Rebecca Chapman

Rebecca Chapman is an Assistant Teaching Professor at Northeastern University School of Law. She joined the faculty in 2021 as the LSSC Social Justice Teaching Fellow. Prior to her academic role, she specialized in criminal defense and civil rights advocacy, focusing on police accountability and systemic justice reform.

Education:

• Cornell University, BA (2009)
• Columbia University, MA in English & Comparative Literature (2011)
• Harvard Law School, JD (2015)

Her advocacy spans over a decade of defending clients in felony/misdemeanor cases as a public defender, and later through Boston-based law firms. Her work emphasizes legal strategies to counter state overreach and promote civil liberties. At Harvard, she contributed to the Harvard Defenders and co-founded the Harvard Law School Feminist Collective, while editing Unbound: Harvard Journal of the Legal Left.

Chapman’s practice and teaching reflect a commitment to advancing social justice through litigation and legal education, addressing systemic inequities in criminal justice systems.