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About the Forum Join the Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Law Fellowship Program and the Center for Criminal Justice for “Free Them All: Defending the Lives of Criminalized Survivors of Violence.” This forum will explore the ways in which the criminal legal system impacts women who have experienced violence and will feature a keynote speech by Mariame Kaba, organizer, educator, and prominent civil rights activist.   Although the prison and jail population in the U.S. has begun to decline, the number of girls and women detained in federal and state prisons across the country has increased. A large percentage of them have been prosecuted for violent offenses. Often, their charged conduct is directly connected to domestic, sexual, or systemic violence they have experienced, yet their cases have escaped public scrutiny. The legal community has been slow to respond to the specific pathways, policing practices, and prosecutorial decisions that contribute to the criminalization and mass incarceration of survivors of violence.   The event will probe the ways in which our laws and legal systems center on harmful constructs of race and gender that are especially damaging for survivors of violence and women of color. In doing so, the program will test the notion that the criminal legal system is the right site for anti-violence work and will highlight promising new ways communities can address violence outside of the carceral state. A discussion featuring Anisah Sabur, Coordinator, Coalition Building & Peer Support, STEPS Centering Survivor’s Advocacy Project and Ashley Sawyer, Director of Policy & Government Relations, Girls for Gender Equity will delve deeper into the role of lawyers and Brooklyn Law School in advancing conversation and practice around these critical issues. Moderated by Kate Mogulescu, Assistant Professor of Clinical Law, Brooklyn Law School. Co-Sponsored by the Center for Criminal Justice and the Edward Sparer Public Interest Law Fellowship Program The Edward V. Sparer Fellowship Program Brooklyn Law School alumnus, Professor Edward V. Sparer, was one of the leading poverty lawyers in this country. The Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Law Fellowship Program was established in 1986 to honor him and encourage law students and lawyers to carry on his legacy. For more information about the Sparer Fellowship program, visit www.brooklaw.edu/sparer.   The Center for Criminal Justice The Center for Criminal Justice was launched by Brooklyn Law School in 2016 as a dynamic center that builds on the existing strengths of the school’s nationally recognized criminal law faculty and places the Law School at the center of critical conversations, education, and sharing of expertise on the most vital issues and topics in criminal justice law and policy today. For general inquiries regarding this event, please contact the BLS Office of Events at events@brooklaw.edu or (718) 780-7966.   Requests for a reasonable accommodation based on a disability to attend this event should be made to Louise Cohen, the BLS Reasonable Accommodations Coordinator, at louise.cohen@brooklaw.edu. Please make your request as soon as possible.  

CUBE Networking Reception and Panel Discussion - Resiliency in the Grid: Renewable Energy Ventures and the Law Before the reception and panel, you are also invited to attend the Fifth Annual CUBE Innovators Competition from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. About the Discussion The Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE) at Brooklyn Law School and the Clean Energy Business Incubator Program (CEBIP) at Stony Brook University will convene a panel of thought leaders to explore innovations and new businesses working in the renewable energy sector, and the legal challenges they encounter. How do startups using cutting-edge technologies navigate legacy rules and regulations? How are major utilities preparing for the transition to resilient power and urban design? Please join us to explore these and other issues arising during this revolutionary transformation. Panelists Philip DeCicco, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, National Grid Peter Fusco, Partner, Corporate, Technology Companies Group, Orrick Jerritt Gluck, Founder & CEO, Bonded Energy Solutions Alexandra Iosso, COO at Dagmy Motors  Harrison Perl, Co-Founder/CEO, C4Coin Lissa So, Founding Partner, Marvel Architects   Moderators Dave Hamilton, Executive Director, CEBIP at Stony Brook University  John Rudikoff, CEO and Managing Director, CUBE, Brooklyn Law School  CUBE would like to thank National Grid USA for their generous support of this event.  CUBE Innovators Competition Watch Brooklyn Law School’s own version of “Shark Tank,” in which five teams of students present to a distinguished panel of judges their proposals for entrepreneurial approaches to address social and business issues or legal problems and legal practice. Brooklyn Law School Feil Hall, Geraldo’s Café 205 State Street Brooklyn, NY CUBE Innovator Competition Judges:  Bob Manne ’77, CUBE Entrepreneur in Residence, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Ultimate Software Group Andy Sturner ‘90, Founder and Chairman of Aquamarine Partners  Lori Ann Wardi ’92, Vice President at NeuStar Lili Rogowsky ’16, Founder of Rogowsky Law Scott Stuart ’87, Founder & Co-CEO at Esquify  Dimitri Nemerovsky ’00, Founder of Vida and SolidX  Prizes will be awarded, made possible through the generous contribution and support of CUBE by the Nancy and Stanley M. Grossman ’67 CUBE Fellowship Fund.   About the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE)  Brooklyn Law School’s Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship, or CUBE, is a hub for exploring legal issues surrounding entrepreneurship, and for providing effective legal representation and support for new commercial and not-for-profit businesses — while also training the next generation of business lawyers to advise and participate in these sectors.

American Bar Association President Bob Carlson visited Brooklyn Law School on Feb. 14 to meet with students, faculty, and staff to explore some of the pressing issues of the practice of law today. Carlson has a special interest in improving law student and lawyer wellness and mental health, and he brought his message to a series of gatherings at the Law School, including a special lunchtime open forum attended by more than 100 students and faculty in the Subotnick Center. At the forum, Carlson was introduced by Interim Dean Maryellen Fullerton and spoke about the ABA’s commitment to lawyer wellness—the organization provides an online well-being toolkit that includes “80 Tips for Lawyers Thriving” and has launched a pledge for legal employers to make their practices better geared toward wellness. So far, 80 legal employers have signed. He then engaged in a Q&A with Professor Heidi Brown, author of The Introverted Lawyer: A Seven-Step Journey Toward Authentically Empowered Advocacy (ABA Book Publishing, 2017) and the forthcoming Untangling Fear in Lawyering: A Four-Step Journey Toward Powerful Advocacy. Brown emphasized that it was important for leaders of the legal profession to open up and be vulnerable and authentic. The problem, she said, “goes beyond diagnosable disorders. This encompasses every day occurrences. Many people are coming into work with fear and anxiety. So, I’m excited that we’re talking about this. Let’s establish a culture of care.” Carlson lamented the epidemic of mental health problems in the legal profession, including substance abuse and suicide. At a time when “Americans believe our national values are facing historical threats, and our democracy can falter,” he said, “we need strong vibrant lawyers and judicial leadership and a strong vibrant bar to advance the culture of justice under the rule of law.” As for legal education, said Carlson, “we can’t treat students like we were treated,” referring to the intimidation style of teaching made famous in the movie, The Paper Chase. “We all managed to survive, but that’s not what it should be about.” “But students here are pretty lucky,” he concluded. “Because you’re at a school that really does care.” Carlson also met with student organization leaders, including Jean Paul Stefan ’19, President, Student Bar Association; Caitlin Baranowski ’19, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law; Michele Jackson ’20, Vice President, Black Law Student Association; Michael Luongo ’19, President, Moot Court Honors Society; and Taylor Bleistein ’20, ABA Coordinator for Alternative Dispute Resolution Honors Society. They discussed existing mental health initiatives on campus and resources offered by the ABA. Earlier in the day, Carlson addressed students from Brooklyn Laboratory School who were attending a Youth Law Day program at the Law School. He gave opening remarks along with Dean Fullerton and Dean of Admissions Eulas G. Boyd Jr. The program, held in partnership with the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) and the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC), promotes diversity in the legal field by working with organizations to host high school and college students for an educational day about law school and careers in the law. Carlson earned his B.A. with honors from the University of Montana, and his J.D. from the University of Montana School of Law. He is a shareholder with the Butte, Montana, law firm of Corette Black Carlson & Mickelson.

Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor General of New York and the first woman to serve as New York State Attorney General, will address graduates at Brooklyn Law School’s 118th commencement at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on May 17, 2019. Throughout her career, Underwood has been a guardian of equal justice for all. She has served in a number of critical legal positions and has argued 20 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. She has fought against racially discriminatory jury selection, argued that federal law protects employees and students of federally funded educational institutions from sex discrimination, and defended the constitutionality of reasonable buffer zones around women’s health clinics to protect a woman’s right to choose. Underwood was first appointed as New York’s Solicitor General in 2007 and was reappointed to the position by Attorney General Letitia James in January. As New York’s 66th Attorney General last year, she reached a record-setting $174.2 million settlement with Charter Communications over allegations that it knowingly defrauded its customers; obtained a court ruling ordering the Environmental Protection Agency to comply with the Clean Air Act’s requirement to address pollution from upwind states; and dissolved the Donald J. Trump Foundation amid allegations it was used for personal and political benefit. She also filed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corporation, alleging that the company misled investors regarding the risk that climate change regulations posed to its business. Underwood served as the Acting Solicitor General and Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States from 1998 to 2001—the first female Solicitor General in American history. During her illustrious career, she also has served as Chief Assistant to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, held executive positions in the Queens and Brooklyn District Attorneys’ Offices, and was a trial attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Underwood has been Chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Executive Committee and Council on Criminal Justice. She was a tenured Professor of Law at Yale Law School, a visiting Professor at New York University School of Law, and an adjunct Professor at Brooklyn Law School. She received the Professionalism Award from The American Inns of Court in 2012, honoring her many years of mentorship. After finishing first in her class at Georgetown University Law Center, Underwood served as law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court and Chief Judge David L. Bazelon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. At commencement, Underwood will receive an honorary degree, the highest degree conferred by Brooklyn Law School. WHAT: Brooklyn Law School’s 118th Commencement WHO: Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor General of New York, commencement speaker and honorary degree recipient WHEN: Friday, May 17, 11:00 a.m. WHERE: Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Howard Gilman Opera House, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, NY For more information, visit: www.brooklaw.edu/about us/commencement

