February 2025

The Brooklyn Law Bridge

Seasoned administrator Kelly shares the joys and challenges of her lifelong work focused on the student experience and her plans to grow the Student Support Team at Brooklyn Law School.  Overseen by Kelly, the on-campus dream team will soon include a new Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Coordinator, who will also oversee accommodations for the Law School, as well as Title IX and EEO efforts on behalf of BLS, plus Interim Arthur Pinto & Stephen Bohlen Associate Dean of Inclusion & Diversity Director of Student Life Dominique Fowler,  Director of Residence Life Alexis Grafakos, and Director of Student Wellness Jennifer Lang.  

The Brooklyn Law School community welcomed new Professor of Law Richard Winchester, one of the top employment tax law experts in the country, who brings a deep bench of expertise, experience, and scholarship in state, federal, and international tax law and policy, and whose work has garnered Congressional attention. In a Q&A, the topics ranged from Winchester’s research into the unusual origins of New Orleans’ Pontchartrain Park, a Black subdivision built in the 1950s, to his love of a family musical tradition: jazz.

The editor-in-chief for the Brooklyn Journal of International Law is one of only 15 law school students nationwide to receive the prestigious Burton Award, which is formally known as the “2025 Law360 Distinguished Legal Writing Award.” Mallory, a Block Center fellow, is being honored for her article “Closing Down Access to Asylum: The Illegal Migration Act’s Incompatibility with International Refugee Law,” and will receive the award at a ceremony held at the magnificent Library of Congress.

For alumni who returned to Brooklyn Law School for its annual Business Boot Camp, it was not just a chance to share hard-won knowledge and experience but a way to help the next generation. As Kenny S. Terrero, a partner at Sidley Austin put it: “I really want BLS students to see corporate partners and get a chance to ask questions and learn from people like me.  When I was a student, alumni who were associates at big firms came back to the school and talked about their experiences and this changed my career trajectory.  I want to pay that forward.”  

Hon. Dorothy Chin Brandt, retired acting justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Criminal Term, Queens County, died on Jan. 27, leaving behind an esteemed legacy as the first Asian American woman to be a New York State judge and the state’s first elected Asian American public official. Chin Brandt worked tirelessly to fight the racism and sexism that Asian Americans and other minorities faced, in and out of the courtroom, paving the way for generations of lawyers and judges to follow her example.  

Professor of Legal Writing Joy Kanwar is a longtime admirer of the standard-bearing textbook Writing and Analysis in the Law, whose original authors were also members of Brooklyn Law School’s esteemed Legal Writing program, the late Professor of Law Emerita Marilyn Walter and Associate Professor of Legal Writing Emerita Elizabeth Fajans, both luminaries in the field who inspired her own career. Now, Kanwar is the co-author of its latest edition, which was celebrated at the Association of American Law Schools’ annual meeting in San Francisco.