Hear What our Students are Saying About our Attorney Instructors

Tania N. Shah was born and raised in Southern California. Tania is a published author, a practicing corporate attorney, the owner and founder of LawTutors, and a professor of law. She graduated from U.C. Berkeley, where she was a commencement speaker, and Boston University School of Law, where she was Executive Editor of the Science and Technology Law Review and a Moot Court Champion.

Tania taught as an adjunct professor for Bar Preparation at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth School of Law (where she also taught full time), Boston University School of Law, and Suffolk University School of Law. Tania is currently a legal instructor at Washington University School of Law, in their LLM and Masters of Law Program. Tania also teaches for 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. 

Tania was recently featured in Boston Voyager Magazine for her unique approach to legal education, and was the winner of Boston University’s Young Lawyer’s Chair award in 2010.

Tania has been chosen as one of the Top 100 Attorneys for 2020 and will become full-time faculty starting July 1, 2020 at Western State College of Law at Westcliff University in Irvine, CA.

In addition to teaching with LawTutors, Melissa is Director of Academic Success and Bar Programs at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and teaches for Emanuel Bar Review. She is also the co-author of Aspen’s What Not To Write series and co-editor of Aspen’s Blonds Multistate Book.

Melissa was a professor at University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth School of Law was also Assistant Director of Academic Support and Bar Programs at The University of District Columbia, David A Clarke School of Law.

Professor Hale was chosen for the prestigious role as a CALI Fellow. Professor Hale has also been chosen among an elite few to attend Feedback Conferences with the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE).

Melissa also taught for 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.

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.  

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. 

Sheri 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.

Matthew Steinberg graduated magna cum laude from the Boston University School of Law, where he was an Edward F. Hennessey Scholar and member of the International Law Journal. He began his legal career as an associate at the law firm Foley Hoag LLP. From there, he made his way to a boutique litigation firm, Rose Chinitz & Rose (now Rose Law Partners), then onward to the Boston office of a national labor and employment law firm, Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP.

Currently, he serves as In-House Legal Counsel to a national railcar manufacturer. Matthew has a passion for helping students. While an undergraduate at Tufts University, he was selected as a Writing Fellow, a position which required rigorous one-on-one sessions with students to review and evaluate their written coursework.

Tina Benigno graduated from Saint Louis University School of Law in 2017. After graduating and passing the bar exam, she practiced law in the area of banking and ERISA. While practicing, she served as an adjunct professor at SLU Law teaching a bar preparation course and has worked for a bar preparation company as an attorney essay grader since graduating.

She is currently serving as the Assistant Director of Academic Support and Bar Exam Preparation at SLU Law in Saint Louis. There, she teaches classes to first- and second-year law students that focuses on writing and analytical skills and a class for third year students that prepares students for the bar exam.

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 an Associate Attorney at a civil and criminal litigation firm in New Jersey where she is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, Bergen County Bar Association, and the South Asian Bar Association of New Jersey

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.

Meijken 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.

Graham Platz graduated from the West Virginia University College of Law as a member of the Order of the Barristers, a national honorary organization dedicated to written and oral advocacy. During law school, Graham earned the CALI award for the highest grade in his legal writing class and worked as a writing tutor in his 2L and 3L years. He also was a member of moot court and finished as a semi-finalist in a national competition. Graham now practices in the Appellate Division of West Virginia’s Public Defender Services. His practice focuses on direct appeals of criminal convictions and appeals from denials of habeas corpus petitions.

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. 

Samantha is a graduate of Simmons College School of Management and has been with LawTutors since 2006. As the former Director of Finance and Operations, Samantha continues to be a business consultant for LawTutors.

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.