Experiential education begins at Brooklyn Law School with externships overseen by the faculty; ProfESSOR Gary Schultze ’68 is named the first full-time director of clinical programs. →
In response to a student petition sent to the Board of Trustees, a committee composed of faculty and students is formed to design a clinical curriculum. →
The Federal Litigation Clinic begins with Professor Minna Kotkin at its head. →
Big Apple Clinic (1984–1990)
(1985–1998)
Professor Ursula Bentele, after joining the faculty in 1981, starts the Criminal Appeals Clinic, later called the Capital Defender & Federal HabeAs Clinic.
(1990–1996)
(1991–2001)
A federal judge commends the “high-quality work” of Federal Litigation Clinic students in his ruling in favor of their client, a Black woman discriminated against by the luxury apartment building that employed her.
16 years into a life sentence, Robert F. is granted parole after students in the Second Look Project investigate his case and prove his innocence. →
Attorney General’s Office EXTERNSHIP
(2000–2010)
U.S. Attorney’s Office—EDNY
(2000–PRESENT)
(2000–PRESENT)
(2000–2009)
As part of the new Center for Health, Science, and Public Policy, Professor Karen Porter (now associate dean for inclusion and diversity) directs the Health Law Externship.
(2005–present)
In a year in which students helped discharge the debts of 25 low-income clients, the Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project awards the Consumer Counseling and Bankruptcy Clinic the Gold Club Certificate of Appreciation. →
Capital Defender & Federal Habeas Clinic students assist lawyers for John Muhammad, better known as the “D.C. Sniper,” in his petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. →
(2009–present)
(2011–2015)
(2011–PRESENT)
(2011–PRESENT)
Nearly 300 law students, faculty members, lawyers, technologists, and entrepreneurs gather for the BLIP Clinic’s first annual Legal Hackathon. →
The Disability and Civil Rights Clinic receives the first of three $1 million grants from the Taft Foundation, the largest major grant to any educational institution in support of such a program. →
(2019–PRESENT)
In its first year, LGBT Advocacy Clinic students represent multiple clients from foreign nations seeking asylum, help a lesbian couple to legally adopt infant twins, and take on an ultimately successful case on behalf of a transgender woman assaulted by a corrections officer on Rikers Island. →
Professor Stacy Caplow joins the faculty to launch the Law School’s first in-house clinic. →
(1986–1987, 2004–2012)
& FEDERAL HABEAS CLINIC (1986–2016)
A federal judge grants a female NYPD officer, represented by a team of FEDERAL LITIGATION Clinic students led by Professor Kathleen Sullivan, a $264,000 verdict for wrongful termination. →
In a ruling that the New York Law Journal calls the first of its kind, a lesbian parent, represented by Family Law Clinic students under the direction of Professor Caroline Kearney, is permitted to legally adopt the biological child of her partner without terminating the parental rights of the biological mother. →
The Law School launches two of its longest-running clinics: the Corporate and Real Estate Clinic and the Safe Harbor Project.
(1996–2017)
(1997–present)
(1997–presenT)
(2001–2005)
(2002–present)
(2003–present)
Professor David Reiss joins the Law School to start the Community Development Clinic.
(2007–PRESENT)
(2008–2009)
(2008–present)
In a three-day hearing at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Securities Arbitration Clinic students successfully recover a retired couple’s retirement savings in claims brought against the nation’s largest broker-dealer. →
(2010–PRESENT)
(2012–2014)
Litigation & Policy)
(2013–present)
The New York City Council awards a proclamation to the Safe Harbor Project for its “outstanding service” to the immigrant community. →
(2017–present)
Professor Jodi Balsam is appointed the Director of Externship Programs.
Students in the Corporate and Real Estate Clinic, with pro bono assistance from Kramer Levin’s bankruptcy department, help 16 families save their Brooklyn building from foreclosure. →