Every spring break, many Brooklyn Law School students forego rest and relaxation in order to serve others by doing pro bono work. Through the Public Service Office’s alternative spring break program, 11 students traveled to one of three different sites: New Orleans, Miami, and Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic. In New Orleans, BLAST partnered with the Louisiana Civil Justice Center. The students volunteered at the Self-Help Desk in the civil court house, worked on family law motions and disaster response programs, and helped to organize the LCJC’s “Justice Tour,” which provides legal assistance to low-income and disaster-affected individuals in Louisiana. “I had a rewarding and great experience working for the Louisiana Civil Justice Center through BLAST,” said Dana Vasers ’18. “One of my favorite projects at LCJC was volunteering at the Self Help Desk in the civil court house. This is an office run by LCJC which aids pro se litigants with civil issues, such as divorce, custody and protection orders. I was able to see firsthand how valuable LCJC is to the community and speak with individuals in need of legal help who cannot afford an attorney.” In Miami, BLAST participants worked with the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office. Students reviewed expert witness testimony provided during pre-trial depositions of DUI cases. They also had opportunities to observe a felony trial, and watch seasoned litigators question witnesses and give persuasive summations. “I had the opportunity to work with some of the most knowledgeable attorneys in the field and was able to learn from their extensive experiences,” said Aiman Tariq ’19. “Throughout the week, I and other students, were able to observe trial and other court proceedings.” During their trip to Las Terrenas in the Dominican Republic, students toured courthouses and firms, where judges and local attorneys discussed the Dominican legal system and answered their questions. Students also partnered with the firm Guzman Ariza to research Dominican law. They visited with Tribunal Superior Electoral (superior electoral court) Honorable Judge Mariano Rodriguez; Jurisdicción Inmobiliaria (Civil Court for Real Estate matters) Honorable Judge Lusnelda Solis; Camara Civil y Comercial de la Corte de Apelación del Distrito Nacional (National Court of Appeals); Honorable Judge Samuel Arias Arzeno; El Palacio de Justicia de Samana (Courthouse of Samana); CEMEX Dominicana in-house counsel Eduardo Antonio Risk; Mayor of the Municipality of Samaná, Nelson Nuñez; and Aura Celeste Fernandez, who was member of the commission that drafted the Constitution of the Dominican Republic, former Judge of the Electoral Court. “We learned about the civil law system and the functions and structure of the Superior Electoral Court and the Civil Court for Real Estate Matters, courts inexistent in the United States,” Valery Cury Sepulveda ’17 said. “At the other two courts, we learned more about their roles as judges, how they became judges and the challenges of their profession. Additionally, we learned about the type of work done as an in-house counsel in a civil law country and in a multinational company as CEMEX.” In addition to the assistance of the Public Service Office, Karlamaria Cabral ’17 largely facilitated the Dominican Republic trip. Ephrata Zewde, Program Coordinator of the Public Service Law Center, described the spring break projects for the ABA Center for Pro Bono Exchange blog – click here to read. View photos from the Dominican Republic visit.

Alumni & Mentoring Alumni of Distinction Brooklyn Law School has a long tradition of graduates who have been trailblazers and leaders in the law and society. Throughout the history of the Law School, they have served as mentors to our students and to their fellow alumni, sharing crucial career guidance and helping them to flourish in their fields. Below are some of our outstanding alumni of distinction. We invite you to also visit our Black History Month and Women's History Month pages. Brooklyn Law School Trailblazers Sumner Lark, '1916 First African-American Assistant District Attorney of New York City Frieda B. Hennock '24 First female Federal Communications Commissioner  Hon. Henry Bramwell '48 First African-American judge appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York Percy E. Sutton '50 First African-American Manhattan borough president and founder of the media giant Inner City Broadcasting Corporation Herman Badillo '54 First U.S. congressman of Puerto Rican origin Dorothy Chin-Brandt '74 First Asian-American woman judge in New York State Hon. David N. Dinkins '56 First African-American Mayor of New York City Alumni Leaders: I. Leo Glasser '48U.S. District Court Judge of the Eastern District of New York and former dean of the Law School Sterling Johnson Jr. '66Judge of the US District Court, Eastern District of New York Geraldo Rivera '69Veteran broadcast journalist Peter Tom '75New York State Supreme Court Associate Justice, Appellate Division, 1st Department Astrid Garcia '80Vice President of Human Resources and Legal at Lee Enterprises Inc Rafael Pineiro '80First Deputy Commissioner, NYC Police Department, (Ret.) Wanda K. Denson-Low '81Senior Vice President of The Boeing Company, (Ret.) and Vice Chair, Board of Trustees, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Kevin Nathaniel Fox '81Magistrate Judge of the US District Court, Southern District of New York. Carlos G. Ortiz '85Vice President and General Counsel of Goya Foods, Inc. Naomi K. McLaurin '89Director of Diversity for the Philadelphia Bar Association. Nelson Roman '89Judge of the US District Court, Southern District of New York Irene Chang-Cimino '91Senior Recovery Coordination and Policy Advisor at FEMA Ramon E. Reyes, Jr. '92Magistrate Judge of the US District Court, Eastern District of New York; Member of Brooklyn Law School Board of Trustees Meeka Jun Bondy '94 Narda Marisa Jones '94Senior Legislative Counsel at United States Senate Angel L. Ortiz '97Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Univision Communications Inc Shawn A. Miles '98Executive Vice President – Public Policy at MasterCard Worldwide Stanley Wilcox '98Vice President of regulatory affairs, NCAA Nicole George-Middleton '01Senior Vice President of Membership for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Hannah Cao ‘03General Counsel, Silk Road Fund (China) Frederick E. Curry III '03Partner at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP; Member of the Brooklyn Law School Board of Trustees  Nicole Wyskoarko '04Executive Vice President of Urban Operations at Interscope Geffen A&M Records Errol T. Louis '05CNN Political Commentator and the host of "Inside City Hall," a nightly political show on NY1 Sparkle Sooknanan '10Associate at Jones Day, Washington, D.C., and a former Law Clerk to Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. Supreme Court Anne del Castillo '11Chief Operating Officer /General Counsel for the New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment Ross Levi ’97Executive Director of Tourism, Empire State Development, formerly Executive Director of Empire State Pride Agenda

Center for Health, Science & Public Policy Study health law in a collaborative environment Educating future leaders, encouraging new initiatives, and partnering to move health care and science law into the future. Our students are exposed to a rich and rigorous curriculum, which provides them with the substantive knowledge and practical skills necessary to become excellent lawyers in fields related to health and science. The health care challenges facing our world are increasingly becoming more complex. Our curriculum is always evolving to remain on the cutting edge. The distinguished members of our faculty help students explore how law both contributes to and impedes meaningful progress toward healthy communities. A strong intellectual and service community, the Center extends its reach beyond the classroom, with externships at leading public and non-profit organizations in the New York metropolitan area. These are organizations whose missions include health care delivery, access to care, public health or broader public policy concerns. Through health law externships, students gain real-world experience, address difficult challenges in law and policy, and make meaningful contributions. The Center is also an interdisciplinary venue where new ideas, policies and programs are generated. Each year, it hosts a variety of programs that examine the complex ethical, legal and socio-economic consequences of advancing technology. With the enthusiastic support of a broad constituency of scholars and professionals, our programs inform the public and encourage scholarship and research to improve the quality of health care services and the integrity of science. Leadership & Faculty Professor Karen Porter is Executive Director of the Center. The distinguished members of our faculty help students explore how law both contributes to and, at times, impedes meaningful progress toward healthy communities. Curriculum Brooklyn Law School’s cluster of health law courses provide a strong introduction to the field, with the opportunity for even more focused concentration for students interested in the field. From broad legal topics such as Administrative Law and Products Liability to more specialized courses like Mental Health Law, students come away with knowledge of the various legal aspects of health and science. Health Law & Policy Fellowship The Health Law and Policy Fellowship is designed for Law School students who have demonstrated outstanding academic and/or professional achievement in health, public health, science, and/or biotechnology, and who are interested in pursuing legal careers in those fields. Health Externships 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. Selected Scholarship Scholarly books and articles on critical topics in health law by Brooklyn Law School faculty. Contact Us Have questions about the Center for Health, Science and Public Policy? Karen Porter Executive Director (718) 780-7559 karen.porter@brooklaw.edu

