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Professor David Reiss, an expert in Real Estate Finance and Consumer Finance Law and founding director of the Law School’s Community Development Clinic, has been appointed Chair of the New York City Rent Guidelines Board by Mayor Bill de Blasio. He will lead the nine-member board, which is mandated to establish rent adjustments for the approximately 1 million dwelling units subject to the Rent Stabilization Law in New York City. The Board holds an annual series of public meetings and hearings to consider research from staff and testimony from owners, tenants, advocacy groups and industry experts. Reiss was appointed to the board in 2017. “The Rent Guidelines Board is integral to the health of the New York City housing stock and I am honored to continue serving on it in my new capacity as Chair,” said Reiss. A Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, Reiss serves as Academic Programs Director of the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE). He is a frequently quoted expert on legal developments in the real estate finance sector and has written a regular column for The Hill. His popular blog, REFinBlog, offers a roundup of developments in the law and practices related to the real estate finance industry. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Paying for the American Dream: How to Reform the Market for Mortgages (Oxford University Press, 2019).

Professor David Reiss, an expert in Real Estate Finance and Consumer Finance Law and founding director of the Law School’s Community Development Clinic, was quoted in a July 6 story in The Wall Street Journal about “bump” clauses, which allow a seller to enter into a contract with a buyer while continuing to market the property and then “bump” the original buyer if a better deal comes along. Reiss explained that a bump clause tends to be a more popular tactic in “transitional” markets, where home sales are cooling but sellers have yet to adjust their expectations. “[It] can be a savvy technique to help the sellers feel they could still get a better offer,” he said. While acknowledging the temptation to automatically bump the first buyer if a second offer is received, Reiss advised sellers: “Don’t get greedy.” He encouraged sellers to do their homework and look beyond price and contingencies. “[The first offer] is a bird in the hand,” he said. “If [the sellers] walk away and get stuck negotiating with a second offer that’s weak, they could end up with nothing.” Professor Reiss’s teaching and writing focuses on real estate finance and community development. He serves as Academic Programs Director of the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE), and he is a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers . He is a frequently quoted expert on legal developments in the real estate finance sector and has written a regular column for The Hill. Reiss’s popular blog, REFinBlog, offers a roundup of developments in the law and practices related to the real estate finance industry. Read more: In Cooling Housing Markets, ‘Bump Clauses’ Help Seal Win-Win Deals.

Are incentive-laden deals that cities offer to lure big companies, such as the one Amazon recently struck with New York City and Northern Virginia, worth the costs imposed on state and local governments? In a commentary that appeared in the Nov. 21 edition of the New York Law Journal, Professor David Reiss, an expert in Real Estate Finance and Consumer Finance Law and founding director of the Law School’s Community Development Clinic, addressed this question and suggested that cities would be better served working together rather than competing against each other. Positing that such enormous incentive packages are not necessarily worth the cost and may never be recouped, Reiss cited as an example Wisconsin’s $4 billion deal with Foxconn. “[T]axpayers are subsidizing each [newly created] job by well over $300,000 each,” he wrote. “Nonpartisan analysts have determined that it will take decades, at the earliest, for Wisconsin to recoup its ‘investment.’” Reiss pointed out that “monies spent on attracting a company is money that can’t be spent on anything else…public schools, mass transit, roads or affordable housing in many communities.” In a Dec. 6 article in Vice, “Amazon Is Bringing in Elite Lobbyists Amid Seething Rage Over HQ2,” Reiss opined on the possibility that interest groups could bring suit over Amazon’s deal with New York. “These suits can slow down or even stop projects—and can give community members leverage with the City, State and project developers,” he said. A Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, Reiss serves as Academic Programs Director of the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE). He is a frequently quoted expert on legal developments in the real estate finance sector and has written a regular column for The Hill. His popular blog, REFinBlog, offers a roundup of developments in the law and practices related to the real estate finance industry. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Paying for the American Dream: How to Reform the Market for Mortgages (Oxford University Press, 2019). Read the New York Law Journal column here. Read the Vice article here

