Professor Shah is the Director of the Academic Success Department and an Associate Professor of Law, specializing in bar preparation and legal skills at Western State College of Law. Professor Shah also consults in the area of business law and frequently delivers presentations and lectures on business law and entrepreneurship.

Professor Shah began her entrepreneurial pursuits by starting LawTutors, and her additional achievements in niche legal markets have earned her recognition in the “Top 100 Attorneys of 2020.” She has also been featured in Forbes and the Boston Business Journal.

Professor Shah also enjoys mentoring Western State College of Law graduates who want to focus on business law and entrepreneurship.

Professor Bolus has spent nearly a decade in legal education, with a primary focus on the academic success and bar preparation. She has worked at law schools throughout Southern California, developing curriculum for and teaching classes aimed at fostering students’ success in law school and on the bar examination.  

Prior to transitioning to legal education, Professor Bolus practiced labor and employment law at Jones Day and managed a portfolio of local, state, and federal government grants and contracts at the Community Resource Center, a non-profit social services agency. Before law school, Professor Bolus devoted a year to full-time service through AMERICORPS, a national program designed to combat poverty by building the organizational, administrative, and financial capacities of community-based organizations that assist low-income communities.   

Professor Bolus is a graduate UCLA School of Law, where she served as a Managing Editor of the Women’s Law Journal. She is a member of the Association of Academic Support Educators (AASE) and the West Coast Consortium of Academic Support Professionals (WCCASP) and has a particular interest in developing curriculum that incorporates growth mindset, interleaving and spaced learning, and effective self- and peer-assessment practices.

Rana Boujaoude is the former Director of Bar Services at Golden Gate University School of Law, where she spent over a decade helping students successfully prepare for and pass the bar exam. She worked with students and graduates nationwide on exam strategies, essay and performance test skills, and securing disability accommodations for the California Bar Exam. Her students consistently describe her as patient, kind, and highly skilled at breaking down even the most complicated legal topics.

In addition to her bar support work, Rana is an experienced Real Property professor. She has taught courses covering Real Estate Transactions, Present Estates, and Future Interests, and is recognized for making challenging material clear and approachable.

Rana earned her J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law and her B.A. from San Francisco State University. She is a member of the California State Bar and is passionate about helping students build the skills and confidence needed to succeed in law school, on the bar exam, and in their professional careers.

Scott Caron has been teaching and tutoring law students for more than 15 years. As a professor at Irvine University College of Law since 2004, he has taught courses as varied as Torts, Contracts, Criminal Law, Commercial Transactions (UCC), Community Property, Remedies, Legal Writing, Legal Research, and Document Drafting. Scott was also named Professor of the Year at Irvine in 2008.

A graduate of Whittier Law School, Scott excelled academically, competing on the Moot Court Honors Board, serving as Solicitations Editor on the Whittier Law Review, earning the top grade in a course six times, and graduating fourth in his class of more than 190 students. A practicing litigator in the Los Angeles area, since 2005 Scott has worked for a firm representing public entities, particularly law enforcement, in civil rights lawsuits. 

Cynara Hermes McQuillan is an Assistant Professor of Law at Touro Law Center. Professor McQuillan has extensive experience in Academic and Bar Support. Prior to joining the Touro faculty, she served as the Assistant Dean for Bar Success and Visiting Professor of Law at New York Law School where she led the implementation of programs designed to ensure bar success. Professor McQuillan also taught Legal Practice, a year-long course introducing students to essential lawyering skills such as legal research and writing.

As a first-generation student, Professor McQuillan is deeply committed to law school diversity pipeline programs and continues to devote her time to such.

Professor Kim-Jackson has a passion for helping guide students through law school and the bar exam. She has designed curriculum for first year skills courses and curriculum to provide support for at-risk students. She has taught courses and workshops for California bar tested subjects and International Law. She has worked at law school all over Southern California and has tutored students from across the country in preparation for the California bar exam and the UBE.

Professor Kim-Jackson is a breast cancer survivor and breast cancer mentor. She has served on nonprofits dedicated to combating human trafficking and helping foster care youth. She is currently the President of Basta Universal, an organization that provides eviction defense at no charge to residents in LA county.

Kirsten Pescetti is an Assistant Professor of Lawyering Skills at Western State College of Law, where she teaches Introduction to Legal Methods. She graduated summa cum laude as class valedictorian, earning her J.D. from Western State. During law school, Kirsten served as a Dean’s Fellow, Editor-in-Chief of Law Review, and Director of National Competitions for the Honors Moot Court team. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Before entering academia full time, Kirsten was a member of the adjunct faculty at Western State, where she helped prepare recent graduates for the California State Bar Exam. She also worked as a law and motion writer for several civil litigation firms, specializing in real estate dispute resolution and title and insurance fraud.

Kirsten is passionate about helping students develop the analytical and practical skills they need for success in law school, on the bar exam, and in practice.

Brittany L. Raposa graduated summa cum laude in 2015 from UMass Law. Right after graduating from law school, Brittany tutored students in law school courses and for the MPRE, and began tutoring students for the bar exam right after passing. Since, she has tutored students from all UBE states as well as New York, Texas and California. 