Democracy Against Domination The forces of inequality, power, and progressive politics—and the need for regulatory reform—are taking on greater urgency in the Age of Trump. By Professor K. Sabeel Rahman In these opening months of the Trump administration we have witnessed no shortage of political drama: the administration’s assault on Muslims and immigrants; concerns over corruption and conflicts of interest; and the attempts to dismantle the Obama administration’s signature achievements from healthcare reform to financial regulation. While these battles certainly represent new challenges, many of today’s political cleavages are in fact starker and more heightened manifestations of tensions and cleavages that were already very much present in American politics. At times hidden, at times more open, three underlying anxieties shaped politics throughout the Obama era and in the 2016 election itself: first, a growing anxiety over worsening economic inequality and declining opportunity, particularly in the face of the globalized, post-financial crisis economy; second, deepening concerns about democratic accountability, government corruption, and the failure of public institutions to be responsive to these concerns; and third, a latent conflict over membership, inclusion, and exclusion: who counts as a full-fledged member of “we the people” that our government and our politics are in theory committed to empowering and serving. We can see in the rise of Donald Trump one particular response to these anxieties in the form of an “exclusionary populism”—a view that in response to these deep economic inequalities and loss of faith in political institutions, we must turn to a singular powerful leader who can sweep away ossified and corrupted “politics as usual,” and restore the promise of opportunity and democracy to all, but do so by drawing a sharp line that excludes “undesirable” communities from the body politic: immigrants, communities of color, Muslims, and various other “Others.” This exclusionary populism is sadly not new; rather, it represents a durable and real legacy in American history. But we have another tradition as well, one that has surfaced at various moments of radical change, crisis, and attempts at social transformation. From the cataclysm of Civil War, abolition, and Reconstruction; to the upheavals of industrialization in the late 19th century eventually leading to the New Deal; to the Civil Rights movement, this tradition focuses not on reform through exclusion, but on the quest for constructing a more genuinely inclusive—and democratic—politics, economics, and society. This is the tradition of today’s explosion of multiracial, cross-constituency mobilizing, in part provoked by Trump’s actions, but more accurately building on long-term efforts to organize many communities in response to the inequities of the 21st-century economy. Just eight years ago, as Barack Obama swept into the White House on the heels of a catastrophic financial collapse, the idea of a “New New Deal” reinventing liberalism for the 21st century seemed within reach—as it did in the detailed policy briefs of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. But this aspiration overlooks the very real limits of a modern form of “New Deal—lite” governance. Instead, we need to recover a deeper tradition of more radical, progressive populism to transform our economy and government. The promise of this more radically egalitarian, inclusive, democratic political economy depends on more than counteracting the ideologies of elite-serving privatization of the safety net or the exclusionary populism that we see emergent in the new administration. It also requires asking some hard questions about the ways in which modern-day liberalism itself—particularly its New Deal-inspired faith in top-down, technocratic expertise—has failed to diagnose, let alone address, these deeper concerns of inequality, exclusion, and democratic failure. The financial crisis and the limits of managerial liberalism In many ways, our current predicament and our current politics are animated by the continued repercussions of the 2008-9 financial crisis. We are still living in the hangover of that crisis, which wiped out many Americans’ wealth and savings—particularly in communities of color. The sluggish recovery in the years since the crash has been manifested in the continued shift to low-wage, precarious work. But there is an equally troubling conceptual and ideological ripple effect of the crisis, and the battles over the bailout and financial reform efforts that ensued. For many Americans, the financial crisis crystallized the sense there is a “rigged” economy that is extractive, exploitative, and fundamentally unfair. This is further complicated by a sense that government itself has at best fallen short in its response, or at worst, actively contributed to the rigging of the economy. The bailouts of Wall Street firms—critical as they may have been to stave off a deeper depression—nevertheless came without longer-term and more structural transformations of the financial sector. These concerns combine into a deeper loss of faith in politics and they are rooted as much in Tea Party populism as in failures within the liberal political economy itself. In April 2010, Barack Obama visited the Cooper Union to deliver a make-or-break sales pitch for his financial reform package, which was working its way through Congress at the time. Seated in the front row of the lecture hall were the leaders of all the major Wall Street banks, and outside, throngs of protesters chanting for the heads of those very CEOs. The president outlined an aggressive reform agenda, arguing that the central problem leading to the crisis was that financial markets “operated in the shadows … invisible to regulators, invisible to the public.” Thus, “risks accrued until they threatened our entire financial system.” The financial reform package, Obama argued, was focused on preventing such “reckless risk taking,” specifically by expanding the oversight and enforcement powers of expert regulators at the Federal Reserve and elsewhere. In this view, the problems of economic inequality were primarily matters of market failures—failures that needed to be remedied by deploying neutral, scientific, expert regulators to manage the excesses of the modern market system. This idea of managerialism has a long pedigree. Franklin Roosevelt and his New Dealers established the prestige of the idea of government expertise and regulation to serve the public good, and rework the dynamics of a complex and at times harmful modern economy. To James Landis, one of Roosevelt’s key advisors and the architect of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the expert-based regulatory state represented “our generation’s answer to the inadequacy of the judicial and legislative process.” More recently, following conservative attacks on the New Deal state in the 1970s and 1980s, pro-regulation liberals reformulated the muscular faith of Landis in top-down regulation in more chastened—but no less technocratic—terms. Today, in place of New Deal—style technocracy, we see appeals not to “big government” but rather to “smart government”—the judicious and limited deploying of expertise to facilitate, rather than fundamentally alter, the way markets function. Obama’s operation within the managerialist vision is thus not surprising, but it did come at a price. In focusing on the goal of optimizing market functioning, this view of public policy tends to overlook the more fundamental moral and political problem of power. Economic issues like the financial crisis or the rise of too-big-to-fail banks represent a concentration of economic power, which undermines the life chances and agency of communities and individuals and expands the ability of powerful corporations and wealthy elites to entrench their economic—and often political privilege. The popular anger against Wall Street spoke to this deeper sense of injustice and unaccountability of “big banks” and private power more generally, a moral violation that Obama-era reform did little to appease or address. The second problem with managerialism is that it bases the viability of its substantive policy agenda on a foundation that is increasingly brittle: a faith in the responsiveness, effectiveness, and expertise of regulators themselves. We have very good reason to doubt that presumption. The fear of interest group capture of regulators is a long-standing concern motivating decades of attack on regulation itself. But capture can manifest itself in regulatory inaction as much as action. Arguably the financial crisis itself was a product of regulators who were overly friendly with financial-sector interests, leading to lax enforcement of existing laws. Consider what Obama and the mainstream financial reform package did not include. Calls for “breaking up” too-big-to-fail banks were dismissed. More aggressive structural limits on the kinds of powers, permitted activities, and combinations of financial activities within firms, such as the Volcker Rule ban on proprietary trading, were not mandated by statute, but instead offered as recommendations to regulators. However, these measures were subsequently watered down under pressure on the regulators themselves from financial-sector actors. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders led calls for a more structural overhaul of the financial sector. These voices evoked a very different tradition of progressive economic policy: not the managerialism of Landis or post-Reagan liberals, but rather a more democratic and egalitarian progressivism that had its roots much earlier. Populists, progressives, and the problem of economic power Over a century ago, in what historians term the Progressive Era (roughly 1880—1920), the country faced a similar confluence of crises. The upheavals of industrialization created new and terrifying forms of inequality, dislocation, and immiseration. They also created new concentrations of economic power, evident in the rise of oligarchs such as Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan. These economic concerns bled into the political, as many Americans feared the influence that these elites would have on party bosses, legislators, and elected officials. Indeed, finance was the ultimate evil of evils, seen as the puppeteer behind the economic and political inequities of the moment. In this setting, a variety of thinkers, lawyers, reformers, and activists developed a sophisticated critique of the confluence of economic and political power. They identified the problem of private power, characterized by the growth of powerful new monopolies and mega-corporations like Standard Oil, and market power—the “market” itself was not a natural system like the weather, but rather a product of law, policy, and human-made decisions. Progressive Era thinkers also condemned the failure of political institutions to address these economic concerns. Thus, these economic and political conditions produced what we might term a problem of actionability. In the face of the vast powers of monopoly corporations, the diffuse system of the market itself, and the dysfunction of existing democratic institutions, the idea that “we the people” could in fact reassert control, ownership, and accountability over these powers and systems seemed remote indeed. This was what philosopher John Dewey called the “problem of the public”—that a “scattered, mobile, and manifold public” lacked the means of “effective political action” necessary to organize, assert, and realize their aspirations. Democracy, then, for these radical reformers was an urgent necessity—a vital means by which communities would have to wrest control over their economic and political destinies back from these powers and systems that had made a lie of the idea of popular sovereignty and self-determination. The central challenge for economic policy is the problem of power and domination—the accumulation of unchecked power, whether in the form of concentrated corporate and monopoly power or in the more diffused form of the market system itself. Democracy is the primary means we have for organizing a response to this problem of domination. Toward a 21st-century progressivism? The idea of “democracy against domination” takes a very different approach to problems such as financial reform. The purpose of financial regulation is not merely to optimize market functioning and protect against risk, but more broadly to tackle the problem of domination and economic power. To address the problem of economic power, we must rely not only on the delegated and distant expertise of regulatory agencies, but on more direct and empowered forms of democracy. Whereas the financial reforms coming out of the crisis sought to expand the expertise and insulation of regulators, we might instead try to democratize regulatory agencies, creating more hooks and levers through which politically marginalized groups such as workers, consumers, and student-debt holders could have a more direct voice in shaping economic policy, and where regulators see their purpose as tackling these concentrations of power that restrict opportunity to the few rather than the many. Indeed, the most radical element of the post-2009 financial reform effort sought to do just that. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is in effect tasked with exactly this mission of empowering a politically diffuse and often disempowered constituency of consumers, students, retirees, and minorities, among others, to counteract the economic power of credit card companies, mortgage companies, and financiers who otherwise would have an easier time extracting fees, engaging in fraud, and undermining economic equity. Furthermore, the CFPB has invested much of its expertise in more democratic and participatory modes of engaging citizens in its agenda-setting and policymaking, through online and offline consultations, town halls, and proactive engagement with grassroots community groups. It is no wonder that the CFPB is one of the top targets of the vociferous financial sector seeking to dismantle Obama-era reforms. More important, this democratic, anti-domination view has implications beyond finance. In a variety of areas, we are seeing a growing focus by activists, reformers, and progressive policy thinkers on the problems of concentrated power and unequal market structures. First, we can see this reorientation in several distinct but related movements tackling questions of concentration, antitrust, and corporate power in issues such as net neutrality and the problem of concentrated private power over the control of the Internet by giants such as Comcast and Verizon, and platforms like Amazon; rural efforts to tackle the increasing power of “big agriculture” over farmers and rural economies; and continued mobilization around finance and the problem of financialization. Second, despite the well-noted decline of unions, we are seeing a new “alternative labor” movement on the rise, seeking to tackle the worsening inequities in the world of work and the eroding social contract. The “Fight for $15” has pushed a $15 minimum wage with increasing success across the country at the state and local level. New groups have emerged to mobilize and organize workers in low-wage, highly insecure sectors like restaurant work, fast-food work, domestic work, and on-demand “gig economy” work. It is in these movements and battlegrounds that we see the beginnings of a more radically democratic, egalitarian, and inclusive progressive movement for the 21st century. Like reformers of the Progressive Era, it evokes a focus on deep economic structures, dynamics, and the problem of power—and premises social change on the building of democratic power and capacity on the part of communities themselves through bottom-up movement building, and on the part of policymaking institutions by demanding greater participation and representation of these groups in democratic institutions themselves. Yet we must not forget that many of the reformers of the Progressive Era, for all their valuable insights, were also conflicted at best (and supportive at worst) of the systematic racial exclusion of the Jim Crow era. In this sense, today’s emerging progressive movements reflect something even more radical and vital: a recovery of this old progressive focus on power and democracy, combined with a commitment to multiracial, cross-constituency organizing that makes this vision of anti-domination and expanded democracy truly inclusive. Movements like the battle for net neutrality or the Fight for $15 are self-consciously and distinctively multiracial movements, investing in the often-difficult spade work of forging these alliances and solidarities in the course of tackling deeper forms of economic power and inequality. The opportunity—and the stakes—for this alternative vision of 21st-century progressivism could not be higher. The specter of exclusionary populism of the resurgent far right raises the costs of the failure to develop a cross-constituency vision and movement that takes seriously the problems of a rigged economy and a sclerotic government but does so with a commitment to values of inclusion, equality, and democracy. Without this alternative, we leave too much of a moral vacuum for misguided appeals to exclusion and upheaval. Conventional liberal politics in the New Deal and post New Deal vein are no longer compelling enough to meet either the challenge of 21st-century inequality or of right-wing populism. Indeed, for a country that counts democracy as its birthright, we have so rarely met the highest ideals of that concept. The ferment and struggles of Roosevelt’s era made possible the gains under the New Deal. Now in 2017, we face a similar moment and turning point of economic transformation and political upheaval—a moment that will set the terms of inclusion, equality, opportunity, and democracy for decades to come. The stakes are enormous. Whether we can do better than our forebears remains to be seen. K. Sabeel Rahman is assistant professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches constitutional law, administrative law, and courses on law, inequality, and social change. His academic research focuses on questions of democratic and participatory governance, public law, and economic policymaking. He holds a J.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard University and is a Rhodes Scholar. He is also a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and New America. His articles have appeared in the Boston Review, the Atlantic, the American Prospect, and the Nation. This article was adapted from Professor Rahman’s book, Democracy Against Domination (Oxford University Press 2016).  

