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Suzanne Gabrielle ’06 is a third-year student at New England School of Law in Boston, where she is executive technical editor of New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement as well as a mentor for incoming first-year students. She plans on graduating in May.
Suzanne is living in Boston and spending her summer clerking for a State Supreme Court judge. When asked about a typical day at her job, she replies, “It is always a surprise. Sometimes it is quite busy and there is a lot of work to get done. Other days it can be very slow. I have the opportunity to attend and observe both criminal and civil trials and hearings. However, when I am not in court I spend the majority of my time doing legal research and writing for my judge.”
The projects Suzanne is involved in are trial courts where the judges hear both civil and criminal matters.
“As a law clerk I assist the judge in performing research if there is an issue that is not common or may present difficulty in resolving,” she says. “This entails spending hours on Westlaw [legal databases] and in the library simply doing research and drafting an explanation for the judge. I also draft preliminary orders on how to potentially decide a motion that is before the court. Again, a lot of time, research, and writing go into those orders.”
Despite the constant demands of Suzanne’s career, she says there is not much to dislike at her job. “The best part of my job is getting to work with judges and be in court every day,” she says. Although she cannot reveal any details about the specific court cases, Suzanne says she has worked on many interesting cases this summer such as a murder case and an adverse possession claim.
As for Suzanne’s future, she plans to practice law in Massachusetts, hopefully in trusts and estates planning.
Suzanne graduated as a double major in history and government & law. She earned honors in his