On July 6, Fordham Law School launched this year’s annual Pre-Law and Summer Institutes. These programs are offered online, and both cohorts are combined for the first time. The combined 2021 institutes drew almost 140 participants from the U.S. and 19 other countries—Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Panama, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela. The Summer Institute, launched in 2007, was created to offer an introduction to U.S. law for foreign-trained lawyers and law students interested in gaining an understanding of the U.S. legal system, expanding their global…
Author: Newsroom
In early June, the National Center for Access to Justice (NCAJ), based at Fordham Law School, released its latest report, “Working with Your Hands Tied Behind Your Back: Non-lawyer Perspectives on Legal Empowerment.” The report, made possible by funding from the Open Society Foundations, explores the current debate on whether and how the unauthorized practice of law rules should be changed to enable more people with otherwise unmet legal needs to obtain the legal assistance they seek. “One main goal of the report was to draw out lots of interesting and sharp perspectives on the kinds of change that would…
Often described as an “icon” and a “force of nature,” Maria Marcus, Joseph M. McLaughlin Chair and Professor of Law Emerita, is stepping down as advisor to the Moot Court Board. Though Marcus retired from the faculty in 2011 after 33 years teaching law, she continued to coach the inter-school moot court team until the spring of 2021. The “Marcus Method” Fordham Law faculty, alumni, and students gathered on Zoom on June 4 to celebrate Marcus’s indelible influence and legacy and to send their best wishes and congratulations upon her retirement. They also shared their favorite memories about being mooted…
Judge Jack B. Weinstein, senior district judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, passed away on June 15 at the age of 99. He served on the court for more than 50 years, presiding over numerous high-profile and complex cases, including the Agent Orange class action. In 2013, Fordham Law School awarded Judge Weinstein the Fordham-Stein Prize for his outstanding career as one of the most influential and renowned trial judges in the country while at the same time dedicating himself as a major scholar of the law. “It is particularly gratifying to receive…
On June 16, F. Sunnie Frazier of Lamar University joined Fordham Law School virtually from her family’s farm for a discussion entitled “Juneteenth & Dies Community, Texas: A Freedmen Community’s 150-Year Evolution and the Law.” The event was co-sponsored by the Center on Race, Law & Justice. Similar to Alex Haley’s Roots: The Saga of an American Family, Frazier chronicled the narrative of her family living in a freedmen’s community in east Texas. The community, known as Dies Community, was a farming hamlet of previously enslaved African Americans who congregated, purchased land, and established their own church, school, and community…
Madeline Singas ’91 was appointed associate judge on the New York State Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state. Other Fordham Law alumni who have served on the court include Chief Judges John T. Loughran (Class of 1911) and R. Albert Conway (1911), as well as Associate Judges Adrian P. Burke (1930) and John F. Scileppi (1925). Singas was confirmed on June 8 after a 37 to 26 vote by the New York State Senate. She was nominated for the position by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on May 25 and will be replacing Judge Leslie Stein, who will…
As Fordham Law School celebrates Pride Month, we spoke with OUTLaws’ chairs Maria Chrysanthem ’22 and Brandon Small ’23 about the organization’s objectives, the challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community in law school and the legal profession, and what’s in store for Pride Month and beyond. Obviously, campus life was anything but typical this past year. What were some of OUTLaw’s objectives and accomplishments during the 2020-21 academic year despite social distancing? MC: It was important to us to find ways to build community in such an isolating time because—at its heart—OUTLaws is an organization that provides resources for LGBTQ+…
Fordham Law School is pleased to announce the addition of four new faculty members. Atinuke “Tinu” Adediran, Julie Chi-hye Suk, and Ilene Strauss will join the full-time faculty starting in the fall semester. John R. Brooks will be in residence starting in the fall and joining the full-time faculty in fall 2022. Ilene Strauss will become the school’s new faculty director of the legal writing and lawyering programs. “We are excited to welcome such a diverse and accomplished group of professors to a faculty that already is considered one of the best in the country,” said Fordham Law Dean Matthew…
The Fordham Law community remembers Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upon his passing on June 9. Judge Katzmann—whose twin brother, Judge Gary Katzmann, is a judge on the Court of International Trade—was born on April 22, 1953 in Manhattan. He grew up in Queens and was a proud graduate of New York City’s public schools. The only federal jurist with both a law degree and a doctorate in political science, Judge Katzmann was appointed to the federal bench in 1999 by President Bill Clinton and served as chief judge from 2013…
In her role as associate dean for academic affairs over the past four years, Linda Sugin has been instrumental in spearheading a number of key strategic initiatives that have transformed the student experience at Fordham Law School. Some of her most notable accomplishments include navigating the pandemic and the move from in-person to virtual learning, launching the Law School’s signature professionalism programs—the peer mentorship program and the 1L house system—and rethinking orientation. As Sugin steps aside as associate dean to pass the baton to Professor Joseph Landau, she will return to full-time teaching while also continuing to lead Fordham Law’s…