All posts filed under: Student Commentary

Here & Queer: My Experience Presenting at the University of Texas Law School Annual Civil Rights Conference

Walking up the steps to the University of Texas Law School, I didn’t know what to expect. The weather was warm and the sun shining, a welcome reprieve from the harsh Philadelphia winter climate. After wandering through the halls, I finally found where I was supposed to be. I nervously walked up to the check-in desk, stating who I was. Hearing my name, the person did a double take, and said “oh! You’re one of our panelists! This is you, right?” Picking up a pamphlet from the pile in front of them, they pointed to a picture of me on the back cover. “Yep, that’s me!” I said, feeling awkward and out of place, still not believing that I was actually qualified to be speaking at a conference at one of the top law schools in the country. I put on a name tag, picked up a few extra pamphlets for my family, and headed to get a breakfast taco, a seemingly very appropriate introduction to Texas cuisine. When I sat down at a table, …

Temple Law Makes History by Designating Election Day as a Day of Civic Service

The American Constitution Society (ACS) is the premiere Progressive Legal Network, with over 200 law school chapters and fifty lawyers’ chapters nationwide. ACS organizes forward-thinking law students and legal professionals to use the law as a force for positive change Did you know that Temple Law students have Election Day off this year? As we all know, democratic institutions in America and around the world are facing unprecedented challenges. It is our duty, and our right, as citizens to rise to face this challenge. The scope of the difficulties can seem overwhelming at times, but the beauty of Democracy is that it rests on the strength of The People as a whole, not any one of us individually. All that Democracy requires to thrive is enough people making a small positive contribution. Our contribution at the American Constitution Society Temple Law Chapter (ACS) in spring, 2022, was leading a campaign to give every Temple Law student the day off on Election Day. We wanted to make it easier for students and faculty to vote, volunteer, …

More Than a Seat at the Table

More Than a Seat at the Table – Meaningful Multistakeholder Engagement yet to be Seen at UN Cybercrime Treaty Negotiations The Colonial Pipeline is one of the largest oil pipelines in the United States, spanning over 5,500 miles and supplying nearly half the fuel for the East Coast. On May 6, 2021, Eastern European hacker group DarkSide initiated a ransomware attack on the pipeline’s digital system, demanding 75 Bitcoin while holding the company’s data hostage. In response to the attack, Colonial temporarily halted all pipeline operations, causing jet fuel shortages for airlines, and leading to consumer panic buying and spiking gas prices. The Colonial Pipeline attack was not an isolated incident, ransomware attacks are rising in frequency and scope and have targeted critical infrastructure like healthcare and education systems. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) stretch across political borders, connecting societies like never before, and can increase opportunities for social and economic benefits. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated dependence on digital infrastructure in myriad ways, facilitating drastic changes in work, education, and industry patterns. While digital connectivity …

Putting Lawyering Skills Into Practice Through Community Legal Services’ (CLS) Youth Justice Project

This summer, I worked with Community Legal Services’ (CLS) Youth Justice Project (YJP) under the supervision of Temple Law alum Tracie Johnson LAW ’18. YJP works with young people across the range of legal needs they experience. This allowed me to learn about and work on a variety of issues, from helping clients get probation fees waived to researching the legal standard for “recklessness.” What made the work particularly impactful was getting to help clients solve their individual legal problems while also working towards structural change to address the injustices at the heart of those needs. One of my main assignments was representing a client in a hearing to determine whether they could continue to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. This allowed me to put crucial lawyering skills such as client interviewing, analyzing records, case strategy, and oral advocacy into practice. However, this work went beyond addressing one client’s needs. I also assisted with a roundtable that allowed community organizations who help people apply for SSI benefits to share their experiences directly with congresspeople …

In their own words: Law students praise Temple Rome summer program

Upon the conclusion of the 4-week study abroad program in Rome, students from Temple University Beasley School of Law, as well as other participant students from partnering law schools, reflected on their personal, professional, and academic experiences in Rome. Among the major benefits of the program, students attested to the professional advantages gained by enrolling in international law courses, arriving at Temple’s Rome campus each morning for class lectures, and living in the “Eternal City.” Emphasizing the value of networking with professors and guest lecturers, Alison Maser (a 2L Temple student) mentioned, “I feel like I have gained invaluable mentors through this experience.” Mariah McGuirk from Albany Law School articulated the intrinsic benefits of studying law abroad, as she experienced advantages inside and outside the classroom: “regardless of what the content is in the classes that we take, the skills we are developing and learning will help us through the rest of our educational career as well as our professional careers.” During the summer term, students engaged with guest lecturers, completed written assignments, delivered oral …

