Reality check

LAW BRIEFS

REALITY CHECK

AS IF LAW SCHOOL weren’t challenging enough, two Suffolk Law students recently got an extra dose of reality. First-year student Sheaffer Lapham recently starred in two episodes of What Not to Wear, while second-year student Tom Severo survived a full season of Beauty and the Geek earlier this year, taking home the grand prize.

While working as an extra on My Best Friend’s Girl, a movie partly shot at Suffolk Law last year, Severo’s unusual clothes and awkward manner caught the attention of the film’s director, who ended up recruiting Severo for Beauty and the Geek. The Holy Cross graduate took a semester off from Suffolk Law to participate in the show’s fifth season.

His decision paid off: Severo won the competition, splitting a $250,000 prize with his partner on the show. Now contemplating a ca¬reer in sports and entertainment law, he feels the experience gained him more than money. “Learning to keep your head on straight re¬gardless of what’s going on around you is a big lesson,” says Severo, “especially in law school around exam time."

As for Lapham, her friends felt she dressed "too young" and first signed her up for What Not to Wear in 2007. Lapham’s episode was a follow-up "Where Are They Now?" episode, filmed at Suffolk Law over the summer; the episode aired in October.

"How you dress says a lot about you," says the Scripps College graduate. "If you’re dressed like a lawyer, it’s hard not to want to act like a lawyer."

–Dan Tobin

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