Professor David Reiss was prominently quoted in the Jan. 9 Politico article, “Selling his empire would cost Trump money. A lot of it.” The article examines the myriad legal and ethical dilemmas facing the president-elect in relation to his current business interests. Chief among these is Trump’s real estate empire. Unloading this empire would be a time-consuming and complicated process – and potentially very costly. “He has to make a choice,” Reiss said. “How much pain is he willing to take?” Reiss is a frequently quoted expert on legal developments in the real estate finance sector. His comments recently appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, and Marketplace, and he writes a monthly column for The Hill. Reporters and practitioners also rely on Reiss’s popular REFinBlog, which offers a daily roundup of developments in the law and practices related to the real estate finance industry. The blog features a weekly schedule of Adjudications (Court & Administrative Decisions) on Monday, Regulatory and Legislative Updates on Tuesday, Academic Papers on Wednesday, Advocacy and Think Tanks on Thursday, and a Government Reports roundup of stories on Friday. Reiss teaches real estate courses and is the founding director of the Community Development Clinic. He is the Research Director of the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE). Read the Politico article here. Read more about Professor Reiss. Follow @REFinBlog on Twitter

Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced the appointment of Professor David Reiss to the Rent Guidelines Board. The board is mandated to establish rent adjustments for approximately 1 million dwelling units subject to rent stabilization in New York City and holds public meetings and hearings to consider research from staff and testimony from owners, tenants, advocacy groups, and industry experts. Reiss and Hilary Botein of Baruch College will serve as public members of the board. “Professors Reiss and Botein are experts in real estate law and urban policy planning and will serve New Yorkers fairly as they work to strike the right balance on any rent adjustments,” de Blasio said. “I am honored to have them accept these positions on the Rent Guidelines Board as we work to make this City more just and more equitable.” The mayor also thanked Professor K. Sabeel Rahman, who previously served on the board. "As I tell my students, public service is a fundamental aspect of what it means to be a good lawyer," Reiss said. "I am honored to be able to use my expertise on the Board in service to our great City." Reiss teaches real estate courses and is the founding director of the Community Development Clinic. He is actively involved within the Law School community, currently serving as Research Director of the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE). He is a frequently quoted expert on legal developments in the real estate finance sector. His comments recently appeared in WNYC and The Wall Street Journal, and he writes a bi-weekly column for The Hill. Reiss’s popular blog, REFinBlog, offers a daily roundup of developments in the law and practices related to the real estate finance industry.

Professor David Reiss was recently named a 2017 Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) by the organization’s Board of Governors. ACREL convenes lawyers distinguished for their skill, experience, and high standards of professional and ethical conduct in the practice of real estate law. It is the premier organization of U.S. real estate lawyers. Admission is by invitation only after a rigorous screening process. Fellows are selected for their outstanding legal ability, experience, and high standards of professional and ethical conduct in the practice of real estate law. “I am honored to join the esteemed lawyers who make up the ranks of ACREL,” Reiss said. “I look forward to working on issues of importance to the real estate bar and the broader community with the other Fellows of the College.” Reiss teaches real estate courses and is the founding director of the Community Development Clinic. He is actively involved within the Law School community, currently serving as Academic Programs Director of the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE). He is a frequently quoted expert on legal developments in the real estate finance sector. His comments recently appeared in WNYC and The Wall Street Journal, and he writes a bi-weekly column for The Hill. Reiss’s popular blog, REFinBlog, offers a daily roundup of developments in the law and practices related to the real estate finance industry.