Meet Dean Michael T. Cahill The new president and dean of Brooklyn Law School discusses his passion for legal education and his vision for the school in the years ahead. Michael T. Cahill returned to Brooklyn Law School July 1 as President, Joseph Crea Dean, and Professor of Law, rejoining the school after bidding farewell three years earlier to become co-dean at Rutgers Law School. Happily, for both Cahill and the Law School, the farewell was far from a goodbye; Dean Cahill now leads the Law School where he was a faculty member for 13 years (2003–16), during which time he also served as vice dean (2013–15) and as associate dean for academic affairs (2010–13). Before entering academia, Dean Cahill was staff director and consultant, respectively, for major criminal code reform projects in the states of Illinois and Kentucky. He received his B.A. from Yale University and his J.D. and M.P.P. degrees from the University of Michigan. After graduating from law school, where he was a note editor for the Michigan Law Review, he served as a law clerk to Judge James B. Loken of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Although his scholarly work focuses primarily on criminal law, Dean Cahill also has written about health law and policy and taught Health Law as well as Property. He has coauthored three books with noted criminal-law scholar Professor Paul Robinson of University of Pennsylvania Law School, and published numerous articles in top law reviews. Cahill became co-dean at Rutgers, in residence at its Camden location, just a year after Rutgers–Camden merged with its sister law school at Rutgers–Newark. Under his leadership, the unified Rutgers Law School made significant strides in improving student quality and diversity, enhancing alumni engagement, stabilizing revenue, and cementing a shared identity. Dean Cahill recently sat down with Brooklyn Law Notes to share his passion and vision for Brooklyn Law School in the years ahead. What brought you back to Brooklyn Law School? Many things, but I would emphasize two big ones: the people, and the energy. I have longstanding relationships with faculty, administrators, and alumni, including my former students. In addition to respecting these people as colleagues, I value many as friends, so I was eager to work with and be around them again. And this Law School has a vitality that’s unusual. Not only does it draw energy from its urban setting, but many faculty and students live nearby, so they are a presence in the building, and there are daily opportunities to engage meaningfully with them. What led you from your work primarily in criminal law reform to academia? Even as I entered law school, I thought that teaching would be exciting, interesting, engaging, and fulfilling work, and being a professor was my dream job. I tried to look for opportunities after law school that would eventually lead to a career in academia, but getting to this point was ultimately a combination of planning and luck. What are your priorities for your first year as dean? First, I’m taking some time to get reacquainted with the people and the institution. I don’t want to take for granted my existing relationships with faculty, administrators, and alumni. I’d like to reengage with everyone, meet alumni I don’t know, and get to know better the faculty who’ve arrived since I was here previously. Second, I’ve undertaken an administrative restructuring. Before I came on board, for example, there were around 15 people who reported directly to the dean, which I feel is too many to be efficient; we’re streamlining reporting lines around shared areas of concern, and that number will soon be down to eight. I want to solidify the new structure, and once strong organizational and managerial practices are in place, we’ll be in a position to tackle longer-term projects. What are your top two long-term priorities for the Law School? My first priority is to explore different kinds of programs we can add to diversify our educational portfolio. As at most law schools, one degree program, the J.D., drives nearly all of our curriculum (and revenue). But unlike most law schools, we’re not part of a larger university that also offers a variety of other educational programs. Reliance on a single program has shortcomings as a business model; moreover, it neglects other exciting and interesting possibilities. Of course, we already have an LL.M. program for foreign-trained lawyers, which has great potential to grow, but there are many other avenues as well. We can pursue ways to offer our expertise to people who might not want to become lawyers, but who are interested in further education that will help them in a law-adjacent career—and in this day and age, legal concerns are relevant to nearly any professional setting. The second priority for me is fundraising. We need a sustained effort to broaden the number of alumni who give, and to seek out significant gifts from donors who have the capacity to contribute on a large scale. We have a strong case to make: Supporting the scholars and teachers who are shaping our legal world and serving our community, and the students who will make up the next generation of ethical and dedicated lawyers to preserve our economic and political order and promote justice for all, is as worthwhile a philanthropic cause as I can imagine. We’ve had a number of generous benefactors in the past, but there are others whom we can inspire to start giving for the greater good of the school, our mission, our profession, and our society. Where do you see Brooklyn Law School’s role in online education? I think we should explore some form of online education as well as other innovative ways to incorporate technology into legal education. Much of that effort also will intersect with offerings we can provide outside our J.D. programs. We must remain mindful when integrating technology into instruction that the law is an interactive profession, and we must enable students to speak, write, act, and interact as lawyers do—both in person and via technology. So, although portions of the J.D. program could perhaps take place online, there still would be an essential part that needs to be in residence. What’s the best advice you’ve received about leading a law school? That, above all else, it’s about serving students—to ensure they get the training, the support, the encouragement, and the guidance they need to succeed. Professor Emeritus Joseph Crea ’47 recently passed away at the age of 104. What does it mean to you to hold the dean’s title in his honor? I’m so thankful to have known Joe, and I spoke to him within 48 hours of accepting this position—to express my gratitude for having a title that included his name. He was completely devoted to teaching and helping his students and colleagues, and he also remained devoted to continuing to learn throughout his life. And, on our call, at the age of 104, he did most of the talking. Joe was an important person to me personally, and as important a person as there has been in the history of this Law School. My title, in his honor, is also a significant reminder to me of the centrality of our faculty. I think it’s important to remain conscious that I hold three titles: president, dean, and professor of law. So, among other things, I still am a faculty member, just like my colleagues. And it’s still my dream job! Considering the many law schools in New York, why should a prospective applicant choose Brooklyn? Of course, Brooklyn itself is a reason to come here. In the public sector, as the only law school in the city’s most populous borough, we have our own set of courthouses, government offices, and agencies, all within walking distance. In the private sector, the borough of Brooklyn, even more than Manhattan, now leads the innovation economy in the city and, in turn, the U.S. And of course, it’s a cultural hub. Regardless of the kind of law you want to practice, this is a great place to live and work. And Brooklyn Law School is a great place to study and grow. Although we’re a relatively big law school in a big city, we’re able to create the feeling of a small, close-knit community. We pride ourselves on training government and public interest lawyers, as well as business and private sector lawyers. So, no matter what area you want to pursue, our size, location, and breadth of curriculum make us well positioned to provide a legal education that’s tailored to your needs. The opportunities are as far-reaching as you could want, but you’re never lost in the crowd here, and you’ll get to know your classmates and professors. How do you plan to build on the Law School’s legacy and areas of distinction? Brooklyn Law School has always been a place that excels at preparing practice-ready lawyers, and it has always been a place of innovation. Our students benefit from a faculty of outstanding scholars who are nationally and internationally recognized for the excellence and impact of their work. In fact, in terms of how frequently their work is cited by other scholars, we are ranked as one of the top 40 schools in the nation. They bring this depth of expertise to the classroom and offer superb instruction in a variety of subject matter areas. We have tremendous opportunities to build on our faculty strength going forward. Historically, we’ve been known for providing access to legal education, and, in turn, access to justice in the community, city, and region. We have long welcomed women when other schools did not. This year’s first-year class is 58 percent women. We have a long record of admitting students of color and members of religious minorities, dating back to the early 20th century. This year’s incoming class is 34 percent students of color. Our diversity and inclusiveness are a significant component of who we are. We remain committed to these proud traditions. At the same time, we’re committed to doing even more and doing even better. We’re continuing to transform our skills-based and experiential education to meet the needs of the next generation of lawyers. We’re implementing the dramatic revision of our legal writing curriculum, which was led by my predecessor, Interim Dean Maryellen Fullerton, along with Legal Writing Director Heidi Brown. We’ll continue to expand our clinical offerings, not just in quantity but also in type, so we’re not only providing litigation experiences, but also opportunities to counsel clients, represent and advise businesses, and draft essential documents. We have a very exciting future ahead. What are the biggest trends in the legal profession affecting law schools now, and how is Brooklyn Law School responding? We must provide students with quantitative skills: the ability to read, understand, and analyze complex aggregated data. Training lawyers who are comfortable with sophisticated statistical and computational models will be a crucial part of legal education, regardless of whether our students practice in business or other areas. Nowadays, successful professionals of all varieties, including lawyers, must both make and understand data-driven decisions, and they must also be able to translate numbers into compelling narratives and arguments. It’s a crucial part of the job for professionals with significant managerial roles. How is the Law School positioned to thrive in response to shifting demographics and demand for legal education? We need to stay ahead of the curve, because there’s no assurance that the recent positive trajectory will sustain itself. The long-term demographic trend starting five or six years from now is that there will be fewer college-age students, and accordingly, fewer recent college grads seeking to enter law school down the road. Meanwhile, the cohort of people in their late 20s to mid-30s will increase. Therefore, we need to provide a variety of educational opportunities for various kinds of professionals. And in turn, having other complementary programs will enable us to be deliberate, rather than reactive, in contemplating the future of the J.D. program and making sure it continues to deliver the skills, knowledge, and values essential to the practice of law in the 21st century. Amid the 24/7 news cycle, political turmoil, and social media, how can students and lawyers uphold their core ideals of character, fitness, and justice? From what I see, this generation is as engaged and committed to confronting and overcoming social issues and injustices as any generation that has preceded it. For all of social media’s flaws, students are finding positive uses for these outlets and finding their voices. They see their own and our country’s problems as global in scope, and they want to solve those problems. It’s part of our role as legal educators to channel that passion while keeping it alive, and to remind our students daily about, and offer a model of, the honorable work that lawyers do and their true potential for making a difference in the world with their legal education. —Interview conducted by Elaine Friedman

