New York Law School


New York Law School is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program.
New York Law School's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include Edward A. Purcell Jr., an authority on the history of the United States Supreme Court, and Nadine Strossen, constitutional law expert and president of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1991 to 2008.
Prominent NYLS alumni include Maurice R. Greenberg, former Chairman and CEO of American International Group Inc. and current Chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr and Co. Inc.; Charles E. Phillips Jr., CEO of Infor and former President of Oracle; and Judith "Judge Judy" Sheindlin, New York family court judge, author, and television personality. Other past graduates include United States Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan II and Wallace Stevens, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.
According to ABA-required disclosures, 88.2% of the NYLS class of 2015 had obtained employment 10 months after graduation, and 69% of the 2015 class had obtained long-term, full-time JD-required or JD-Advantage employment.

History

Early years

On June 11, 1891, New York Law School was chartered by the State of New York, and the school began operation shortly thereafter. By this time, Theodore Dwight was in poor health, and was not able to be actively involved with the law school, so the position of dean went to one of the other professors from Columbia Law School, George Chase. New York Law School held its first classes on October 1, 1891, in the Equitable Building at 120 Broadway, in Lower Manhattan's Financial District.
In 1892, after only a year in operation, it was the second-largest law school in the United States. Steady increases in enrollment caused the law school to acquire new facilities in 1899, at 35 Nassau Street, only blocks away from the law school's previous location; and by 1904, the law school had become the largest law school in the United States. Continuous growth led the law school to acquire a building of its own in 1908, at 172 Fulton Street, in the Financial District. New York Law School would remain at this site until 1918, when it closed briefly for World War I.

Interwar period

When New York Law School reopened in 1919, it was located in another building at 215 West 23rd Street, in Midtown. However, George Chase contracted an illness that resulted in him running New York Law School for the last three years of his life from his bed; he died in 1924. New York Law School continued without Chase, seeing its enrollment peak in the mid-1920s, but it saw a steady decline after that. At the onset of the Great Depression, the law school began seeing a serious decline in enrollment, which forced the law school to accept a much lower quality of students than they had previously accepted. With much fewer and poorer performing students, the law school moved to smaller facilities at 253 Broadway, just opposite City Hall. In 1936, the law school moved to another location at 63 Park Row, on the opposite side of City Hall Park; it also became coeducational that same year. However, as enrollment was still declining, both because of the Great Depression and because of the military draft started in 1940, and the school closed in 1941. The remaining students that were still enrolled finished their studies at St. John's University School of Law, in Brooklyn.

Reopening

After reopening in 1947, the law school started a new program that was influenced by a committee of alumni headed by New York State Supreme Court Justice Albert Cohn. The law school resumed operations in a building at 244 William Street. In 1954, New York Law School was accredited by the American Bar Association, and in 1962, moved to facilities at 57 Worth Street, in Tribeca.

Renaissance

In 1973, E. Donald Shapiro became the dean of the law school, and reformed the curriculum, expanding it to include many more classes to train students for more than simply passing the Bar Examination. These reforms, combined with the addition of new Joint Degree Programs with City College of New York in 1975 and Manhattanville College in 1978, helped the law school to recruit new students. Dean Shapiro's reform of the curriculum was behind New York Law School gaining membership to the Association of American Law Schools in 1974. That year, the New York State Department of Education changed its view of the law school, which in 1973 it had criticized in a report as the worst school in the state, proclaiming that the law school had started to undergo a "renaissance."
The buildings of the law school underwent renovation during the leadership of Dean James F. Simon, from 1983 to 1992. Under Simon's successor, Dean Harry H. Wellington, who served in that position until 2000, the curriculum was revised to put greater emphasis on the practical skills of a professional attorney.