Aimee Richter ’93 was sworn in as the new president of the Brooklyn Bar Association on June 14. Richter plans to use her new position to bring more young lawyers into the BBA community. Richter has been practicing matrimonial and family law for 23 years and is currently a partner at Lee Anav Chung White Kim Ruger & Richter where she co-chairs the family law and matrimonial law practice with her partner Judy White. She began her career working for Steven Cohn ’73 of Goldberg & Cohn, who became her first mentor. After a decade working with Cohn, she became a member of Isaacs & Richter and then Bender Rosenthal & Richter. Richter is a special master in the Appellate Division, First Department, and sits on the Character and Fitness Committee for the Appellate Division, Second Department. At the swearing-in ceremony at Brooklyn Borough Hall, Richter, who joined the BBA at age 25 and previously served as its treasurer, stressed the importance of bar membership to young lawyers. Richter said that after her remarks about 20 young lawyers approached her with interest in joining. “I’m not sure whether younger lawyers understand the benefit of a bar association—I don’t know if they know what we can do for them, or what they can do for us,” she said. “That’s my platform: to partner with all of the local bar associations and law schools as a way to get the young lawyers in and help them understand the benefits.” Richter is putting together a series of events for BBA’s Young Lawyer section in the next few months and plans to send out a short survey to all members about the future of the bar association. She also hopes to visit the Law School to speak with 3Ls about the benefits of joining a bar association. “It’s up to us to figure out a way to make it more attractive to them, since they are the future of the legal industry,” she said.

Claude Callender Longtime Public Safety Officer Retires After nearly four decades of service to Brooklyn Law School, most recently as a public safety supervisor, Claude Callender retired in December 2017. Known by generations of students, faculty, staff, and visitors as the friendly face of Brooklyn Law School, Callender clearly loved working with people. Over 37 years, under four different deans, he greeted more than 15,000 students and a quarter-million visitors. He never had a serious security incident occur during his tenure, which he attributes to his skill at working out tense situations calmly and quietly. Leaving a legacy, he trained most of the public safety officers who continue working at the school, including his brother Lester. Callender’s favorite part of the job has been creating lasting relationships with students and other members of the Law School community. “Students and alumni are part of my life,” he says. “It was so nice when alumni would come back to the school and say hi, and the students, faculty, and staff who I saw every day kept me going on a daily basis.” Later this year, Callender, an avid cyclist, will join his cycling team on a trip to Jamaica and visit several other Caribbean destinations. Until then, he intends to keep his routine of getting up at 4:20 a.m. every day to go to the gym. But he also plans to take at least one vacation that doesn’t involve exercise: a trip to his home country of Guyana for the first time in nearly a decade.

Student Groups Build Bridges Making connections is at the heart of Brooklyn Law’s student organizations. The Law School is home to more than 40 student organizations, representing a variety of practice areas and affinity groups. Each semester, these organizations host numerous panels and events that bring back to campus alumni and legal experts who offer valuable networking opportunities and professional insights. In March, the Brooklyn Business Law Association (BBLA) honored Roger Griesmeyer ’04, a partner at Andrews Kurth LLP in New York City, at its annual alumni dinner, where he shared his experiences as an attorney in transactional law. More than 70 students are members of BBLA, including 25 1L delegates and 12 executive board members. The dinner drew graduates who are now with major firms and companies, including Skadden Arps; Paul, Weiss; PwC; and Ernst & Young. “Your experiences at Brooklyn Law School will serve as a bridge to your future business success,” Griesmeyer said. “How you handle both the good and the challenging parts now can translate into the kinds of skills and knowledge you’ll use later in your career.” “Student organizations are really important because they give you a sense of ownership in your Brooklyn Law School experience,” said BBLA Student President Alexi Knock ’16. “Hearing from successful graduates definitely made me want to work harder to achieve what they had. As my classes prepared me for writing and research, being part of a student organization like BBLA prepared me for my career.” After graduation, Knock will join Ropes & Gray as a corporate associate. She joined BBLA as a 1L delegate, then served as the bankruptcy chair in her second year, before being elected as president for 2015–16. Knock founded a new mentorship program this year that pairs 1Ls with 2Ls and 3Ls. More than 60 students are participating in the program. For more information on student organizations, visit brooklaw.edu/students.

