Matthew Diller will leave his position as the dean of Cardozo School of Law at the end of the academic year in June 2015 to become the dean of Fordham Law School, where he spent 16 years as a professor and associate dean.

CARDOZO LAW NAMES MELANIE LESLIE NEW DEAN
First Woman Dean of Cardozo Law, First Cardozo Graduate Appointed
 

May 14, 2015 – New York, NY – President Richard M. Joel has announced the appointment of Melanie Leslie as dean of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law effective July 1. She will be the seventh dean of the law school, the first woman and the first Cardozo graduate to serve in the position.

Leslie is currently the vice dean and professor of law at Cardozo, where she has been teaching since 1995. As vice dean, she oversaw the introduction of new professional concentrations to the curriculum, worked closely with Dean Matthew Diller to expand Cardozo’s renowned intellectual property program to include initiatives on technology and data law, and managed the launch of the Fashion, Arts, Media, & Entertainment Law Center (FAME) this spring.

“When Cardozo Law was created, its unique mission was to enhance the legal world and beyond by producing leaders who embrace and perpetuate timeless values,” said President Joel. “In appointing Dean Leslie from among its graduates, we have exceeded our highest ambitions.”

Leslie is a leading scholar in trusts and estates law, and is an expert in fiduciary duties in the trust, and corporate and nonprofit governance. As a professor of law, she teaches Property, Trusts and Estates, Charity Governance, and Evidence. She is the coauthor of a leading casebook, Estates and Trusts, Cases and Materials, as well as Concepts and Insights: Trusts and Estates. A prolific scholar, Leslie has had articles published in the NYU Law Review, Boston College Law Review, Florida Law Review, William & Mary Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, and the Indiana Law Journal. She is widely respected for her excellent teaching skills and engagement with the student body, and has been presented the “Best First-Year Professor” award by three Cardozo classes.

“There is an unmistakable energy at Cardozo and I look forward to advancing the creative and entrepreneurial spirit of this remarkable law school,” said Leslie. “It is an honor to lead Cardozo’s world-class faculty and vibrant community of students and alumni, and to serve the institution that has given me so much.”

Leslie has been a visiting associate professor of law at New York University School of Law and a visiting professor of law at Columbia Law School. She is a member of the NY State Bar and NYC Bar Joint Committee on the Uniform Trust Code, a Legal Fellow of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel (ACTEC), and she is on the Executive Committee of the AALS Section on Nonprofits and Philanthropy.

Before joining the Cardozo faculty, she clerked for New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Gary S. Stein. She was a summer associate at both Debevoise & Plimpton and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton before she joined the firm of McCarter & English as an associate in the commercial litigation department.

Leslie earned her B.A. from the University of Oregon with honors, and a J.D. from Cardozo magna cum laude in 1991, where she was executive editor of the Cardozo Law Review. She has been actively engaged with alumni, the Cardozo Board of Overseers, and the leadership of Yeshiva University.

Leslie will succeed Matthew Diller, who is stepping down after serving as Cardozo’s dean for six years. Cardozo Board of Overseers Chair David Samson ’93, president of the Miami Marlins and member of the search committee, remarked, “Dean Diller’s tenure has been both distinguished and distinctive. Melanie Leslie is an exceptional choice to build on Cardozo’s outstanding programming and traditions.”

Yeshiva University Provost Selma Botman chaired the rigorous nationwide search for the new dean. “The committee was truly impressed with the candidates and the high level of interest from across the country,” said Botman. “At the end of the day, however, there was overwhelming faculty support for Dean Leslie, which was also shared by students who provided input to the committee.”

The search committee included former Cardozo dean Professor David Rudenstine; David Samson; Andrew Lauer, Vice President for Legal Affairs, Secretary and General Counsel of Yeshiva University; Cardozo Board of Overseers member Zahava Straus ’80; Cardozo faculty members Michelle Adams, Richard Bierschbach, Leslie Salzman, and Stewart Sterk; Dean of Admissions David Martinidez; Dean of Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business Moses L. Pava; and Chair of the Executive Committee of the Cardozo Alumni Association Alissa Makower ’92, vice president and senior counsel at CBS Corporation.

