“Co-op saves you from bouncing around for the first few years of your career trying to find a good fit.
Erin McCrady ’21
There was never a question that Erin McCrady would focus on health law at Northeastern and beyond. But she did come to law school wondering if she should continue on the policy side — having worked for Parks Canada as a program and policy officer — or if she would segue to direct client services. She used her co-ops to explore both options. “With co-op, you have chances to try things out so that you graduate with a clear understanding of the type of work you want to do and what’s the best environment for you,” she says. “It saves you from bouncing around for the first few years of your career trying to find a good fit.”
For Erin, a prestigious clinical fellowship with the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation at Harvard Law School was her launching pad. “I was part of a Whole Person Care team that does policy work related to healthcare access, particularly as it relates to food security and social determinants of health,” she says. “My goal was to help bridge the public health gaps so that we find comprehensive solutions that take into account legal and medical needs.”
Today, as counsel for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, Erin supports efforts to promote the health, resilience and independence of the commonwealth’s residents.
Harvard Law School Tenant Advocacy Project, Cambridge, Massachusetts
For her first co-op, Erin represented tenants of subsidized housing in administrative hearings with local housing authorities in the Boston area.
- If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice
- Women’s Law Caucus
Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI), Boston, Massachusetts
Erin opted for a co-op with PHAI, the law school’s nationally recognized center at the forefront of tobacco litigation and combatting the obesity epidemic. Erin worked on trial prep in plaintiff-side tobacco litigation.
Erin is a three-time Quidditch Canada gold medalist and Team Canada athlete.
- Bioethics and the Law
- Client Interviewing and Counselling
- Disability Law
- Evidence
- Family Law
- Social Welfare Law
- Trial Practice
- Trusts and Estates
Justice Resource Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
Erin worked with a medical-legal partnership for people living with HIV/AIDS in the Greater Boston area to ensure that clients remained stably housed and received necessary benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic
In the Legal Skills in Social Context program, Erin mentored a 1L “law office” working with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department on a project related to post-incarceration housing stability
Civil Rights and Restorative Justice
Erin worked directly with descendants of a victim of historical racial violence to pursue restorative justice measures. This experience taught her valuable lessons about the limitations of the traditional legal system and the possibilities for justice that exist outside those limits.
- Criminal Law
- Torts
AARP Foundation, Washington, DC
Building on her litigation experience with PHAI, Erin worked on impact litigation cases to advance the rights of older adults, particularly those with disabilities and long-term care needs.