Staff

William Berman

William Berman is a Clinical Professor of Law Emeritus and Clinical Research Professor. He has taught in Suffolk's Clinical Programs since 2000. He is a graduate of Union College and Boston University School of Law. Professor Berman is the Academic Director of Suffolk’s Center for Housing Justice & Policy, which works toward a future with equal access to safe and affordable housing through housing discrimination testing and enforcement, policy initiatives and empirical studies that produce data for policy makers. The Center is helping to educate the next generation of civil rights attorneys. Professor Berman is one of the founders of Suffolk’s Housing Discrimination Testing Program and Accelerator-to-Practice Program. He has taught the lawyering process in Suffolk’s clinical programs where he and his students have represented hundreds of indigent tenants and victims of discrimination. Professor Berman has also taught a fair housing seminar and a module in Suffolk’s Race & American Law course.

Professor Berman’s scholarship is in clinical pedagogy and fair housing. He is the co-author of two empirical studies on housing discrimination. Professor Berman is a frequent speaker on clinical and experiential learning and fair housing and is often consulted by the media on issues related to fair housing. Prior to working at Suffolk University Law School Professor Berman was a litigator at the Office of the Attorney General in Massachusetts, and at the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. He has over 35 years of litigation experience.

Emily Cortes

Emily Cortes is a Clinical Fellow with Suffolk University Law School’s Center for Housing Justice and Policy (CHJP). She leads projects to educate the public across Massachusetts about their rights and obligations under fair housing laws, with a focus on renters, property owners, and first-time homebuyers. In addition to developing and coordinating fair housing tests, she trains new testers and partners with community organizations and municipalities to strengthen awareness of fair housing protections.

A first-generation college graduate, Ms. Cortes earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication, Media, and Cultural Studies from the University of Tampa. She received her JD from Suffolk University Law School in 2025. During law school, she advanced fair housing enforcement by serving as a fair housing tester, working as the 2024 HDTP Fair Housing Fellow, and completing a legal externship with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) compliance and enforcement divisions. Outside of work, Ms. Cortes is passionate about analyzing reality television and pop culture, exploring how media influences society and communities. She also enjoys discovering new Boston restaurants with her family and traveling the country to stay connected with her University of Tampa friends.

Ashley Grant

Ashley Grant is the Director of Fair Housing Enforcement and a Clinical Fellow with the Center for Housing Justice & Policy and Accelerator to Practice Program at Suffolk University Law School. Prior to joining Suffolk University Law School, Attorney Grant was the Legal Director at the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center, where she spent ten years representing victims of housing discrimination in state and federal court, as well as before administrative agencies. In addition to conducting frequent trainings and presentations on fair housing issues, Attorney Grant also designed and co-taught a course on housing discrimination at Western New England School of Law. Attorney Grant is a graduate of the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law and Wesleyan University. After law school, she served as a law clerk for a federal magistrate judge in the Eastern District of New York and worked as an attorney at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House in New York City, representing low-income tenants in housing court and assisting individuals whose public benefits had been terminated.

Jamie Langowski

Jamie Langowski, pronouns: she/her, is a Practitioner in Residence at Suffolk University Law School and the Executive Director of the Center for Housing Justice & Policy. Attorney Langowski has many years of experience in the area of fair housing law and helped start the Housing Discrimination Testing Program (HDTP) at SULS. She is a nationally recognized expert on housing discrimination testing. Attorney Langowski has co-developed and co-taught multiple experiential fair housing law courses and is a frequent speaker on topics related to fair housing testing.

Prior to coming to Suffolk, Attorney Langowski clerked for a Boston civil rights attorney and served as Director of Policy and Communications for an At-Large Boston City Councilor where she worked on a wide range of issues with a focus on the environment and education. She is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law.

Publications

• Jamie Langowski et al., Qualified Renters Need Not Apply: Race and Voucher Discrimination in the Metro Boston Rental Housing Market, Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy, Vol. 28(1), Fall 2020.
• Jamie Langowski et al., Qualified Renters Need Not Apply: Race and Voucher Discrimination in the Metro Boston Rental Housing Market, The Boston Foundation, July 2020.
• Jamie Langowski, William Berman, Regina Holloway, and Cameron McGinn, Transcending Prejudice: Gender Identity and Expression-Based Discrimination in the Metro Boston Rental Housing Market, Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, Vol. 29, p. 321, 2018.
• Jamie Langowski, Discrimination with a Smile, Pride Guide, 2018.
• William Berman and Jamie Langowski, Supreme Court Upholds a Critical Tool in the Struggle for Inclusive Communities, Human Rights at Home Blog, June 25, 2015.
• Lingering Lead: Strategies for Eliminating Familial Status Discrimination Due to Lead Paint, 2 BEARING WITNESS: J. L. & SOC. RESP. 22 (2014).

James Matthews

James Matthews, is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Law in Suffolk Law School’s Accelerator-to-Practice Program and Housing Discrimination Testing Program (HDTP) where he supervises law students in housing discrimination, landlord-tenant, and other consumer protection matters related to housing. Attorney Matthews has over ten (10) years of experience working with low-income individuals on housing issues. Prior to law school, he was employed by the North Shore Community Action Programs (NSCAP) in Peabody, MA, where he worked with the agency’s staff attorney to assist low-income tenants facing eviction, discrimination, and termination or denial of subsidized housing. During law school, he continued advocating for at-risk tenants through a Summer Fellowship at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and as a student attorney in Suffolk Law School’s Housing Clinic. Attorney Matthews also has significant teaching and professional presenting experience. He helps conduct fair housing trainings and presentations as part of HDTP’s community education and outreach. He also teaches an upper-level landlord-tenant course he developed which includes instruction on state and federal fair housing law.