Meet our Prelaw Resident Tutors:

Susannah Tobin, Committee Co-Chair	This is my fourth year in Leverett and my eighth on Harvard's campus. I look forward to living and working with you all, and especially with those of you interested in applying to law school--I co-chair the PreLaw Committee along with Jessica Budnitz--or interested in studying classics (my old concentration). I also serve as one of the House Committee Tutors, along with Paul Nguyen and Nick Vines, so I'm always happy to hear suggestions about how HoCo can help improve House life and what songs to add to the 80s dance playlist. Before becoming a Leverite, I graduated from Lowell House in June 2000 with a degree in Classics. As an undergraduate I spent a good many of my waking hours at The Crimson, where I wrote for the editorial page and argued over our daily staff positions on issues ranging from the serious (presidential impeachment) to the not-so-serious (more fro-yo in Annenberg!). When not at 14 Plympton, I did read Greek and Latin and always wanted more time for my concentration. I got my wish when a Harvard fellowship kindly sent me to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where I took a master's degree in Classics with a thesis on Ovid's poetry. I loved England (and am happy to discuss everything from the mores of British University life to Pete Sampras's serve at Wimbledon) and spent some memorable weeks traveling in Europe, but Boston is home, so I'm back. All that arguing at The Crimson stuck with me, not to mention a passion for First Amendment rights, so I went to law school and graduated in June 2004. I spent the summer after my first year working on free speech issues at the ACLU of Massachusetts and the summer after my second year doing litigation work at a corporate law firm. Stop me sometime and ask me to try to reconcile these two very different legal experiences. This year, I'll be working at the Federal Courthouse in Boston (overlooking the Harbor) as a law clerk to a trial judge, on my way to figuring out what I want to be when I grow up. I especially enjoy conversations about politics, history, sports (particularly the tragic comedy known as the Red Sox) and even the latest episodes of The West Wing and The Practice, otherwise now known as Boston Legal.
Jessica Budnitz, Committee Co-Chair	I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, went to college in North Carolina, and eventually made my way up to Massachusetts for law school. I work at a new child-focused center at Harvard Law School called the Child Advocacy Program (CAP). We provide Harvard Law School students the opportunity to study and apply innovative lawyering strategies to the area of children's rights. Before CAP, I founded Juvenile Justice Partners, a child-focused legal clinic, which trained Harvard Law School students represented indigent juveniles in Cambridge. Prior to JJP, I served as a law clerk to judges in juvenile courts in Massachusetts. I also worked at The Civil Rights Project at Harvard (studying the relationship between delinquency and education) and at the Juvenile Rights Advocacy Project at Boston College Law School (studying girls in the delinquency system). I graduated from Harvard Law School in 2001 and Duke University in 1998. I have been a tutor at Leverett for several years and feel lucky to be a part of such a great community. I've really enjoyed getting to know you and look forward to hearing how you are spending your time this year. In addition to serving as a prelaw tutor, I work on HAND (public service), Race Relations, and once in a while, intramural sports. If you're interested in law school, juvenile justice and children's rights, starting a non-profit, or Atlanta, I'd love to talk to you!
Galit Sarfaty	I'm so happy to be back in Cambridge as a tutor, with my new (and wonderful!) husband Adam. I attended Harvard as an undergraduate and filled my days hanging out at the Lampoon castle and shaking hands with important people at the IOP. While living on a native reservation in Canada for my senior thesis research, I developed a passion for indigenous rights advocacy. After graduating from Harvard, I decided to combine my interest in studying indigenous cultures and human rights with my desire to do international development policy work. So I became a professional student and have spent the last six years reading what I love, waking up late, and watching my friends make 10 times more money. I first spent two years at the University of Chicago starting a Ph.D. in anthropology, and exploring the city's amazing jazz scene every chance I could get. I then took a leave of absence to attend law school at Yale, where I graduated in 2005. (Of course, I still root for Harvard at The Game.) An internship at the World Bank gave me an idea for my Ph.D. dissertation: an ethnographic study of the Bank's institutional culture and the role of human rights in decisionmaking. Over the past year, I conducted interviews of staff at the Bank's headquarters in Washington, DC. While I begin writing up my dissertation this year, I will also be a graduate fellow at Harvard's Center for Ethics and a visiting fellow at Harvard Law School's Human Rights Program.
Ada Sheng	I am very happy to make my debut this year as a pre-law resident tutor! I look forward to meeting everyone and helping out with any law or life related questions and activities! A little background about myself: I hail from Princeton, NJ, although I have spent the last five years here in Boston. I graduated from both Harvard Law School and the Kennedy School of Government in 2005 and am now midway through a clerkship with a federal district judge located in Boston. I attended college not far away in a little city called New Haven, after which I joined the Peace Corps and was shipped off to Nicaragua for two and a half years. My great loves in life are traveling (I've been to over 20 countries, so ask me if you're headed abroad and I may have some tips!), movies of any variety (the good, the trashy, and the ridiculous), choral music, Slavic folk music, violin, Ultimate frisbee, eating anything and everything, celebrity gossip, and just hanging out in general...oh, and Brad, my better half and fiance, who will also be residing with me in F-47! We hope to add a cat and dog to our bunch as well, so please drop by to say hello!

