Fordham University School of Law

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Fordham University School of Law
Fordham University seal
Latin: Universitas Fordhamensis
Motto	Latin: Sapientia et Doctrina
Motto in English	Wisdom and Learning
Established	1905
Type	Private, Independent,[1]
Religious affiliation	Catholic, Jesuit
President	Rev. Joseph M. McShane S.J.
Dean	William Treanor
Postgraduates	1,500
Location	New York City, New York, United States of America
Campus	Lincoln Center (Manhattan): Urban, 8 acres (32,000 m2)
Colors	Maroon and White
Nickname	The Rams
Mascot	Ram
Website	http://law.fordham.edu

Fordham Law atrium viewed from Lowenstein Plaza

Fordham Law School

Leo T. Kissam Memorial Law Library at Fordham Law School

On behalf of Fordham, Dean Treanor (right) bestowed upon civil rights pioneer Judge Robert L. Carter (left) a rare honorary juris doctor.

Fordham Law atrium, interior

Robert Moses Plaza, adjacent to the law school. New York's "Master Builder" was instrumental in obtaining the land for the Lincoln Center campus.

Fordham University School of Law (commonly known as Fordham Law or Fordham Law School) is a part of Fordham University in the United States. The School is located in the Borough of Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city.

Overview

According to the U.S. News & World Report, 1,516 J.D. students attend Fordham Law.^[2] There are 1,170 are in the Day Division and the rest attend the Evening Division. Fordham Law also offers Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees in the following specializations: Banking, Corporate, & Finance Law; International Business & Trade Law; Intellectual Property & Information Technology Law; and International Law & Justice.^[3] Joint degrees are also offered in conjunction with Fordham's other graduate schools, including J.D./M.A. in International Political Economy and Development; J.D./M.B.A.; and J.D./M.S.W.. William Treanor became the ninth dean of Fordham Law School in 2002, succeeding John Feerick.

Founded in 1905, Fordham Law commemorated its Centennial during the 2005-2006 academic year, and capped the year-long celebration with an alumni gala on Ellis Island on September 28, the school's official birthday. The school used the occasion of its Centennial to launch a new fundraising drive in 2005, and in just one year has raised more than $10 million thanks in large part to the more than 100 "Centennial Founders" who each contributed $100,000 or more. As of February 2006, Fordham has met 71% of its Centennial goal of 100,000 hours of collective community service from students, faculty, administrators, and alumni.^[4]

Statistics

According to US News and World Report, Fordham Law is a top-tier law school, ranked 30th nationally in 2009.^[5] It is the highest-ranked law school in New York state with an evening program, which U.S. News ranked 3rd in the nation its first-ever ranking of such programs. Additionally, three specialty programs were nationally ranked: Dispute Resolution, 10th; Clinical Training, 12th, and Intellectual Property, 18th.^[6]

According to the 2006 AmLaw 100 database from the American Lawyer, Fordham is 9th in placement of graduates into the top 50 firms, 8th in placement for the top 25 firms, and 9th for the top ten firms.^[7]

Campus

Originally located in New York's downtown Financial District, Fordham Law is currently located on the West Side of Manhattan, as part of Fordham University's Lincoln Center campus. The main law school building is named for Benjamin A. Javits (LL.B 1918), brother of Jacob K. Javits. In 1984, the Ned Doyle Building (actually only a new wing) was added. Fordham Law also rents space at 33 West 60th Street, across Columbus Avenue from its main building, for some faculty offices, its law clinic, and administrative offices for the Crowley Program, Admissions, and Financial Aid.

As part of the university's Lincoln Center Master Plan, unveiled in 2005,^[8] a new law school building will be completed some time around 2011.^[9] The new law school building is part of the university's Phase 1 redevelopment of its Lincoln Center Campus.^[10]

Academics

Legal writing program

In addition to a traditional J.D. curriculum, Fordham offers an extensive legal writing program, with many course offerings beyond the first year. All legal writing courses are taught by distinguished practitioners serving as adjunct professors. Last year's adjuncts included a federal judge, several attorneys in high positions in government service, and many partners in large New York firms.

