News

When the American Law Institute decided to launch a new Restatement of Torts in 1992, it started with the torts topic that most urgently needed restating: products liability. After being parsed in thousands of appellate opinions that took divergent paths, American products liability law needed clarification, which took form in Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability, adopted in 1998.  read more

Question: Who is the only Muppet to have regularly crossed over between Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, and does this have anything to do with the practice of law? Answer: Kermit, and yes, it has a lot to do with the law.  read more

The Brooklyn Law School Center for Health, Science and Public Policy sponsored the most recent installment of its theory-practice seminar series, “Preventing a Disaster: Guidelines for Dealing with Epidemics,” on October 2 to address the legal and policy issues that are likely to arise in an influenza pandemic.  read more

Professor Roderick Macdonald opened the recent Brooklyn Law School symposium, “Ruling the World: Generating International Legal Norms,” with a keynote address that described three metaphors – harmonization, transplantation and viruses.  read more

It was with very mixed emotions that students in the Capital Defender and Federal Habeas Clinic learned the surprising news on October 20th that a certiorari petition they had filed in the capital case Walker v. Georgia had prompted written opinions by two Supreme Court justices.  read more

“Law constantly reassesses its underlying assumptions in light of scientific advances,” said Dean Joan G. Wexler in introducing the symposium held on September 26, 2008 at Brooklyn Law School, “Is Morality Universal and Should the Law Care?” Co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Law, Language and Cognition and the Brooklyn Law Review, the symposium was organized by Brooklyn Law School Professor Bailey Kuklin and Don Forchelli Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Lawrence Solan.  read more

During the past academic year, the International Law Society (ILS) enjoyed a banner year at Brooklyn Law School. The growing student organization held more than 14 events over the Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 semesters, including panels, roundtables, and academic and awareness-raising discussions, often in conjunction with other organizations.  read more

Brooklyn Law School is proud to announce the hiring of seven new faculty members for the 2008-09 academic year. They are a mix of young scholars and accomplished teachers, and several are joining the Law School after years in practice.  read more

Professor Christopher Serkin’s latest article, “Existing Uses: Retroactive Land Use Regulations and the Takings Clause,” was accepted by the prestigious Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum, held in June at the Yale Law School. Serkin follows in the footsteps of BLS Professors Dana Brakman Reiser and Edward Janger , who have both presented at the forum.  read more

Jaime A. Alonso ’09 was awarded the Schulte, Roth & Zabel Fellowship to work at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) for the 2008-09 academic year.  read more

Professor Jason Mazzone is navigating uncharted territory in constitutional scholarship, and his efforts are making waves that are lapping at the shores of the U.S. Supreme Court itself. With a focus on the history of the early American republic, his extensive publications address a range of constitutional issues that resonate today.  read more

Susan Herman , Centennial Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, has co-edited a book based on the first symposium held to examine issues of federalism raised by the “war on terror.”  read more

Brooklyn Law School is proud of its many students who will be working this summer in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and South America at law firms, and private and public interest organizations. The students have launched a blog to share their experiences, the Brooklyn Law School Students International Blog.  read more

“The Continuing Role for Belligerent Reprisals,” an article by Philip Sutter ’07, will be published this spring in the Journal of Conflict and Security Law, a professor-run journal based in the United Kingdom.  read more

Brooklyn Law School is proud to announce the creation of the International Human Rights Fellowship Program and the selection of its first fellows, Jared Watkins '09 and Katharine Bodde '09. The program offers participating students a unique opportunity to acquire experience working on international human rights matters during their law school careers in both a work and academic setting.  read more

The New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence has honored BLS Professor Elizabeth M. Schneider as one of 30 leaders who has made a difference in the lives of survivors of domestic violence since the coalition's inception in 1978.  read more

Brooklyn Law School sent two teams to Charlottesville, Va. to participate in the 25th Annual Virginia Law School Softball Invitational, which took place April 4 - 6. Over 100 teams battled over the weekend to become the top law school softball squad in the country.  read more

Brooklyn Law School’s Visiting Assistant Professor Program provides an ideal environment for the brightest legal minds to prepare for a career teaching law. With the goal of helping to launch the careers of promising young intellectuals, the program attracts participants with strong academic backgrounds, and a range of experience in practice and judicial clerkships.  read more

David Schnakenberg ’08 has been awarded the Ralph C. Menapace Fellowship, a two-year fellowship in urban land use law sponsored by the Municipal Art Society that will allow him to acquire experience in the legislative process, litigation, and advocacy.  read more

Lydia Tomitova '09 has co-edited and contributed to a new book, Dealing Fairly with Developing Country Debt (Blackwell). The book is the product of a Ford Foundation Grant awarded in 2005 to support research into the ethical dilemma posed by the current debt crisis in developing countries.  read more

