Paul R. Tremblay is a clinical professor and the Dean’s Distinguished Scholar at Boston College Law School. A member of the faculty since 1982, he has taught clinical courses at BC Legal Services LAB within the Center for Experiential Learning. He served as the Associate Dean for Experiential Learning from 2012 until 2015. Tremblay also taught a professional responsibility course each year since 1986.
Tremblay founded, and from 2008 until 2024 directed, the Community Enterprise Clinic, one of Boston College Law School’s transactional clinical courses, in which students represent low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations. The mission of the CEC is to support economic progress in under-resourced neighborhoods, and to offer a vibrant educational experience to students interested in business law, transactional work, and community economic development. In the Spring 2024 semester, Professor Tremblay taught the CEC for the last time. In the Spring 2025 semester, he will direct the Law School’s Dublin (Ireland) Semester in Practice Program.
Before developing the transactional clinic, Tremblay taught in the Civil Litigation Clinic and the Housing Law Clinic at the Boston College Legal Assistance Bureau.
Prior to his appointment at Boston College Law School, Tremblay was a senior attorney at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and an instructor at UCLA School of Law. He also taught a course at Harvard Law School.
Tremblay has been actively involved in matters of professional ethics, transactional practice, interdisciplinary collaboration, and legal services for the poor. He is a member of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct, and served from 1993 until 2020, including two terms as co-chair, on the Boston Bar Association Ethics Committee. He is a board member of Lawyers Clearinghouse, and served as a board member and Treasurer of Lawyers for Affordable Justice. He has also served on the Executive Committee of the Section on Professional Responsibility of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). He is a former member of the Board of Editors of, and occasional guest editor for, the Clinical Law Review. He is the co-author of two textbooks used in law school clinics around the country, and more than 35 law review articles. He also contributed to the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers’ treatise on attorney discipline in Massachusetts.
In January, 2020, Tremblay received the William Pincus Award, given annually by the AALS Clinical Section. He was the recipient of the 2004 Outstanding Advocate for Clinical Teachers Award from the Clinical Legal Education Association and was awarded the Emil Slizewski Excellence in Teaching Award at Boston College Law School in 2008.
Recent Media & Appearances
