Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Name	Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Established	1976
Type	Private
Parent	Yeshiva University
Dean	Fanya Gottesfeld Heller
City	New York City
State	New York (state)
Country	United States
Campus	Urban
Website	Official website

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Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is a private law school in New York City affiliated with Yeshiva University. Named for jurist Benjamin N. Cardozo, the school is known for programs in intellectual property, alternative dispute resolution, and clinical training, and it has produced alumni active in courts such as the United States Supreme Court, the New York Court of Appeals, and federal trial courts.

History

Cardozo was founded in 1976 during the administration of Harry G. Friedman at Yeshiva University with influence from jurists including Benjamin N. Cardozo and leaders in New York City legal circles. Early development involved collaboration with legal figures connected to Cardozo's opinions, ties to institutions like Columbia Law School and New York University School of Law, and engagement with civic leaders from Manhattan and Brooklyn. During the 1980s and 1990s Cardozo expanded programs influenced by faculty who had backgrounds at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Stanford Law School, and legal practitioners from firms such as Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. The 2000s brought emphasis on intellectual property and dispute resolution with connections to courts including the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and agencies like the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Cardozo’s history intersects with landmark events involving the Civil Rights Movement, legal responses to the September 11 attacks, and debates over federal jurisprudence exemplified by cases adjudicated in the Southern District of New York.

The Cardozo campus is located in the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan near institutions such as New York University, The New School, and cultural venues like Lincoln Center. Facilities include moot courtrooms used by teams competing in competitions run by organizations such as the American Bar Association, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Library resources integrate collections curated alongside repositories like the New York Public Library and databases used by practitioners at firms like Debevoise & Plimpton and judges on tribunals such as the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The building hosts centers that collaborate with entities including the Brookings Institution, the American Arbitration Association, and nonprofits like Human Rights Watch.

Cardozo offers the Juris Doctor degree and advanced degrees that attract applicants with backgrounds from universities such as Princeton University, Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Cornell University, Duke University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, and Yale University. Specializations include programs linked to intellectual property law practice with faculty who have clerked for judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and contributed to scholarship cited by the United States Supreme Court. Other concentrations connect to dispute resolution with ties to practitioners from Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and public interest law with collaborations involving American Civil Liberties Union and Legal Aid Society. Cardozo participates in externship placements with offices like the Manhattan District Attorney and agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Clinical offerings include clinics modeled on practice at venues like the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the New York State Office of Court Administration, and international tribunals such as the International Criminal Court. Clinics have placed students with litigators from firms like Baker McKenzie and with advocates from organizations such as Southern Poverty Law Center, Public Citizen, and ACLU. The school’s dispute-resolution programs send teams to competitions sponsored by the American Arbitration Association and the International Bar Association, and its moot court teams have competed in events organized by the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition and the International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition.

Admissions draw applicants who previously attended institutions including City College of New York, Baruch College, Fordham University, St. John’s University, Columbia College, Barnard College, Hunter College, and international universities such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Toronto, McGill University, and Tel Aviv University. The student body includes participants in journals and organizations connected to entities like the American Bankruptcy Institute, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, and advocacy groups such as NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Bar passage and placement metrics are compared with statistics from the New York State Bar, national surveys by the American Bar Association, and reports used by legal employers including Jones Day and Latham & Watkins.

Faculty have included scholars with prior appointments at University of Pennsylvania Law School, George Washington University Law School, Vanderbilt University Law School, Boston University School of Law, Fordham University School of Law, and visiting professors from institutions like Columbia Law School and Yale Law School. Research centers collaborate with policy analysts at think tanks such as the Brennan Center for Justice, the Hoover Institution, and the Cato Institute, and publish work cited in courts including the New York Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. Faculty scholarship spans intellectual property, criminal justice reform linked to groups like the Sentencing Project, health law with connections to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and international law engaging with the United Nations.

Category:Law schools in New York City