For more information contact:

John DeNatale
Assistant Dean of Communications
212.790.0237
DeNatale@yu.edu

Jacqueline Reeves
Director, Media Relations and Communications
212.790.0837
Reeves@yu.edu

Congratulations to professor Toby Golick, Cardozo's Director of Clinical Education, for receiving the 2015 New York City Bar Association's Legal Services award. Professor Golick is one of five individuals to be honored at a ceremony on June 10th. She is being recognized for her work at Cardozo's Bet Tzedek Clinic in providing representation to vulnerable individuals and families, and in conducting systemic litigation that has established and protected essential rights for tens of thousands of poor, elderly and disabled New Yorkers. "Toby has improved the lives of her clients and their communities, and inspired generations of her students to pursue careers as public interest lawyers," said Cardozo Dean Matthew Diller.

A nationally recognized leader in legal services for the poor, Toby Golick is pioneer in clinical legal education, helping to found the Bet Tzedek Clinic and to build over fifteen other clinics, as well as Cardozo's field clinic program. For thirty years she has taught at Cardozo, dedicated to helping the poor receive representation, and providing skills and experience for her students. The Bet Tzedek clinic,  which means House of Justice in Hebrew, helps elderly and disabled New Yorkers on a wide range of legal services. As the Director of Cardozo's clinical programs she has trained generations of Cardozo law students in the skills necessary to provide justice for the underrepresented. "Toby is an inspirational leader, and we at Cardozo have been blessed to have her heading up our clinical education programming these many years," said dean elect Melanie Leslie.

Cardozo alum Danny Sternberg '15 talks about working with the Civil Rights Clinic.

Cardozo Law alum Kori M. Clanton '15 talks about working in the school's Mediation Clinic.

Cardozo Law Expands The Cardozo Data Law Initiative (CDLI) in Second Year

New Courses, a Data Law Concentration, Increased Business Ties for
Student Externships and an Expanded Board of Industry Leaders

NEW YORK, September 21, 2015:  Cardozo School of Law, the law school that created the Innocence Project, is continuing its tradition of legal innovation by expanding the Cardozo Data Law Initiative (CDLI), a groundbreaking program that prepares law students for the 21st Century practice of law in the digital world while expanding Cardozo’s contribution to legal thought leadership.

At the CDLI Board of Advisors meeting on September 10 in Manhattan, Dean Melanie Leslie announced a new data law concentration at the law school, new courses and expanded business opportunities for student externships. The dean also announced that Ariana J. Tadler, a Partner at Milberg LLP, and one of the leading authorities in the area of electronic discovery, has agreed to serve as Executive Director of the CDLI Board of Advisors for the 2015-16 academic year. She praised Founding Directors Patrick Burke and Denise Backhouse, who will continue to play an active role in the future of the CDLI Board. Additionally, the board named thirteen new members from leading national businesses and law firms, as well as a retired Magistrate Judge.

“Working with this distinguished board of advisors, our goal is to build the most comprehensive data law program of any law school in the country,” said Cardozo Dean Melanie Leslie. “In the year ahead, we will graduate students with data law concentrations who are uniquely qualified for careers in all expanding fields of technology law.”

Dean Leslie thanked the board for their strong leadership during CDLI’s inaugural year and said she looks forward to working with Ms. Tadler, who has 23 years of experience as a lawyer and 15 years in the field of e-discovery. She is listed by Super Lawyers as among the top 50 women in law in the New York area.  The CDLI Board of Advisors praised the law school’s decision to create a new data law concentration for JD students. Dean Leslie also announced new industry partnerships, as well as a public events schedule for the academic year at Cardozo, featuring leaders in the field of data law.

