The Education Issue
Educating Lawyers, Then and Now
When I was in law school 35 years ago, the education I received would not be considered sufficient in any American law school today. While my first-year curriculum was recognizable enough—focusing on the case study method, sharpening analytical skills, and teaching the fundamentals of how to write a brief—there is now broad recognition that those skills are far from enough in today’s world.
THE Docket
There’s an App for That
in my family,” says Hinton. “My experience of lawyers was, you know, Matlock and Perry Mason.”
Hinton, who eventually found his way to the world of corporate compliance at GE and Google, couldn’t have foreseen that he would one day be involved in a tech platform to report workplace misconduct in a brand-new way.
Big Ideas
These conversations are important, because the law and legal scholarship play a critical role in helping all of us understand and address society’s most pressing issues, as well as identifying promising ways forward. To get in on the conversations, check out the topics on the next page.
Educating Students for the Law— and for Life
With these goals in mind, Professor Sugin spearheaded the creation of Fordham’s Office of Professionalism in 2017, shortly after becoming associate dean, putting the Law School at the forefront of a movement to expand the scope of professionalism education. Her goal: to fill in the gaps in traditional legal education and train students in historically neglected but essential capabilities. The Professionalism Office’s flagship programs focus on peer mentorship, student leadership, and community building.
Helping Students Find Their Voice
The group has been busily revamping the curricula, which help more than 900 students a year soup up their communication, analytical, research, and writing skills, so they can hit the ground running once they graduate. “The reorganization allows us to look at the Law School’s mandatory skills training holistically and make connections where they weren’t explicit before,” says Strauss.
No Longer the Onlys
Two major initiatives, the REAL Scholars program and IDEAL, are meant to attract underrepresented students to the Law School and into the legal profession. With them, and other new programs, Fordham Law hopes to help shape a legal landscape that is more just and looks more like America.
“As I got older, there were fewer and fewer Black students in my classes,” Morrissey says. By the time he got to college, he was alone. “I’ve been [the only Black man in class] for years now, but it still hurts to see it and there’s still a level of frustration.”
Fordham Law has been working to ease that pain with several new programs meant to attract and welcome more underrepresented students. Yet too many law students of color across the country continue to find themselves the “onlys” in their sections—or one of just a few among a sea of white faces. “The American Bar Association did a [demographic] review of the legal profession and the numbers were quite abysmal,” says Kimathi Gordon-Somers, assistant dean of student affairs and diversity at Fordham Law.
Practicing Law in a Post-Pandemic World
“Then COVID hit,” says Professor Melnick, shaking his head.
By the end of spring break, he and every other professor, student, and most of the 1.3 million lawyers in America had become Zoom experts. Not only did remote meetings and classes become the norm, but video depositions, telephonic bail hearings, virtual trials, and court proceedings swept into the practice of law—which, historically, is not a field known for its rapid adoption of technology.
Making Law School Possible for Every Type of Learner
It didn’t seem as if law school would be in the cards for Stephen Cugliari, who was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at age 5. “My family was absolutely whipsawed when I told them I wanted to apply—it’s the last option you’d expect for someone who has difficulty focusing,” recalls the 29-year-old.
“I was able to get through high school and even college, but law school was a whole different animal,” says Cugliari. “I had to focus for nearly two hours in lectures. I could barely concentrate for half that time, let alone take notes. Those things may come easily for some people, but it’s incredibly difficult for those of us with ADHD.”
The Duo Behind the Next Generation
Professor James Kainen
Though James Kainen has been teaching property and evidence at Fordham Law since 1989, his main contribution to the school, as he sees it, has been coaching hundreds of students to success in rigorous trial competitions around the country.
Not that he planned it that way.