Prerequisites: 1L course of study Students earn academic credit while working in approved placements across a wide range of civil practice settings including non-profit organizations, government offices and agencies, private law firms, and corporate and union in-house legal departments. Students find their own placements based on an interest in a particular practice area or opportunity to hone particular lawyering skills. At the placements, students are paired with a supervising Mentor Attorney to work on real legal matters, while receiving close supervision and regular feedback. At the law school, students are supported by faculty in a required seminar or tutorial to learn from their experience. Depending on the placement, typical activities include conducting legal or factual research, conducting client or witness interviews, drafting memoranda and other legal documents, preparing transactional documents, participating in discovery or trial preparation, attending a negotiation or court hearing, observing attorneys in a variety of lawyering activities, or discussing an experience with a Mentor Attorney. Students may also gain exposure to case management and workplace skills, client relations, and policy and institutional issues. Grading and Method of Evaluation: High Pass-Pass-Low Pass-No Credit. Students will be assessed based on an end-of-semester evaluation provided by the Mentor Attorney and the student's oral and written descriptions of and reflections on the fieldwork. Enrollment Notes: Students interested in enrolling in the Civil Practice Externship fieldwork course must read the Externship Student Manual and follow its enrollment procedures. For information on current externship opportunities, visit Symplicity. Students are limited to three externships during law school and ordinarily may not repeat a civil practice externship in the same placement. Exceptions may be made upon a showing of the educational benefit to be derived and subject to the approval of the Faculty Director.

Prerequisites: 1L course of study Students earn academic credit while working in approved placements across a wide range of judicial settings. Students work with their Career Counselors to identify opportunities and submit their applications through the Office for Career and Professional Development. In the federal court system, opportunities exist with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the Court of International Trade, and with judges, magistrate judges and bankruptcy judges in the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. In the state court system, opportunities exist with judges in the Appellate Division, Family, Surrogates and Supreme Courts (Civil or Criminal Terms), and the Civil Court of the City of New York. Opportunities also exist with administrative law tribunals such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. At the placement, students work on real legal matters, while receiving close supervision and regular feedback. At the law school, students are supported by faculty in a required seminar or tutorial to learn from their experience. The judicial externship fieldwork experience exposes students to the judicial decision-making process, the work of lawyers and judges, and the functioning of the justice system and the courts. Depending on the placement, typical activities include legal research, preparing written memoranda and drafts of judicial opinions, and observing and assisting in the courtroom and at pretrial conferences. Grading and Method of Evaluation: High Pass-Pass-Low Pass-No Credit. Students will be assessed based on an end-of-semester evaluation provided by the Mentor Attorney and the student's oral and written descriptions of and reflections on the fieldwork. Enrollment Notes: Students interested in enrolling in the Judicial Externship fieldwork course must read the Externship Student Manual and follow its enrollment procedures. For information on current judicial externship opportunities, consult the Career Counselors and visit Symplicity. Students may enroll in the Judicial Externship course for a maximum of two semesters, working for the same or a different judge, and may enroll in no more than three credit-bearing externships during law school. Exceptions may be made upon a showing of the educational benefit to be derived and subject to the approval of the Faculty Director.

Student Enrichment Student Organizations Brooklyn Law is home to more than 40 student organizations. All organizations are open to all interested students. Examples of current student organizations include: Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) Black Law Students Association (BLSA) Brooklyn Law School Secular Legal Society Christian Legal Society (CLS) Eastern European Law Students Association (EELSA) International Law Society (ILS) Irish Law Students Association Italian American Law Students Association (IALSA) Jewish Law Students Association (JLSA) Latin American Law Students Association (LALSA) Legal Association for Women (LAW) Muslim Law Student Association (MLSA) OutLaws (LGBT) Parents Association (for law students who are parents) South Asian Law Students Association (SALSA)   Read more about our student organizations. Programs & Events Throughout the year, we offer faculty seminars, lectures by distinguished guests, and other enrichment opportunities focused on diversity. Recent programs have included: Jumping Hurdles: LGBTQ and HIV Positive Individuals and U.S. Asylum Law Don't Ask, Don't Tell: A Panel to Ask and Tell Women's Rights During Pregnancy Religious Freedom in the Post 9/11 Era: The Park 51 Project Re-Solidifying Racial Bloc Voting: Empirics and Legal Doctrine in the Melting Pot To view a list of upcoming events, visit our Events page.

