Every summer, St. John’s Law professors hire students as research assistants (RAs), forming collaborative partnerships that are mutually enriching. Students hone their research, writing, and analytical skills while learning how legal scholarship can shape doctrine, inform public policy, and engage broader societal issues. Faculty, in turn, approach their projects with intellectual rigor, professional discipline, and scholarly creativity—modeling those qualities for their students while gaining fresh perspectives and meaningful contributions in return.
When Professor Ashley B. Armstrong asked if she would be interested in assisting with a summer research project, Valentina LaRocca ’27 jumped at the opportunity. “The project involves a new and compelling framework for how students can study the law,” LaRocca explains. “It takes us beyond traditional case briefing, encouraging us to ask what stories judicial opinions leave out, and why. I’m always excited by opportunities that challenge me to think about the law in new ways, to explore innovative approaches to legal analysis, and to refine my research and writing skills. This felt like exactly that kind of opportunity.”
For their summer collaboration, LaRocca assisted Professor Armstrong with a work-in-progress titled “The Stories We (Don’t) Tell: Price Waterhouse and the Contextual Case Method.” Price Waterhouse, an iconic Title VII case, marked the first time the U.S. Supreme Court held that discrimination based on gender stereotypes constitutes sex discrimination. But the decision is not without its flaws and leaves room for contextual critique, Professor Armstrong notes.
“My approach to contextual case briefing is part of a growing body of scholarship advocating for a paradigm shift in legal education,” she elaborates. “In conventional case briefing, students are taught to identify the rule, issue, holding, and rationale in a vacuum. The contextual case method, by contrast, asks them to interrogate what is missing, or deemphasized, and how the law both reflects and reinforces systems of power.”
Engaging in that interrogation process, LaRocca read court opinions, tracked down submitted briefs, analyzed dissents, and reviewed scholarly articles that provide historical or critical perspectives, with impactful results. “Valentina is a phenomenal RA,” says Professor Armstrong. “She found amicus briefs filed in the Price Waterhouse litigation that I didn’t know existed—and she uncovered articles that wrote critically about the case—including the article I ended up using prominently in my presentation and publication.”
LaRocca was equally grateful for the collaboration. “My summer RA experience has fundamentally shaped the kind of lawyer I want to be,” she shares. “It’s trained me to look beyond the surface of judicial decisions, to ask more profound questions about fairness, bias, and the stories that go untold. As a future litigator, being able to critically analyze not only what the court said, but also why it said it, will enable me to be a more thoughtful advocate.”
Like LaRocca, Elizabeth Byrnes ’27 found her summer RA experience formative. With a background as an educator, she came to St. John’s intent on exploring how the law intersects with education, equity, and access to justice. When she learned that her 1L Property course professor, Philip Lee, needed help researching an article that explores racial diversity in the context of selective public high school admissions, she was eager to support his work.
“I’m interested in ways we can increase educational access given the legal framework that has been constructed by the Supreme Court over the past 70 years,” Professor Lee says.
“My scholarship focuses on educational access and inclusion. I believe that these things are at the center of human flourishing. The controversy of who gets into selective public high schools is a microcosm of racial discourse in the United States. I aim to highlight some of the themes that emerge from this debate.”
To assist Professor Lee, Byrnes conducted research on two major, ongoing lawsuits that are central to his article, developing a deep understanding of both cases, analyzing how they have progressed, and tracking ongoing developments. She also researched how other scholars in the field have discussed the cases in their law review articles.
“By reviewing materials from each stage of these lawsuits, I’ve seen the work that attorneys on all sides put into advancing their clients’ positions,” Byrnes says. “Attorneys are participants in critical societal debates about equity and justice. This experience has helped me grow as a future attorney by deepening my understanding of how litigation evolves over time and reinforcing the importance of community awareness in legal advocacy. It’s also affirmed my desire to practice education law in a manner that prioritizes meaningful social impact.”
Professor Lee appreciates the intellectual curiosity and commitment to educational equity that Byrnes brought to their collaboration this summer. “Working with a professor on a research project helps a student develop a deep understanding of a legal controversy,” he says. “It allows a student to delve into the issues, follow along as legal scholars debate various points, and contribute to the formation of a thesis. It also provides an opportunity for a student to hone research, writing, and citation skills. As a teacher, I seek ways to make all these things happen. I hope Elizabeth—and all student RAs—see that ideas matter. They can expand the ways in which people see the world and plant seeds for changing it into something better.