First-Year Timeline August Orientation Complete required readings for the mandatory Introduction to the Study of Law course. Finish items on the New Student To Do List. Attend Orientation events such as the New Student Meet and Greet, Public Service Law Center’s (PSLC) Welcome Service Day, and many others. Select an activity for Public Service Day.  Academics Check the Canvas website for each of your 1L courses for first class assignments. Order the required texts for each of your courses, and give yourself plenty of time to read the assigned materials more than once for each class. Purchase your subscription to Core Grammar for Lawyers, use the class code provided by your Legal Research and Writing professor on their Canvas page, and complete the Pre-Test. Think about how you will most effectively take notes and be sure to have your computer organized to keep materials related to each course (NB: some faculty members prohibit laptops in class). Familiarize yourself with BLSConnect where you can access multiple Brooklyn Law School resources and explore information about academics, careers, pro bono opportunities, and much more. Attend the weekly sessions offered by the Academic Success staff to learn skills useful in preparing for class and working with legal materials, as well as to develop time management systems and stress reduction techniques. Careers and Professional Development Explore BLSConnect.  Check out the Career Section and Public Service section. Student Life Attend the Student Organization, Pro Bono Group, and Community Fairs. Walk around the neighborhood to soak in our amazing community. Consider joining a gym or finding another outlet to help you stay healthy.  Check out the weekly yoga sessions and the Mindfulness and Meditation sessions. September Academics Use materials from Introduction to the Study of Law to build study schedules and weekly task lists, including regular consolidation of notes, progress on outlines, and answering at least 10 practice questions per subject per week. If you prefer to study with others, think about forming study groups with classmates. Attend sessions organized by your Faculty Advisor—come with questions!  Attend Academic Success Friday Legal Skills workshops to learn new skills and seek additional help. If appropriate, schedule individual appointments with Academic Success for advice on study skills, resources, time management, outlining, and exam practice. Careers and Professional Development Attend small group resume and cover letter sessions. Consider attending Brown Bag lunches and other practitioner events, the NYC Public Interest Career Reception at Fordham University School of Law, and the Edward V. Sparer Fellowship information session, and the workshop on Public Service Internship Search for 1Ls. Volunteering for one of the school’s pro bono projects is a great opportunity to gain legal experience. Check out the Career Development Center (CDC)’s social media accounts and the Public Service Law Center (PSLC)’s Facebook page and In Your Interest (IYI) newsletter for up-to-date programming and career and public service announcements. Student Life Attend student organization General Body Meetings, Student Affairs Brunch, and other programs to help you get involved in our community.  October Academics Your Research Skills Assessment in your legal writing class will be due. Your Legal Research and Writing Memo 1 will be due. Many 1L courses schedule mid-term exams in October.   At midpoint in the semester, it is a good time to stop and take stock of the concepts you have learned in each course thus far, and to consider whether your study strategies are working well. Academic Success Friday Legal Skills workshops are ongoing. Take advantage of Clinic Information sessions to learn about programs that will be available in your upper-level years. Careers and Professional Development Log in to Symplicity, explore its many features, and complete self-assessment and profile on Symplicity.    Begin revising your resume, and, after October 15th, make an appointment with your career counselor or public service adviser to review your resume and discuss your 1L summer. If interested in public interest/service, attend the Public Service Internship Cover Letter and Resume program, apply  for the Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Fellowship (applications due in late October), and think ahead to the Public Interest Legal Career (PILC) Fair in February (you are automatically registered). Register for and attend 1L Career Development Center programs, including the information session on 1L diversity fellowship summer opportunities. Student Life Schedule some time each week to enjoy your non-BLS interests and hobbies. Finding a good balance is essential! November Academics Your Legal Research and Writing Legal Memo 2 will be due. Review feedback on your legal memos and mid-term exams, and consider how you may wish to shift your focus as you prepare for future assignments and final exams.  If you have questions, seek out your professors during office hours.. Step up your outlining efforts and focus on identifying the major themes in each course.  The Registrar’s Office will send an email with information about exams. Careers and Professional Development Finalize your résumé and cover letters, taking note of the different formatting guidelines provided for public interest and private sector employers. Attend information sessions about work and fellowship opportunities.  If you plan on attending the Public Interest Legal Career (PILC) Fair, held in February, attend the Public Service Law Center’s overview workshop on the Ins and Outs of the PILC Fair. Student Life Attend Wellness Week programs. December Academics Focus on your exams. Attend review sessions offered by faculty members and check out their former exams on Exams-on-File on BLSConnect. Careers and Professional Development Research summer job opportunities and meet with your advisors in the Career Development Center and the Public Service Law Center to discuss your interests. Seek out information on fellowships and other funding sources.  You can begin applying for 1L summer jobs - public interest, private sector, and government - on Dec. 1. If you plan on attending the PILC Fair, you need to sign up for interviews for summer internships (deadline is mid-January).  Many organizations complete their summer hiring at the PILC Fair, so don’t miss this opportunity! Review the comments on your Legal Research and Writing Memo 1 to edit and revise the document if you wish to use it as a writing sample for December job applications. (You can email writingsample@brooklaw.edu and make an appointment to go over your writing sample with one of our Legal Writing Specialists). Home for the holidays?  Check Symplicity and RSVP for events hosted by local employers in your city. Student Life Attend Study Break programs to help you re-charge. Enjoy your time over the break to re-connect with friends and family.  Have fun! January Academics Learn from your fall legal memos and exams:  attend exam review sessions offered by your fall semester professors; schedule appointments with your fall semester professors, if individual advice will be helpful; meet with Academic Success faculty to assess your performance and plan for necessary changes in your study approach. Careers and Professional Development Review the comments on Legal Research and Writing Memo 2 to edit and revise the document if you wish to use it as a writing sample for spring job applications. (You can email writingsample@brooklaw.edu and make an appointment to go over your writing sample with one of our Legal Writing Specialists). Consider attending the Brooklyn Law School Spring Pro Bono Fair and getting involved with a project. Finish your applications for summer internship interviews at the PILC Fair (deadline is in mid-January). Register and participate in the PSLC’s Mock Interview program in preparation for PILC.  Continue to check Symplicity and apply for summer internship, judicial clerkship, and employment opportunities. Meet with your counselors in the CDC and PSLC to discuss your progress and to schedule an interview preparation meeting. Create a job file/database to keep track of all job search related information. Review and apply for firm and bar association 1L diversity fellowships.  Watch for notices about mandatory 1L Career and Professional Development programs for your group. Student Life Attend Welcome Back programs, Student Affairs Brunch, and various wellness programs. As you finalize your academic schedule, make sure you allocate time for the gym, running or other healthy hobbies.  February Academics Apply for Dual Degree and Semester Exchange programs, if interested and eligible. If you plan to enroll in an Externship for credit over the summer, start to research possible positions and consult with your Career Counselor, Symplicity, and CORE ELMS on BLSConnect. Attend Journal Information Session. Careers and Professional Development Attend the PILC Fair. Whether or not you have formal interviews scheduled, attend Table Talk (informal networking interviews). Continue to research summer job opportunities, apply for jobs, follow up on applications already submitted, and meet with your counselors to discuss your progress. Register for and participate in the Career Center’s Mock Interview Program. Attend individual firm receptions to learn about Early Interview Program employers. Student Life Review Housing Lottery information and apply for housing lottery to request on-campus housing for the following year. March Academics Attend Clinic Fair and information sessions about fall clinic offerings.  Read the information in the Clinics section on BLSConnect, and contact faculty who teach clinics with questions.  Be sure to understand the experiential credits requirements. Apply for fall clinics. Attend faculty programs on course selection and curricular planning.  If you don’t have an academic area of particular interest, go to several faculty programs in different subject areas. Consider participating in the Alternative Dispute Resolution Honor Society and Moot Court Honor Society Trial Team competitions. Careers and Professional Development Over spring break, consider choosing one of your writing projects from your Gateway to Lawyering course to use as a writing sample, and use your professor’s comments on your graded work to finalize the writing sample. (You can email writingsample@brooklaw.edu and make an appointment to go over your writing sample with one of our Legal Writing Specialists). Continue to search and apply to summer job opportunities. Attend the Financial Aid Office’s information session on summer public service grants. Talk to your career counselor about developing an effective list for a targeted mailing to small firms that practice in an area in which you are interested.  Schedule an interview preparation session with your career counselor. To prepare for summer internships, attend programs in professionalism, ethics, and resilience. Student Life Check out the BLSPI Auction. Attend the Barrister’s Ball. April Academics Attend Registration Guidance Session to hear information about registering for fall classes. Participate in the oral argument competition if you would like to be in appellate division of the Moot Court Honor Society. If you have found an extern position for the summer and want to apply for credit, go to CORE ELMS on BLSConnect. Student Life Attend student organization alumni dinners to maximize networking opportunities. Consider running for a position with a student organization. Apply for a Student Advisor position. Attend Wellness Week programs. May Academics Focus on your exams. Participate in the Writing Competition if you would like to be considered for a Journal. Student Life Attend Study Break programs to help you re-charge. 1L Summer Academics Register for fall classes. Review your spring memos and exams to learn from them.  If individual follow up will be helpful, schedule appointments with your spring semester professors and with Academic Success faculty. Consider applying to be a Research Assistant or Teaching Assistant for a professor in a spring course in which you excelled.  Careers and Professional Development Enjoy your internship or summer job! Let your counselor know if you have any problems/issues. Continue to think about fall internships if you are not already enrolled in a clinic or if you have not found a fall position yet. Discuss opportunities with your counselor. Keep checking Symplicity. Attend Career Development Center information sessions for on campus interviews (OCI) and job search strategies for 2L summer positions. Find out which employers are participating in OCI, which includes public sector employers and corporations, as well as large law firms. If you are participating in OCI in July-October, update your resume, update your writing sample (you may email writingsample@brooklaw.edu to request a meeting to review your writing sample), and meet with your career counselor as you prepare your list of employers to which you will submit applications.    Determine hiring deadlines and requirements for government offices and public interest organizations that interest you but are not participating in OCI.  Consult your career counselor to consider developing a mailing list of mid-size firms and out-of-state firms that did not participate in OCI. Review the summer intern opportunities contained in the Federal Government Honors and Internship handbook published annually in the late summer here. Complete a summer employment evaluation on Symplicity. Consider joining at least one local bar association as well as a committee in a practice area of interest to you. The New York City Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, New York County Lawyers’ Association), Brooklyn Bar Association, Nassau County Bar Association, Suffolk County Bar Association, Westchester County Bar Association, and the various Women’s Bar Associations all accept student members.

