City University of New York School of Law

City University of New York School of Law
Name	City University of New York School of Law
Established	1983
Type	Public law school
Parent	City University of New York
Location	Long Island City, Queens, New York City, New York, United States
Dean	Patricia E. Salkin
Students	~350 (approx.)
Faculty	~60
Campus	Urban

City University of New York School of Law is a public law school located in Long Island City, Queens, within New York City, offering Juris Doctor and advanced legal degrees with an emphasis on public interest law and clinical education. The school was established through a consortium of civic and legal organizations and operates as part of the City University of New York system while engaging with New York State institutions, nonprofit organizations, and federal agencies. Its mission has focused on access to justice, civil rights, and legislative and regulatory advocacy across municipal, state, and national arenas.

History

The law school was founded in 1983 through a collaboration among the City University of New York, the New York State Assembly, the New York City Council, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Legal Aid Society, and private benefactors. Early advocates included figures associated with the New York State Bar Association, the New York City Bar Association, and leaders from the Urban League and the NAACP who sought an institution emphasizing public service and clinical training. During the 1980s and 1990s the school engaged with litigators from the United States Department of Justice, attorneys from the Federal Communications Commission, prosecutors from the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and judges from the New York Court of Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Throughout the 2000s the school expanded clinical offerings and partnerships with entities such as the American Bar Association, the Legal Services Corporation, and the Association of American Law Schools. The institution has weathered shifts in higher education funding, interacting with the New York State Legislature, the Governor of New York, and municipal authorities on accreditation, facilities, and public funding.

Campus and Facilities

Located in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, New York, the law school occupies an urban facility near landmarks including the Citigroup Building (Queens Plaza), the Queensboro Bridge, and the Gantry Plaza State Park. The campus houses moot courtrooms modeled on spaces used by the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division. Library resources include collections comparable to holdings used by researchers at the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, and the New York Law Institute. The building hosts centers named for partnerships with the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, as well as offices cooperating with the New York Immigration Coalition and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Academics and Programs

The law school awards the Juris Doctor and offers joint degrees and certificates in collaboration with institutions such as the CUNY Graduate Center, the Hunter College, and the Brooklyn College. Curricular emphases include courses addressing topics litigated in venues like the United States Supreme Court, the Second Circuit, and the New York Court of Appeals, and statutory frameworks such as the New York State Human Rights Law, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Electives cover practice areas frequently central to public-interest litigation, including matters appearing before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The school maintains externship relationships with the New York City Law Department, the Bronx Defenders, the Legal Aid Society, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU Immigrant Rights Project, and municipal agencies such as the New York City Department of Education.

Clinics and Clinical Legal Education

Clinical programs provide experiential training through clinics that have represented clients in matters before the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the New York State Division of Human Rights, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and administrative hearings at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Major clinics include civil litigation clinics engaging with issues litigated by the Veterans Legal Services Clinic and advocacy projects resembling casework from the National Immigration Law Center and the Children's Defense Fund. The school’s transactional clinics have worked with community development entities akin to the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and collaborated with housing advocates connected to the Metropolitan Council on Housing and the Coalition for the Homeless.

Admissions and Student Body

Admissions criteria reflect nationwide trends observed by organizations such as the Law School Admission Council and the American Bar Association, with applicants submitting credentials through the LSAC and seating bar review patterns influenced by administrations of the New York State Board of Law Examiners. The student body draws from boroughs across New York City, neighboring states such as New Jersey and Connecticut, and international jurisdictions including Dominican Republic, China, and Nigeria. Student groups engage with externships at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, public defense offices like the Queens Defenders, and nonprofit actors including the Legal Aid Society and the City Bar Justice Center.

Faculty and Administration

Faculty have included scholars and practitioners with backgrounds in institutions such as the New York University School of Law, the Columbia Law School, the Fordham University School of Law, the Harvard Law School, and the Yale Law School. Administrators have liaised with governmental and nonprofit actors including the New York State Attorney General, the United States Department of Education, and philanthropic bodies like the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Visiting professors and adjuncts have come from offices such as the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor’s chambers when she served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and policy organizations including the Brennan Center for Justice and the Urban Institute.

Notable Alumni and Impact

Alumni have served as judges on the New York Supreme Court, legislators in the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate, and attorneys in government roles at the United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Graduates have led nonprofit organizations such as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Immigration Law Center, and the Legal Aid Society, and have argued cases before the United States Supreme Court, the Second Circuit, and the New York Court of Appeals. The school’s impact includes contributions to litigation and policy on issues involving the Fair Housing Act, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Affordable Care Act, and immigration litigation parallel to matters litigated by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and the American Immigration Council.

Category:Law schools in New York City