News

BLS LawNotesThe latest issue of examines the greening of big business. We spotlight five pioneering alumni who are working in the fields of real estate, energy, and tax to create sustainable paths for enterprises that seek to grow and thrive while minimizing adverse environmental impact.  read more

November 2009 – The current issue of a New York State Bar Association newsletter, Pro Bono News, features an article by John Buhta ’09 about the innovative pro bono project CLARO, the Civil Legal Advice and Resource Office, and SAG, the Student Action Group of CLARO that Buhta co-founded.
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In a new national rankings system that focuses on the quality of lawyers produced by law schools, a factor omitted from other systems, Brooklyn Law School was ranked 47th among all law schools.  read more

One of the main goals of international taxation treaties is to alleviate or mitigate the risk of double taxation on taxpayers. The Fifth Protocol of the Canada-U.S. Tax Treaty, in force since late 2008, is one such treaty.  read more

The Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy (“BLIP”) Clinic was established to train a new generation of lawyers to represent emerging tech, Internet, communications and new media companies in a broad array of transactional, policy and litigation issues.  read more

Lawrence (“Lon”) Jacobs ’81, Senior Executive Vice President and Group General Counsel of News Corporation, was the featured speaker at the Media and Society Lecture held on October 14, 2009. In his presentation, “Saving the Media Business: A New Online Model,” Jacobs explored some of the pressing issues faced by established media companies as they deal with a turbulent economy and the intense competition posed by the Internet.  read more

Brooklyn Law School’s Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law (IBL) hosted its first Breakfast Roundtable of the academic year on October 9, 2009. Elisse B. Walter, Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, presented an “Update of International Initiatives,” identifying recent SEC efforts to ensure investor protection in light of the increasing global nature of financial markets. Walter was introduced by Roberta Karmel, Brooklyn Law School’s Centennial Professor of Law and former SEC Commissioner who served when Walter was an SEC staff member. The audience included alumni, academicians, attorneys, reporters and BLS International Business Law Fellows.  read more

The economic stimulus package, signed into law last February, will pour an unprecedented $19 billion into health information technology. Many policymakers believe that broad use of this technology has the potential to improve health care quality, reduce costs, increase patient participation in decision-making, and prevent medical errors. However, it raises many concerns about the security and privacy of medical records.  read more

“Transgender Hate Crimes: Victims, Their Families and Advocates Speak Out” was a gripping panel presentation on October 7, 2009 focusing on the challenges of advocating for transgender people, law enforcement and the media, and the underlying causes of anti-transgender hate crimes. Several speakers gave moving personal accounts of their ordeals as victims of hate crimes.  read more

Brooklyn Law School hosted a symposium today that brought together academics and lawyers practicing in the U.S. and the E.U. to talk about the characteristics of the financial crisis on both sides of the pond, and to exchange proposals for regulatory reform to minimize systemic risk in order to avert another crisis.  read more

A special tribute for Robert B. Catell, a former trustee of Brooklyn Law School, was held on September 23rd aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum at Pier 86. Over 400 celebrants were in attendance at the gala where Mr. Catell received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Dean Joan G. Wexler and the Chairman of the Board, Stuart Subotnick. The evening raised nearly $500,000 to benefit the Law School.  read more

Should a city be allowed to display a permanent Ten Commandments monument in a town park, without also displaying symbols of minority religions? May Congress sell a parcel of national parkland containing a large cross in order to evade what would otherwise be a violation of the Establishment Clause?  read more

Paul A. Volcker, Chair of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, addressed nearly 500 Brooklyn Law School graduates yesterday at 2009 commencement exercises in Lincoln Center. One of history’s most lauded central bankers, he is widely credited with taming runaway double-digit inflation in the 1980s when he served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.  read more

Jennifer L. Mnookin, Vice Dean for Faculty and Research and Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law, delivered the Ira M. Belfer Lecture on April 7. Her talk, “The Future of Forensic Science,” discussed the systemic shortcomings of forensic evidence and the steps the legal and scientific communities must take to justify its admission in the courtroom.  read more

April 2 to 4, 2009 - Congratulations to Michigan State University College of Law, which defeated the University of California Hastings College of Law in the final round of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Dean Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition in the 36-team tournament hosted by Brooklyn Law School.  read more

In the wake of the subprime mortgage meltdown and the ensuing financial crisis, the question being asked is why bankers, money managers, auditors, securities lawyers and credit rating agencies failed – individually and collectively – to conduct the sort of “due diligence” necessary to detect and prevent detrimental investment practices. On March 31, Brooklyn Law School sponsored the Abraham L. Pomerantz Lecture on “Due Diligence: Failures and Remedies,” which explored this question and suggested legal reforms to avert future crises.  read more

Historically, all levels of government have taken an active role in housing and economic development. As the federal government undergoes a change in administrations during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, this conference will take a fresh look at two of the key roles that government plays in this arena.  read more

As bankruptcy filings increase in the wake of the current recession, the buying and selling of distressed debt presents opportunities for investors to profit. At Brooklyn Law School’s symposium, “Bankruptcy Claims Trading and Securities Regulation,” a group of distinguished academics, practitioners, and judges debated the value and risks of bankruptcy claims trading. Held on February 27, the symposium was co-sponsored by the Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law and the Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law. It was organized by Brooklyn Law School Professors Edward Janger and Michael Gerber.  read more

In the spring of 2008, soaring food prices created a global crisis as tens of millions of people slipped into poverty and millions more struggled to make ends meet. The number of people who live on $1 a day, the benchmark of absolute poverty, has increased to roughly one billion, and an additional 1.5 billion people struggle to survive on less than $2 a day. For 40 percent of the world’s population, the increase in food prices has led to people giving up health care, pulling children from school, and cutting meat and nutrient-rich vegetables from their diets to ensure they can purchase enough grain for one or two meals per day. The food crisis has also resulted in social unrest in many countries throughout the world.  read more