Expertise
Legal Writing
Biography
After graduating from Loyola Law School’s evening program, Susan Smith Bakhshian practiced with a Los Angeles law firm as a trial attorney, representing clients in a variety of environmental and general litigation matters. Her clients ranged from multinational oil companies to a small chain of non-profit retail stores here in Southern California. Before joining the faculty at Loyola, Bakhshian taught at Whittier Law School. She has been a member of the Loyola Law School faculty since 1997 and she became the Director of Bar Programs and Academic Success in 2011.
Publications, Research and Related Material
Courses Taught
- Remedies
- California Civil Procedure
- Law & Process: Privacy Torts
- Fundamentals of Bar Exam Writing
- Ethical Lawyering
- Legal Drafting
- Legal Research and Writing
- Introduction to Negotiation
Links
Education
- BS, summa cum laude, California State University Northridge
- JD, magna cum laude, Loyola Law School, Order of the Coif
Clinical Achievements
- “Provisional License Program Promises More Than It Can Deliver,” Los Angeles Daily Journal, September 9, 2020, reprinted at http://summaryjudgments.lls.edu/
- “It’s Time to Replace the California Bar Exam,” The Recorder, July 16, 2020, reprinted at http://summaryjudgments.lls.edu/
- “Announced Approach to Bar Exam ‘Is Not Practical,’” The Recorder, July 17, 2020, reprinted at http://summaryjudgments.lls.edu/
- W. Temm & S. Bakhshian, Clearing the Last Hurdle: Mapping Success on the California Bar Exam, Wolters Kluwer (2020)
- State Bar of California, Law School Council, Member
- “Bar has Kept Out Fine Lawyers for No Reason,” Daily Journal, August 16, 2017
- ALWD National Conference, May 2019, “Leading the Way: Using Low Stakes Techniques from Legal Writing for Assessment Across the Curriculum”
- Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference, March 2019, “Politics, Bias, & Rhetoric: The Art of Using Student Surveys”
- National Legal Writing Conference, July 2018, “Getting Students to the Finish Line: Perspectives on Bar Prep Classes, Strategies, & Materials to Prepare Students for the Bar Exam”
- Western States Legal Writing Conference, August 2018, “The Real Thing: Using Jury Instructions to Prepare Students for Practice”
- Academic Support Professionals Conference, May 2017, “Getting Inside Their Heads: How Fixed Mindset Explains Why Some Students Don’t Improve & Teaching Techniques to Change That”
- ALWD National Conference, July 2017, “An Ill-Advised Line: Disparate Impact of the Changes to Bar Passage Standard 316”
- Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference, March 2017 and Central States Legal Writing Conference, September 2017, “Less is More: Replacing or Reducing Traditional Comments on Drafts with Faster and Better Assessment Techniques”
- Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference, March 2016, “Tidal Wave or Low Tide: The Role of Legal Writing Professors in Implementing the New ABA Assessment Mandate”
- National Legal Writing Conference, July 2016, “The Many Hats We Wear: A Technology-Enhanced Discussion about the Increased Role of Legal Writing & Skills Faculty in Law School Programs”
- West Coast Consortium of Academic Success Professionals, November 2015, “Build it and Make them Come: Required Classes & Curriculum for the At Risk Student”
- Central States Legal Writing Conference, September 2015 and Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference, March 2014, “Got 5 Minutes? Teach Grammar, Writing Mechanics, Professionalism & More”
- Academy of Academic Support Educators, National Conference, May 2014, “The First Domino: Teaching Note Taking”
- West Coast Consortium of Academic Success Professionals, November 2013, “No Credit, No Problem: Using Visuals to Teach Outlining & Essay Writing”
- Central States Legal Writing Conference, October 2013, “Critiquing our Critiques”
- Presenter, Western States Regional Legal Writing Conference, August 2012 and Rocky Mountain Regional Legal Writing Conference, March 2012, “The Real Thing: Using Unedited Cases and Jury Instructions as Class Exercises”
- National Legal Writing Conference, June 2012, “Starting at the Finish Line: How to Revitalize Academic Success with an Integrated Program of Lawyering Skills and Bar Exam Skills”
- Central States Regional Legal Writing Conference, September 2011 and Rocky Mountain Regional Legal Writing Conference, March 2011, “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service: Interpreting the Academic Dress Code.”
- Rocky Mountain Regional Legal Writing Conference, March 2010, “Have your Power Point Slides Lost their Luster? Tone Up Your Slides to Teach Better”
- Rocky Mountain Regional Legal Writing Conference, March 2009, and Empire State Legal Writing Conference May 2010, “Stop the Bleeding: Returning Legal Writing Assignments with Easy In-Class Exercises to Ease the Pain”
- Central States Regional Legal Writing Conference, September 2009, “Heads I Win – Tails You Lose: How to Assign a Client in Persuasive Legal Writing Assignments”
- National Legal Writing Conference, July 2008, “Bar Exam Prep Courses: Legal Writing, Academic Support, Both, or Something Else”
- Central States Regional Legal Writing Conference, October 2007, “Teaching Professionalism from Day One”
- Rocky Mountain Regional Legal Writing Conference, March 2007, “New Tricks for Old Dogs” (teaching strategies for legal writing professors)
- National Legal Writing Conference, July 2006, “Wave of the Future or Low Tide: Offering a Bar Exam Writing Course for Credit”
- Rocky Mountain Regional Legal Writing Conference, February 2006, “Too Much, Too Little or Just ‘Write’: What is the ‘Right’ Approach to Critiquing Student Drafts?”
Contact
Burns 323
919 Albany St.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(o) 213.736.1462
(f) 213.380.3769