In the Spotlight


Melanie Lupsa_National Law Review

Rising 2L Has Employment Piece Published in National Law Review


Seton Hall Law student, Melanie Lupsa, never considered herself a strong writer but her recently published piece in The National Law Review, “Mandated Individual Arbitration in the Employment Context: The Debate over Federal Legislation's Impact on Employee Rights, The Real Consequences, and the Need for Supreme Court Action” proves otherwise.  

Although she recognizes how much her writing improved during her first year, it was the “write-on” competition for the Law School’s three journals that was a game changer for her. The competition is an opportunity a rising 2L just didn’t want to miss, and Lupsa joined scores of her classmates analyzing the same topic to earn a place on a journal. That effort was a success when she was selected for membership on the Seton Hall Law Review. But alone among her classmates, Lupsa took her work product one step further. Seeking a wider audience, she submitted her paper to several national publications. Needless to say, she was thrilled when the National Law Review notified her that she would be published.

“I was skeptical of having heard back so quickly,” recalls Lupsa. “The National Law Review submission was an open topic for students across the country and I thought others might have stronger arguments on more popular issues. I was caught completely off-guard when I received the congratulatory email stating I was being published.”

“I had fun writing the paper, putting creative ideas into it, and using the research wisely,” states Lupsa. It didn’t hurt that the mandatory arbitration topic greatly interested her because she was able to apply it to experiences with her family’s ice cream business. “I felt I could relate through witnessing employees’ struggles,” said Lupsa. The project also gave her a new appreciation for how hotly contested the issue of employment arbitration has become, and she looks forward to seeing how the Supreme Court will handle the clash of federal statutes in the employment context this term. 

Although she once considered attending medical school or pursuing an MBA, Lupsa fell in love with the law during her first exposure to it in a law class at Muhlenberg College. And she found her stride at Seton Hall Law where “law school teaches me a different way of thinking.” She says she’s “excited to see what my 2L year holds and what experience I will gain from the Law Review."