Shannon McGuire LAW '21 stands in front of a large waterfall

Studying Abroad at Del Rosario University in Bogotá, Colombia

In Fall of 2018, Shannon McGuire LAW ’19 completed a semester-long study abroad program at our Temple Law partner school, Del Rosario University in Bogotá, Colombia. I went to Rosario with an interest in seeing how Colombia was handling the Venezuelan refugee crisis, to learn more about human rights law, and to improve my Spanish language skills. I left Bogota having achieved each of those goals but also having made lifelong friends, having acquired an addiction to arepas de yuca and yellow dragon fruit, and having gained a deeper understanding and admiration for a peace process that transitioned a country from decades of internal conflict to a new horizon that aimed to uphold the rule of law while rehabilitating offenders and giving victims a voice. I cried seeing exhibits of paramilitary slaughters of Colombian villages. I debated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with my classmates in my Anthropology of Violence and Conflict class. I hid my face every time we learned about yet another Latin American country where the U.S. meddled in their domestic affairs during the Cold War era (and …

Photo of people in a board room with biometric face scans

Temple Law Confronts Policy Gaps for Emerging Technologies

Newly founded institute advocates for federal regulation of AI-enabled biometrics The technology boom of the last several decades showcases incredible feats of human ingenuity. Biometric technology in particular has quickly and quietly embedded itself into our lives as we monitor our kids, calories, and homes through our phones. However, as we idly scroll, we are increasingly being watched. For example, the Philadelphia Police Department has access to more than 1,800 surveillance cameras through one of a growing number of fusion centers in the United States, operated by state and local law enforcement in partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Pennsylvania driver’s license photos and records feed into the state’s law enforcement database, JNET, which operates a facial recognition system called JFRS. As humankind continues to invent greater, more powerful, and potentially more intrusive tech, Temple University’s newly founded Institute for Law, Innovation & Technology (iLIT) seeks to help regulate them by focusing on practical engagement and the human dimension to making and using technology. Its mission is to deliver equity, bridge academic and …

Building the Rule of Law in Albania

When I entered law school in my native Albania, at the tender age of 18, I had strong idealistic beliefs. I began my legal studies as a mission, but, like almost all young idealists, I faced disappointment after confronting the systemic corruption in the Albanian justice system. To avoid that corruption as much as possible, I steered away from both public administration and litigation. I then directed my efforts into the private sector and commercial law. This later became my focus in the Master of Laws for Foreign-Trained Lawyers (LLM) program at Temple University Beasley School of Law. I very much enjoying living in Philadelphia, while attending classes as part of the Temple intensive English (IELP) and LLM programs. Living and studying abroad changes one on so many levels. I will never forget the extraordinary professors; their use of the Socratic method differs so greatly from higher education practices back home. The engagement with professors and students, both in and out of the classroom, shapes one’s thinking and presents challenges with far-reaching effects. My Temple …

Center for Compliance and Ethics Summer Fellowship | Student Perspectives

This past summer, several Temple Law students completed the Center for Compliance and Ethics Summer Fellowship. They shared their experiences here: Dave Garton LAW ’23 – Lincoln Financial Group  My experience was fantastic, and I would recommend it to anyone regardless of their specific legal interests. I had opportunities to work with Lincoln Financial Group’s business units to update HIPAA compliance guidelines, with the financial advisory group on tracking and updating client compliant client disclosures, and on traditional legal memos and research questions for the litigation team. I also had opportunities across the legal department and have already benefited from references to OCI firms and have been offered contacts at firms of all sizes in the area. Lincoln’s legal department was helpful and considerate from those I worked with directly up to the Chief Counsel and other heads of departments. They all did a good job of keeping the internship engaging in a virtual environment, but I imagine it would only be better in person. Molly Herbison LAW ’22 – Otsuka I had a great experience at Otsuka. Over the …

Photo of Christopher Moore LAW '23 wearing a suit and tie standing in front of a fountain.

Honoring Amber Racine – Christopher Moore LAW ’23 Shares His Experience as the Inaugural Amber Racine Fellow

It has been an honor to become the very first recipient of the Amber Racine Fellowship as a law student intern at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia. I never had the opportunity to meet Amber Racine, but I had certainly heard about her prior to becoming a fellow. I remember the outpouring of love from Temple Law School after her passing. This prompted me to learn more about her work both within the courtroom and outside the courtroom. I was thoroughly impressed with her legal/professional achievements which were all accomplished at such a young age. I was equally, if not more, impressed with her work in the community and her dedication to nurturing young attorneys of color. I was extremely humbled by this fellowship opportunity because I am essentially standing on the shoulders of an individual that successfully traversed through the path I am trying to follow. I will always be appreciative and honored to be the first Amber Racine Fellow. This summer, I worked with Community Legal Services’ Youth Justice Project (“YJP”) under the …