Education
B.A., State University of New York at Stony Brook
J.D., Suffolk University Law School
Background
Professor Beth Cohen served as Interim Dean of the School of Law in 2022 – 2023. She also serves as the Director of the Legal Research and Writing Program and teaches Lawyering Skills, Externship Seminar, Professional Responsibility, and Mindfulness in Law Practice. She currently serves on the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Advisory Committee on Professionalism and the Supreme Judicial Court Alternative Paths Subcommittee on Bar Admissions. She serves on the board of directors of Community Legal Aid and previously served as a long-time board member of Scribes, The American Society of Legal Writers. Professor Cohen served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2009-2020.
Professor Cohen has taught at Western New England University School of Law since 1990. Prior to teaching at Western New England University, she served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Michael A. Ponsor of the United States District Court in Springfield, MA, and worked as an Associate at a small general practice law firm in Boston. She also taught Legal Practice Skills at Suffolk University Law School, where, as a student, she served on their Law Review. She graduated cum laude from Suffolk University Law School and also earned a Diploma in Advanced International Legal Studies in Salzburg, Austria, from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge Law School. Professor Cohen, together with Professor Newcombe, also co-founded and co-directed the popular civic education Mini-Law School Program.
Beth Cohen's Google Scholar Profile
Courses Taught
Externship Seminar
Law Practice Externship Seminar
Lawyering Skills
Mindfulness in Law Practice
Professional Responsibility
Scholarly Works
Book Chapters
Beth D. Cohen & Pat Newcombe, Lighten up! Learning the Law with Ease, in Teach Legal Studies with a Sense of Humor (Kishor Vaidya ed., 2021).
Beth D. Cohen & Pat K. Newcombe, Why Study Legal Studies?, in Legal Studies for the Curious (Kishor Vaidya ed., 2016).
Journal Articles
Pat Newcombe & Beth D. Cohen, Mini-Law School: Civic Education Making a Difference in the Community, 16 Seattle J. Soc. Just. 381 (2018). SSRN Digital Commons
Beth D. Cohen & Pat Newcombe, Prosecution of Child Pornography—The One-Eyed Judge by Michael A. Ponsor: A Book Review, 40 W. New Eng. L. Rev. 159 (2018). SSRN Digital Commons
Beth D. Cohen & Pat Newcombe, What Legal Writers Can Learn from Paint Nite, 25 Perspectives: Teaching Legal Rsch. & Writing 35 (2016). SSRN Digital Commons
Beth D. Cohen & Pat K. Newcombe, The Hanging Judge by Michael A. Ponsor -- Capital Punishment: Is the Death Penalty Worth the Price?, 62 Clev. St. L. Rev. 493 (2014). SSRN Digital Commons
Beth D. Cohen, A Name of One's Own: The Spousal Permission Requirement and the Persistence of Patriarchy, 46 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 1 (2013). SSRN Digital Commons
Beth Cohen, Radical Proposals to Reform Legal Pedagogy: Legal Learning for Life: Legal Immersion Fluency Education (LIFE), 43 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 605 (2008). SSRN Digital Commons
Beth Cohen, Helping Students Develop a Humanistic Philosophy of Lawyering, 12 J. Legal Writing 141 (2006). SSRN Digital Commons
Beth Cohen, Instilling an Appreciation of Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility in First Year Legal Research and Writing Courses, 4 Perspectives: Teaching Legal Rsch. & Writing 5 (1995). SSRN Digital Commons
Beth Cohen, Supreme Court Implies Students' Claim to Money Damages Under Title IX: Franklin v. Gwinett County Public Schools, 5 MBA Indiv. Rts. & Resp. Sec. News 2 (June 1993).
Beth Cohen & E. Mitnick, The Collateral Estoppel Effect of an Admission to Sufficient Facts in a Section 1983 Action for False Arrest and False Imprisonment, 4 Mass. Governmental Liab. Rep. 106 (1990).
Beth Cohen, Miranda Revisited: Broadening the Right to Counsel During Custodial Interrogation--Commonwealth v. Sherman, 18 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 99 (1984). SSRN Digital Commons
Beth Cohen, Union Must Provide Attorney Representation Without Regard to Union Membership--National Treasury Employees Union v. Federal Labor Relations Authority, 18 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 845 (1984). SSRN Digital Commons
Shorter Writings
Pat Newcombe & Beth D. Cohen, We Need More Diversity in the Legal Profession, Af-Am Point of View, Sept. 1, 2023, at 23.
Beth D. Cohen, Western New England University Hires Its First African American School of Law Dean, Af-Am Point of View, July 1, 2023, at 23
Beth Cohen & Pat Newcombe, The Relevance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities Today, Af-Am Point of View, Sept. 1, 2022, at 23.
Beth Cohen & Pat Newcombe, The Challenges and Opportunities of Supporting Entrepreneurs of Color, Af-Am Point of View, Sept. 1, 2021, at 23.
Beth D. Cohen & Pat Newcombe, Mindfulness and Meditation in the Practice of Law, Af-Am Point of View, Dec. 1, 2020, at 23.
Beth D. Cohen & Pat Newcombe, Civic Education Making a Difference in the Community, Af-Am Point of View, June 1, 2018, at 23.
Beth D. Cohen, Writing Can Be Taught and Assessed, N.Y. Times (Mar. 10, 2014). Digital Commons
Beth Cohen & Jeanne Kaiser, An Elective Advanced Course, in The Second Draft: Bull. Legal Writing Inst. 13 (May 2002). Digital Commons
Beth Cohen, Jocelyn Cuffee, Harris Freeman, Jeanne Kaiser & Myra Orlen, Commenting on Student Writing, in The Second Draft: Bull. Legal Writing Inst. 2 (Nov. 1999). Digital Commons
Chris Iijima & Beth Cohen, Reflections of IRAC in The Second Draft: Bull. Legal Writing Inst. 9 (Nov. 1995). Digital Commons