“As technology continues to produce sweeping changes in society at large, the legal and business challenges have become more complex and urgent,” said Patrick Burke, Founding Director of CDLI.  “Cardozo lawyers will have the tools and expertise to be leaders in these fields.” 

Mr. Burke, Senior Counsel at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, served as Executive Director of the CDLI and provided key leadership along with Denise Backhouse, Shareholder at Littler Mendelson, PC, also a founding director.

Launched in 2014, The Cardozo Data Law Initiative provides students at the law school with the theoretical coursework, practical training and real-world exposure necessary for success in the rapidly growing field of data law. In its first year, the CDLI added courses and professors that cover the data law spectrum from privacy to information governance to e-discovery to cybersecurity.  The program placed 18 students in externships or permanent post-graduation employment.  CDLI partnered with ALM’s Legaltech for the kickoff of Legaltech Week NY to host the daylong “Big Data and the Law” event at Cardozo Law.  Other first-year CDLI events included speakers such as U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, U.S. Magistrate Judge James Francis IV, Jason R. Baron of Drinker, Biddle & Reath LLP, and Kenneth Withers of the Sedona Conference. Over 50 Cardozo students currently participate in CDLI classes and programs.

A key feature of CDLI is real-world data law experience for students, which takes the form of externships at major corporations and law firms, including Swiss Re, Merkle, Havas Health, Select Media, and Reed Smith. Students also gain technical skills working at consultancies, including CDS, KMPG, Ernst & Young, Knowledge Strategy Solutions, Tritura, EDT, and Vialumina.

In a big year of expansions for CDLI, Dean Leslie said she is confident this program is going to change students’ lives and expand career opportunities, especially with graduates being awarded the Data Law Concentration.

The CDLI Board of Advisors:

Jason R. Baron, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Steven Bennett, Park Jensen Bennett
Mark A. Berman, Ganfer & Shore LLP
Denise Blackhouse, Founding Director, Littler Mendelson LLP
Barclay Blair, Vialumina
Allison Brecher, Marsh & McLennan
Patrick Burke, Founding Director, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Drew Conway, Sum
Daniel Coppola, Huron Legal Consulting
David Cowen, The Cowen Group
James Daley, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Ronke Ekwensi, Duff & Phelps
Hon. James C. Francis IV, Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York
Manfred Gabriel, KPMG
Maura Grossman, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Hon. Ronald Hedges (retired)
Taylor Hoffman, Swiss Re
Dawson Horn, III, AIG
David Horrigan, kCura
Anne Kershaw, Knowledge Strategy Solutions, LLC
Matthew Knouff, Complete Discovery Source
Mitchell Kominsky, Counsel, U.S. Congress
Warren Kruse, Altep
Daniel Lim, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Lisa Markey, Shearman & Sterling LLP
Matthew Miller, Ernst & Young
Babette Orenstein, Consolidated Edison of New York
Patrick Oot, Electronic Discovery Institute, Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP
Farrah Pepper, GE
Michael Potters, The Glenmont Group
Daniel Regard, iDS
Clark Russell, Internet Bureau, New York State Attorney General’s Office
Jo Sherman, EDT
Bennie Smith, Fan Duel, Inc.
Ariana J. Tadler, Milberg LLP
Felix Wu, Professor, Cardozo School of Law
Michael Wudke, TransPerfect Legal Solutions
Charles Yablon, Professor, Cardozo School of Law
Patrick Zeller, Gilead Sciences

Cardozo Law alum Pablo Madriz '15 talks about his work with the Bronx Defenders field clinic.

Cardozo Law alum Deborah Frisch '15 discusses her work with the Alexander Fellows clinic.

Renowned legal scholar Peter Tillers, Cardozo faculty member of 27 years and professor emeritus, died on October 3, 2015 of complications from ALS. He was 72 and was living with family in Chapel Hill.

