Fordham Law School has named Judge Denny Chin ’78 of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit the Lawrence W. Pierce ’51 Distinguished Jurist in Residence.
The role honors Judge Pierce, who served on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1971 to 1981, and on the Second Circuit from 1981 to 1995. He was only the third African American to serve on the Second Circuit. Judge Pierce was a highly regarded jurist, in both the district court and the circuit court, and a person of great dignity and grace.
A Leader in the Fordham Community
Judge Chin taught first-year legal writing at Fordham Law for some 35 years, and has been an active member of the Law School community throughout the decades. He was named a member of the University Board of Trustees in 2020.
After taking senior status from the bench in June 2021, Judge Chin will have the opportunity to spend more time at Fordham Law this year working with students. He will continue to hear cases, write opinions, and participate in court while serving as Fordham Law’s jurist in residence.
“I’m deeply honored to be named the Lawrence W. Pierce Distinguished Jurist in Residence,” Judge Chin said. “Judge Pierce was a great judge and a wonderful person, and I’m very excited about this opportunity and hope to have more of an impact on students and at the Law School in general.”
Now stepping into this new role, Judge Chin is eager to make more meaningful connections with his colleagues and students as they return to the Lincoln Center campus for in-person classes, activities, and events this year.
“I look forward to spending more time with colleagues on the faculty and having more time to reflect on various matters in the law,” Judge Chin said of his anticipated return to campus. “I’m also looking forward to interacting more with students at the Law School, for the chance to speak with them more informally, outside the classroom.”
As the Lawrence W. Pierce Distinguished Jurist in Residence, Judge Chin will be available to guest lecture in classes, meet with students, and work with Fordham Law’s student organizations. This fall, he will be teaching an appellate advocacy and civil rights course. In the spring, Judge Chin will once again join Thomas Lee, the Leitner Family Professor of International Law, to co-teach a seminar on Asian Americans and the Law.
“We are thrilled to welcome Judge Chin in this role,” said Dean Matthew Diller. “We thank him and the court for joining us in this partnership that provides both students and faculty an invaluable opportunity to learn from such an important leader of New York’s legal community.”
“Judge Chin has been a friend to and integral part of the Center for Judicial Events & Clerkships [CJEC] since its launch in 2019 actively engaging in our first generation student initiatives and serving as our inaugural First to the Bench speaker,” added Suzanne M. Endrizzi ’96, CJEC assistant dean.
Daniel J. Capra, Reed Professor of Law and CJEC faculty director, echoed Dean Endrizzi’s sentiments, saying, “His impact on the law school and support of students throughout the years cannot be overstated, quite simply we are lucky to have him devote himself further through this role.”
A Distinguished Career on the Bench
Judge Chin has presided over many notable federal court cases during his 27-year career on the bench—including matters involving Megan’s Law, the Million Youth March, the Google Books Project, the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme, and the sentencing of financier Bernard L. Madoff while serving as a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York.
In 2010, Judge Chin was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate 98-0. He has participated in a number of significant cases in the circuit court, including cases involving the General Motors bankruptcy, the streaming of copyrighted television programs over the internet, and the disparate impact on African Americans of a blanket convictions bar on employment. He also presided over two sessions of the Southern District of New York’s Reentry through Intensive Supervision and Employment (RISE) Court, a program that helps individuals with convictions re-enter society after completing their prison terms.