The Fordham Law community is mourning the death of Honorable Deborah A. Batts, the Law School’s first African American faculty member and a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Batts passed away in her sleep on February 3, 2020, at the age of 72. She is survived by her wife, Dr. Gwen Zornberg, and her children, James and Alexandra McCown. “Judge Batts was a beloved member of our community and will be greatly missed. We are grateful to her for her brilliance, passion and friendship. As the first African American to receive tenure at Fordham Law…
Author: Erin DeGregorio
The basics of job hunting—doing your research, polishing your resume, and perfecting your pitch—are critical for any law student embarking on a career search, but international law students often face additional challenges breaking into the American legal profession. Throughout the year, Fordham Law School provides a wide range of services and support to help international students enrolled in the LL.M. program prepare to enter the workforce. To help students acclimate to the job hunting process in the United States, Fordham Law recently hosted its 4th Annual International Affinity Group Mock Interview Program and Reception on Jan. 27. At the workshop,…
Forty-seven years ago, five burglars were caught wiretapping phones and attempting to photograph top-secret documents from the Democratic National Committee’s Watergate headquarters. The White House initially denied any involvement in the break-in, but later was found to have paid “hush money” to the co-conspirators. President Richard Nixon resigned, rather than be impeached by the House Judiciary Committee, which already voted on three articles of impeachment against him. In a conversation titled “U.S. v. Nixon at 45,” Philip Allen Lacovara, Esq., spoke with America magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Matthew F. Malone, S.J. about his involvement in the landmark Supreme Court case. America Media…
The 35th Annual Metropolitan MENTOR Moot Court Competition, which started off with 740 students from 36 New York City public high schools, narrowed to the 12 best teams in its quarterfinals. The quarterfinal rounds took place on Nov. 25 at Fordham Law School. Fordham Law has partnered with the Justice Resource Center to provide this unique opportunity for the last four decades. The partnership was launched by Norris Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus John D. Feerick ’61, after being approached by former Federal Bar Council President Tom Evans. The program helps high school students get more acquainted with the…
With more than 50 cases on the docket, including blockbuster cases involving everything from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to New Jersey’s “Bridgegate” scandal, the 2019-2020 U.S. Supreme Court Term promises to be significant. On Nov. 20, Fordham Law School faculty members presented their predictions in a panel titled, “Highlights of the Upcoming Supreme Court Term.” The event was organized by Leonard F. Manning Professor of Law Abner Greene and was co-sponsored by Fordham Law’s American Constitution Society and Federalist Society student chapters. Title VII Professor Tracy Higgins reviewed three separate cases, argued in October 2019, dealing with Title…
The New York Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Fordham Law School held a conference on Nov. 1 that focused on fraudulent and manipulative schemes that target victims based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, and other associations. Paul Radvany, director of Fordham Law’s Securities Litigation and Arbitration Clinic, helped coordinate the conference. Panels featured fraud victims, who shared their stories and experiences, and officials from federal and New Jersey agencies charged with enforcing anti-fraud laws. Participants from the SEC, Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), North American…
“Cuomo Prime Time” host Chris Cuomo ’95 recently spoke with students in Fordham Law’s Democracy and the Constitution Clinic about the clinic’s projects and how to effectively communicate about legal reform to a general audience. Cuomo drew on his experience as a practicing lawyer and two decades as a television journalist to respond to the students’ questions—and ask some questions of his own. The CNN anchor gave the students a sense of what it’s like in the hot seat on his show by peppering them with questions about the reform proposals they’re developing. Advancing proposals to strengthen the nation’s institutions…
As apps, websites, and private companies collect, track, and store user data, thorny issues have emerged in balancing privacy considerations and the preservations of legal rights against the benefit of services rendered. On Oct. 25, the Fordham University School of Law Urban Law Journal hosted the 11th Annual Cooper-Walsh Colloquium, a forum for top thinkers in multiple disciplines to exchange their analyses of legal, economic, and social issues that affect urban areas. This year’s colloquium, titled “Urban Intelligence and the Emerging City,” was comprised of a series of panels on the evolution of urban intelligence and its interplay with public…
On Oct. 17, the Fordham Compliance Programs and Corporate Law Center hosted a talk by New York Times best-selling author Tom Mueller on his latest book, Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in an Age of Fraud. Robert Mascola, senior director of compliance programs at Fordham Law, moderated the event, which was sponsored by the Forensic Risk Alliance. Mueller’s book is a collection of stories about brave individuals who took action against wrongdoing in their institutions. Elin Baklid-Kunz, a medical coding compliance expert profiled in the book, shared the stage to offer her personal insights as a whistleblower. Mueller explained that Crisis…
Third-year law students from the Brendan Moore Trial Advocacy Center have set the bar high in this season’s noteworthy trial competitions. Fordham Law won first place at the Queens District Attorney’s National Trial Competition that concluded on Oct. 20. Team members Michael Chubinsky ’20, Andrew Kim ’20, Paige Mainkin ’20, and Sarah Stein ’20 were coached by Kate Flatley ’15 and Johnny Johnsen ’16. They defeated 15 other teams, including Pace, Rutgers, St. John’s, Hofstra, and Touro. “What I loved about that group was their teamwork. As soon as the judge recessed before closing arguments, all four students immediately huddled…