Legal Writing eCourse: Become a Better Legal Writer

John Roddy represents consumers in class actions challenging unfair and deceptive business practices and serves as relator’s counsel in qui tam “whistleblower” actions. In the last two decades, the settlements in cases he has litigated have returned more than $1 billion to consumers harmed by marketplace misconduct. John regularly writes and speaks on class action practice and consumer financial services law, and he has published dozens of articles on these topics. He has co-chaired Practicing Law Institute (PLI)’s Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute for the past twenty-five years. John is also a Fellow of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers, an organization limited to those lawyers who have achieved preeminence in the field of consumer financial services law and who have made repeated and substantial contributions to the promotion of learning and scholarship in consumer financial services law through teaching, lecturing, and published writings.

Carolyn E. Coffey is the Director of Litigation for Economic Justice at Mobilization for Justice, Inc. (MFJ). MFJ provides free legal assistance to New York City residents in the areas of housing, foreclosure, public benefits, civil and disability rights, employment, and consumer and family law, prioritizing services to vulnerable and under-served populations, while simultaneously working to end the root causes of inequities through law reform, impact litigation, and policy advocacy. Ms. Coffey also directly supervises MFJ’s Consumer Rights and Low-Income Bankruptcy Projects, which provide advice, counsel, and defensive and affirmative representation to low-income New Yorkers in state and federal court lawsuits and appeals. Ms. Coffey is the co-chair of the New York City Consumer Advocates Taskforce and is an adjunct professor at Cardozo Law School, where she teaches a consumer clinic seminar.

Susan L. DeJarnatt is a Professor of Law at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law. She joined the Temple faculty in 1996 after a decade long career at Community Legal Services, Inc. in Philadelphia, handling foreclosure defense, consumer bankruptcy, and fair debt collection litigation. She has taught the foundational first year legal research and writing course since joining Temple. She has also taught advanced writing seminars and seminars in consumer bankruptcy practice, public interest law, appellate advocacy, and education law. Her academic scholarship has included articles on teaching practice writing through consumer bankruptcy, the interplay between oral skills and writing skills, and the teaching of legal research and writing. She is a 1980 magna cum laude graduate of Temple and was a law clerk to the Honorable Joseph S. Lord, Chief Judge of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania after her graduation.