If It Matters, Write About It: Using Legal Scholarship to Effect Social Change

Abstract

This essay centers on the concept of "intellectual activism," discussing how legal scholarship can be used as the foundation for social change work. It recounts and reflects upon the author's ongoing work in advancing issues such as workplace bullying and the rights of student interns. It concludes with advice on how to be effective in an intellectual activist mode. The essay will be published in the inaugural issue of Bearing Witness: A Journal of Law and Social Responsibility, a new student-run periodical at Suffolk University Law School.

Keywords: legal scholarship, law reviews, public interest law, intellectual activism, social change, employment law, workplace bullying, unpaid interns, therapeutic jurisprudence