21st century

In late June 2006, under the leadership of Dean Richard A. Matasar, New York Law School sold its Bernard H. Mendik building at 240 Church Street. This sale enabled the school to move forward with the sale of $135 million in insured bonds, which were issued through the New York City Industrial Development Agency. The school's securities were given an A3 credit rating by Moody's and an A-minus rating by S&P, both reflective of the school's stable market position and solid financial condition. The proceeds from the building sale have been allocated to the school's endowment, which is now among the top 10 of all American law schools.
The law school opened its first dormitory in the East Village in 2005, and in August 2006, it broke ground on the $190 million expansion and renovation program that transformed its TriBeCa campus into a cohesive architectural complex that nearly doubled the school's current size. The centerpiece of the expansion is a new glass-enclosed,, nine-level building—five stories above ground and four below, which integrates the law school's existing buildings. The new facility opened in July 2009, followed by the complete renovation of the law school's existing buildings in the spring of 2010.
On December 16, 2008, in connection with the Bernard Madoff scandal, New York Law School filed a lawsuit against J. Ezra Merkin, Ascot Partners, and Merkin's auditor BDO Seidman, LLP, after losing its $3 million investment in Ascot. The lawsuit charged Merkin with recklessness, gross negligence and breach of fiduciary duties.
In May 2012, Anthony W. Crowell became the 16th Dean and President of New York Law School. In 2012, Crowell launched JumpStart, an incentive program for NYLS students who undertake bar prep classes. Following the creation of the JumpStart program, NYLS' bar passage rate registered the highest increase of all NY law schools from 2012 to 2013. In February 2013, NYLS launched a public service scholarship program, which extends full and partial tuition scholarships to city, state, and federal service members and public servants living in New York City. In April 2013, New York Law School announced an expansion of its clinical and experiential learning programs, doubling the number offered from 13 to 26.
On September 5, 2013, New York Law School announced the creation of a two-year J.D. Honors program, slated to begin in January 2015. The program allows selected students to complete their law degree one year faster at two-thirds of the cost of a traditional three-year J.D. program. Each honors student also receives a $50,000 academic scholarship. The inaugural class of 2015 had 23 honors students selected from 166 applicants. In October 2013, in recognition of the two-year program and other innovations, Crain's New York Business included Dean Crowell in its list of "People to Watch in Higher Education."
In April 2015, NYLS announced a partnership with the University of Rochester's Simon Business School, enabling the business school to move its New York City center to the NYLS campus in Tribeca. The agreement enables both institutions to capitalize on different schedules and to collaborate on shared programs to serve their respective students and alumni. The arrangement created the only co-located law school and business school under one roof in New York City.
NYLS opened the Innovation Center for Law and Technology in August 2015. The Innovation Center prepares NYLS students for careers in the science, media, and technology industries. It offers specific instruction in fields including intellectual property, sports law, entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, fashion law, and privacy. The center is directed by professor Ari Ezra Waldman.
In November 2015, NYLS announced the creation of The Joe Plumeri Center for Social Justice and Economic Opportunity. Supported by a $5 million gift from businessman Joe Plumeri, the Center houses NYLS' more than twenty legal clinics, provides hands-on legal training for students, and provides free legal services to clients through NYLS' law firm.
Government leaders and judges from the United States often speak at or visit the law school. These have included former President Jimmy Carter; Justices of the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan Jr., Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Sandra Day O'Connor; former New York State Governor Mario Cuomo; former New York City Mayors Edward Koch, David Dinkins, Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg; Drew S. Days III, U.S. Solicitor General; Thomas Pickering, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; and Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo of the International Criminal Court. In May 2011, Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker gave the commencement address. In October 2011, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke. In March 2012, then-U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, now Secretary of State John Kerry gave the 2012 Sidney Shainwald Public Interest Lecture.

Rankings and reputation

Costs

The estimated total cost of attendance at New York Law School for the 2015-2016 academic year is $72,903. The cost of tuition itself for 3-year students has not been increased between 2013-2014 and 2015-2016.
According to U.S. News & World Report, the average indebtedness of 2015 NYLS students who incurred law school debt was $161,910, and 80% of 2015 graduates took on debt. According to the same source, the average indebtedness of 2013 graduates who incurred law school debt was $164,739, and 84% of 2013 graduates took on debt.

Rankings

General
The 2017 edition of U.S. News and World Report, released in March 2016, ranked New York Law School at #111 in its list of U.S. law schools up 16 spots from the prior year. That edition recognized the School for its clinical programs, part-time evening division, and diversity. Currently, U.S. News and World Report ranks NYLS #117 in its 2019 U.S. law school rankings. NYLS is tied with the University of St. Thomas, Texas Tech University, Gonzaga University, and Creighton University.
Specialty
Miscellaneous
New York Law School has three divisions:
It offers the following degrees:
NYLS' main campus is located at 185 West Broadway in Tribeca, New York. The new wing of the campus opened in 2009, featuring classrooms, the law library, and collaboration and event spaces. The modern, 235,000 square foot facility was designed by Smith Group and BKSK Architects and is the first large-scale building to be completed in downtown Manhattan after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The University of Rochester's New York City center for its Simon School of Business is co-located at the NYLS facility, using class and meeting space primarily on weekends as part of a collaborative arrangement between the two academic institutions.
NYLS provides student housing in connection with Educational Housing Services, a nonprofit organization that specializes in providing New York City student housing. The shared residence hall is located in St. George Towers in the nearby neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights.