Professor Tillers was a leader in “New Evidence Scholarship.” A prolific scholar he authored many books, revised volume 1 of John Henry Wigmore's multi-volume treatise on the law of evidence, and published a wide variety of articles on evidence, inference and investigation.Professor Tillers was an editor of Law, Probability & Risk and a former chairman and secretary of the Section on Evidence at the Association of American Law Schools. While teaching evidence at Cardozo, he organized major conferences and traveled and lectured in the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Germany, China, and elsewhere.

“Peter's scholarship and dedication were widely admired," said Dean Melanie Leslie. "In Cardozo's early years he was influential in establishing the law school's scholarly reputation. The Cardozo community mourns his passing.”

His scholarship focused on evidential inference and fact investigation in legal settings, and the work of philosophers Kant and Hegel which he credited with shaping his approach. Professor Tillers argued that multiple methods of marshaling and analyzing evidence are important in trials, in pretrial investigation, and informal fact discovery, as well as in other disciplines.

"As my teacher and then colleague and friend when we co-taught fact investigation, I appreciated more than anything that Peter was not a spoon-feeder." said Philip Segal '06, who currently works at Charles Griffin Intelligence LLC. "He was a deep thinker and wanted others to wrestle with issues of truth and knowledge as he did. Kindly and modest, he was the very best paper editor I ever had."

Professor Tillers retired from teaching several years ago after being diagnosed with ALS. Among his other honors and achievements, Professor Tillers was the Fellow of Law & Humanities at Harvard University and the Senior Max Rheinstein Fellow at the University of Munich, as well as a visiting professor at Harvard Law. He will become Professor Emeritus at Cardozo Law in 2014.He was a recipient of the AALS John Henry Wigmore Award for Lifetime Achievement in Elucidating the Law of Evidence and the Process of Proof.

“Twenty-five years ago I recommended Peter Tillers to the Dean as an outstanding scholar who would enhance Cardozo Law School's intellectual reputation,” said Hon. Jack B. Weinstein, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York said at the time of Tiller's retirement.  “ So impressed was I with his work that I invited him to join as a co-author in the Tenth Edition of a leading casebook on evidence.”

Professor Tillers was living in Chapel Hill, N.C. In a letter to his colleagues at the school at the time of his retirement, he wrote, “Without abandoning rigorous standards, the Cardozo community genuinely welcomed and supported unconventional scholarly approaches. I am extremely grateful for Cardozo's support.”

“With all his many achievements he is very humble and self effacing,” said Cardozo Law Professor Malvina Halberstam. “I was greatly saddened when he told me he was retiring, and even more so when he told me the reason.”

He was among the founders of the New Evidence Scholarship – a movement that shifted the direction of the study of evidence from formal doctrine to interdisciplinary investigations of proof processes that rely on probability theory, logic, and epistemology.

Professors Alex Stein and Michael Risinger are publishing Tiller's last article – his Wigmore award lecture – in the Cardozo Law Review.

He is survived by his daughter, Jesse Glendon Tillers.  Condolences may be sent to her at 110 Standish Drive Chapel Hill, NC 27517.

New York City, October 28th 2015: Waleed Diab, Cardozo class of 2004, now Senior Counsel for Music across Google products and services including YouTube and Google Play, spoke at the Dean's Speaker Series to 75 Cardozo students recently. Diab, a board member of the FAME Center for fashion, arts, music and entertainment law at Cardozo Law, discussed his career which also included six years at Viacom, Inc. in the Business and Legal Affairs Department, where he worked up from a junior position to become Senior Counsel for Music Strategy and Relations at MTV Networks. 

"You always have to be asking yourself, how do I stand out and make myself an asset to this company," Diab said. He encouraged students to network carefully and continuously, saying, "fortuitous job opportunities are sitting all around you. You just have to look for them."