On April 3 - April 5, 2008, Brooklyn Law School hosted the Twenty-Third Annual Dean Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition. The competition honors the late Jerome Prince, renowned evidence scholar, teacher, and author of Prince on Evidence, who served as Dean of Brooklyn Law School from 1953-1971. Thirty-eight teams from around the country competed.  read more

With time still remaining in the 2007-08 moot court season, 14 Brooklyn Law School teams have already brought home competition prizes. Also, this year for the first time, BLS Teams competed internationally in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna, Austria and in the University of Puerto Rico National Criminal Trial Advocacy Competition in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  read more

At the Fifth Annual Brooklyn Law School Public Service Awards Ceremony held on March 31, dozens of students were honored for their pro bono work in volunteer, government, and non-profit settings. In addition, Brian Barbour ’08 and Josie Beets ’08 were presented with special Faculty Public Service Awards their extraordinary contributions to public service.  read more

In the mid-20th century, the Warren Court revolutionized constitutional law by nationalizing norms of rights and equality. From Brown v. Board of Education to Miranda v. Arizona to Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court invited those seeking to promote rights and equality to litigate in the federal courts. But, following changes in the composition of the Court in later decades, the tide has turned.  read more

Brooklyn Law School’s chapter of the Unemployment Action Center has emerged as the most active chapter in an organization devoted to providing free legal representation to unemployed New Yorkers who have been denied insurance and other benefits.  read more

Brooklyn Law School and the Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law continued its Breakfast Roundtable series with Crispin Waymouth, First Secretary for the Delegation of the European Commission to the United States, on Feb. 25 at the New York Stock Exchange.  read more

The Student Bar Association's fourth annual Barrister's Ball was held at Brooklyn's Steiner Studios Stage 6 on Feb. 23. The studio literally rolled out the red carpet for a crowd of over 550 students and their guests, faculty members and administrators.  read more

Brooklyn Law School held a symposium on March 7 to assess the likely effects of Gonzales v. Carhart, the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court case upholding the validity of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act against constitutional challenge. "The 'Partial-Birth Abortion' Ban: Health Care in the Shadow of Criminal Liability" was co-sponsored by the Center for Health, Science and Public Policy and the Journal of Law and Policy.  read more

The Brooklyn Law School Student Bar Association held its Second Annual Spelling Bee in memory of BLS Professor and former librarian Sara Robbins on Jan. 30. Over 35 contestants, including students and faculty members, competed to win the top prize, dinner for two at the Michelin-rated Saul Restaurant on Smith Street in Brooklyn.   read more

Co-sponsored by the Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law in partnership with The Securities and Exchange Historical Society and theThe Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law.  read more

From the Nuremberg Tribunals to the creation of the International Criminal Court, the field of international justice has experienced an extraordinary evolution within the past 50 years. Come join us for a panel discussion with three expert practitioners and consultants who will share their views on prospects for justice through accountability drawing from their experiences working with several of these accountability mechanisms.  read more

The Corporate & Securities Law Association and the Brooklyn Law School Career Center on Jan. 31 organized a panel discussion at which practitioners from various fields advised students on how to break into legal and non-legal professions on Wall Street. The overall theme of the discussion was the myriad of professional opportunities open to law school graduates and the various paths that can lead to successful careers.  read more

Brooklyn Law School’s Black Law Students Association marked the beginning of Black History Month on Feb. 1 with an Opening Ceremony celebration at the Forchelli Conference Center. Throughout the month, BLSA will host a series of programs designed to commemorate Black History Month, celebrate diversity, and reflect on the struggles and achievements of African-American legal professionals.  read more

Ashley Kelly ’09 has won a Phil Cowen Memorial/BMI Scholarship from the New York State Bar Association Entertainment Arts and Sports Law section for her paper, “Bargaining Power on Broadway: Why Congress Should Pass the Playwrights Licensing Antitrust Initiative Act in the Era of Hollywood on Broadway.”  read more

Kyu-ah Kang ’09 has won a Minority Fellowship in Environmental Law from the New York State Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources. The fellowship is designed to encourage disadvantaged or traditionally under-represented law students to study and pursue careers in environmental law.  read more

Brooklyn Law School continued its Breakfast Roundtable series with Jernej Sekolec, Secretary of UNCITRAL, on Jan. 31 at the Harvard Club. Sekolec’s talk, which was hosted by the Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law, addressed the emerging law of international commerce.  read more

David Andelman, the executive editor of Forbes.com, spoke about his new book, A Shattered Peace, at an event sponsored by the International Law Society in the Subotnick Center on Jan. 31.  read more

This semester, Dean Joan G. Wexler will welcome five outstanding Brooklyn Law School alumni to the School through the Dean’s Roundtable Luncheon series, a unique program that brings highly successful graduates back to the Law School to meet with students in an intimate setting.  read more

David M. Barron ’03 appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 7 when the Court took up the issue of how Kentucky carries out executions by lethal injection. Barron is an assistant public advocate in the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy’s Capital Post Conviction Unit.  read more