The Honorable Denny Chin, United States Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, will serve as the graduation speaker at Fordham Law School’s 107th diploma ceremony, on Monday, May 19, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Fordham University President Joseph M. McShane, S.J., and Fordham Law Dean Michael M. Martin will confer degrees on 631 graduates—464 of whom will receive J.D. degrees and 167 of whom will receive LL.M. degrees.
Judge Chin, who was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate 98-0, has been in the position since 2010. Previously, he served nearly 16 years as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Before joining the bench, he worked in private practice and also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
He has presided over a number of notable matters including cases involving the Google Books Project, the sentencing of financier Bernard Madoff, NYC’s graphic anti-smoking posters, Megan’s Law, the Million Youth March, the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program, and the Naked Cowboy. In 2011, the New York Timeswrote a lengthy piece about his approach to sentencing.
Judge Chin is a 1978 graduate of Fordham Law and a longtime adjunct professor in the School’s legal writing program. In March 2012, he took part in a trip through Asia to promote the School’s International & Non-J.D. Programs and to launch new international alumni chapters; his travelogue was published in the Spring 2012 issue of Fordham Lawyer.