She is currently serving as the Director and Professor of Bar Support at Roger Williams University School of Law in Rhode Island. There, she teaches the in-house bar preparation course that prepares students for the bar exam, and she teaches a second-year course to help students with their analytical skills. 

Brittany also teaches with the Law Division of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing supplemental educational and career support to incoming Ivy League law students from underserved communities.  

April Vincent, Esq., has over two decades of experience supporting law students in both academic success and bar preparation. She currently serves as the Dean of Student Success and Bar Preparation at The Colleges of Law in Ventura and Santa Barbara, where she guides students through academic planning, skill-building, and bar readiness.

April has taught at Southwestern Law School, Whittier Law School, California Baptist University, and Western State University College of Law, covering courses such as Legal Writing, Wills & Trusts, Securities Regulation, and Business Law. She is especially passionate about mentoring students through the challenges of law school and the bar exam, helping them gain the skills and confidence needed to thrive.

In addition to her teaching, April practiced law for many years in the areas of securities, corporate law, and estate planning, serving as a partner at Weed & Co. LLP and later founding her own firm. She has also authored materials for Continuing Education of the Bar and held leadership positions with the State Bar of California’s Business Law Section.

A graduate of Whittier Law School, where she earned her J.D. summa cum laude and ranked first in her class, April also holds a B.A. from the University of California, Irvine. She is dedicated to promoting inclusion and equal access to justice, and to supporting every student’s journey to becoming a successful attorney.

Meijken Westenskow is the Assistant Director of Academic Success and Bar Readiness at UNT Dallas College of Law. Meijken teaches the school’s bar readiness courses and 1L courses that focus on the skills needed to be successful in law school. Meijken has also taught Conflict of Laws and a number of workshops focusing on UBE subjects. As the Assistant Director of the program, Meijken also counsels and advises individual students. Meijken has also worked as an essay grader for two bar preparation companies.

Meijken received her JD from Georgetown University Law Center, where she worked as a writing fellow. Before joining the faculty at UNT Dallas, Meijken spent most of her career with Mosaic Family Services, a non-profit organization that provides immigration and family law services to immigrant survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking.

Sheri Mason is an attorney who started her legal career on trademarks (including litigation), copyrights, entertainment law, compliance, privacy (including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA) and data protection, advertising/sweepstakes law, digital media, technology & software, licensing and contract drafting and negotiation in various industries.

Sheri started as a student at LawTutors and rose quickly to a top instructor. Sheri also teaches with the Law Division of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing supplemental educational and career support to incoming Ivy League law students from underserved communities.

Toral D. Patel received her Juris Doctor from New England Law | Boston. While in law school, she held numerous notable internships including being the first intern to the first Indian-American Judge in Massachusetts, the Honorable Sabita Singh, at the Massachusetts Appeals Court. She also held a position as a Student Prosecutor at the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts. Toral served as the Vice President of the South Asian Law Student Associated in her second year and the Evening Liaison in her third year.

She currently serves as a Family Staff Attorney at Connecticut Legal Services in Connecticut where she is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association, Fairfield County Bar Association, and the South Asian Bar Association of Connecticut. 

Alec Sperduto received his Juris Doctor from Western State College of Law, where he graduated cum laude, earned four CALI Excellence Awards, and served as a Dean’s Fellow for as long as he was eligible to do so. As a first-generation college student with a background in science rather than law, he had a lot to figure out for himself; law school was almost a foreign concept. He quickly developed systems for sustained success, learning how to digest and internalize material that seemed like it was in another langua…

He brings that same systematic and practical perspective to tutoring, helping students process and retain large amounts of information in ways that fit their learning style. Alec is a strong proponent of individualized learning. Having ADHD himself, he relates to students who feel defeated doing things “the way they’ve always been done,” only to find they retained nothing. He works with them to build personalized strategies that emphasize their strengths and make studying more effective.

Outside of tutoring, Alec practices in the Housing practice group of a Southern California public interest organization, focusing on unlawful detainer/eviction defense cases. Luckily, the Rule Against Perpetuities has yet to come up. When not working, Alec enjoys designing projects to 3D print and overwhelming his fiancé with impromptu chemistry lessons.

Lyza Fennell, an alumna of Smith College, manages a variety of tasks at LawTutors, holding the position of Director of Operations. Her responsibilities include managing important accounts, supervising operational procedures, and ensuring the smooth functioning of the company. In addition, she provides support and guidance to both students and Attorney Instructors, handling all matters related to their needs. Her role is vital to the LawTutors’ ongoing success, and she proves to be an asset with her diverse skill set and unwavering dedication. Lyza is an accomplished supporter of women and mothers in the arts, having founded the Mothers Institute for Collaboration and Arts (MICA) to advance this cause. She is also a co-founder of T-Ray Music, highlighting her deep passion for the arts. Lyza has received numerous accolades for her exceptional academic performance during her time at Smith College, demonstrating her leadership qualities and commitment to hard work and perseverance. 

Toothless Johnny (TJ) is LawTutors’ Chief Dog Officer (CDO). As you make have guessed, there is no actual bite to his bark, but he is a rather omnipresent micromanager. He has his own office chair and gets anxious if he is not sitting in it by 8:30 a.m. Oh, and he is 9 pounds.