Health Law Externships While working with NYC Health + Hospitals, the attorneys provided me with a variety of assignments. I had the opportunity to sit in on and contribute to meetings with the legal research I compiled on then-developing laws and regulations. The knowledge and skills I acquired from this experience have carried over and continued to benefit me in my subsequent jobs. Isabela De Jesus ’19 Gain hands-on experience in the field In the Health Law Externship program, students work in various public sector field placements that maintain a health law practice. They are supervised by an attorney at the placement site. The work may be advisory, transactional, or policy-oriented, or may require direct client or constituent advocacy. Recent Health Law Externship Placements: Center for HIV Law and Policy Community Health Advocates The Guardianship Project, Vera Institute of Justice Maimonides Medical Center Mental Hygiene Legal Services Mt. Sinai Innovation Partners National Advocates for Pregnant Women National Institute for Reproductive Health New Jersey Office of the Attorney General New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, Office of Legal Affairs NYLAG Legal Health NYS Office of the Attorney General; Health Care Bureau NYS Office of the Attorney General; Medicaid Fraud Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Public Health Solutions Urban Justice Center Mental Health Project Weill Cornell Medicine, Office of University Counsel During my externship with the New York State Office of the Attorney General Health Care Bureau, I was able to work on complex litigation and learn from highly experienced attorneys. The experience obtained during my externship has helped greatly in my subsequent positions. Thomas Kelly ’20