Students had the opportunity for an extended Q & A in which the discussion ranged from evaluating the balance between a job at a law firm and a job in an industry you are passionate about, to Diab's day-to-day work at Google, which includes negotiating, drafting and advising on all of Google's complex music licensing partnerships. Diab stressed that having a law degree opens doors in all kinds of industries, and he emphasized that throughout his career he worked to pick up knowledge and learn skills that he could take with him to his next position.

Diab was introduced by Dean Melanie Leslie, and has been working closely with Professors Barbara Kolsun and Lee Sporn on the development of Cardozo's FAME Center.

"The FAME Center trains students to become business lawyers for companies driven by creatives. Our graduates begin their careers with a deep understanding of deal-making, intellectual property law, licensing, real estate law and employment law," said Dean Leslie. "Waleed is a Cardozo sucess story, and we are so fortunate to have him on our FAME board."

Justice Tanya R. Kennedy '92 Inducted to State Supreme Court

Herb Boyd

December 17, 2015 New Amsterdam News - I am ready, and I am able,” Justice Tanya R. Kennedy announced to a throng of admirers in the New York County Courthouse rotunda last Thursday evening. Kennedy had just been sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court of the state of New York. “You see, an ordinary person can do extraordinary things, and I am an ordinary person.”

Kennedy’s humility is one thing, but the parade of praise that preceded her at the podium took her out of the ordinary and placed her securely in the sublime. “I am so grateful for the opportunities you gave me,” said Servet N. Bayimli, who interned for Kennedy while he was a junior at their alma mater, Brooklyn Tech High School. He recalled that as a 19-year-old, he was part of the school’s Law and Society Major Summer Internship Program.

After Brian Nesby and pianist Dr. Gregory Hopkins presented their rendition of “He’s Got the Whole World in his Hands” and invocation prayer by the Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, the evening of recognition for the incoming justice was left in the hands of co-moderators Council Member Inez Dickens and Justice George Silver, who navigated the 90 minutes smoothly.

Practically every lawyer in the city and a coterie of judges and notables filled the rotunda. “They even got them hanging out of the rafters,” Assemblyman Keith Wright remarked after heaping his glorious words on the justice. A mere listing of the speakers alone is quite impressive: Justice Fern A. Fisher, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Judge Lisa Walsh, Justice Peter H. Multon, Dean Matthew Miller and Dean Melanie Leslie of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She noted that she graduated from Cardozo a year before Kennedy in 1991.

Read more in New Amsterdam News.

*Justice Kennedy was a judge for the New York City Civil Court in New York County prior to her post as a justice of the Supreme Court of the state of New York.

Jonathan Henes of the Cardozo class of '96 spoke to students as part of the Dean's Speaker Series in January 2016. A partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, a 1,500-plus attorney firm in New York, Henes is one of the nation’s top restructuring lawyers. He is a frequent speaker at Cardozo Law, an adjunct professor at the school, and is chairman of the advisory committee for the Samuel & Ronnie Heyman Center on Corporate Governance.

Congratulations to the Cardozo Law Review alumni whose notes were cited in December 2015 and January 2016.  

• Emily Chen (2015, faculty advisor Professor Bierschbach) was cited in the American Journal of Trial Advocacy. 
• Bryan Joggerst (2014, faculty advisor Professor Jacobson) was cited in the William and Mary Journal of Women and the Law. 
  
• Travis Triano (2013, faculty advisor Professor Huigens) was cited in the Washington Law Review. 
  
• Emily Bayer-Pacht (2011, faculty advisor Professor Sterk) was cited in the University of Kansas Law Review. 
  
• Nolan Robinson (2011, faculty advisors Dean Leslie and Professor Sterk) was quoted by the Supreme Court of Tennessee. 
  
• Megan Pendleton (2008, faculty advisor Professor Sterk) was cited in the Tulane Law Review.
  
• Alan Feld (2007, faculty advisor Professor Carlson) was cited in a Supreme Court amicus brief. 
  
