Dear NYLS Community,
November is a month when we celebrate the power and promise of small businesses. I am proud that NYLS expresses this commitment each and every day through the Plumeri Center for Small Business Empowerment, made possible by the generosity of Joe Plumeri (H ’15).
To these ends, Dean Kim Hawkins, Dean William LaPiana, Dean Matt Gewolb, and I are delighted to formally announce that Associate Professor of Law Jae Hyung Ryu was appointed recently as the Center’s inaugural Director. Professor Ryu will guide the Center’s vision to strengthen the dynamic ecosystem of small businesses—those enterprises that underpin New York City’s and America’s innovation, economic mobility, and community vitality.
Small businesses are the foundation of vibrant neighborhoods, engines of local jobs, and the lifeblood of economic opportunity. At the same time, they face increasingly complex landscapes—from entity-formation choices, regulatory compliance, contract negotiation, and intellectual-property issues to non-legal challenges such as business planning, branding, digital transitions, access to capital, and community-integration. Recognizing this intersection of legal and non-legal needs, the Plumeri Center envisions itself as a hub for small-business empowerment—bringing together expert technical legal assistance, holistic business resources, and community-based leadership.
Under Professor Ryu’s direction, the Center will:
- Provide technical legal assistance through NYLS’s clinical programs—working with students under supervision to counsel small businesses, advising on foundational matters, risk mitigation, ongoing compliance, and strategic planning. This includes the coordination service delivery among and between our Non-Profit and Small Business Clinic, our Patent Clinic, Trademark Clinic, and Veterans Justice Clinic. It also includes helping the development and implementation of the Center’s soon to be announced Gig Economy Project.
- Partner with community organizations, business-improvement districts, and government agencies to deliver a holistic business-support model, incorporating business planning, branding and marketing strategy, digital capability, access to funding, and community development.
- Manage and activate the Plumeri Center Advisory Board to ensure we have outside expert voices helping to guide our work, shape our networks, and inspire innovative new programs that respond to the evolving needs of entrepreneurs and serve community economic development goals.
- Serve as a convener and thought-leader: showcasing high impact leaders and other speakers on current legal/business topics; inviting experts, entrepreneurs, community-leaders; and offering forums where small business owners, community development actors, law students, and policymakers engage. And,
- Train the next generation of lawyers who are nimble, well-rounded, and attuned to transactional, legal, and community-development dimensions of small-business practice—aligning with NYLS’s commitment to experiential education, public service, and leadership.
Already the Plumeri Center has stepped into action: a recent community gathering brought together local merchants, residents and civic stakeholders to surface shared challenges and opportunities. In a prepared and strategic move, and working closely with the inaugural NYLS Chief of Economic Development Chris Bruno ’12, the Center worked alongside the Tribeca Alliance and the Friends of Bogardus Plaza to support a $100,000 Merchant Organizing Grant from the New York City Department of Small Business Services that will strengthen merchant voice, strategic merchant-organizing infrastructure and economic vitality in the Tribeca neighborhood.
Professor Ryu brings to this role a robust and diverse background. He practiced at major New York law firms—Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Gunderson Dettmer LLP—where he worked on domestic and cross-border corporate and financial transactions for entrepreneurs, technology startups, and leading companies. His earlier service includes three years as an officer in the Republic of Korea Air Force and the Ministry of National Defense.
“Small businesses are the engines of innovation, mobility and community well-being in our city. I look forward to building on the legacy of New York Law School as an established city and neighborhood anchor and working with our students, faculty, community partners, business owners, and civic stakeholders to build a hub where sophisticated legal expertise and community partnerships intersect—and where future lawyers gain the skills to serve and to lead,” said Professor Ryu.
“The Plumeri Center’s work demonstrates how a law school can support real economic impact. Under Professor Ryu’s innovative and enthusiastic leadership, NYLS continues to deepen its role as a trusted partner in advancing entrepreneurial and community-centered economic development programs throughout New York City” said Christopher Bruno, Chief of Economic Development Programs and Strategies.
Please join me in congratulating Professor Ryu on this appointment and in supporting the exciting work ahead as the Plumeri Center takes shape, strengthens New York’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, and advances NYLS’s mission to train lawyers who build, serve, and transform.
Anthony W. Crowell
Dean and President
Professor of Law