Clinical education

The Clinical education program at Fordham Law is ranked 12th nationally by U.S. News & World Report in its 2010 edition of America's Best Graduate Schools.^[11] At Fordham, Clinical education is available but not required. Students are selected for clinics via a competitive application process. Fordham students have an opportunity to enroll in clinics following their first year, and after taking the Fundamental Lawyering Skills course. In Fall 2009, 11 clinics will be offered:^[12]

• Community Economic Development
• Criminal Defense
• Family Advocacy
• Federal Litigation
• International Human Rights
• Mediation
• Intellectual Property and Information Law
• Securities Arbitration
• Social Justice
• Tax and Consumer Litigation
• Urban Policy

Fordham's clinics represent clients as "Lincoln Square Legal Services."

Crowley Program in International Human Rights

The Crowley Program in International Human Rights, named after the late Professor Joseph R. Crowley, was founded in 1997. It is a highly selective program of study in international human rights law undertaken in the 2L year, culminating in a two-week overseas fact-finding mission in the summer. Students in the program are known as Crowley Scholars. In the fall semester, Crowley Scholars are required to take International Human Rights, a survey course, and are encouraged to take other human rights/international law courses. In the spring, Crowley Scholars take a seminar to prepare them for the summer fact-finding mission. Following the mission, Crowley Scholars assist in writing the mission report, which is later published in the Fordham International Law Journal. The program is overseen by in part by a Crowley Fellow, who serves a one-year adjunct professorship.

Student publications

Students at Fordham Law publish six law journals. In order of their founding, they are:

• Fordham Law Review
  • It is the 14th-most cited (of 1064) American law journals surveyed, according to a recent study by Washington & Lee University.^[13]
• Fordham Urban Law Journal
  • Ranked 44th-most cited American law journal.
• Fordham International Law Journal
  • Ranked 69th-most cited American law journal.
• Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal
  • Ranked 174th-most cited American law journal.
• Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law
  • Ranked 313th-most cited American law journal.
  • An article published in this journal was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States, 544 U.S. 696 (2005).^[14]
  • Originally called the Fordham Finance, Securities & Tax Law Forum.
• Fordham Environmental Law Review
  • Ranked 461th-most cited American law journal.

^[15]

Public Interest Resource Center

Fordham's Public Interest Resource Center (PIRC) serves as the clearinghouse for student community service and pro bono work, and hosts 19 student-run organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, Unemployment Action Center, Just Democracy, and others. PIRC earned Fordham Law the American Bar Association's 2008 Pro Bono Publico Award, making Fordham Law only the second university winner in the award's history.^[16]

Stein Scholars

The PIRC also runs the competitive Stein Scholars Program in Public Interest Law and Ethics, in which selected students train for a career in the public sphere and receive funding for doing unpaid public interest work. The program is sponsored by the Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics, which counts among its Board of Advisors several influential people, including Geraldine Ferraro '60, three sitting judges, and others.

Notable alumni

Fordham Law in popular culture

• The main character in Christopher Buckley's novel Supreme Courtship is a Fordham Law alumna. The Fordham Law dean and two faculty members volunteered as editorial consultants and reviewed early drafts of the the book; they were Dean William Michael Treanor, and Thane Rosenbaum and Ben Zipursky.
• George Clooney's title character in the film Michael Clayton (2007) is a graduate of Fordham Law.
• The father in the movie Little Manhattan wears a Fordham Law t-shirt.
• In the Robert DeNiro film, The Good Shepherd, John Turturro plays a CIA operative who is a graduate of Fordham Law.
• The film Rounders was written by two Fordham Law alumni and the fictional law school in the film was intended to have the look and feel of Fordham Law. Several Fordham-specific references are also made in the film (Mulligan Moot Competition).
• Frank Rossitano, a character on the NBC show 30 Rock, attended Fordham Law for a semester, but had to drop out when his mother became ill.

See also

• Law school in the United States
• List of Fordham University people

References

External links

• Fordham University School of Law
• Fordham University
• Fordham Law Centennial Celebration
• Dean Treanor rings the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in honor of the Centennial, Friday, August 18, 2006