R. Michael Cassidy 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. From 2021-2025 Professor Cassidy served on the Board of Bar Overseers in Massachusetts, the arm of the State鈥檚 highest court that regulates, investigates, and disciplines Massachusetts attorneys.听听Cassidy served as Chair of the BBO from 2024-2025.
From 2015-2018, Cassidy served as the founding faculty director of BC Law's听Rappaport Center for Law & Public Policy. He served as BC Law鈥檚 Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2007-2010 and as Associate Dean for Administration and Finance from 1996 to 2002.听 Cassidy has been awarded the Emil Slizewski Distinguished Teaching Award five times in recognition of his extraordinary devotion to quality instruction in the classroom.
Cassidy鈥檚 scholarship has been published in the听Northwestern Law Review, the Notre Dame Law Review, the William & Mary Law Review,听and听the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics,听among many others.听He is the author/co-author of three casebooks in the field of legal ethics, and is frequently quoted by the media on criminal law and legal ethics, appearing in听the听New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune听and听the Boston Globe. His influential scholarship has been cited in opinions by several state supreme courts and federal courts of appeal.
Among his professional and community activities, Cassidy has served as Editor-in-Chief of the听Massachusetts Law Review, and as a member of the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission, the Massachusetts Judicial Nominating Commission, the Governor's Commission on Corrections Reform, the SJC鈥檚 Advisory Committee on Massachusetts Evidence Law, and the SJC鈥檚 Standing Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct. Cassidy has also worked as an advisor to the National District Attorneys' Association and as a legal consultant to the United States Department of Justice on issues of police misconduct and prosecutorial ethics. In 2012, he was elected to the American Law Institute.听听
Cassidy received his B.A.,听magna cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame, and his J.D.,听magna cum laude, from Harvard University. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Hon. Edward F. Hennessey, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and as a litigation associate at the Boston law firm of Foley Hoag. After leaving private practice, Cassidy worked as a prosecutor in Massachusetts. From 1993 to 1996, Cassidy served as Chief of the Criminal Bureau in the Massachusetts Attorney General鈥檚 Office.
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RECENT MEDIA & APPEARANCES