Meet our Allston Burr Resident Dean & Assistant to the Resident Dean:

Lauren Brandt, Allston Burr Resident Dean

Hi everyone! I graduated from Harvard College in June 2001 and enjoyed it so much that I decided to come back for graduate school in the History of American Civilization Program. I am in my seventh year and finishing up my dissertation which examines religious groups and women’s social reform organizations in early twentieth-century Boston. Basically, this means I spent most of my time in archives reading other people’s letters, diaries and personal papers. I’ve had a lot of experience with interdisciplinary programs here (I graduated from History and Literature and have taught in it for two years) and would love to chat with anyone interested in American history, literature, research issues, the ins and outs of the library system, etc. Outside of academia, I enjoy running, playing soccer, knitting (although I haven’t progressed beyond scarves yet – any tips are much appreciated), watching the Red Sox, movies, volunteer work, coffee breaks, games of Bowl Full of Nouns, Scrabble, Catchphrase, working with kids, and crossword puzzles. Feel free to stop by B-22 at anytime to chat – I’m always looking for ways to procrastinate.

Maura Tierney, Assistant to the Resident Dean

In addition to my exciting life as the Assistant to the Resident Dean, I am an artist and the mother of my eleven year old son, Sullivan - who makes an appearance here from time to time. In what my colleague at Adams calls our bureaucratic funhouse - I aim to be helpful in all things administrative at Leverett covering such subjects as recommendation letters, waiver forms, cross registration, the pre-med and pre-law process, and other such topics.

Meet our Nonresident Prelaw Tutors:

