Sabrina  DeFabritiis

Professor of Legal Writing; Director of Bar Programs and Initiatives

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Biography

As a Professor of Legal Writing, Professor DeFabritiis is an active leader in the legal writing field on a national level. She currently serves as Chair of the AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research, and as Co-Chair of the Legal Writing Institute's Idea Bank. She has also served as Chair-Elect, Secretary, and as an Executive Board Member of the AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research.

Professor DeFabritiis has also published numerous law review articles and presented in the fields of legal writing, oral advocacy, animal law, and bar exam preparation. As a Professor at Suffolk University Law School, Professor DeFabritiis teaches first-year and advanced legal writing courses, Negotiation, and a bar preparation course. Professor DeFabritiis works extensively with Suffolk Law School students and recent graduates as they prepare for the bar exam. She has also served as Faculty Advisor to the National Moot Court Team, the Jessup Team, and the Foreign Direct Investment Team.

Professor DeFabritiis graduated, cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School and received her BS, from Boston College. As a student, Professor DeFabritiis served as Vice President of the Moot Court Honor Board and the Journal of Trial & Appellate Advocacy. Additionally, she was a member of the Moot Court Tax Team, which won the National Competition in 2002. Before joining the faculty at Suffolk Law School, she clerked for the Justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court, and spent several years as an associate in the Boston office of Campbell Campbell Edwards & Conroy P.C., where she practiced in their advanced motions and appellate practice department.

Education

  • BA, Boston College
  • JD, Suffolk University

Publications

Articles

  • Keeping it Real: How to Make Research Engaging (co-author Kathleen Elliott Vinson), SECOND DRAFT (Forthcoming Fall 2017). 
  • 1L Is the New Bar Prep, CREIGHTON L. REV. (Forthcoming December 2017).
  • Fido's Fallacy: Insurers Undermining Bans on Breed Specific Legislation,  9 ALB. GOV'T L. REV. 168 (2016).
  • Lost in Translation: Oral Advocacy in a Land Without Binding Precedent, 35 SUFFOLK TRANSNAT'L L. REV. 301 (2012)
  • Barking Up the Wrong Tree: Companion Animals, Emotional Damages and the Judiciary's Failure to Keep Pace, 32 N. ILL. U.L. REV. 237 (2012)
  • Can You Hear Me Now? Using Voice Comments to Provide Feedback on Students' Memoranda, 23 :2 THE SECOND DRAFT 7 (2009)
  • Clarity, Organization: Watchwords for Client Correspondence, MASS. LAW. WKLY. (2009) (March 9)

Books

  • PRODUCTS LIABILITY DEFENSE: A STATE-BY-STATE COMPENDIUM (Defense Research Institute, 2004) (Co-author of the Massachusetts section for the 2004 and 2007 editions).

Book Chapters

  • Handling HIC Claims from the Plaintiff's Perspective, in HOME IMPROVEMENT CONTRACTOR (HIC) CLAIMS MASS. GEN. LAWS. CH. 142A (2005) (Co-author 2005 edition).

Media

AALS Newsletter

Bar Admittance

  • MA
  • United States District Court, Mass
  • United States District Court, Conn.
Sarah DeFabritiis

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Courses Taught

  • Legal Practice Skills