Professor Minna J. Kotkin

Professor Minna J. Kotkin, a longtime and esteemed member of the Brooklyn Law School faculty and a trailblazer in employment law and sexual harassment law, died suddenly Sept. 30, 2021. She was 70.

Kotkin, who joined the faculty in 1984, was professor of law and director of the Federal Litigation Clinic and the Employment Law Clinic, specializing in employment discrimination law and sexual harassment issues. She also taught Civil Procedure, Administrative Law, Civil Rights Law, and Interviewing and Counseling.

In 2020, in response to the nationwide shutdown of businesses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Kotkin launched the Pandemic Employment Relief Clinic, which rallied hundreds of law students to help New York workers who had been displaced, particularly freelance or gig workers. In recognition of this work, the Law School received the New York State Bar Association President’s Pro Bono Service Award.

A vocal advocate for the rights of the disempowered, Kotkin wrote and lectured extensively on issues of employment discrimination, with a particular emphasis on sexual harassment and confidentiality. She was also called upon frequently to discuss employment discrimination and sexual harassment in the media, including the Washington Post, the New York Times, HuffPost, NPR, “PBS Newshour,” and Wired, among other national outlets.

“Losing Minna as a friend and colleague is devastating,” said Professor Stacy Caplow, associate dean for experiential education. “A consummate teacher and litigator, she valiantly fought for her clients while inspiring her students to do well by doing good. Everyone she touched benefited from her wisdom and example. We will all miss her deeply.”

A pioneer and leader in the clinical legal education community, Kotkin served at various times as the chair of the Association of American Law Schools’ sections on Litigation and Clinical Legal Education; on the steering committee of the association’s Equal Justice Project; on the board of editors of the Clinical Law Review; and on the boards of directors of the Global Alliance for Justice Education, Disability Advocates, Inc., the Eastern District of New York Litigation Fund, MFY Legal Services, and Manhattan Legal Services.

She spent time as a visiting scholar at New York University School of Law, the University of East London, and the University of Cape Town. Before joining the Law School’s faculty, she was the litigation director of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and a litigation associate at Proskauer Rose. She graduated from Rutgers University Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the law review, and Barnard College.

Kotkin is survived by her partner, Deena Hellman; her sons, Eli and Sam Stillman; and their father, Joseph Stillman.

Clockwise from top left: Kotkin as a panelist at the 2018 Sparer Forum, with clinic students circa 1980s, with Professors Stacy Caplow and Susan Herman in 2018

Jack B. Weinstein

Jack B. Weinstein, who served as a judge for 53 years and as chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York for nearly a decade, died June 15. He was 99.

Weinstein’s long and influential career—he retired from the federal bench at 98—included noteworthy leadership and scholarship in the areas of evidence and mass torts. He was a fierce advocate for the rights of the marginalized in the legal system and a larger role for young lawyers, especially women, in the courtroom.

Weinstein had long associations with the Law School’s faculty and students. As an adjunct professor from 1991 to 1996, he taught Individual Justice in Mass Society, Science and the Law Seminar, and Complex Litigation. He was co-author with the late Professor Margaret Berger of several books, including Weinstein’s Federal Evidence, widely considered the preeminent treatise on the federal rules of evidence. President and Dean Emerita Joan Wexler served as a law clerk for Weinstein, as did Professor Anita Bernstein. Several Law School graduates also went on to serve as law clerks for the judge. An esteemed colleague on the faculty, he was honored on his 80th birthday with the special event “Judge Jack B. Weinstein, Tort Litigation, and the Public Good,” which featured commentary from Professor Aaron Twerski and Berger.

Weinstein was nominated to the bench by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson in 1967 and served as chief judge of the Eastern District from 1980 to 1988. His judicial service extended to membership of the Judicial Conference of the United States, and he was a member of the committee that drafted the Federal Rules of Evidence. He was a graduate of Brooklyn College and Columbia Law School, and, as a young lawyer, assisted Thurgood Marshall with briefs for Brown v. Board of Education.

He is survived by his wife, Susan Berk; three sons, Seth, Michael, and Howard; two stepchildren, Ronnie Rosenberg and Stephanie Berlin; two grandchildren; and four step-grandchildren.

Memorial Fund Established to Honor Professor Kotkin

Professor Minna Kotkin was a trailblazer in the law and in the classroom, where she inspired generations of Brooklyn Law students. Join with other alumni and friends to honor her life and carry her legacy forward by making a gift to the Minna Kotkin Memorial Fund.

To learn more and make a gift, please visit brooklaw.edu/KotkinMemorialFund