New Clinics for 2006

Prosecutor’s Clinic: Family Justice Center to Open in Fall 2006
The Law School will launch a new clinic this fall that will provide victims of domestic violence with holistic assistance in family, immigration and criminal matters. The Prosecutor’s Clinic: Family Justice Center will operate in conjunction with the Brooklyn Family Justice Center in the new Integrated Domestic Violence Court.

One half the clinic’s students will work as student prosecutors in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office Domestic Violence Bureau under the supervision of Professor Lisa Smith. They will be responsible for all aspects of prosecutions, from the first appearance after arraignment through disposition. The other half of the students will work as associates in a civil law firm on matrimonial issues, support and custody, housing, immigration, and benefits for the victims. They will be supervised by two new adjunct instructors of clinical law, Lauren A. Shapiro, who is the Family Law Unit Director at South Brooklyn Legal Services, and Ellen Rosenberg, who is Supervising Attorney at Sanctuary for Families, Inc., Center for Battered Women’s Legal Services.

New Clinic Faculty Members for 2006

New clinic faculty members include Dan R. Smulian, Assistant Professor of Clinical Law, who is teaching in the Safe Harbor Project; Andrew E. Abraham, Acting Assistant Professor of Clinical Law, who is Assistant Director of the Second Look Program; Hon. Michelle Weston Patterson, Adjunct Professor of Law, an Associate Justice of the Appellate Term of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, 2nd and 11th Judicial Districts, who teaches the Judicial Clerkship Internship; Jan Hoth, Adjunct Associate Professor of Clinical Law, and Jonathan M. Kirshbaum, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Clinical Law; both teaching in the Criminal Appeals Clinic: Defense. They are Lead Appellate Counsel and Senior Appellate Litigator, respectively, at the Center for Appellate Litigation.

The new Prosecutor's Clinic: Family Justice Center will also welcome two new Adjunct Instructors of Clinical Law, Lauren A. Shapiro, who is the Family Law Unit Director at South Brooklyn Legal Services, and Ellen Rosenberg, who is Supervising Attorney at Sanctuary for Families, Inc., Center for Battered Women’s Legal Services. Teaching the Mediation Clinic will be Jorge Irizarry-Vizcarrondo, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Clinical Law, who is a mediator at the New York Society for the Protection of Children Against Cruelty.

Clinic Notes for 2003

The Health Law Practice and Policy Internship, which began in January 2003 under the direction of Karen Porter, has placed students in a wide range of public sector sites that maintain a health law or health policy practice. Some of those organizations include: Office of Legal Affairs, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation; the Center for Reproductive Rights; Mental Hygiene Legal Services; Office of the General Counsel, Maimonides Medical Center; Brooklyn Mental Health Court; The New York State Assembly Committee on Health; Division of Bioethics, SUNY Downstate Medical Center; Cancer Advocacy Project, Association of the Bar of the City of New York; Division of Bioethics, Montefiore Medical Center; New York Legal Assistance Group – Legal Health; Health Law Unit, Legal Aid Society of New York; Medicare Rights Center; and New York State Attorney General, Health Care Bureau.

Elder Law Clinic Achieves Three Significant Victories

• The Elder Law Clinic represented “Mrs. R” in an administrative hearing appealing an HRA denial of her request for an increase in Medicaid-funded home care. Medicaid had allowed only eight hours of daily care for the woman, who had limited mobility in addition to dementia. Farheen Sultan ‘04 conducted the factual investigation and gathered evidence for the hearing to support Mrs. R’s request for an increase. Under the supervision of staff attorney Andrea Spratt, she then conducted the hearing and obtained a favorable determination that directed the agency to increase Mrs. R’s home care immediately.
  
  
• After a year of litigation, the Clinic reached a positive settlement for its client on the day of trial. “Mr. De,” a 75-year-old man, had lived in two rent-controlled apartments in Soho all his life with his brother. Their parents had originally rented the apartments because one had no bathtub. When Mr. De’s brother died, the landlord attempted to evict the remaining brother. Under the settlement reached, Mr. De will remain in the larger apartment on the condition that the landlord build bathing facilities and make other renovations. Additionally he received $7,500 in monetary compensation for surrendering the smaller apartment. Skye Phillips ‘04 and Allison Havourd ‘05 participated in pre-trial preparation and negotiation.
  
