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Center for Compliance and Ethics Practicum

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One of the benefits of being a Temple Law student is the opportunity to step out of the classroom and work in the field with practice area experts. As a participant in the Center for Compliance and Ethics Practicum, I have had the opportunity to build fundamental skills in healthcare compliance. Through the efforts of Professor Jon Smollen and Bea Raccanello, of the Center for Compliance and Ethics at Temple Law, I have been given the opportunity to intern with Temple University Health System and experience the day-to-day work of a compliance department in a major healthcare entity. No textbook or class discussion can measure up to the benefits of an experience like this one. I have been working at Temple University Health System in the Office of General Counsel, specifically with Senior Counsel, Corporate Compliance and Privacy Officer, Maribel Valentin. At Temple Health, I am gaining firsthand experience in understanding the compliance and regulatory risks of a major healthcare organization. I am actively learning and working in privacy matters related to HIPAA and HITECH. …

Group of Temple Law APALSA Students

Asian Pacific American Law Student Association | Student Organization Voices Series

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Your Name: Cary Zhang Graduation Year: May 2021 Name of Organization: Asian Pacific American Law Student Association (APALSA) Position in Organization: Lunar Banquet Chair   Temple Law School: When did you join this organization? Cary Zhang LAW ’21: I joined APALSA the first day of law school at the student organization fair. The APALSA leaders at the fair were so enthusiastic, I knew that I had found the support I would need to get through 1L year. Anyone (not just students who identify as Asian) can join APALSA their 1L year. TLS: Why did you decide to join this group? CZ: I joined APALSA to find support, mentorship, and friendship. Asian-Americans are underrepresented both in law school and the legal profession. I felt that getting to know people who looked like me and were “making it” in the field would be invaluable as I started my career. APALSA also helped me make lasting friendships. It can be overwhelming meeting so many new people at the beginning of 1L year, but APALSA gave me the chance …

School Discipline Advocacy Service | Student Organization Voices Series

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Your Name: Araesia King Graduation Year: May 2021 Name of Organization: School Discipline Advocacy Service (SDAS) Position in Organization: Program Director   TLS: When did you join this organization? AK: I joined SDAS as 1L last year. Getting involved with SDAS was actually one of the reasons why I was excited about coming to Temple. I knew that I was interested in education law and this organization is a great way to learn the basics. I had looked up the program before coming to the school and made sure to sign up at the student activities fair. TLS: Why did you decide to join this group? AK: I chose to get involved with SDAS because it is a great way to interact with the community that I hope to work with in the future (students in the public school system and their families). I also was looking for a way to do some community service during my time here at Temple. TLS: What is your organization’s mission? AK: The organization operates in three schools in …

National Lawyers Guild | Student Organization Voices Series

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Your Name: Celia Givens Graduation Year: May 2021 Name of Organization: National Lawyer’s Guild (NLG) Position in Organization: Co-President TLS: When did you join this organization? CG: I signed up for NLG at the student organizations fair at the beginning of 1L fall. Later during the fall semester, I applied and was selected to become a 1L rep for NLG’s Criminal Justice Committee (along with the other current Co-President of NLG, Sarah Kim). TLS: Why did you decide to join this group? CG: Before I came to law school, I worked for four years at the Legal Aid Society in New York City as a paralegal in their Criminal Defense Practice. It was somewhat of a culture shock going back to school after taking time off to work and I missed being able to work with clients on issues directly impacting their communities. I was interested in joining NLG because they focused on the areas of law that I am most passionate about, including client-centered defense, criminal justice reform and direct-client services. TLS: What is …

The Temple Law Rome Program – An Unconventional Law School Experience

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“So, what are you doing this summer?” Every law school student hears this question regularly. Traditional answers include working as a research assistant, a judicial clerk, or a summer associate, and each of these experiences is unique and valuable. However, during my first year of law school, my answer to that question was an unconventional one. I studied abroad in Rome through the Temple Law Rome program. A number of factors contributed to my decision to go to Rome; I had always been interested in studying abroad and my closest friends were enrolled in the program. But in hindsight, this program delivered more benefits than I anticipated at the time of enrollment. For me, Temple Law Rome provided valuable insights that I used in job interviews and enabled me to really get to know my Temple Law professors. I spent my afternoons and evenings strolling through the city streets, periodically taking breaks to grab a cappuccino or a slice of pizza. The number of attractions to see in Rome is astonishing—the Forum, the Coliseum, the …

