Dear NYLS Community,
I write with sadness to report the passing of Trustee Emerita Sybil Shainwald ’76. Sybil was a pioneering women’s health lawyer who graduated from NYLS’s evening division when she was 48 years old. She led a remarkable life, first in consumer advocacy, and then as a lawyer handling leading edge class action litigation. NYLS proudly admitted Sybil at a time when other law schools, as she recounted to me numerous times, would not let her in because of her age at the time—44—citing that she “would take the place of a much younger man who would have a 40 year career.” After graduation, Sybil practiced law for 49 years. She would have turned 97 later this month. Hers was a life that was full and well-lived, and with deep and lasting impact on the law and her clients.
Sybil served on our Board of Trustees for many years, and established scholarship and lecture funds in the name of her late husband. The Annual Sidney Shainwald Lecture brought countless of the most influential jurists, politicians, and practitioners of our time to NYLS, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sandra Day O’Connor, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Chuck Hagel, George Mitchell, and Ken Feinberg. These events were memorable for all.
Sybil was always committed to mentoring our students, particularly women, and providing them employment opportunities. Indeed, she was proud that nearly 65 percent of NYLS’s student body today identifies as women. In addition, she was a loyal supporter of Professor Lenni Benson’s work in immigration law, particularly the Safe Passage Project.
May Sybil rest in peace and may her memory be a blessing.
Dean Crowell