Robert Alcala	I am a 2004 graduate of Harvard Law School and currently a doctoral candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where I am writing a dissertation on the important educative function legal opinions perform in a democracy. This fall I am a teaching fellow in Michael Sandel's core course "Justice." While in law school, I worked for a large international law firm in New York City. Before coming to Harvard, I taught philosophy at a foreign university. I also have teaching experience in a number of other educational institutions, including public elementary schools and Head Start. I went to Williams for college (with a year at Oxford) and grew up around New York City. Even though I have been a Massachusetts resident for longer than I can remember, I still cannot bring myself to root for the Red Sox. (I prefer the team from the Bronx.) Feel free to talk to me about careers in law or education, including university teaching and research; studying in a dual degree program; applying from abroad; or other less weighty topics.
Ben Beasley	I will be a 2L in Fall of 2008 at HLS and am excited to be an NRT at Leverett. I graduated from BYU-Idaho in 2003 after studying history, business, and outdoor recreation leadership, and have worked as an international mountain guide and, more recently, in real estate and law. I'm having a great time at HLS and am most interested in internationial legal issues, legal academia, and business/corporate law. I enjoy travel and working overseas, and have lived and worked in Paraguay and Italy. Non-law interests include mountain and water sports, especially rock climbing, mountaineering, snowboarding, kayaking, and hiking, as well as more traditional athletics (as much as I can get with a 1L schedule) like volleyball and tennis. I also just signed up for the HLS kickball intramurals, which looks to be pretty gritty, so you know I'm a serious athlete these days. Another exciting piece of news is that my wife and I should have a newborn by this fall, so if anyone likes babysitting, we're happy to accommodate you! If I can help with any questions regarding law school, life, or anything else, ask or email and I'm happy to help.
Stephanie Early	I graduated from Stanford in 2005 with a degree in International Relations, and am now a rising 2L at the law school. Before starting law school, I worked for a year in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as a paralegal for a global law firm, and took some time to backpack around South America and work at an international hostel in San Francisco. My academic interests are in human rights law, focusing mainly in Latin America, particularly with issues of transitional justice, democratic institutions, and accountability. During the summer of 2007, I'll work at a human rights NGO in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I adore talking about Latin America -- politics, pop music, pisco sours, whatever -- other international issues, or pretty much anything else you care to chat about.
Noga Firstenberg	I moved to Cambridge all the way from sunny California. I grew up in Los Angeles and went to undergrad at UC Berkeley (Go Bears!) While in college, I lived in Paris and Geneva studying and working for the UN. I led summer trips to Isreal, backpacked through Europe, worked at the US Department of State, and wrote a senior thesis on war crimes tribunals. After graduation, I lived in Washington, D.C. and worked at a free legal clinic. After experiencing snow, I moved back to Berkeley and then made the decision to come out to the east coast for law school after spending a month backpacking in India. This summer I'll be in San Francisco doing public interest work and I'll start my 2L year this fall. I'm involved in human rights projects at school, spent my spring break with the Public Defenders in New Orleans, and work with the public interest office. I'm happy to talk to you about anything law school related, but feel free to also talk to me about traveling, the West Wing, or how much you miss California.
Joseph Fishman	If I look familiar, it's because it wasn't that long ago that I was still at Harvard (and Leverett), having graduated in 2005. If I do not look familiar, I would hope that that's at least in part due to the fact that my picture is still on file from my freshman year and I look a bit different now. I grew up in Newton and went to high school in Brookline, after which I deferred college and spent one year in Israel living in the Galilee. At Harvard I spent most of my time either on stage doing theater or in the a cappella scene. After graduating college, I spent a year in the University of Cambridge pursuing a master's in musicology and a diploma in Russian. Now I'm a 1L at HLS. I'm always happy to talk about how and why I decided to move from musicology to law--and why for me it wasn't as big a jump as you might think! I'm also particularly happy to speak with any of you about taking a year abroad after graduation, and about the particular ups and downs of applying to law school from outside the US. But feel free to pull up a chair in the dining hall and talk with me about anything from the latest Sox trade to where to find the best falafel outside the Middle East...
Michal Herzfeld	After my first semester in Leverett House in 2000, I joined HoCo and served as Social Chair and then Co-Chair. I had a lot of fun organizing 80s Dances, designing house t-shirts, and going to Stein Clubs, coffeehouses, and of course Chief's open houses. After graduating in 2003, I went to New York for three years to figure out what to do next. With a lot of help from the Leverett pre-law committee, I ended up back here at Harvard Law School, where I just finished my first year (and loved it). I'm looking forward to advising pre-law students and anyone else! My interests include music (all kinds), law (especially white collar crime), religion, cooking and nutrition, and shopping.
E.E. Keenan	Hi there, Leverett! My name is E.E. Keenan (the initials stand for "Edward Emmett"), and I hail from Kansas City, Missouri. I will be a 1L at the law school next fall, but currently am living in K.C. and working in the in-house law department of a construction company, where I deal with a broad array of things, ranging from contracts and insurance to intellectual property and corporate governance. Though I am not in Cambridge, I am happy to speak to anyone who has questions about law school, work, undergraduate studies (I was a Harvard undergrad, Dunster '06, Government), or anything else I can help you with. I am particularly available to field questions about advanced standing; I exercised this option, and am happy to talk to anyone who is thinking of going through with advanced standing. I'm looking forward to seeing you next year!
