Bentley Students Enjoy Their ‘Day in Court’

For many, visiting a courthouse can be an anxiety-producing experience. But for the nearly 50 Bentley students who recently observed proceedings at Boston’s John J. Moakley U.S. Courthouse during the university’s first-ever Experience the Law Day, the prevailing emotion was excitement.

Experiential Learning: The Courtroom as Classroom

Co-sponsored by Bentley’s Law and Taxation Department and the student-run Adamian Law Club, the courthouse visit was organized by Assistant Professor of Law Hannah Weiser. She worked with Discovering Justice, a Boston-based civic education nonprofit, to develop the itinerary, which included a tour of the courthouse, a question-and-answer session with Honorable Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV and observations of courtroom hearings.  

“Experience the Law Day offers students a unique and memorable way to learn more about justice, advocacy and the foundations of our legal system firsthand,” Weiser explains. Experiential learning opportunities like these create a “conceptual bridge” for students, she says, providing a “richer, more meaningful understanding of how concepts learned in class play out in a real-world environment.”  

Weiser emphasizes that all Bentley students, regardless of major or course load, were invited to participate in Experience the Law Day. After all, she notes, “The law intersects with our personal and professional lives in a manner that makes it important to everyone. Whether a student plans to become an attorney or simply wants to learn when they might need one, courses that help them understand their personal rights and how to mitigate risk are invaluable.” Law courses also help students hone their analytical thinking, communication (oral and written), ethical reasoning and problem-solving skills, Weiser notes — qualities that can contribute to professional success in any industry or position.  

A Legacy of Legal Learning

Bentley students have a long history of learning about the judicial system: The Bentley School of Accounting and Finance established a law department in the 1930s. Classes focused exclusively on business law until the 1970s, when a course in real estate law was introduced.  

In the decades since, the university has continued to expand its curricular offerings — current undergraduate students can choose from dozens of courses, including:  

• Moot Court (LA 108)
• Internet Law and Policy (LA 230)
• Constitutional Protections and the Criminal Justice System: Business Implications (LA 225)
• White Collar Crime (LA 318)  

The university introduced a Law minor in 2009 and a Business Law major last year. To date, 69 Bentley students have selected Business Law as a primary or secondary major.

One of them is Joseph Whalen ’27, an Honors Program student also pursuing a minor in Business Economics. Currently vice president of the Adamian Law Club, he plans to apply to law school after graduation and aspires to a career in financial litigation. “Experience the Law Day offered a fantastic opportunity to get a glimpse of the day-to-day functions of our judicial system,” Whalen says. “It can be easy to lose sight of the gravity of legal proceedings when reading case briefs in class but being face-to-face with legal counsel and a judge, seeing how stakeholders interact and listening to attorneys deliver legal arguments, makes the importance of our judicial system so much more tangible.”

Kassidi Thompson ’27, an Honors Program student double majoring in Economics-Finance and Public Policy, agrees. During the courthouse visit, “I observed a Rule 11 hearing [during which a defendant formally enters a guilty plea], where I saw firsthand the importance of having a court interpreter to ensure justice for non-English speaking defendants, and listened to opposing oral arguments examining the applicability of restorative justice programs for repeat criminals.”

For Anisha Goel ’26, Adamian Law Club president and a double major in Business Law and Management, the highlight of Experience the Law Day was meeting Judge Saylor. “I enjoyed asking him questions about his personal life and how he got to where he is today,” she says. “I believe that learning more about individual career paths helps me identify my own goals. Participating in this event further affirmed for me that law is my passion.”  

Why Studying Law Benefits All

Bentley students who don’t harbor similar career ambitions will still benefit greatly from taking law courses, Whelan says. “In the modern business climate, legal considerations underlie virtually every strategic and operational decision,” he observes. He believes “demonstrating legal literacy distinguishes Bentley students from other graduates,” giving them a professional advantage as they establish their careers.

But that’s not the only reason for Whelan’s enthusiastic endorsement. “What makes the Law and Taxation department so distinct is the unmistakable passion I’ve seen from all of my professors,” he says, noting that all are licensed attorneys with significant experience in their respective fields. “They consistently bring real-life anecdotes and case studies into the classroom, making the material easy to understand and highly engaging. Beyond being knowledgeable, they’re also approachable — and genuinely invested in students’ success.”