As students returned to campus on August 26 to kick off the fall semester, they walked through the doors of the Law School building, which is marking its 10th anniversary this year.
The nine-story, 339,000-square-foot building was dedicated in September 2014 by Father Joseph M. McShane, S.J., then the president of Fordham University.
Over the past decade, thousands of law students have completed their legal education at Fordham Law and have gone on to fulfilling careers. This year’s new class was welcomed warmly on their first day of classes by Joseph Landau, the 12th dean of Fordham Law School, who took on the role on July 1.
Landau, who joined the Law School faculty in 2010 and was twice named Teacher of the Year, became the associate dean of academic affairs at Fordham law in 2021. He was chosen as the new dean of the Law School after a nationwide, eight-month search.
He addressed incoming students at orientation events over the last two weeks. “You are an amazing class and you bring a wealth of knowledge and tremendous diversity,” he said. He also urged students to lean into difficult conversations and treat each other with respect: “You will be sitting with ideas and concepts that may be hard to hear. … Use evidence to persuade. Listen with compassion. Give grace to others we may disagree with. Create an environment that brings out the best of every member of our team.”
Landau named a new leadership team this past June. Professor Pamela Bookman is the associate dean for academic affairs, Professor Bennett Capers is the associate dean for research, Professor Norrinda Brown is the associate dean for experiential education, and Professor Ron Lazebnik is the associate dean for administration. Professor Ben Zipursky is serving as interim associate dean for research while Capers is on sabbatical during the fall semester.
Joining the faculty this year are four new professors. These accomplished scholars are Doni Bloomfield, Mariam Hinds, Gowri Krishna ’06, and Ela Leshem. Joining Fordham Law as an associate professor, Doni Bloomfield teaches and writes in the areas of intellectual property, antitrust, and health law. Mariam Hinds is an expert on criminal law, criminal procedure, and race. She has joined the Law School as clinical associate professor of law in the Criminal Defense Clinic. Also joining Fordham Law as clinical professor of law is Gowri Krishna ’06, an experienced clinical educator with a strong focus on economic, racial, and social justice. Ela Leshem, a legal theorist who teaches and writes about the property and personhood status of human bodies, nation states, animals, fetuses, venerated objects, and artificial intelligence, has joined Fordham Law as an associate professor of law.
In addition, Adelle Blackett, a leading expert on transnational labor law, is joining Fordham as the William Hughes Mulligan Distinguished Visiting Professor for the fall semester. Blackett spearheaded critical pedagogical initiatives at McGill University, including the development of a critical race theory course and teaching Slavery and the Law as a specialized topic course. At Fordham Law, Blackett will teach Slavery and the Law: Comparative and International Perspectives.
Students will also have the opportunity to take a class taught by a sitting member of the New York State bench. The new class, Lawyering Up: Skills for Success in the Legal Profession – Beyond the Books, is being taught by Justice Tanya Kennedy, an associate justice of the Appellate Division, First Department, of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
Fordham Law also welcomes Beth Acevedo as the new associate Dean of the Career Planning Center. Most recently, she was the assistant dean for the Center for Career Development at Rutgers Law School in Newark. At Fordham, she will oversee all operations of the Career Planning Center, including student counseling services and employer outreach.
Overall, 1,617 students will be attending classes at Fordham Law this fall, including day and evening J.D. students and those in the LL.M. and M.S.L. programs. The incoming 1L class of 376 day students and 64 evening students is 57% women. They represent 152 colleges and universities and come from 33 states across the U.S. First-year students range in age from 21 to 70, and reflect a number of careers including the performing arts, ministry, banking, and education. Overall, 43% are New Yorkers, and 15 are international students. A new cohort of 23 REAL Scholars, Fordham Law’s leadership program for first-year law students who have encountered challenges or obstacles on their path to entering law school, also kicked off their first year by participating in a pre-orientation program.
A week before classes began, many of the Law School’s affinity groups and student organizations took part in Public Service Day, organized by the Public Interest Resource Center. Students volunteered in 10 projects taking place at Fordham Law’s Lincoln Center campus and at sites across the city. They included a Central Park clean up led by Fordham’s Environmental Law Advocates, a training on how to file name change petitions for trans and nonbinary people led by Advocates for Trans* Law Students and OUTlaws, and a workshop on voter suppression conducted by Fordham Law Advocates for Voter Rights in partnership with the New York Civil Liberties Union.
The Law School has a busy calendar of events coming up this fall. Dean Landau’s official installation will be celebrated by the Fordham community on Sept. 12. In addition, Fordham will be joined by several distinguished guest speakers this semester. Among them are former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who will receive the Fordham-Stein Prize on campus Nov. 7, and Judge Joseph Laroski, Jr. ’97 of the U.S. Court of International Trade, who will participate in a fireside chat on Sept. 17 sponsored by the Center for Judicial Events and Clerkships.
