‘It is our conscience that dictates the decisions we should make’

By Maggie Riley ’25

Whenever I speak with an admitted student and they ask how I “found out” what I want to do (in quotes because who ever really knows?), I tell them the story of how I enrolled at HLS without any certainty about my career. I always had many unrelated interests. Constitutional law? Real estate? Corporations? International law? I wasn’t sure. I just knew I felt called to that cliché of I want to help people. But how?

During 1L, we were invited to a reception where a large group of firm partners and associates joined us to discuss their firm and work. I spoke to every single person that would lend me their ear, from associates in private equity to partners practicing appellate litigation. But I mostly enjoyed speaking with the white collar associates; they spoke about presenting before the Department of Justice, interacting with CEOs and other business professionals, and high-profile trials. When I was considering where I should apply for my 1L summer, I met with Elizabeth Shirey at OPIA just about every week. Luckily she was patient with all my questions and pointed me to internships with the federal government and, particularly, U.S. Attorney’s Offices. At the same time, I was enrolled in Professor Natapoff’s Criminal Law class and absolutely loved it. Criminal law felt so fluid compared to rules-based classes. We were constantly balancing conflicting interests.  I had the same feeling leaving every one of these moments: I really love criminal law. I even took a career quiz hoping it would say I was meant for M&A or something but, of course, it did not.

Many members of my family are civil servants and, as much as they love their jobs, they didn’t want something similar for me. They wanted me to reenact Suits, or however else they envision some “hotshot lawyer.” So the thought of spending so much time working in government—particularly local, like my family—was scary for us all! I spent 1L summer at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York in the Narcotics and Anti-Money Laundering and Organized Crime and Gang Units, 2L fall at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts in the Major Crimes Unit, 2L winter in the Trial Advocacy Workshop working on public speaking and trial strategy, and 2L summer at Paul, Weiss in New York primarily in the White Collar and Economic Sanctions & Anti-Money Laundering Groups.

I knew that the Criminal Prosecution Clinic would be the perfect cap on my law school experience, and I wanted to join as soon as I became a 3L. (This was true even though I was still very much afraid of public speaking, might I add.)

My initial draw towards criminal law came from a “gut feeling”; it was something that I followed simply because it felt right. But once my brain caught up, I realized why I love this work so much. The system is imperfect, but there are real people within it. Criminal law touches even the minutiae of our daily lives. Something I took away from Professor Natapoff’s class is how severe and overlooked our misdemeanor system really is—she even wrote a book about it. It is hard to overstate the gravity of each person’s situation as they move through a courtroom that looks like any other building on Mystic Valley Parkway in Medford. It is easy to look at these cases and think they are less severe, important, or gripping than those in the federal courthouse.

But especially at the local level, it is people’s livelihoods on the line for their first Operating Under the Influence charge. It is restraining orders against abusive partners. It is protecting children who are floating through the juvenile system, seemingly with no end or help in sight. It is defense attorneys trying their best to ensure their client, an addict and serial shoplifter, gets the treatment they need rather than paying debilitating fines and prison time for stealing diapers. And it is prosecutors, prosecutors that I had the honor to work with, who put in more time, energy, and work than required, to help victims and defendants alike. To work with state and local authorities to get children out of the system and back in school. To, amidst a caseload of hundreds, a grueling schedule, and a faulty printer, think deeply and crucially about the decisions they are making to ensure the best for their communities and every single person they serve, including every defendant that walks through the courtroom doors.

I love criminal law, and I especially loved working at the Cambridge and Malden District Attorney’s Office, because I had the opportunity to be part of something far bigger than myself and yet small enough that I felt like every single person in our office made a difference each day. I was surprised by the collegiality of the courtroom, but maybe that was my naïveté at work: Defense attorneys and prosecutors cooperated; the judges understood their colleagues and their community; everyone ensured that those who wanted to speak were heard; and jurors deliberated with care and truth.

Through this clinic, I learned from ADAs who truly care about their work and the impact it has. They taught me how to dive into crucial details when questioning a witness. They taught me how to move further and further away from my notes sheet during trials. They taught me how to pick a jury, how to collaborate and negotiate with defense attorneys, how to deal with delays and continuances, and how to work with unexpected cases that ADAs must always deal with on-the-spot. All the while, they patiently answered all my questions, discussed their cases with me, and our regional supervisor would even sit with me to discuss the deeper, more philosophical questions about the job, ethics, and morality. The lunch hour was filled with laughter, sweet snacks, and further discussion about how someone should approach a case.

I prepared for multiple jury trials, was second seat for multiple others, represented the Commonwealth in front of various judges, and discussed case strategy and compiled research for my colleagues’ cases. I spoke with victims, Victim Witness Advocates, police officers, defense attorneys, and clerks. I met wonderful, hardworking, and interesting people every single day.

In our seminar, we practiced negotiating plea deals, arguing in front of a “judge,” and discussed our cases to receive feedback on strategy. Our instructor, Jack Corrigan, taught us what it means to be a good prosecutor in the true sense of being good. In the sense of being fair, compassionate, and just. In the sense that it is our conscience, which sometimes goes even further than the law, that dictates the decisions we should make. The right decisions. Every day in our seminar and at work, I felt like I was back home again, interacting with people just like my family—public servants wanting to do the best for their community, each and every day.