  
• “Ms. R.,” elderly and developmentally disabled, was facing a nonpayment eviction proceeding in Housing Court due to an erroneous discontinuation of her federal Section 8 rent subsidy benefits. Lauren DeBellis ‘05 successfully argued a motion to dismiss the nonpayment proceeding against Ms. R. based on improper service of the petition. Additionally, due to Ms. DeBellis’ advocacy, the client’s Section 8 subsidy was retroactively restored. Ms. DeBellis further assisted Ms. R. in obtaining a grant to pay her share of the rent arrears.

Corporate and Real Estate Clinic Saves Bronx Building, Among Others

Corporate and Real Estate Clinic students Renee Marquez ’04 and Athas Ioannou ’04 (second and third from left) with client and representatives of housing groups.

Students in Corporate and Real Estate Clinic have the unique opportunity to experience corporate and real estate practice by representing low-income housing co-ops. Recently, they helped save a Bronx building from foreclosure, successfully enrolled six other buildings in tax forgiveness programs, and assisted the co-ops in applying for related loans, procured refinancing for two other co-ops, and helped two more buildings receive new resale policies.

The Bronx building, a 40-unit low-income co-op with many elderly minority residents was a clinic project for two years. Work began in January 2003, when Jaime Pasqua ’03 and Jeremy Sung ’03 conducted research and drafted notices to terminate an unscrupulous manager. Spring semester clinic students Sophia Valiotis ’04 and Ted Ackerman ’05 prepared and filed the documents and certificates that cleared the way for the co-op to be accepted into a tax forgiveness program. Summer clinic student John Fazzio ’05 reviewed and negotiated loan documents and represented the co-op at loan closings.

New Clinics for 2003-2004

The Community Development Clinic, which opened its doors in fall of 2003, represents community organizations that wish to help shape the future of Brooklyn neighborhoods in a time of unprecedented growth and change. Students in the clinic will help ensure that important but smaller voices are heard as Brooklyn communities are rethought, rezoned and redeveloped. Typical activities for clinic students include drafting business formation documents; assisting in the formation of joint ventures; negotiating the leasing, purchasing, financing and renovating of real estate; and drafting, analyzing and negotiating contracts. Students in the clinic help organizations develop, own and operate a range of services and facilities that may include housing for individuals with special needs, cultural centers and recreational space. One of the clients the clinic worked with last fall was Brooklyn City Streetcar Company, Inc. (BCSC), which seeks to reestablish trolleys in some areas of Brooklyn. Professor David Reiss serves as director of the clinic.

Fall ‘03 also marked the debut of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts Transactional Law Clinic. In this clinic, students gain an understanding of, and practical experience in, the corporate and transactional legal issues and concerns faced by artists, arts organizations and the legal professionals who represent and counsel them. Founded in 1969, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) is a nonprofit organization that provides pro bono legal, educational programs and mediation services to low income artists and non profit arts organizations throughout New York. The substantive law in the seminar includes those areas typically faced by VLA’s arts and entertainment clients, such as copyright, contracts, and entity formation, including nonprofit, tax exempt corporations. In supervised client representation, students spend eight hours a week working at the offices of VLA on behalf of clients from the fields of music, film, dance, fashion and visual arts. Participants also discuss ethical, tactical, legal and institutional issues that arise in the casework. Professor Elena Paul, executive director of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and Professor Alexei Auld, director of education and senior staff attorney at VLA, are co-directors.

New Faculty for 2003-2004

Professor David Reiss is director of the new Community Development Clinic. He concentrates his study and practice in real estate issues and community development in the not-for-profit, government and community sectors. He was most recently a Visiting Clinical Associate Professor at the Seton Hall Law School Center for Social Justice. Previously, he was an associate in the New York office of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in its Real Estate Department and an associate at Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco in its Land Use and Environmental Law Group. He was also a law clerk to Judge Timothy Lewis of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Read Professor Reiss’s most recent editorial on predatory lending.

Two adjunct professors have joined the Civil Practice Internship. Joy Weber (BLS ’89) teaches the Securities and Market Regulation section. Ms. Weber has worked with the New York City Stock Exchange since graduating from BLS and currently is the Enforcement Director in the Division of Enforcement. Deborah Putzman, general counsel at the American Ballet Theatre, teaches the new Corporate Counsel section. This group takes students from placements in a range of corporate counsel focuses such as Estee Lauder, SONY, Kate Spade and UBS Paine Webber and will focus on the role, responsibilities and ethics of this type of lawyer.

