Stephen Ellmann Clinical Theory Workshop 40th Anniversary Symposium
During the Spring 2026 semester, the Office of Clinical and Experiential Learning at New York Law School hosted the Stephen Ellmann Clinical Theory Workshop 40th Anniversary Symposium. The event was organized in collaboration with CUNY School of Law, Fordham University School of Law, and New York University School of Law. More than 70 clinical faculty from mostly local law schools, as well as New York Law School clinicians and students, engaged in conversations about clinical legal scholarship both past and present, as well the place that clinical legal writing holds in legal education.
The event also sought to recognize a remarkable milestone—the Clinical Theory Workshop’s 40th anniversary. The workshop was founded in 1985 by the late Professor Stephen Ellmann, an award-winning author on legal ethics and an expert in clinical legal education, constitutional law, and South African Law. He founded the Clinical Theory Workshop initially as an Associate Professor of Law at Columbia Law School before joining NYLS as a faculty member. The workshop grew over time and now meets several times throughout the academic year, rotating among partner law schools in New York. The purpose remains the same: to support clinicians in producing scholarship at all stages of the writing process. The initiative’s 40-year bibliography is extensive and includes works-in-progress presentations ranging from teaching best practices learned in clinical and broader experiential learning to contributions that highlight faculty’s ongoing work in their particular practice area. The workshop was celebrated last in 2010 when NYLS hosted a conference to commemorate its 25th year anniversary.
Participants gathered for the all-day event that started with remarks from New York Law School Dean and President Anthony Crowell, as well as NYLS Dean of Faculty William LaPiana. In the panel discussion, moderated by Professor Ian Weinstein from Fordham University School of Law, Professors Donna Lee from CUNY School of Law, Jon Dubin from Rutgers Law School, and Lynnise Pantin from Columbia Law School examined the history of the workshop, clinical legal scholarship as a concept, as well as some of the clinical trends they noticed over time. The panelists also reflected on their recollections of Professor Ellmann and this workshop, their first experiences producing scholarship as clinicians, as well as the strength and value in the community of practicing lawyers and scholars that has taken shape thanks to Professor Ellmann’s pioneering work.
NYLS Professors Richard Marsico and Andrew Scherer discuss a work-in-progress at a breakout session.
ACLU President and NYU School of Law Professor Deborah Archer gives the Symposium's keynote address.
CUNY School of Law Professor Donna Lee, Rugers Law School Professor Jon Dubin, Columbia Law School Professor Lynnise Pantin, and Fordham University School of Law Professor Ian Weinstein speak at the Symposium's Plenary Panel.
NYLS Stephen J. Ellmann Dean of Clinical and Experiential Learning Kim Hawkins converses with Symposium attendees.
President of the ACLU and New York University School of Law Professor Deborah Archer provided the event’s keynote address, locating the work of clinical legal education in responding to challenging times. The afternoon was dedicated to breakout sessions where three works-in-progress were discussed and workshopped. Cardozo School of Law Professor Mariana Acevedo Nuevo, Director of the Entrepreneurship and Community Business Clinic, workshopped her article, “The Myth of the Apolitical Clinic,” while NYLS Professor Andrew Scherer, Director of the Housing Rights Clinic, presented a chapter from his forthcoming book, The End of Eviction. CUNY School of Law Professor Cynthia Soohoo, Co-Director of the Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic, workshopped her article, “Lessons Learned from Global Responses to Criminal Abortion Laws,” which focuses on comparative lessons learned in response to criminal abortion laws around the world. The day concluded with closing remarks from Professor Kim Hawkins, Stephen J. Ellmann Dean of Clinical and Experiential Learning at NYLS.
NYLS would like to extend its thanks to its partner organizers, CUNY School of Law, Fordham University School of Law, and NYU School of Law, as well as all the many speakers, panelists, and presenters who contributed to the day’s programming. A special thank you to all participating faculty and students for their engagement. The day was a celebration of Professor Ellmann’s life and legacy, as well as an important gathering of clinical faculty from a variety of law schools to engage in the important conversation of where we have been in 40 years as a community of clinical scholars, as well as where we are going.
To learn more about this event:
- Visit the NYU Stephen Ellmann Clinical Theory Workshop page.
- Read the 40-year bibliography.