• Jane C. Needleman (2007, faculty advisor Professor Sterk) was quoted in the BYU Law Review. 
  
• Jennifer Schechter Sharret (2007, faculty advisor Professor Jacobson) was cited in the American Business Law Journal. 
  
• Aaron Klein (2005, faculty advisor Professor Zelinsky) was quoted in a Supreme Court brief. 
• Stephen T. Kaiser (2003, faculty advisor Professor Leslie) was quoted by the S.D.N.Y. Bankruptcy Court.  
  
• Ran Zev Schijanovich (1999) was cited in the Alabama Law Review.
  

Five Black Teenagers, Innocent, Face a Lifetime of Guilt

By Debora Silberman

March 4, 2016 New York Times - The news that five young black men were accused of raping a young woman in a Brooklyn park in January captivated the city for weeks. The defendants were tried — and immediately convicted — in the court of public opinion. But as details emerged, it became clear that they were innocent, and the prosecutor dropped all charges.

However, the dismissal of charges does not undo the damage to the reputations of the so-called Brownsville Five, teenagers ages 14 to 18, including one who is my client. Because they were tried in adult court, their names were made public and were reported widely in the news media, smearing them for the rest of their lives.

The incident should prompt a serious public discussion about the need for both sealing laws to help protect the identities of the accused and reform of New York’s archaic discovery laws, which deprive defense attorneys of the evidence gathered by the police and the prosecutor.

New York retains some of the most restrictive discovery laws in the nation. Broad discovery is standard in other major cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Detroit, Boston, Denver, Seattle, San Diego and Newark.

Read more in the New York Times. 

Kenneth Carter '98, counsel at CloudFlare, was honored as the top corporate counsel in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times and the Silicon Valley Business Journal. The awards ceremony, held on March 10, 2016, highlighted counsel who "steer their companies through uncharted territory." Carter won in the "Private Company" category. 

Carter was hired as CloudFlare's first in-house lawyer, where he leads legal affairs, public policy, government relations and trust & safety. CloudFlare is a protection and web security provider that speeds up and protects websites. 

Congratulations to Kenneth!

Read more in the San Francisco Business Times. 

Job Numbers Jump 10 Percent for Cardozo Graduates; Listed in Top 50 Schools 

May 20, 2016 - Cardozo Law was listed by The National Law Journal in the top 50 schools with the highest percentage of their 2015 graduates in full-time, long term jobs that require bar passage 10 months after graduation and are not funded by the schools themselves. The publication called this the “gold standard for lawyer jobs.”

The employment rate for graduates of Cardozo Law in full-time, long-term jobs requiring bar passage 10 months after graduation jumped approximately 10 percentage points from 2014 to 2015.

Dean Melanie Leslie was quoted on The New York Law Journal on the job numbers: 

"Cardozo Law Dean Melanie Leslie attributed the improving fortunes of its graduates to a 'top-to-bottom' review of its placement strategies as well as reviewing where growth is occurring in the New York legal market. 'The key has been understanding the job market and providing the right information and connections to our graduates,' Leslie said."

Read more in The National Law Journal.

Read more in The New York Law Journal. 

Class of 2016 Celebrates Commencement

The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law class of 2016 celebrated a joyous commencement on May 31, 2016 at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.

Dean Melanie Leslie offered remarks on the 25th anniversary of her graduation, and the keynote speaker was Hon. Robert A. Katzmann, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Dean Leslie, the first Cardozo alumna to serve as dean, used the occasion to express her solidarity with the graduates.

“Twenty-five years ago, I sat where you are now, in this very hall,” she said. “I remember feeling a mix of very strong emotions: pride that comes with accomplishing something challenging, gratitude, and excitement mixed with trepidation about what the future might bring.”

She continued with some advice to the graduates.

“Do your best work, be ethical, stay open,” she said, “and, when opportunity presents itself, channel that Cardozo grit and determination and attack it.”