AUSA Christina Dugger has joined Carolyn Pokorny (BLS ’94) as the co-instructor for the Prosecution Clinic: U.S. Attorney’s Office-EDNY. Ms. Dugger is a graduate of Cornell Law School and clerked for Chief Judge Judith Kaye before working at the firm of Rogers & Wells. She has been with the U.S. Attorney’s Office since 1999.

Case Victories in 2003-2004

In May, Safe Harbor Clinic’s Aileen Monahan ’04 had the honor of arguing before Judges Jacobs, Feinberg and Meskill of the Second Circuit. Stacy Caplow, Director of Clinical Education, reports that Aileen did an excellent job holding her own under the judges’ close questioning. Lindsey Jones ’05 and Anastasia Heeger ’04 worked on the brief and participated in numerous practice rounds. Professors Claire Kelly, Heidi Kitrosser, Minna Kotkin, Dan Medwed, Larry Solan and Ursula Bentele were generous with their time judging the practice rounds and provided insight into the intricacies of statutory construction and administrative law. “Thanks to the clinical program at BLS,” commented Professor Caplow, “Aileen had an opportunity to do something that many lawyers never achieve.”

Also in May, a Safe Harbor client – a Chinese whistleblower and union organizer – was granted relief in the form of “withholding of removal.” This type of protection for victims of persecution is different from asylum, but protects the individual from being returned to the persecutory country. Students Deanna Helstrom ’04, Matthieu Milgrom ‘05 and Ashley Van Valkenburgh ’05 prepared a thorough set of documents detailing how their client had been jailed, beaten and tortured after protesting corruption in his factory, being laid off, and then organizing a union of factory workers. The students, who were supervised by Professor Jeffrey Heller, spent many hours interviewing and preparing their client who speaks only Mandarin.

Carol R. Sherman, director of the Children’s Law Center, was one of the recipients of the Kathryn A. McDonald Awards for excellence in service to the Family Court presented in January. The awards are presented annually by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

Clinic Changes Focus and Format

The Prosecution Clinic has changed its focus and format. The newly configured clinic allows third-year students to handle all stages of the prosecution of misdemeanor cases arising out of arrests from the Sunset Park/Red Hook neighborhoods in Brooklyn. The students now become involved in the community by getting to know its merchant associations, cultural institutions, schools, advocacy organizations and religious institutions. The goal of the clinic is to provide a model of “community prosecution” in which student prosecutors are better able to use the criminal justice system to advance the interests of both the victims and the community. Professor Lisa Smith is the Clinic’s director.

Grants and Funding

The Securities Arbitration Clinic, along with programs in five other New York State Law Schools, received $200,000 from a settlement orchestrated by Attorney General Spitzer.

The Second Look Program received $30,000 from the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation, bringing the money received from that organization to $100,000.

Bankruptcy Clinic Wins Recognition

The Consumer Counseling and Bankruptcy Clinic was honored at the Pro Bono Awards and Law Firm Recognition Ceremony on November 25, 2002. The Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Awards are given annually to outstanding volunteers who have provided exceptional services to disenfranchised New Yorkers. Professor Mary Jo Eyster supervises the Clinic, which counsels clients who are struggling with debt and who are considering filing for bankruptcy. Presenting the awards was New York State Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye. Pictured (l-r): John McManus, Head of the Civil Division, Consumer Law Unit of Legal Aid; Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye; Professor Mary Jo Eyster; David W. Weschler, Attorney-in-Charge of the volunteer ceremony.

Consumer Counseling and Bankruptcy Law Clinic Wins Award

On November 25, 2002, Professor Mary Jo Eyster will accept a 2002 Pro Bono Award from The Legal Aid Society on behalf of the Consumer Counseling and Bankruptcy Law Clinic. The Awards Ceremony will be hosted by State Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye. The Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Awards are given annually to outstanding volunteers who have provided exceptional services to disenfranchised New Yorkers. Professor Eyster supervises the Consumer Counseling and Bankruptcy Clinic, which counsels clients who are struggling with debt and who are considering filing for bankruptcy.