Directions Come visit us! Below you will find directions to Brooklyn Law School's Main Building at 250 Joralemon Street. The campus housing building, Feil Hall, is located at 205 State Street (between Court Street and Boerum Place) in Brooklyn. It is approximately three blocks from Brooklyn Law School's main building. Driving by Car From JFK International Airport:  Exit airport via I-678 North/Van Wyck Expressway. Take Exit 10 to Grand Central Parkway West toward La Guardia Airport/Triboro Bridge.Take Exit 10E-W to I-495 West toward Midtown Tunnel/Manhattan. Merge onto I-495 West/Long Island Expressway. Take Exit 17W to I-278 West/Brooklyn Queens Expressway toward Brooklyn. Take Exit 29 to Tillary Street toward Manhattan Bridge/Brooklyn Civic Center. Make a slight right turn onto Tillary Street. Turn left on Adams Street/Brooklyn Bridge Boulevard. Turn right on Joralemon Street. The Law School will be on your left. From LaGuardia Airport:  Exit airport via Grand Central Parkway West toward Manhattan. Take Exit 4 to I-278 West/Brooklyn Queens Expressway toward Staten Island. Take Exit 29 to Tillary Street, toward Manhattan Bridge/Brooklyn Civic Center. Make a slight right turn onto Tillary Street. Turn left on Adams Street/Brooklyn Bridge Boulevard. Turn right on Joralemon Street. The Law School will be on your left. From the North (Westchester and beyond): Take the Major Deegan Expressway South to the Third Avenue Bridge to FDR Drive. Drive south on the FDR to the Brooklyn Bridge. Go over the Brooklyn Bridge, staying to the left. Continue straight. At the fourth traffic light, make a right turn onto Joralemon Street. The Law School is immediately on your left as you make the turn. Alternative: Take highway 95 South to the Bruckner Expressway to the Triboro Bridge to FDR Drive. Drive south on the FDR to the Brooklyn Bridge. Go over the Brooklyn Bridge, staying to the left. Continue straight. At the fourth traffic light, make a right turn onto Joralemon Street. The Law School is immediately on your left as you make the turn. Alternative: Take the Hutchinson Parkway to the Expressway to the Triboro Bridge to FDR Drive. Drive south on the FDR to the Brooklyn Bridge. Go over the Brooklyn Bridge, staying on the left. Continue straight. At the fourth traffic light, make a right turn onto Joralemon Street. The Law School is immediately on your left as you make the turn. From Northern Long Island: Take the Northern State Parkway or Long Island Expressway to the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway). Exit at Tillary Street. Proceed through three traffic lights on Tillary Street. Turn left onto Adams Street, continue to the fourth light, and turn right onto Joralemon Street. The Law School is immediately on your left as you make the turn. From Southern Long Island: Take the Belt Parkway to the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) to the Atlantic Avenue exit. Turn right at Atlantic Avenue. Drive six blocks to Boerum Place. Turn left and drive four blocks, then turn left onto Joralemon Street. to Joralemon Street. The Law School is immediately on your left as you make the turn. From the West and South (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and beyond): Take the New Jersey Turnpike to exit 13 (Goethal's Bridge/Verrazano Bridge). Take I-278 East/Brooklyn- Queens Expressway to Atlantic Avenue exit. Turn right onto Atlantic Avenue. Drive six blocks to Boerum Place. Turn left and proceed four blocks, then turn left onto Joralemon Street. The Law School is immediately on your left as you make the turn. By Subway Subway lines: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Borough Hall Station. M, R to Court Street Station. A, C, F to Jay Street-Borough Hall Station. From JFK International Airport: Take the JFK AirTrain toward Howard Beach. At Howard Beach, take the A subway line heading Uptown to Jay Street – Borough Hall stop. Walk west on Fulton Street two blocks. Fulton Street becomes Joralemon Street. The Law School will be on your left. From LaGuardia Airport: Take the M60 bus heading to Manhattan. Exit the bus at East 125th Street and Lexington Avenue. Transfer to the 4 or 5 subway line heading Downtown to Borough Hall stop. Walk east on Joralemon Street. The Law School will be on your right on the same block. By Bus From the Port Authority Bus Terminal, take the A or C subway to Jay Street-Borough Hall Station. By Railroad MetroNorth: From Grand Central Terminal, take the 4 or 5 subway lines to Borough Hall Station. Amtrak: From Pennsylvania Station, take the A or C subway lines to Jay Street-Borough Hall Station or take the 2 or 3 subway lines to Borough Hall Station. LIRR (Long Island Railroad): Take train to Brooklyn Station, and then take either the 2, 3, 4 or 5 subway lines to Borough Hall Station.

