As we welcome new and returning students back to campus, preLaw magazine is sharing news about top law schools and standout programs in their back-to-school feature. New York Law School is proud to be named as a top school in areas of technology law, child and family law, and human rights law.
A Tech Law Leader
preLaw magazine has recognized NYLS one of the top 20 schools in technology law. The magazine highlights recent successes of students in the Patent Law Clinic, who had the opportunity to work with inventors and innovators and help them obtain U.S. patents for their inventions. The annual Tribeca Cybersecurity Summit was also in the spotlight, demonstrating the School’s commitment to addressing contemporary legal concerns. Each year, NYLS’s Tricarico Institute for the Business of Law and In-House Counsel brings together in-house counsel and attorneys in private practice to learn about and engage on the pressing issues of defending organizations’ machines, systems, and networks from cyber harm, while also introducing NYLS students to these critical issues.
NYLS professors also actively engage with new technologies, such as generative AI, and how to navigate the benefits and the challenges they present in the legal profession. Joseph Solomon Distinguished Professor Rebecca Roiphe is a member of the New York State Bar Association Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, which examines the legal, social, and ethical impact of artificial intelligence. In addition, Professor Heidi K. Brown, Associate Dean for Upper Level Writing, teaches a new Legal Writing and GenAI course for students and offers additional workshops exploring generative AI technologies throughout the academic year as part of NYLS’s Center for Thinking, Researching, and Writing programming.
Through the School’s Innovation Center for Law and Technology, students benefit from unique programs and skills training that introduce them to a wide variety of career paths at the forefront of law and technology. The Innovation Center, led by Professor Shahrokh (Seve) Falati ’08 and Professor Michael Pastor, brings together practitioners, students, and scholars to create the future of legal practice.
Family Law Excellence
Child and family law has long been an area of strength for NYLS. The magazine awarded the School an “A+” in the practice area, calling special attention to the Family Law Quarterly, which is published in cooperation with the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association and provides students with the opportunity to engage in scholarly research and writing on a national level.
Law students interested in specializing in this practice area can gain real-world experience and engage in a live-client setting through one of the School’s exceptional clinics, such as the Family Law Clinic or the Juvenile Rights Law Clinic. NYLS’s programming promotes greater access to justice, contributes to meaningful legal scholarship, and supports a pipeline of skilled, compassionate family law lawyers. Many of these opportunities for policy research and advocacy, individual client representation, and scholarship are offered through the Diane Abbey Law Institute for Children and Families, part of the School’s Wilf Impact Center for Public Interest Law.
Human Rights Law Champions
Human rights law is another area where NYLS excels, and preLaw magazine gave the School an “A” grade. Students have many opportunities to engage directly with a range of human rights issues through NYLS clinics and programs such as the Asylum Clinic, where students work with refugees from around the world and recently obtained asylum grants for Afghan asylum seekers, or the Civil Rights and Disability Justice Clinic, which recently gained a significant legal victory challenging the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s policies regarding operations of their paratransit service. Law students can also gain practical experience through externships at international human rights organizations with the International Human Rights Field Placement and Seminar.
The School’s Center for International Law organizes lectures, panels, and student projects on current events in human rights law and international law that give students the chance to interact with practitioners in the field and human rights leaders. NYLS also regularly hosts important conferences addressing human rights issues such as the Annual Asylum and Immigration Law Conference, which partners with leading asylum and immigration to conduct trainings on best practices in the field and panels addressing current issues, and the Reclaiming Disability Justice Symposium, which brought together community members, advocates, and activists to discuss the origins and further the goals of disability justice.