The Securities Arbitration Clinic: Fighting for the Small Investor

Founded in the Fall of 1998, the Securities Arbitration Clinic provides legal assistance to small investors who have securities arbitration grievances against brokers and broker-dealers for one of a variety of reasons: misrepresentation; unauthorized trading; “churning” (over trading); or violating the Suitability Rule (which requires brokers to recommend securities appropriate to the financial resources, age, experience and risk of tolerance to the client). Professor Romaine Gardner, a long time member of Brooklyn Law School’s adjunct faculty, serves as the Clinic’s Director. Recently, he summarized the history of the clinic. Read the article. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. Download free software.)

Clinical Program Welcomes New Instructors
Judge Lee Hand Elkins, Carolyn Pokorny and Eric T. Chaffin

There are three new adjunct instructors teaching in the clinical program. Judge Lee Hand Elkins will teach a section of the Judicial Clerkship Internship seminar. Judge Elkins, who now sits in Brooklyn Family Court, previously sat in the NYC Criminal Court. Prior to being named to the bench, Judge Elkins was law clerk to the late Justice Harold P. Rothwax, and had been a staff attorney in both the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society and in the Office of the Special Prosecutor. Two new adjuncts will be teaching the Prosecutors Clinic: US Attorney, EDNY Clinic. Carolyn Pokorny, a 1994 BLS grad, joined the US Attorney's Office in 1999 after working as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx and clerking for Judge Arthur D. Spatt of the EDNY. Teaching with her is Eric T. Chaffin who, before joining the US Attorney's Office in 1999, was an associate at Reed Smith LLP in Pittsburgh, PA in its litigation department, and before that was a law clerk to the Honorable D. Brooks Smith of the United States District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania. Read More.

Elderlaw Clinic: Protecting the Rights of Seniors

On June 6, the Elderlaw Clinic was once again victorious. The New York Court of Appeals upheld an Appellate Division decision protecting elderly tenants’ rights and denied a motion by the New York City Department of the Aging for leave to appeal. This notable decision will have a far reaching impact on the legal rights of the elderly, particularly in the area of rent freezes. Susan Chuang, '02, under the supervision of Senior Staff Attorney, Jane Landry-Reyes (left), wrote the appellate brief to the Court. Olga Pérez (right) is the Director of the Elderlaw Clinic. Read More.

Corporate/Real Estate Clinic: Saving and Creating Homes

Eight BLS students over the past two years provided legal assistance to the eleven lower east side buildings that were recently transferred by the City of New York to a not-for-profit group with the eventual goal of forming resident-controlled co-ops. Students in the corporate and real estate clinic formed the People's Homesteading Association, a coalition of the buildings, and helped the group prepare by-laws, negotiate with architects and resolve organizational and transfer issues. Read More.

Federal Litigation Clinic

Federal Litigation students, Harmon Fields and Steve Meyer (with a little help from Professor Minna Kotkin) successfully staved off a summary judgment motion in a case of first impression in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York. In a case that was the subject of a front page New York Law Journal article (PDF), the judge ruled that the plantiff who suffers from bipolar disorder can be considered disabled, and thus protected under the Americans with Disablitities Act. Professor Minna Kotkin (2nd from left) conducts a depositons with students.

Two New Clinics Join School's Top-Rated Program

This year, Brooklyn Law School’s top-rated clinical program expanded its offerings with two new clinics. Both the Second Look Program and The Prosecutors Clinic: United States Attorney’s Office augment an already rich set of offerings in the criminal practice area. In keeping with the philosophy and pedagogy of the clinical program, they give students an opportunity to learn legal principles and procedures in the context of real cases and clients. Professors William Hellerstein (far left) and Daniel Medwed (far right) with their students in the Second Look program. Read More

Criminal Practice Internship Focuses on Innovations in Criminal Justice

This academic year, Professor Lisa Smith (left), who runs the Criminal Practice Internship, has focused the seminar component of the clinic on “Innovations in Criminal Justice.” Clinic students first study the criminal justice issues that have led to the creation of specialized courts and programs, and then have the opportunity to listen to a lecture by the judges or administrators who are responsible for, or directly involved with, these innovations, many of which are taking place here in Brooklyn. Read More