Academic centers

The faculty has established seven academic centers which provide specialized study and offer opportunities for exchange between the students, faculty, and expert practitioners. These seven academic centers engage many students in advanced research through the John Marshall Harlan Scholars Program, an academic honors program designed for students with the strongest academic credentials. Harlan Scholars affiliate with a center to focus on a particular field of study and complement the broader legal curriculum of the J.D. program.
;Center for Business and Financial Law
The Center for Business and Financial Law provides students with skills training in all aspects of corporate, commercial, and financial law. Through courses, events, projects, and research, the Center brings together academics, practitioners, and students to address the challenges that animate business and finance.
;C.V. Starr Center for International Law
New York Law School, aided by a grant from the C.V. Starr Foundation, created the C.V. Starr Center for International Law. The Center supports teaching and research in all areas of international law but concentrates on the law of international trade and finance, deriving much of its strength from interaction with New York's business, commercial, financial, and legal communities. The Center organizes symposia events to engage students and faculty in discussions with experts and practitioners in the field. For professional development, the Center offers resources for studying and researching careers in international law.
The Center publishes an academic newsletter. The International Review is the only academic newsletter published by an ABA-accredited law school that reports on a broad range of contemporary international and comparative law issues.
;Center for New York City Law
The Center for New York City Law was founded to gather and disseminate information about New York City's laws, rules, and procedures; to sponsor publications, symposia, and conferences on topics related to governing the city; and to suggest reforms to make city government more effective and efficient. The Center's bimonthly publication, City Law, tracks New York City's rules and regulations, how they are enforced, and court challenges to them. Its Web site, Center for New York City Law, contains a searchable library of more than 40,000 administrative decisions of New York City agencies. The Center publishes three newsletters: CityLaw, CityLand and CityReg.
;Center for Real Estate Studies
The Center for Real Estate Studies at New York Law School provides students with an opportunity to study both the private practice and public regulation of real estate. Launched in 2007, the Center offers an extensive selection of classroom
courses, advanced seminars, and independent study projects, as well as externships in governmental offices and real estate
firms. It also sponsors conferences, symposia, and continuing legal education programs on a broad spectrum of issues.
;Impact Center for Public Interest Law
The Impact Center for Public Interest Law is the Center housing all of the law school's public interest work. The Impact Center's initiatives address topics such as housing, racial justice, voting rights, public school education, family law, immigration, and criminal justice. The Center develops student and faculty opportunities in public interest law - amicus brief writing, legislative analysis and advocacy, policy research, and community education and litigation - as well as connections within the larger public interest community.
In 2014, the School's Justice Action Center was relaunched as the Impact Center for Public Interest Law. Ever since New York Law School alumnus Senator Robert F. Wagner—the "legislative pilot of the New Deal"—wrote and led the fight to enact the National Labor Relations Act, New York Law School has led on labor and employment law and public policy. In the tradition of Senator Wagner, New York Law School's Impact Center seeks to advance and influence law and public policy with an action-oriented, public-interested agenda.
Innovation Center for Law and Technology
The Innovation Center, opened in August 2015, prepares NYLS students for careers in the applied sciences, media, and technology industries. It offers specific instruction in fields including intellectual property, sports law, entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, fashion law, and privacy. The center is directed by professor Ari Ezra Waldman.
Joe Plumeri Center for Social Justice and Economic Opportunity
The creation of the Joe Plumeri Center was first announced in November 2015. Supported by a $5 million gift from businessman Joe Plumeri, the Center will house NYLS' more than twenty legal clinics, provide hands-on legal training for students, and provide free legal services to clients through NYLS' law firm.

Alumni employment

According to ABA-required disclosures, 88.2% of the NYLS class of 2015 had obtained employment 10 months after graduation, and 69% of the 2015 class had obtained long-term, full-time JD-required or JD-Advantage employment. 43% of NYLS' Class of 2014 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. New York Law School's 2014 Law School Transparency under-employment score was 23.4%, a decrease of 8.3% from 2013.
According to New York Law School's official 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 44% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. New York Law School's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 31.7%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2013 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.

Notable faculty

Former

;Present full-time
;Present adjunct

Academic