Lyndsey Kruzer	I am almost finished with my first year at the law school and am very excited to be joining Leverett House as a pre-law tutor. As an undergrad at Harvard College (thus the really young-looking freshman ID picture which, yes, the ID office has you keep through law school), I concentrated in government and graduated in '06 (Winthrop House). I decide to go straight through to law school, a decision with which I am very happy, and would love to provide my perspective to anyone considering doing the same. Currently, I am interested in contract law, labor/employment law, and sports law, among others; I will be working at the Dept. of Labor Office of the Solicitor this summer. Outside of the world of law school, I have a wonderful husband (Harvard College '04) who went to Boston College Law and will be clerking next year, so I can definitely provide his perspective as well. I love traveling (especially to tropical destinations -- our honeymoon in French Polynesia spoiled me forever!), and my hobbies included tennis, cooking, and pilates. I look forward to talking with several of you over the next few years, and feel free to email me if I can be of any assistance!
Sean McDonnell	I am rising 2L at Harvard Law School. I'm also a non-resident pre-law tutor at Leverett House. I grew up in Chicago, Illinois. I'm going back to the City this summer to work in the Criminal Appeals Division of the State's Attorney's Office. I hold undergraduate degrees in political science and journalism from the University of Missouri. I was the president of my college fraternity and I'm a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Before coming to law school, I worked professionally in journalism in Missouri and Florida. I was the recipient of the William Randolph Hearst Award for Outstanding Journalism. I also spent some time in DC working in government affairs, primarily dealing with the Senate Appropriations Committee. I'm always excited to talk about sports or politics (which I view as essentially the same thing), law school war stories, or anything else.
Hillary Steinbrook	Not so long ago I was living in the Leverett Towers as an undergrad (Class of 2007), and I'm thrilled to be back as a Non-resident Tutor! I traveled twenty miles from Marblehead, Massachusetts, to get to Harvard for college, and I've been here ever since. As an undergraduate I concentrated in psychology, although my electives focused on Jewish studies and Spanish - interests that I combined as the head party planner for the Harvard Hillel Sephardi Society. Currently, my main extracurricular activities are the Jewish Law Students Association, Women's Law Association, Harvard Negotiation Law Review, JD host program for LLM students, Committee on Sports and Entertainment Law, and Harvard Graduate Council. I am also an Admissions Fellow, so I lead tours of the campus for prospective students. I enjoy spending time with friends who are still at the college, discovering parts of the college I never knew existed (courtesy of my brother Daniel '11), and participating in events at the other Harvard graduate schools. If you are an early riser like me, chances are you'll find me in the Leverett dining hall with the other members of the Leverett Breakfast Club. Knowing that most of the Harvard population begins their day at a later time, I expect to be at Leverett during various lunches and dinners as well. I look forward to meeting you!
Octavian Timaru	Hi everyone, I graduated from Harvard (Quincy House) in 2003 with an AB/SM in Computer Science and have been working in the software industry ever since. This year I made a (slight!) shift and am now a 1L at HLS. In case you're wondering about my "august" name, I'm originally from Romania , though I've now spent more than half of my life in Canada and the US . I'd be glad to talk to you about law, economics, technology, my experiences in the software industry, applying to law school or any other topics. Stop by when you see me in the dining hall or send me e-mail any time! Also, I'm a huge fan of soccer and would love to play on the house team, though unfortunately I can't guarantee much in the way of skills. But on the bright side, I promise to score at least as many goals for Leverett as I scored for Quincy in my college days.
Joe Wolpin	Born and raised in Atlanta, I will be a 2L this fall at the law school. I graduated the University of Georgia in 2003 with a double major in History and Russian. After graduation, I spent one year on a Fulbright scholarship in Russia, and two years studying in the United Kingdom as a Marshall scholar, where I earned a Masters Degree from the London School of Economics. I also have taught LSAT and GMAT classes with a major test-prep company. I might be of particular help to students with international interests who are wondering if law school is the right career path. But feel free to ask questions about studying abroad, post-graduate fellowships, Russia, or anything else you think I can help with.
Susan Yeh	I will be a 2L at HLS this fall. I graduated in 2000 from the College, where I studied economics, was active in HRO, and picked up a chamber music obsession. After college, I worked in D.C. for a few years and then completed a PhD in economics at Princeton. I defended three days before starting law school, and it has been an adventure being back in Cambridge (yes, Harvard will keep your freshman ID photo). I am interested in labor economics, empirical legal studies, health law, and human rights, and I am considering a career in the government, public interest, or academia. Outside of school and work, my hobbies are playing the violin and viola in any kind of musical configuration (past examples include a goofy Beatles cover band and a tango quartet), playing board games, and watching movies. I would be happy to answer any questions about law school or graduate programs, and whether to do one, both, or neither. Also, if you like music and want to join in the fun, feel free to drop me a note.

 

Contact the House Office: