Fordham Law School’s annual “Bridge the Gap” program took place virtually on the weekend of January 14, providing an opportunity for both newly admitted and experienced lawyers to “bridge the gap” between law school and professional practice, while satisfying a full year’s worth of continuing legal education (CLE) credits in just one weekend.
The three-day long event covered 20 topics and practice areas, including bankruptcy law, mentoring in the legal space, and disability and elder law, as well as current hot-button issues such as election law, challenges facing the U.S. immigration courts, and the legal aspects of the blockchain and artificial intelligence technology.
Each session was led by subject-area experts, allowing attendees to learn practical information from skilled and experienced practitioners. For example, the session on election law brought together New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi ’12 and John Owens Jr. ‘04, principal law clerk in the New York County Supreme Court’s Commercial Division and former acting deputy general counsel of the New York City Board of Elections.
One presentation, titled “Public Health Law During a Pandemic: Key Legal and Bioethical Issues,” examined the unique questions COVID-19 has presented for the legal field. Wendy Luftig, senior manager at Novartis and adjunct professor of law at Fordham Law School, and Mary Beth Morrissey Ph.D., MPH, JD, FCRH ’79, LAW ’82, GSS ’11, founder and president of Collaborative for Palliative Care, a professor at Yeshiva University Wurzweiler School of Social Work, and a healthcare attorney, discussed the latest coronavirus vaccine mandates, crisis standards of care, and other legal topics related to the pandemic.
“[Wendy and I] hope that the program attendees came away with a much better understanding of public health in the pandemic environment and some of the critical issues that have ended up in the courts, such as challenges to vaccine mandates at both the state and federal levels… and the U.S. Supreme Court’s evolving jurisprudence on the issue of religious liberty,” said Morrissey.
Morrissey, an expert on the topic of aging and health policy, says she was happy to return to the Law School and share her knowledge through this year’s programming. “It’s always my honor and pleasure to return to my alma mater,” she said. “I am grateful to have the opportunity to give back to the Fordham Law School community by sharing with the students a bit about the work in which I have been involved during the pandemic.”
