Professor Michael Cassidy is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.  He teaches and writes in the areas of Criminal Law, Evidence, and Professional Responsibility. He is considered an expert on the subject of prosecutorial ethics, and frequently provides training to public sector attorneys on their responsibilities under the Rules of Professional Conduct.

During his extensive career as a government lawyer, Professor Cassidy prosecuted hundreds of serious felony cases at both the trial and appellate levels, including briefing and arguing numerous high-profile criminal matters before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Immediately prior to joining the Boston College faculty, Professor Cassidy served as Chief of the Criminal Bureau in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

Among his many professional and community activities, Professor Cassidy has served as a member of the Governor's Commission on Corrections Reform, as a member of the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission, as Editor-in-Chief of the Massachusetts Law Review, as a hearing officer for the Board of Bar Overseers, as a member of the Criminal Justice Section Council of the Boston Bar Association, and as a member of the Board of Advisors to the National District Attorneys Association. He is also active in local government and youth sports in his home town of Winchester, Massachusetts.

Professor Cassidy received his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame, and his J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Following law school he served as law clerk to the Honorable Edward F. Hennessey, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.


WORK IN PROGRESS

"The Prosecutor and the Press: Lessons (Not) Learned From the Mike Nifong Debacle." Law and Contemporary Problems (forthcoming 2008)

With Andy Leipold, co-reporter. National Prosecution Standards. 4th ed. National District Attorneys Association (forthcoming 2008)

RECOGNITIONS

Emil Slizewski Distinguished Teaching Award (2005).
Massachusetts State Police Public Service Award (2006)
Boston College Law School Pro Bono Service Award (2006).
Boston College Distinguished Service Award (2002).
Boston College Law School Administrator of the Year Award (2001)

EDUCATION

B.A., University of Notre Dame; J.D., Harvard University.

ACTIVITIES

Member of the faculty interdisciplinary reading group, Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics at Boston College Carroll School of Management.

COURSES

Fall '07: White Collar Crime
Spring '08: Frederick Douglas Moot Court; Criminal Law

PUBLICATIONS

• "Reconsidering Spousal Privileges After Crawford." American Journal of Criminal Law  33 (2006): 339-375.
• "Character and Context: What Virtue Theory Can Teach Us About a Prosecutor's Ethical Duty to 'Seek Justice.'"  Notre Dame Law Review 82 (December 2006): 635-697.
• "Why I Teach (A Prescription for the Post-Tenure Blues.)" Journal of Legal Education 55, no.3 (September 2005): 381-385.
• Prosecutorial Ethics. St. Paul, MN: Thomson/West, 2005.
• "'Soft Words of Hope:' Giglio, Accomplice Witnesses, and the Problem of Implied Inducements." Northwestern University Law Review 98 (2004): 1129-1177.
• "Sharing Sacred Secrets: Is It (Past) Time for a Dangerous Person Exception to the Clergy-Penitent Privilege?" William and Mary Law Review 44 (2003): 1627-1778.
• "Toward a More Independent Grand Jury: Recasting and Enforcing the Prosecutor's Duty to Disclose Exculpatory Evidence." Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics 13 (2000): 361-403.
• Case & Statute Comments, "Public Education and Crime: Supreme Court Backs States' Rights." Massachusetts Law Review 81 (1996): 41-46.
• "Massachusetts Grand Jury Practice" in Grand Jury Practice, by Oliver Mitchell et al, 45-111. Boston: MCLE, 1992.
• Case & Statute Comments, "Search and Seizure-Search Warrants-Identification of Confidential Informants." Massachusetts Law Review 76, no. 1 (March 1991): 47-51.
• With Oliver Mitchell. Case & Statute Comments, "The New Massachusetts Drug Asset Forfeiture Law: A Dialogue." Massachusetts Law Review 75, no. 4 (December 1990): 165-173.