History’s grand moments, big wins and noble speeches inspire us, but it is the day-to-day grind by individuals... that sustains the fight for what is right.
Co-op Matters
For Cathy Dowd, Dobbs was the last straw and the spark. Furious at what she saw as a fundamental blow to women’s equality, she left behind a 15-year career as a high school teacher, mostly teaching AP government, and enrolled in law school.
On the House
As a teenager, William Hill ’85 worked on construction crews around Boston. Now, he’s putting construction law to work for those in need.
News Briefs
Professor Emerita Judith Olans Brown and her husband, Jim, have made a second major gift of $500,000 in support of the Judith Olans Brown Forum for Women in the Law.
The Center for Global Law and Justice (CGLJ) has released a revised edition of its water primer, The Human Right to Water in the United States: A Primer for Lawyers and Community Leaders, updated by Annaliese Woltornist ’28 and Professor Martha Davis.
The Tyler Lawrence Memorial Peacemaker Award for 2026 belongs to Ezekiel Hopkins ’26, whose dedicated pursuit of justice and legal practice centered in communities reflects exactly the impact Tyler was destined to have on the world.
Professor Claudia Haupt, a nationally recognized expert on First Amendment law at the intersection of free speech, health and technology, has been appointed faculty co-director of Northeastern Law’s Center for Health Policy and Law.
During the 2025–2026 academic year, the School of Law’s Center for Public Interest Advocacy and Collaboration (CPIAC) and the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs created the Northeastern University Law and Policy Fellows Program.
Janelle Orsi came to Northeastern Law as the 2025–2026 Givelber Distinguished Public Interest Lecturer.
In January, a group of Northeastern Law students participated in a powerful civil rights immersion trip to the Deep South led by federal judges from Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
In October, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard arguments at Northeastern Law, transforming Dockser Hall’s moot courtroom into a temporary bench for federal court hearings.
A legal theory developed at Northeastern Law’s Action Lab at the Center for Health Policy and Law has produced its first landmark result.
Northeastern Law’s Center for Public Interest Advocacy and Collaboration (CPIAC) launched a Visiting Fellowship Program in 2025–2026
A portrait of former Massachusetts Senator William “Mo” Cowan ’94 painted by artist Sharman Altshuler now hangs in the Northeastern Law Library, honoring Cowan’s service as a US senator representing Massachusetts.




