New York University School of Law

New York University School of Law
Peter Brown · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	New York University School of Law
Established	1835
Type	Private
Parent	New York University
City	New York City
State	New York
Country	United States
Degrees	J.D., LL.M., J.S.D., M.S.L.

New York University School of Law is a professional school located in Manhattan offering graduate legal instruction and research. It is affiliated with New York University and is situated in proximity to financial, judicial, and cultural institutions that shape practice and scholarship. The school is known for its influence on litigation, public policy, corporate law, and international law through alumni and faculty who have served in courts, government, and private practice.

History

The law school traces antecedents to the founding of New York University and early 19th-century legal instruction in New York City, emerging alongside institutions such as Columbia University and Harvard University as American legal education professionalized. During the 19th century the school developed in the milieu of figures like Daniel Webster, John Marshall, and contemporaneous legal reforms tied to the New York State Constitution and commercial growth on Wall Street. In the 20th century the school expanded amid legal transformations influenced by events including the New Deal, the World War II mobilization, and civil rights milestones such as the Brown v. Board of Education litigation. Postwar growth intersected with the emergence of regulatory frameworks exemplified by the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the expansion of international institutions like the United Nations, which shaped clinic and international law offerings. Recent decades have seen curricular and infrastructure investments comparable to trends at Yale Law School, Stanford Law School, University of Chicago Law School, and Georgetown University Law Center.

Campus and Facilities

The law school's facilities are located in Greenwich Village near Washington Square Park, adjacent to central nodes like Broadway (Manhattan), Fifth Avenue, and judicial centers including the New York County Courthouse. Its buildings house moot courtrooms used in competitions such as the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition and the National Moot Court Competition, alongside libraries that collect materials comparable to holdings at the Library of Congress and specialized collections aligned with repositories like the United States Supreme Court archives. The campus incorporates clinics and centers with offices proximate to institutions such as the World Bank, the International Criminal Court in The Hague (via visiting programs), and local nonprofit partners including Legal Aid Society and ACLU. Facilities support centers for arbitration and dispute resolution partnering with organizations like the American Arbitration Association and law firms on Broad Street.

Academics and Programs

The school offers degree programs with curricular emphases paralleling offerings at Oxford University, Cambridge University, and Sorbonne University—including a three-year professional degree akin to the Jurist Doctor model, specialized LL.M. tracks, and doctoral research degrees. Programmatic strengths include concentrations in Corporate Law with coursework on rules administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission and case law following United States v. Newman, international and comparative law engaging actors like the World Trade Organization and the International Court of Justice, and public interest law connected with litigants such as NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and American Civil Liberties Union. Clinical offerings mirror practicum models seen at Harvard Clinical Program and include appellate litigation, civil rights, tax controversy with reference to the Internal Revenue Service, and human rights projects tied to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Joint-degree pathways link with professional schools such as NYU Stern School of Business, NYU School of Medicine, and NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Admissions and Financial Aid

Admissions metrics are competitive, drawing applicants from institutions like Princeton University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and international universities including University of Toronto and University of Melbourne. The school affords merit scholarships and need-based assistance, supplemented by loan repayment assistance programs in partnership with public-sector employers such as the United States Department of Justice and nonprofit organizations like Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Financial aid counseling references federal programs administered by the United States Department of Education and professional scholarship sources including private foundations such as the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Faculty and Research Centers

Faculty have included scholars and practitioners with affiliations to appellate and trial courts including the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the United States Supreme Court, as well as leaders who have served in executive roles at agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and international bodies like the International Monetary Fund. Research centers and institutes host interdisciplinary work on subjects linked to partners such as the Brookings Institution, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Centers focus on taxation (engaging the Internal Revenue Service), constitutional law with ties to litigation at the Supreme Court of the United States, human rights work in collaboration with Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and entrepreneurship programs linked to incubators and venture capital firms on Silicon Alley.

Student Life and Organizations

Student organizations span competitive and service-oriented activities with chapters of national groups such as the Federalist Society, the National Lawyers Guild, and moot court teams participating in competitions like the Jessup Competition and the Vis Moot. Journals and reviews comparable to the Harvard Law Review and the Yale Law Journal publish student-edited scholarship, while pro bono clinics partner with clinics at institutions such as the Legal Aid Society and advocacy groups including Lambda Legal. Career services coordinate recruitment with law firms on Lexington Avenue and employers including the Federal Public Defender, corporate legal departments at firms like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, and international organizations including the United Nations Development Programme.

Notable Alumni and Employment Outcomes

Alumni have held positions as judges on courts such as the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, seats on the United States Supreme Court, executive roles at agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve, and leadership in firms like Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Graduates have become public officials in cabinets modeled after appointments to the United States Department of State and legislative careers in bodies such as the United States Senate and the New York State Assembly. Employment outcomes reflect placement into judicial clerkships with judges on the United States Court of Appeals and trial courts, positions in multinational law firms, and public interest careers with organizations including ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center.

Category:Law schools in New York City