Publications Centennial Professor of Law B.A., University of Pennsylvania J.D., Harvard Law School Advanced Introduction to Nonprofit Law (forthcoming 2025) Alternative Business Organizations and Social Enterprise, in Routledge Companion to Business Ethics (Eugene Heath, Byron Kaldis & Alexei Marcoux eds., 2018) Benefit Corporations – A Sustainable Form of Organization?, 46 Wake Forest Law Review 591 (2011)​​ Book Review: Public Choice Theory: A Unifying Framework for Judicial Activism, 110 Harvard Law Review 1161 (1997) (reviewing Charles M. Haar, Suburbs Under Siege: Race, Space, and Audacious Judges(1996)) Book Review: Leverage for good: An introduction to the new frontiers of philanthropy and social investment by L. M. Salamon and New frontiers of philanthropy: A guide to the new tools and actors reshaping global philanthropy and social investing by L. M. Salamon (Ed.) 44 Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 854(August 2015) Buyer Beware: Variation and Opacity in ESG and ESG Index Funds, 41 Cardozo Law Review 1921 (2020) (with Anne Tucker) Charity Law's Essentials, 86 Notre Dame Law Review 1 (2011) Conditional Strategies: A Response To Collective Action Problems In Non-Profit Fund Raising (Indiana University Center on Philanthropy Working Paper Series 1995) Corporate Philanthropy: Development Tool or Profitable Strategy?, in Handbook on Philanthrocapitalism (forthcoming 2024) Decision-Makers Without Duties: Defining the Duties of Parent Corporations Acting as Sole Corporate Members in Nonprofit Health Care Systems, 53 Rutgers Law Review 979 (2001) Director Independence in the Independent Sector, 76 Fordham Law Review 795 (2007) Dismembering Civil Society: The Social Cost of Internally Undemocratic Nonprofits, 82 Oregon Law Review 829 (2003) Disruptive Philantrhopy: Chan-Zuckerberg, the Limited Liability Company, and the Millionaire Next Door, 70 Florida Law Review 921 (2018) Enron.org: Why Sarbanes-Oxley Will Not Ensure Comprehensive Nonprofit Accountability, 38 University of California at Davis Law Review 205 (2004) Equity Financing for Social Enterprise, in Research Handbook on Global Capital Markets Law (Iain MacNeil & Iris H-Y Chiu eds., 2023) (with Anne M. Tucker) European Law of Third Sector Organizations from the US Standpoint, in The Law of Third Sector Organizations In Europe: Foundations, Trends And Prospects (Antonio Fici ed., 2023) Filling the Gaps in Nonprofit Accountability: Applying the Club Perspective in the US Legal System, in Voluntary Regulation of NGOS and Nonprofits: An Accountability Club Framework (Cambridge University Press 2010) Financing the Benefit Corporation, 40 Seattle University Law Review 793 (2017) (with Steven Dean) For-Profit Philanthropy: Elite Power and the Threat of Limited Liability Companies, Donor-Advised Funds, and Strategic Corporate Giving (with Steven A. Dean) (Oxford University Press 2023) For-Profit Philanthropy: The Implications for Educational Development, 4 NORRAG Special Issue 58 (2020) Foreword, in The Social Enterprise Zoo (Edward Elgar 2016) Foreword: The Federalization of Nonprofit and Charity Law, 99 Kentucky Law Journal 637 (2010-2011)​ For-Profit Philanthropy, 77 Fordham Law Review 2437 (2009) Foundation Law in the United States, in 40 Stärkung des Stiftungswesens (2017) Foundation Regulation in Our Age of Impact, 17 Pittsburgh Tax Review 357 (2020) Governing and Financing Blended Enterprise, 85 Chicago-Kent Law Review 619 (2010) Granting Prescriptive Powers to Nurse Practitioners: Economic and Political Motivations, 1 Sound Politics 14 (1995) Introduction, Symposium: Who Guards the Guardians?: Monitoring and Enforcement of Charity Governance, 80 Chicago-Kent Law Review 543 (2005) (with E. Brody) Introduction: Governing Civil Society, 36 Brooklyn Journal of International Law 813 (2010-2011) (with C. Kelly)​ Linking NGO Accountability and the Legitimacy of Global Governance, 36 Brooklyn Journal of International Law 1011 (2011) (with C. Kelly)​ Nonprofit Oversight under Siege: Introduction, 91 Chicago-Kent Law Review 843 (2016) Nonprofit Takeovers: Regulating the Market for Mission Control, 2006 Brigham Young University Law Review 1181 (2006) Charting No Man's Land: Applying Jurisdictional and Choice of Law Doctrines to Interstate Compacts, 111 Harvard Law Review 1991 (1998) Progress is Possible: Sustainability in US Corporate Law and Corporate Governance, in Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability (Beate Sjåfjell & Christopher Bruner eds., 2020) SE(c)(3): A Catalyst for Social Enterprise Crowdfunding, 90 Indiana Law Journal 1091 (2015) (with Steven Dean) Social Enterprise Law: A Multijurisdictional Comparative Review (with Steven A. Dean & Giedre Lideikyte-Huber eds., 2023) Social Enterprise Law: Trust, Public Benefit And Capital Markets (2017) Blended Enterprise and the Dual Mission Dilemma, 35 Vermont Law Review 105 (2010) The Rise of Philanthropy LLCs, 16 Stanford Social Innovation Review 26 (Summer 2018) The Social Enterprise: A New Form of The Business Enterprise?, General Report for the Asunción Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law, in Comparative Social Enterprise Law (with Steven A. Dean & Giedre Lideikyte-Huber eds., 2023) (with Steven A. Dean) The Social Enterprise Life Cycle, in Cambridge Handbook on Social Enterprise Law (2017) (with Steven Dean) Theorizing Forms for Social Enterprise, 61 Emory Law Journal 683 (2013) There Ought to Be a Law: The Disclosure Focus of Recent Legislative Proposals for Nonprofit Reform, 80 Chicago-Kent Law Review 559 (2005) Trust And For-Profit Philanthropy: From Surrey’s Private Foundation to Zuckerberg’s Limited Liability Company, in Routledge Handbook of Taxation and Philanthropy (Henry Peter & Giedre Lideikyte-Huber eds. 2022) (with Steven A. Dean) Using Non-Code Sec. 501(c)(3) Vehicles to Accomplish Philanthropic Objectives, Taxes, December 2017, at 41 Why Boards Should Have Rotating Contrarians, ___ Ohio State Business Law Journal ___ (forthcoming 2025) (with Claire Hill)

