Alice Briggs | Olivia Farrar | Jill McCullough | Mike Santana | Hollee S. Temple | Grace J. Wigal

Alice Briggs

Alice Briggs earned her undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College and graduated magna cum laude from Boston University School of Law. After graduation, Professor Briggs joined a litigation firm in Manchester, New Hampshire, where she practiced in the civil litigation division and wrote numerous appellate briefs. She joined the law faculty at Pierce Law Center in 2000, and has been teaching in their legal skills program for seven years.

“Legal writing and analysis intrigues me because it is a fascinating and infinitely creative task. It requires one to engage one's intellect, imagination and verbal skills to explain complex problems,” she said. “Clear writing requires clear thinking. Being able to write clearly and succinctly is an invaluable tool for all lawyers. LawBoost’s curriculum addresses the components of legal analysis and writing in an orderly fashion, making them accessible and comprehensible.”

Olivia Farrar

Starting in 2006, Prof. Olivia Farrar’s work has been devoted to mediation and arbitration, primarily business, employment, construction, contract, and family matters.  Alongside her mediation and arbitration practice, she teaches at American University and George Washington law schools.

From 2003 to 2006, Prof. Farrar worked as an attorney for Hogan & Hartson on a wide variety of matters, including corporate, litigation, international trade and intellectual property.  Prior to working for Hogan & Hartson, she interned with a trial judge and an appellate judge, and helped draft an international treaty on the enforcement of judgments.

Before becoming an attorney, Prof. Farrar worked at the US Copyright Office as an examiner, and taught in the French and English Departments at Princeton University.  She received her JD from Georgetown University Law Center, and both her PhD and BA in Romance Languages from Princeton University.

LawBoost will speed up your successes in law school because this is exactly what your 1L professors will be trying so hard to teach you.

Jill McCullough

Jill McCullough graduated magna cum laude from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1995. While in law school, she served as a Teaching Assistant in the school’s Legal Skills Program and as an Associate Editor of its Law Review. After graduating, she clerked for the Circuit Court of Baltimore City. She then went on to practice law privately for eight years before going into public practice as an Assistant Attorney General with the Maryland Office of the Attorney General. Recently, Jill returned to teaching at her alma mater, accepting an adjunct position as a writing professor for the spring 2008 semester. Jill enjoys teaching legal writing and basic legal skills to entering and first year law students.

“Lawyers are, first and foremost, effective communicators. The written word is one of the most basic tools of effective communication. Learning the fundamentals of legal writing early will not only help students succeed in law school but will also lay a foundation for learning other related skills such as legal analysis and oral advocacy. ”

Michael Santana

Working with law students has been the primary focus of my legal career, and I really love doing it. I am the founder of Law Boost, and its administrator. At Law Boost, Fridays are the best. This is when students finishing the course realize just how much they learned in one week; and their law school doubts are replaced by confidence and competence. This has been, and continues to be, the greatest thrill and satisfaction of my professional career.

Prior to Law Boost, I was a legal writing professor at Vermont Law School and the University of Montana School of Law. I have clerked for the Washington Supreme Court, and practiced law in New York, which included supervising law students in a Family Court domestic violence law clinic.

I enjoy learning new ways to have fun, studying investing, and sports (7 on the line!).

Congratulations on being accepted to law school, and we look forward to working with you!

Hollee Temple

Hollee S. Temple graduated first in her class from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where she earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. A graduate of Duke Law School, Professor Temple practiced as a litigator at Pittsburgh’s Kirkpatrick & Lockhart before joining the West Virginia University College of Law faculty in 2003. Her recent work has appeared in the University of Louisville Law Review, the University of San Francisco Law Review and the University of Detroit Mercy Law Review. She also has published in Perspectives and the Second Draft, two specialized legal writing publications.

Professor Temple is actively involved in the activities of the Legal Writing Institute, serving on its Program Committee for the 2008 biennial conference. She has been teaching online since the fall of 2006, when she developed an online legal research course for West Virginia University’s Master of Legal Studies program. She joined the LawBoost faculty in the summer of 2007.

“Working with LawBoost students has been a highlight of my teaching career,” she said. “In one short week, I see our students transform from nervous, worried pre-law students to confident 1Ls who are ready to succeed from the very first class. That’s tremendously satisfying to me.”

Grace Wigal

Grace J. Wigal, Esq., is Director of Legal Reasoning, Writing, and Research at the West Virginia University College of Law. Professor Wigal began her law career as a litigator with the law firm of Steptoe and Johnson, in Clarksburg, West Virginia. She has been teaching writing and appellate advocacy at the College of Law for seventeen years, and has published several articles and book chapters that relate to litigation and medical malpractice issues. She currently serves as an officer in the Association of Legal Writing Directors, a professional organization devoted to supporting legal writing teachers in leadership roles in law schools throughout the country.

"I enjoy teaching for LawBoost because the materials teach students not only how to read a case, but also how to use the case as a lawyer would use it -- to predict an outcome for a client. Practice with case reading and application is key to good preparation for law school."