law briefs
On the Karen Read Trial: “We Will Never Know the Truth”
A murder trial that garnered international attention ended in June 2025 with the acquittal of Karen Read, accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. The case drew global coverage for its allegations of police misconduct. Suffolk Law Professor Christina Miller, a former Boston prosecutor, said investigative failures likely shaped the verdict. “If the taillight pieces had been collected in a way that was forensically sound, if the investigator who should be neutral doesn’t appear to be biased,” she noted, “the verdict might have been different.” Miller called the early missteps—such as mishandled evidence and troubling investigator texts—a “tragedy,” adding, “we will never know the truth.” [New York Times, June 19, 2025, “Karen Read Acquittal Exposes Flaws in Police Practices, Supporters and Critics Say”]
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winter 2026
Photography: Getty
“Decorative and Silly”: Professor Explains Why Dragon Logo Crossed the Line
A law firm’s fierce dragon logo raised the hackles of a federal magistrate judge, who cited the “juvenile and impertinent” design as grounds for striking down a lawsuit filed by the firm Dragon Lawyers in Michigan. Suffolk Law Professor Dyane O’Leary, JD ’05, commented on the controversy after the judge criticized the firm. Lawyers have used varied typefaces, links, and images in legal filings, but that is typically done to help illustrate the substance of their case, O’Leary said. “This seems to have zero substantive purpose and is more, like the court said, decorative and silly,” O’Leary added. “So I think that’s where the line gets drawn.” [New York Times, April 19, 2025, “Judge Rejects Lawsuit With Dragon Logo, Calling It ‘Juvenile and Impertinent’”]
Mortgage Fraud Expert Analyzes Documents in Federal Reserve Controversy
Documents released on September 12, 2025, appeared to weaken President Trump’s effort to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, according to a Suffolk Law expert on mortgage fraud interviewed by The New York Times. Research Professor Kathleen C. Engel said that the records did not support the president’s allegation that Cook falsified information to obtain better loan terms. Engel pointed out that Cook had disclosed her intended use of the property. “The fraud allegation is dramatically weakened by the evidence that this was on her application,” Engel said. “She was candid about how she was using the property. It actually rebuts any inference that she engaged in fraud.” [September 13, 2025, “Documents Raise Questions About Fraud Claims Against Fed Governor”]
Professor Dyane O’Leary
Professor Kathleen C. Engel
Professor Christina Miller