Beyond the Stacks Library renovations are meeting the changing needs of a new generation of law students By Kaitlin Ugolik Phillips Traditionally bound by books and physical archives, legal work and education are being disrupted by technology along with every other industry and area of expertise, but the library is still central to the lives of law students, lawyers, and legal scholars. In fact, the library is as essential to today’s law students as it was in the early years of the Law School more than a century ago when the telephone was the latest technology. To keep up with changing needs and expectations of law students, the library recently underwent a renovation, including a new collaborative work space on the third floor and a new suite of offices for the Law School’s journals, which previously were housed at One Boerum Place. Library Director Janet Sinder has been working in law librariesedusince 1985 and at Brooklyn Law School since 2012. She said that although there is less need now to visit the physical library to conduct research, students still flock there in search of a quiet place to study. But many are also looking for a place to meet and work with others. The new third-floor reading room has been designed to be more comfortable and inviting, with plenty of couches, chairs, and tables. On a recent afternoon, dozens of students sat studying at the circular tables or working together in the booth-style seating. Around the perimeter of the room, the four reference librarians—Kathy Darvil, Harold O’Grady, Loreen Peritz, and Eric Yap—have offices where students and others conducting research can easily access their expertise. Scholarly Research in a Digital World Sinder points to the library’s robust research resources, both online and off, as indispensable to students and faculty at the Law School as well as to lawyers and legal scholars around the world. Although databases such as Westlaw and LexisNexis are available to students and faculty from anywhere, library users also still rely heavily on real people. The digital age has not lessened faculty members’ need for library resources or expertise. “In one sense, I’m using the library now more than ever before,” said Professor Aaron Twerski, who has taught at the Law School for more than 30 years. “When I was doing traditional case law analysis, I knew my way around very well, but when there are huge amounts of material I need the librarians.” He is currently working on a new project that requires sifting through a caseload of more than 15,000 cases, which he said would be impossible to do without the librarians’ data and organizational savvy. “As far as books are concerned, they’re a secondary matter. But I need expertise,” he said. “The basics of what we do is getting the right information to the right people at the right time,” said Sinder, who was granted tenure this spring. This can mean subscribing to Westlaw, answering questions via email or instant message, or working with researchers one-on-one to determine the best strategy for accomplishing their goals. Click here to visit BrooklynWorks, a digital scholarly repository that allows people from all over the world to download Brooklyn Law School journal articles and faculty scholarship without a fee or subscription.   A New Home for Journals in the Library The summer renovations also include new individual offices and common space on floors 2 and 2M of the library for the Law School’s four journals, a boon for student writers and editors. When Anne Conroy ’18 joined the Brooklyn Law Review in 2016, she began making frequent visits to the library to pull cited books and official reports from the stacks to confirm publication details and quotations. While writing and editing a note about the effect of publicized data hacks on attorney-client privilege, she spent many hours sitting in the library doing research, asking the reference librarians for help refining search terms, and editing the many iterations of her work. Physical sources are still a big part of legal research, and Conroy—now editor-in-chief of the Law Review—is excited that her team has a new dedicated space for their work in the library. The journal offices were previously housed across the street from the Law School, at One Boerum Place, in small rooms that could sometimes be less than inviting and that did not provide enough individual space for each journal. Now, Conroy and other students will be able to conduct their work in a more professional, productive atmosphere. “The office is used for tasks ranging from printing sources to bouncing note topics around with fellow members,” she said. “Having this new space will provide more room for the senior and junior staff to interact with and get to know one another. So much of law school is solitary, but being on Law Review provides students with the opportunity to produce quality, cutting-edge legal scholarship as a team.”