Susan Koniak

Susan P. Koniak

Professor of Law Emerita


BA magna cum laude, New York University
JD, Yale Law School


Biography

Professor Susan Koniak says the key to being a good legal teacher is to never lose sight of one’s key responsibility: to produce good lawyers. “When I’m standing in front of the students, it’s not about me, it’s about them. It’s my responsibility to ensure that they have a solid understanding of the material, and more important, the analytical skills and practical judgment that form the foundation of good lawyering,” she says.

A distinguished scholar as well as educator, Professor Koniak joined the School’s faculty in 1993, after teaching at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law for five years. In addition to her responsibilities at Boston University, Professor Koniak has, in recent years, been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, Cornell Law School and the Yale School of Organization and Management. She has published many articles and has co-authored three significant textbooks: The Law and Ethics of Lawyering, now in its 4th edition, Leading Constitutional Decisions, Cases in Constitutional Law and an anthology of essays, Foundations of the Law and Ethics of Lawyering. Professor Koniak testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the conduct of lawyers involved in the Enron debacle and other similar corporate scandals, and before the House Judiciary Committee on abusive conduct of class action lawyers. She is frequently quoted in the media on the conduct of lawyers, class action practice and the responsibility of secondary actors, such as lawyers and accountants, in securities and other financial fraud.

Publications

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  • Susan P. Koniak, My Teacher, My Friend 70 Hastings Law Journal (2019)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, To All Government Lawyers, Roger Left You a Note: Tribute to Roger C. Cramton 103 Cornell Law Review (2018)
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  • Cristina Granziera, Hakan Ay, Susan P. Koniak, Gunner Kruegger & A. Gregory Sorensen, Diffusion Tensor Imaging Shows Structural Remodeling of Stroke Mirror Region: Results from a Pilot Study 67 European Neurology (2012)
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  • Geoffrey C. Hazard, Susan P. Koniak, Roger C. Cramton & George M. Cohen, The Law and Ethics of Lawyering, 4th ed. (2005)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, How Like a Winter? The Plight of Absent Class Members Denied Adequate Representation 79 Notre Dame Law Review (2004)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, The Lawlessness in Our Courts 2 ATLA Annual Convention Reference Material (2004)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, Interviewing Ex-employees: One Answer, New Questions 48 Boston Bar Journal (2004)
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  • George M. Cohen & Susan P. Koniak, Foundations of the Law and Ethics of Lawyering (2004)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, George M. Cohen & Roger C. Cramton, Legal and Ethical Duties of Lawyers After Sarbanes-Oxley 49 Villanova Law Review (2004)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, When the Hurlyburly's Done: The Bar's Struggle with the SEC 103 Columbia Law Review (2003)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, Corporate Fraud: See Lawyers 26 Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy (2003)
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  • Susan P. Koniak & David Dana, Secret Settlements and Practice Restrictions Aid Lawyer Cartels and Cause Other Harms 2003 University of Illinois Law Review (2003)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, Are Agreements to Keep Secret Information in Discovery Legal, Illegal or Something in Between? 30 Hofstra Law Review (2002)
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  • Susan P. Koniak & George M. Cohen, In Hell There Will be Lawyers Without Clients or Law 30 Hofstra Law Review (2001)
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  • Susan P. Koniak & George M. Cohen, In Hell There Will be Lawyers Without Clients or Law, in 30 Ethics in the Practice of Law (D. Rhode,2000)
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  • Susan P. Koniak & David Dana, Bargaining in the Shadow of Democracy 148 University of Pennsylvania Law Review (1999)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, The Other Way Round 5 Roger Williams University Law Review (1999)
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  • Geoffrey C. Hazard, Susan P. Koniak & Roger C. Cramton, The Law and Ethics of Lawyering, 3rd ed. (1999)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, The Lawlessness in Our Courts 28 Stetson Law Review (1998)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, The Chosen People in our Wilderness 95 Michigan Law Review (1997) (book review)
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  • Susan P. Koniak & Roger C. Crampton, Rules, Story and Commitment in the Teaching of Legal Ethics 38 William & Mary Law Review (1996)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, Under Cloak of Settlement 82 Virginia Law Review (1996)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, Principled Opinions 65 Fordham Law Review (1996)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, When Law Risks Madness 8 Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature (1996)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, Law and Ethics in a World of Rights and Unsuitable Wrongs 9 Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence (1996)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, Class Action Against Class Counsel 1 Journal of the Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics (1996)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, Through the Looking Glass of Ethics and the Wrong with Rights We Find There 9 Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics (1995)
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  • Susan P. Koniak & Geoffrey C. Hazard, Paying Attention to the Signs 58 Law & Contemporary Problems (1995)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, Feasting While the Widow Weeps: Georgine v. Amchen Products 80 Cornell Law Review (1995)
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  • Geoffrey C. Hazard, Susan P. Koniak & Roger C. Cramton, The Law and Ethics of Lawyering, 2nd ed. (1994)
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  • Robert F. Cushman & Susan P. Koniak, Cases in Civil Liberties, 6th ed. (1994)
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  • Robert F. Cushman & Susan P. Koniak, Cases in Constitutional Law, 8th ed. (1994)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, When Courts Refuse to Frame the Law and Others Frame It to Their Will 66 Southern California Law Review (1993)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, Whose Law Is It Anyway? 9 Yale Journal on Regulation (1992) (book review)
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  • Susan P. Koniak, The Law Between the Bar and the State 70 North Carolina Law Review (1992)
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  • Robert F. Cushman & Susan P. Koniak, Leading Constitutional Decisions, 18th ed. (1992)
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  • Geoffrey C. Hazard & Susan P. Koniak, The Law and Ethics of Lawyering (1990)
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  • Robert F. Cushman & Susan P. Koniak, Cases in Constitutional Law, 7th ed. (1989)
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  • Robert F. Cushman & Susan P. Koniak, Cases in Civil Liberties, 5th ed. (1989)
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  • Susan P. Koniak & Robert D. Raven, The Challenge for Lawyers in the '90s 7 California Lawyer (1987)
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  • Robert F. Cushman & Susan P. Koniak, Leading Constitutional Decisions, 17th ed. (1986)
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In the Media

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  • Western Journal May 21, 2024

    Anheuser-Busch Will Hate What Supreme Court Justice Alito Did amid Bud Light Boycott

    Susan Koniak is quoted.
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  • Wall Street Journal October 14, 2023

    Bankruptcy Judge Jones to Stop Handling Major Cases after Relationship with Lawyer Revealed

    Susan Koniak is quoted.
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  • May 5, 2020

    Will Lawsuits Help College Students Get Coronavirus Refunds?

    Susan Koniak quoted in <em>Forbes</em>.
    read more

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Activities & Engagements

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