded Learning Summit" co-hosted by Citizen Schools, a national nonprofit organization that partners with middle schools to expand the learning day for children in low-income communities. Colin provided an overview of a report completed for Citizen Schools by Northeastern University School of Law first-year students in the Legal Skills in Social Context (LSSC) Social Justice Program.

Northeastern Study: Not Enough Spots In Massachusetts Vocational Schools
Listen now! Professor Peter Enrich talks to WBUR’s “Radio Boston” about the findings of a recent survey on Massachusetts vocational and technical high schools. The study was conducted by first-year students participating in the LSSC Social Justice Program.

Schools’ Wait Lists Called a Drag on the Economy
The Boston Globe cites a survey that was conducted by the LSSC Social Justice Program concerning the wait lists for vocational schools in low-income communities.

LSSC Nominated for HiiL Innovating Justice Award
The Legal Skills in Social Context (LSSC) Social Justice (SJ) program was nominated for international recognition by the Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law.

Beyond Limits
In Northeastern Law magazine, “Beyond Limits” offers a compelling story about how practical experiences produce powerful opportunities for first-year students in the LSSC program.

The National Center for Law and Economic Justice publishes a report based on the work of LSSC Law Office work
Disability Rights Oregon has featured on its website a report on the accessibility and usability of public benefits agency websites in California, Florida, Michigan, New York and Texas. This report, authored by the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, was based on the work of a 2009-2010 Legal Skills in Social Context Law Office. Access their website feature and review the report.

The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University to use LSSC student report for a new class being taught this fall
The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University received permission to use the LSSC student report from "Law Office 6" (May 2008) on the failures of the Road Home Program and the Louisiana Recovery Authority as a basis for a case study for a new class being taught this fall at Harvard University. One of the fellows at the Kennedy School, Doug Ahlers, who founded the Broadmoor Project, will be teaching a class this fall on disaster recovery management (see the course description below), and was hoping to use the NUSL LSSC document as a foundation for a case study. Professor Ahlers, along with the entire leadership team at the Broadmoor Improvement Association, found the students' report to be excellent. He said that the report that the law students generated in 2008 was, and remains, by far the most comprehensively researched and best presented document that he had found on the Road Home Program and the Louisiana Recovery Authority. He thinks his students will gain tremendously. Professor Ahlers wanted to reiterate how impressed he was with the report, noting "please know what a tremendous job LSSC did on the report." See the Course Description.

National Center for Economic Justice sends letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Agriculure
In June 2010, the National Center for Economic Justice sent letters to the Undersecretary of Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Administrator at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding problems with accessibility of state public benefits agency websites based on the work of LSSC LO 11. See the Department of Agriculture letter and the Department of Health and Human Services letter.

U.S. Conference of Mayors Unanimously Passes Resolution Calling for Improved Treatment for Returning Veteran
In early June 2010, after lobbying by the Drug Policy Alliance (a multi-year LSSC Client), the United States Conference of Mayors Unanimously adopted a resolution calling for improved treatment and harm reduction services for U.S. veterans who return from combat with mental health or substance abuse problems. Many of the proposals put forward and adopted by the Conference were the result of the work done by the 2008-2009 LSSC Law Office. See the DPA press release and the U.S. Conference of Mayors' resolution.