“When I got here,” says Professor Kainen, who is the founder and chair of the Brendan Moore Trial Advocacy Center, “we didn’t have a trial advocacy competition program. The students were interested in competing and they kind of found me.” Kainen started out coaching one team; now, the school sends as many as 18 teams a year to competitions, including virtually during the pandemic. No wonder his office is filled with gifts, like a lighter inscribed with “Yoda” (left), one of the affectionate nicknames given to him by grateful students. “I guess that name’s because I’m the source of all wisdom?” he says, laughing. Here, Kainen tells the stories behind the photographs, art, and other objects, whether eclectic or kitschy, that populate his seventh-floor office.
—Paula Derrow
A Course of
Justice
The three students profiled on these pages, all Stein Scholars, are acquiring the legal skills to make an impact for the underserved, whether immigrants, workers, children, or anyone who is powerless. And while each one carved their own unique path in coming to Fordham, all are united in their goal of changing individual lives—and the world—for the better.
THE BENCH
Judge Denny Chin ’78 Becomes a Bigger Presence on Fordham’s Campus
On October 27, Judge Chin spoke at an event held by the Center for Judicial Events & Clerkships (CJEC) called “Judges and Clerks’ Roles in the Courts: Perspectives from First-Generation Alumni.” The panel discussion, part of the center’s first-generation initiative, was developed in partnership with the Fordham First Generation Students and included 10 first-generation Fordham Law alumni who are or were clerks.
COMPETITIONS
A Big Win for the Brendan Moore Trial Advocacy Team
Dispute Resolution Society Goes to the Nationals
#FutureFordhamLawyers Speak Up
Jordan Adams ’22
Jordan Adams ’22
Letter from Fordham Law
Alumni Association President
Palmina M. Fava ’97
Class Notes
’61
Ken Kunzman received an honorary doctorate from Seton Hall University.
’96
Eric W. Penzer was named to the 2021 New York Metro Super Lawyers list for estate and trust litigation and the 2022 Best Lawyers in America list.
Christopher William Rile joined the partnership of Sidley Austin LLP in the New York office.
’10
Michelle Genet Bernstein joined the partnership of Mark Migdal & Hayden in the Miami office.
Jeffrey Colt joined the Bronx District Attorney’s Office as an assistant district attorney in the Alternatives to Incarceration Bureau.
Have Minivan, Will Teach
Like many parents, when the pandemic hit in March of 2020, Professor Joseph Landau, associate dean for academic affairs, and his husband found themselves suddenly confined at home in a New York City apartment with a highly energetic 2-year-old daughter. “School was closed, the playground was closed, and we needed to find a place where she could be outside,” says Professor Landau, who was teaching civil procedure to 1L students at the time.
That place turned out to be a 60-acre farm in a small town in North Carolina that had belonged to Landau’s late father-in-law. The couple bought a sight-unseen Chrysler Pacifica minivan, packed up their life, and hit the road. “We took everything we could think of, including our king-size bed, which we somehow fit on top of all the boxes,” says Landau. “Then we drove 12 hours through the night with our daughter—a city kid not used to cars—throwing up along the way. By the time we arrived, we were all exhausted.”
Mark your calendars!
Fordham Law Giving Day 2022 kicks off on Monday, March 7.
Join the more than 2,400 alumni, friends, faculty, and staff members who have participated in Giving Day over the past five years, helping to raise nearly $1 million and unlock over $368,000 in matching challenge funds.
Visit law.fordham.edu/givingday to learn more and watch your inbox for updates.
Can’t wait until March? Make your Giving Day gift today at law.fordham.edu/givingday/givenow.
A LEGACY OF TRANSFORMATION: Joseph M. McShane, S.J., who has led Fordham University for nearly two decades, announced in September that he will step down as president at the conclusion of the academic year, on June 30, 2022.
Father McShane fostered one of the most remarkable periods of sustained growth in the 180-year history of the school, including the dramatic transformation of the Fordham Law School building designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners seven years ago. The building is an architectural gem filled with faculty and students committed to learning, absorbing, and acting on Fordham’s motto: “In the service of others.”
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