law briefs
Dear Suffolk Law alumni and friends:
When U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Gustavo A. Gelpí, JD ’91, HLLD ’06, reflects on his Suffolk Law education, he often mentions two transformative experiences: discovering his passion for public service in one of our clinical programs and developing his analytical foundation in Professor Joe Glannon’s civil procedure class. These kinds of powerful educational moments—where classroom teaching meets real-world impact—continue to define the Suffolk Law experience today.
This issue of the Suffolk Law Alumni Magazine spotlights just a few of the accomplished alumni who have benefited from similar formative experiences at the Law School. Among them are several leaders making their mark on a national and global scale: U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin, JD ’85, HLLD ’22; retired Vice Admiral Mike Dumont, JD ’92; Judge Gelpí, JD ’91, HLLD ’06; Zoom’s Chief Legal Officer Cheree McAlpine, JD ’94; and Proskauer’s Chair Tim Mungovan, JD ’94. Each of their stories can be found in this issue.
These alumni recall outstanding classroom instruction and hands-on learning in programs that continue to be the envy of the nation. Although U.S. News rankings should be taken with a grain of salt, they do tell us what our peers think about our programs. And in the case of practical skills training, Suffolk Law is now the only law school in the country ranked in the top 20% of all four legal skills categories for nine consecutive years, with our Legal Writing Program tied for its highest ranking ever at No. 3 and our Clinical Programs achieving their highest ranking at No. 12.
As we carry forward this rich tradition of practical training, we are also adapting it to a rapidly changing world. A decade ago, we became the nation’s first law school to offer a Legal Innovation & Technology Concentration, preparing our graduates for the future of practice long before the emergence of generative AI. This year, we joined forces with the American Arbitration Association to create an Online Dispute Resolution Innovation Clinic, where students will develop cutting-edge tools that could reshape how disputes are resolved, both in Massachusetts and beyond. Through these kinds of innovations, Suffolk Law has received recognition as one of the top 2 law schools in the nation for legal technology education on three consecutive occasions. The programs are also helping our more recent graduates to thrive in unexpected ways.
In addition to preparing our students for the real world of practice, Suffolk Law is advancing another powerful tradition: empowering graduates to address a wide range of social and policy challenges. Our story on “4 Under 40 in Public Service” offers some excellent examples. To build on this kind of work, we established two new academic centers this year—the Center for Housing Justice & Policy and the Legal Innovation & Technology Center—that join our existing Intellectual Property Law Center as hubs for research, teaching, and solutions to complex legal issues facing our world.
With the benefit of Suffolk Law’s outstanding education, our recent graduates are experiencing remarkable success as they join our alumni ranks. The last two graduating classes achieved the strongest employment outcomes in at least 35 years, with more than 80% of graduates securing JD-required or JD-related jobs within ten months of graduation. Our graduates are similarly excelling on the bar exam, achieving our highest first-time Massachusetts bar pass rate in 11 years (82.4%) on the July 2024 exam and our strongest performance relative to the state average in a decade.
The impact of our educational model and the success of our alumni have not gone unnoticed. Applications to Suffolk Law have increased by more than 50% over the past five years—significantly exceeding national and regional trends—and our entering class arrived with the strongest academic credentials in 14 years. Even as we’ve grown more selective, we’ve also deepened our historic commitment to access and opportunity: One-fifth of our students are first-generation college students. We have long known that excellence and access are not competing values—they are complementary strengths that define the Suffolk Law experience.
Our transformative legal education is the throughline that connects our recent strides as a law school and the remarkable accomplishments of the alumni profiled in this issue of the Magazine. The powerful educational moments that shaped alumni like Judge Gelpí continue to define the Suffolk Law experience today, even as we pioneer new frontiers in legal education. With your engagement and support, we’re not just maintaining our legacy of excellence—we’re reimagining it for the future, ensuring that Suffolk Law remains a catalyst for careers of meaning and impact.
Andrew Perlman
Dean & Professor of Law
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Dean Andrew Perlman. Photograph by Michael J. Clarke
winter 2025