Teaching, Engaging, Achieving, and Motivating

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“Lift as you climb.” As I embark on various endeavors and gain knowledge, skills, and experiences, I feel morally obligated to use the resources I have acquired to help others progress and succeed. Throughout my undergraduate education and law school, I have become keenly aware of the lack of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.  Specifically, there is a shortage of African-American attorneys and few African Americans and minorities in leadership roles within firms, companies, and organizations nationwide.  One way to address this issue is through opportunity and exposure. Since 2015, I have created five educational programs for minority students. The majority of my programs were created and implemented for students in the Greater Philadelphia area.  My latest initiative is the Teaching; Engaging; Achieving; Motivating program (T.E.A.M.), which I facilitated in Willingboro, New Jersey. T.E.A.M. was launched in January 2019 for 50 middle schoolers in Willingboro, NJ. The 14-week program consisted of 60-minute sessions held on Friday mornings at Memorial Middle School.  Students learned basic criminal law and criminal procedure including Miranda rights, police …

More Than Volunteering

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If you asked me five years ago if I ever saw myself completing a marathon, the answer would have been a stern no. Despite the fact that I loved team sports, I never considered myself a runner. However, this fall, when two students told me they wanted to complete the Philadelphia Full Marathon their senior year, I could not say no; I was their running mentor after all. Students Run Philly Style (SRPS) is a nonprofit organization that provides youth with mentorship, training, and opportunities to run nationally-recognized races without cost. SRPS encourages kids to “run” the streets instead of being consumed by the violence often found in their neighborhoods. I became involved with SRPS in the fall of 2016 while I was still a high school English teacher. Within three months, alongside four of my students, I was crossing the finish line of my first half marathon. Since then, we have completed the Philadelphia Half Marathon a second time, the Broad Street 10-miler twice, countless other informal races, and most recently, the 2018 Philadelphia …

The Lessons We Future Lawyers Should Learn From the Life of Nipsey Hussle

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During his 33 years of life, Ermias Joseph Asghedom (pronounced “Air-me-yaahs” and “Ahs-ged-om”), also known as “Nipsey Hussle,” was an ambitious and virtuous man who inspired millions to never give up, achieve their dreams and give back to their community. For those of you who have never heard of Asghedom, or only learned about him in the last week since his untimely death, please allow me to introduce him to you before I highlight some lessons we future lawyers should learn from Asghedom’s life. Asghedom was born in Los Angeles in 1985 to an Eritrean father (Dawit Asghedom) and an African-American mother (Angelique Smith) and raised in the Crenshaw neighborhood of South Los Angeles. As a youth growing up in the rough world of South LA, Asghedom joined the “Rollin 60’s” Neighborhood Crips gang. Despite his affiliation with the Rollin 60’s in his early years, Asghedom knew early on that he wanted to transition out of the gangster life and into one where he could become a musical artist and entrepreneur. Fortunately, Asghedom was able …

Learning to Ask

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I don’t even know what I don’t know. This was my mantra my entire 1LE year… and maybe even for a few of my 2LE classes. Law school is essentially a process to break down and rebuild the way you think and analyze information. As a 1LE, one of the first things you do is to spend hours pouring over the Bluebook, the citation reference guide for legal writing, trying to figure out how to cite cases that you hope are applicable to the paper you are writing. You also spend hours reading lengthy, wordy, Scalia dissents that have no bearing on the major takeaways from the case you’re reading, but that will be helpful to know down the line. More than likely, you are also in the throes of trying to figure out the different elements of ‘negligence’ and why a word that once seemed so simple, suddenly seems so complex. There’s also the added pressure to know those elements before Monday, because you’re on call and will need to answer questions in front …

My Philly Neighborhood: Commuting from the Suburbs

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I grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, but was always drawn to the city itself. When I enrolled in Temple Law, I was excited to throw myself entirely into city life. I thought that during my time at Temple Law, it was essential for me to live in the geographic boundaries of Philadelphia. However, I quickly realized that this was not the case. Living in the suburbs as a Temple Law student is actually a very real possibility. We all know that law school can be expensive, and for me, living in the suburbs was a way to offset some of that expense. Luckily for me, my parents still live in the same suburb where I grew up and were willing to have me move back home after years of living on my own. As a current third-year law student, I commute to Temple Law every day using Septa’s Regional Rail System. The Regional Rail has trains that run from Philadelphia to the western suburbs, northern suburbs, and even New Jersey. I take the Paoli-Thorndale …