Judge Katzmann praised the Cardozo faculty, and spoke to the school’s groundbreaking work providing representation to immigrants.

The son and grandson of refugees from Nazi Germany and Russia, Judge Katzmann has been a champion of free legal representation for poor immigrants. In 2014, he created the Immigrant Justice Corps, which is a fellowship program that recruits lawyers to provide legal services for immigrants.

Judge Katzmann recalled speaking at Cardozo years ago about the crisis in immigrant representation. Soon after, the dean at that time, David Rudenstine, created the Immigration Justice Clinic, alumna Kathryn Greenberg became engaged in the project, and Professor Peter Markowitz was hired as director of the clinic.

“The combination of David Rudenstine and Kathy Greenberg’s vision and Peter Markowitz’s expertise in immigration law and practice has been electric and profound,” said Judge Katzmann. “No clinic has done more in so short a time to become a premier institution of national renown.”

The graduating class’ speaker Terel Watson gave a speech laced with humor and pathos.

He spoke of the ABC’s of law school, praising students for “ambition that drove us when we first walked into this institution at orientation … to zeal that drove us to make the most of this experience in spite of various challenges. Some of us had to deal with the challenge of leaving our families behind to study law. Some had to deal with serious health challenges. And some of us had to deal with the immense challenge of losing someone they love in death. May we use that zeal to maintain enthusiasm in the legal profession, even when days are difficult, because that is the zeal that got us to this point, when we are able to sit as proud alumni of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.”

The ceremony also marked the conferring of an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws to Benedict P. Morelli. President Richard Joel conferred the honorary degree, saying that Morelli, a trial lawyer, deserved the recognition for over 35 years of fighting for justice and protecting the rights of victims and their families. President Joel commented on Morelli’s successes as founder and partner of the Morelli Law Firm, as well as his leadership as president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association and governor of the American Association for Justice. Morelli’s son Alexander was one of the 338 J.D.’s who received their degrees.

The Monrad Paulson Award was given to Professor Lester Brickman, a founding faculty member who announced his retirement this year. Professor Jessica Roth was presented with the teacher-of-the-year award. The best first-year teacher award went to Professor Stewart Sterk. The best adjunct professor award went to Barbara Kolsun. And Registrar Michele Filorimo received the best administrator award.

For more information contact:

John DeNatale
Assistant Dean of Communications
212.790.0237
DeNatale@yu.edu

Randi Weingarten '83, President of the American Federation of Teachers, Speaks on First Night of Democratic Convention 

Randi Weingarten '83

July 26, 2016 American Federation of Teachers - AFT President Randi Weingarten addressed delegates July 25 on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Speaking in a segment that featured six labor national leaders, Weingarten made the case for why Hillary Clinton is a great candidate not just on education, but on a range of issues important to working families. 

Read her speech on the American Federation of Teachers website. 

August 2, 2016 - Eva S. Saltzman '02 has been appointed by Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch as an immigration judge for the United States Department of Justice. Acting Chief Immigration Judge Michael C. McGoings presided over the investiture during a ceremony held July 29, 2016, in the ceremonial courtroom of the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C.

Judge Saltzman will begin hearing cases this month. Judge Saltzman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1999 from the University of Wisconsin and a Juris Doctor in 2002 from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. From 2006 to July 2016, she served as a supervisory staff attorney for the Staff Attorney’s Office, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York. From 2005 through 2006, she served as an associate attorney for Wildes, Weinberg, Grunblatt & Wildes PC, in New York. From 2002 through 2005, she served as an associate attorney for Avirom & Associates LLP, in New York.  Judge Saltzman is a member of the Connecticut, District of Columbia, and New York State Bars.

Read the full press release from the United States Department of Justice. 

Cardozo Celebrates 40 Years! 

Between its founding in 1976 and the first day of classes in 2016 a lot has happened. Cardozo kicks-off a year-long celebration to highlight the enormous achievements made by our faculty, alumni and students in forty years.