A Conversation with Brooklyn Law School Professors Dana Brakman Reiser and Steven A. Dean, featuring Anne-Marie Slaughter, New America CEO and Professor Emerita at Princeton University. A reception and book signing is taking place after the Book Talk. About the Book Please join Professors Dana Brakman Reiser and Steven A. Dean for a discussion of their new book For-Profit Philanthropy (Oxford University Press, Jan. 3, 2023). In For-Profit Philanthropy, the authors reveal that philanthropy law has long operated as strategic compromise, binding ordinary Americans and elites together in a common purpose. At its center stands the private foundation. Prophylactic restrictions separate foundations from their funders' business and political interests. And foundations must disclose more about the sources and uses of their assets than any other business or charity. The philanthropic innovations increasingly espoused by America's most privileged individuals and powerful companies prioritize donor autonomy and privacy, casting aside the foundation and the tools it provides elites to demonstrate their good faith. By threatening to displace impactful charity with hollow virtue signaling, these actions also jeopardize the public's faith in the generosity of those at the top. Private ordering, targeted regulation, or a new strategic bargain could strike a modern balance, preserving the benefits of the compromise between the modest and the mighty. For-Profit Philanthropy offers a detailed roadmap to show how it can be accomplished. Copies of  For-Profit Philanthropy will be available for purchase. Moderated by Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America and the Bert G. Kerstetter '66 University Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. About the Authors Dana Brakman Reiser holds a chair as Centennial Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, where she also served as Vice Dean. Her globally recognized expertise in the law at the intersection of business and charity has made her a leading voice on charitable organizations diversifying their revenue streams and on business firms striving for corporate social responsibility. Her work on the law of social enterprises—firms that pursue profits for owners and social good—defined the field. She has also written extensively on law and finance for philanthropic organizations and on sustainable investing. She earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Steven A. Dean is Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law, where he previously served as Vice Dean. He focuses on inequality, both domestically and globally, with a particular focus on tax policy and anti-Black racism. In his next Oxford book, Global Jim Crow: Taxation and Racial Capitalism, and in publications ranging from The Nation to the NYU Law Review, Dean exposes policies that favor powerful states, companies, and individuals. He practiced law with leading global law firms, worked at one of the world's largest accounting firms, and led NYU School of Law's Graduate Tax Program. Dean earned a B.A. from Williams College and a J.D. from Yale Law School. Registration Please use the RSVP link provided to register to attend this event either in person at Brooklyn Law School or virtually, on Zoom. Virtual attendees will receive the Zoom link shortly before the event. Please RSVP by Thursday, Feb.2. Visitor COVID-19 Vaccination Policies and Guidelines Only guests with proof of a primary COVID-19 vaccination series with an FDA-authorized or WHO-listed vaccine may visit the main Law School building (250 Joralemon St.) or our high-rise residential building, Feil Hall (205 State St.). One-time visitors and guests who wish to attend in-person events are also required to provide the security guard on duty at the Law School with proof of vaccination and current identification (including your name, photo, and date of birth). Please view the Brooklyn Law School (BLS) Visitor COVID-19 Vaccination Policies and Guidelines prior to attending the event for more information and instructions for guests traveling from outside the U.S. More Information For general inquiries regarding this event, please contact the Brooklyn Law School Office of Events at events@brooklaw.edu or (718) 780-0321. Requests for a reasonable accommodation, based on a disability, to attend this event should be made to Louise Cohen, Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Coordinator, at louise.cohen@brooklaw.edu. Please make your request at least 10 days before the event. We will do our best to address accommodation requests made after the 10 days.

Featuring Elizabeth F. Emens Thomas M. Macioce Professor of Law Columbia Law School  About the Lecture Professor Emens will argue that disability law has failed to account for a form of labor that especially burdens people with disabilities: the day-to-day tasks such as managing bills and other paperwork and scheduling appointments—the “office work of life”—also known as “life admin.” Recognizing the admin labor of being disabled has important implications for legal doctrine, most notably for the analysis of what is a “reasonable” accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Courts have used a cost-benefit framework to determine reasonableness, but they have failed to include the admin costs to individuals in the calculus. Illuminating the admin of being disabled also casts a spotlight on the labor that can be involved in providing accommodations, its unequal burdens within institutions, and the way its distribution and design can increase or diminish access for people with disabilities.   Moderated by Frank Pasquale, Jeffrey D. Forchelli Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School.   Sponsored by the Center for Health, Science & Public Policy and the Disability and Civil Rights Clinic.   Ira M. Belfer Lecture Series This lecture series honors Ira M. Belfer ’33, who was a leading practitioner of corporate, real estate, and trust and estates law for more than half a century, a member of the Brooklyn Law School Board of Trustees, and a generous benefactor of the Law School.     About Elizabeth F. Emens Elizabeth F. Emens is the Thomas M. Macioce Professor of Law and Director of the Mindfulness Program at Columbia Law School. Professor Emens writes and teaches on disability law, family law, anti-discrimination law, contracts law, and law and sexuality, as well as teaching a practicum on lawyer leadership as part of Columbia Law’s Davis Polk Leadership Initiative. Emens’ scholarly work has appeared in publications including Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, and The Disability Studies Reader. Emens is the author of The Art of Life Admin: How to Do Less, Do It Better, and Live More (2019), which explores how unseen and unpaid work is a universal problem but a particular burden for disadvantaged and disabled people. She is also co-editor, with Professor Michael Ashley Stein, of Disability and Equality Law (2013). In 2019, Emens delivered the Clifford Chance Thought Leadership Lecture on Diversity. Emens was a Bigelow Fellow and lecturer in law at the University of Chicago Law School from 2003 to 2005. She clerked for Hon. Robert D. Sack, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, from 2002 to 2003. Emens received her B.A. from Yale University, Ph.D. from King’s College, Cambridge, and J.D. from Yale University. Registration Please use the RSVP link to register to attend this event either in person at Brooklyn Law School or virtually, on Zoom. Virtual attendees will receive the Zoom link shortly before the event. Please RSVP by Friday, April 7. Reception to follow lecture. Visitor COVID-19 Vaccination Policies and Guidelines Only guests with proof of a primary COVID-19 vaccination series with an FDA-authorized or WHO-listed vaccine may visit the main Law School building (250 Joralemon St.) or our high-rise residential building, Feil Hall (205 State St.). One-time visitors and guests who wish to attend in-person events are also required to provide the security guard on duty at the Law School with proof of vaccination and current identification (including your name, photo, and date of birth). Please view the Brooklyn Law School (BLS) Visitor COVID-19 Vaccination Policies and Guidelines prior to attending the event for more information and instructions for guests traveling from outside the U.S.   More Information For general inquiries regarding this event, please contact the Brooklyn Law School Office of Events at events@brooklaw.edu or (718) 780-0321. Requests for a reasonable accommodation, based on a disability, to attend this event should be made to Louise Cohen, Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Coordinator, at louise.cohen@brooklaw.edu. Please make your request at least 10 days before the event. We will do our best to address accommodation requests made after the 10 days.

