Justice For All *

Before my current job as their data scientist, I worked as a staff attorney for the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services (public defenders). For six years prior to law school, I taught high school physics and astronomy, and the choice to leave teaching was probably the most difficult of my professional life. I began my career as a teacher because I felt it was the place where I could best put my skills and interests to work making a difference. Eventually, I entered law school having come to the conclusion that I could do more with the law. Having encountered a number of legal issues as a teacher, entrepreneur, and community volunteer, I came to recognize that the law greatly affected all that I cared for. Because of this, the law, especially public service work, holds a strong attraction.

Me standing outside the DNA offices in Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation.
The summer after my 1L year, I split my time between an internship at the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, Appellate Defense and a research position with one of my professors, Ward Farnsworth. Aside from being one of my favorite teachers, Professor Farnsworth actually wrote the one book I read in preparation for law school--The Legal Analyst: A Toolkit for Thinking about the Law. The JAG internship offered a unique look at the Military Justice system and allowed me the opportunity to help draft an appellate brief while also providing my first real-world introduction to criminal law.


Fun times on the USS Harry S Truman during a tour with the other JAG interns, and yes, I think I'm wearing the same shirt in both this and the DNA picture.
The summer following 2L, I moved out to the Navajo Nation where I worked as a summer law clerk for DNA-People's Legal Service, and no, DNA does not stand for "Deoxyribonucleic acid." Rather, it's a Navajo phrase, "Din�be'iin� N�hiilna Be Agha'diit'ahii," which roughly translates into "attorneys who work for the revitalization of the people." While living on the reservation, I helped provide civil legal services to indigent clients.

I was an article editor for the BU Journal of Science and Technology Law, and my Note, Heads in the Clouds, A Coming Storm: The Interplay of Cloud Computing, Encryption, and the Fifth Amendment's Protection Against Self-incrimination, was published in volume 17 of the journal.

Before graduating, I participated in BU's Criminal Law Clinic where I worked as a Rule 3:03 attorney providing criminal defense to indigent defendants at the Boston Municipal Court.

My first class of student attorneys, middle schoolers participating in Discovering Justice's mock trial program.

When I worked in northern MA, I volunteered as a coach for Discovering Justice's mock trial program. As I'm fond of ponting out, all I did by switching to the law was move from the laws of nature to those of humanity.

Occasionally, I blog about the law and my work under Law & Lawyering on my blog.

As discussed on this site's disclaimer, none of the information found on this website should be considered legal advice nor can I dispense legal advice in person or over email.

* A version of the introduction to this page originally appeared in an answer to a question found on my application to work for the CPCS, but seeing as how it so neatly summed up my feelings on the matter, I decided to reuse it here.
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