At Brooklyn Law School’s Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE) sixth annual Innovators Invitational, student teams from Brooklyn Law School, Fordham University School of Law, Cardozo School of Law, and Cornell Tech competed for $12,000 in prizes. This is the first year the competition included teams from other schools in the New York City area. The Cornell Tech team of Stanton Burke and Chris Kruger placed first receiving a $6,000 prize for Gratis, a program that connects pro bono attorneys with clients in need, and Chynna Foucek ’21 was awarded a $4,000 second prize for her venture, RAP Revise, which would help correct errors on rap sheets. Steven Deolus ’20 and Sydney Abualy ’20 placed third for their venture, Legal Chain, and the Fordham Law team of Alex Fagella and Cinar Oney placed fourth for Fight A Summons. Both teams were awarded $1,000. The competition is modeled after the popular TV show “Shark Tank.” Student teams pitched entrepreneurial ventures to a panel of judges, including one artificial intelligence (AI) judge, who posed questions on the legal, social, and business implications of each project. Additional contestants from Brooklyn Law School and their ventures were Jerry Grazioli ’19, Centrist, Robert Denis ’20 and Brian Faure, Eagle Claim, Benjamin Sklar ’21, Forage, and Nick Denny ’19, Jim Kilduff ’19 and George Somi ’19, ResumeAid. “We designed the Invitational to leverage the technological savvy of current and recent law students,” said John Rudikoff ’06, CEO and managing director of CUBE. “The competition gives presenters the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the startups that they will serve as lawyers, positions them to become subject matter experts in the technology their future employers are now adopting, and provides them with a vehicle for launching their own ventures.” The judges were Anna Ashurov ’12, Vice President, Financing Group, at Goldman Sachs and a Brooklyn Law School Recent Graduate Trustee; Christopher Doyle, partner at Strook; Lawrence Howard ’93, senior lecturer, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Jeffrey Lee ’05, senior vice president, Capalino + Company; Bianca Lin, associate at Allegaert, Berger & Vogel; Robert Manne ’77, senior vice president and general counsel, Ultimate Software; Andrea Markstrom, chief information officer, Blank Rome; Harvey Mitnick ’65, general counsel, JVC; Andrew Raussa ’13, associate general counsel, Facebook; and Leanne Welds ’14, associate, Simpson Thacher. A unique new feature of this year’s pitch competition was “Abby” the AI judge, developed by Presentr. “Our objective was to explore how artificial intelligence might enhance, support, or interfere with the judicial process,” said Professor Jonathan Askin, founder and director of the Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy Clinic and the innovation catalyst for CUBE. “Some have suggested that AI might replace human lawyers and human judges. While there will always be a role for the non-digital, more subtle judgment of humans training in legal reasoning, I believe AI will assist lawyers, allowing them to pursue more substantive and nuanced legal thinking.” The AI judge and the human judges evaluated presenters on different skills. The human judges were focused on substance, while Abby was focused on presentation. “Next year, we have considered some global pitch competitions, including a potential collaboration with Tsinghua University in Beijing,” Askin added. “I am curious to determine how the judgment of an American-based AI might diverge from the judgment of a Chinese AI.” Sponsors of the Invitational included Bob and Grace Manne Family Foundation; Stanley and Nancy Grossman Family Foundation; Allegaert, Berger & Vogel; Blank Rome; Capalino + Company; Strook; Presentr; and Two Trees Management. CUBE provides clinical courses at the Law School and hosts public programs that highlight the startup industry and the role of attorneys within it. CUBE’s goal is to prepare students for a legal environment that is evolving and now includes many jobs in alternative fields. CUBE also provides small business startups with pro bono legal services. Visit the Flickr gallery. Read the coverage in Law.com.

Hon. Dora L. Irizarry, the first Hispanic District Judge to serve in the Eastern District of New York and the first Hispanic woman Chief Judge within the Second Circuit, will address graduates at Brooklyn Law School’s 117th commencement at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on May 18. Judge Irizarry has been a pioneer for Hispanic women throughout her career. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in the South Bronx, she graduated from Yale University and Columbia Law School, where she was a Charles Evans Hughes Fellow. Following law school, she joined the Bronx District Attorney’s Office Appeals Bureau. Assigned to the New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s Office, Irizarry investigated and prosecuted some of the City’s largest complex narcotics cases. She also served in the New York County District Attorney’s Office, the New York State Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force, and as a special prosecutor in the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Her exemplary accomplishments and innovative leadership in the field of complex narcotics investigations garnered her national recognition. She was appointed a New York City Criminal Court Judge in 1995 and two years later became the first Hispanic woman appointed to the New York State Court of Claims and the first Hispanic woman to sit in Kings County Supreme Court. Thereafter, she sat in New York County Supreme Court. She briefly left the bench to run for New York State Attorney General in 2002, becoming the first Hispanic woman ever to run for statewide office, and then worked in private practice before her nomination to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2004. A dedicated mentor to students and attorneys alike, Judge Irizarry has advocated for programs to foster diversity within the legal profession at all levels, particularly in the federal courts. Since 2005, she has presided over a drug re-entry court providing intensive post-conviction supervision to persons whose crimes were motivated by addiction to make them productive members of society and reduce recidivism. United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. recently re-appointed Judge Irizarry to the Federal-State Jurisdiction Committee of the Judicial Conference for a second three-year term. She previously served on the Eastern District’s Criminal Justice Act Panel Committee, where she spearheaded the implementation of a Mentoring Program to increase the diversity of qualified applicants to the Criminal Justice Act Panel. She is a Fellow of the New York State Bar Foundation and past President of the Association of Hispanic Judges. Judge Irizarry has received numerous awards and accolades for her contributions to the administration of justice and enhancement of the legal profession, including the Hon. William C. Conner Inn of Court Excellence Award, the Federal Bar Association’s Pass the Torch Award, and the Federal Bar Council’s Award for Dedicated and Outstanding Service to the U.S. Courts in the Second Circuit (twice), among many others. In 2008, she received the congressionally recognized Ellis Island Medal of Honor, presented annually to a select group of individuals for accomplishments in their field and service to the country. As the Law School’s commencement speaker, Judge Irizarry will receive an honorary degree, the highest degree conferred by Brooklyn Law School. WHAT: Brooklyn Law School’s 117th Commencement WHO: Hon. Dora L. Irizarry, Chief U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of New York, commencement speaker and honorary degree recipient WHEN: Friday, May 18, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. WHERE: Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Howard Gilman Opera House, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, NY For more information, visit: www.brooklaw.edu/commencement

Lauren Wechsler, a 30-year-old-woman with severe developmental disabilities, is no longer confined to her home following the year-long advocacy of students in the Disability and Civil Rights Clinic, under the direction of Professors Natalie Chin and Amy Mulzer. Students challenged the discriminatory actions of two private health insurance companies that left Lauren homebound despite her ability to participate in the community. As a result of Lauren’s disabilities, she breathes through a tracheotomy tube and must be constantly monitored so she does not choke or stop breathing. She requires the care of a private duty nurse both inside and outside her home. These medically necessary services are covered by Lauren’s insurance providers, Group Health Incorporated (GHI) and Emblem Health. For a number of years, Lauren has been attending Gateway, a day-habilitation program in the Bronx where she thrived with her friends, enjoyed wheelchair Zumba and community outings, and engaged in musicals and arts & crafts. Yet, Lauren’s insurance providers suddenly and arbitrarily prohibited the private duty nurse from taking Lauren anywhere outside the home, including to Gateway. The companies based this restriction on insurance contract language that described private duty nursing services as being provided “at home or in a hospital.” Cut off from the emotional, physical, and mental stimulation of Gateway, Lauren was homebound. “As a result of her confinement, Lauren was suffering emotionally, physically and psychologically,” said Professor Natalie M. Chin, Director of the Disability and Civil Rights Clinic. “Her mental state declined because she was unable to attend Gateway, which provided her with community inclusion activities that promoted her independence, enabled her to socialize, and strengthened her daily living skills. What is even more shocking about GHI and EmblemHealth’s discriminatory policy is that it cost them nothing to accommodate Lauren’s disability.” The Disability and Civil Rights Clinic began representing Lauren in January 2016. Last fall, Kim Kopff ‘16 and Sam Tarasowsky ‘16 conducted extensive fact-finding and legal research. They filed several internal appeals with the insurance companies on Lauren’s behalf, exhausting her administrative remedies and paving the way for a federal court challenge. During the Fall 2016 semester, Camillia Brown ‘18 and Catie Marie Martin ‘18 represented Lauren before the Southern District of New York. The federal case asserted disability-based discrimination under the Affordable Care Act and a contract claim. Following oral argument by Brown and Martin, the Court ordered the insurance companies to turn over extensive and crucial discovery that otherwise would have been withheld. This month, after nearly a year of advocacy, the matter was resolved to the Parties’ mutual satisfaction. “Lauren is beaming,” Lauren’s mother, Daisy Concepcion-Wechsler, wrote in an email to Professor Chin. “It’s the basic right that we have as humans and as Americans. It’s the right to liberty and pursuit of happiness. Thank you for restoring that and the belief that this belongs to everyone regardless of their status. Lauren is now gathering with her friends not because the fates allowed, but because all of you and Brooklyn Law allowed.” “Brooklyn Law School’s Clinical program changes lives, and victories likes these are a reminder of our impact as a law school community,” Chin said. The Disability and Civil Rights Clinic is focused on protecting and advancing the civil rights of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and one of the only law school clinics in the country specializing in this area. The Clinic functions as a pro bono law firm, allowing students to represent low-income New Yorkers, and their families in a variety of civil legal matters, including housing, public benefits, access to health care, special education, parental rights, alternatives to guardianship, prisoners’ rights and discrimination in access to programs and services. The clinic also undertakes policy initiatives, provides advice, and disseminates information to individuals and institutions about the legal environment that service providers must navigate. Its mission is to promote the self-determination and independence of low-income adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities by providing direct legal services that protect individual rights and enhance access to services. Visit: www.brooklaw.edu/aaidd Lewis Golinker of the Law Office of Lewis Golinker served as co-counsel.