The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is the law school of Yeshiva University, located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The school is named for Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo.
Cardozo is a relatively new law school, having graduated its first class in 1979. Cardozo's success as a young school has been remarkable, leading some to characterize Cardozo as a "rising star" among law schools.
Among the top 100 law schools, only two schools are younger than Cardozo – Georgia State University College of Law and William S. Boyd School of Law. Cardozo is currently ranked 49th by U.S. News, which is the most widely read (and criticized) ranking of law schools. While Cardozo is noted for its academic strengths in numerous areas of study, its Intellectual Property and Dispute Resolution programs are particularly well reputed and consistently ranked highly by U.S. News.
The Innocence Project, run by Cardozo Professor Barry Scheck, is well known for using DNA profiling to help free innocent prisoners. The project is frequently reported on in the national news.
Signifying its recognition by long-established law schools, in 1999 Cardozo became a member of the Order of the Coif, an honor society for law scholars.
Cardozo's excellence was recently acknowledged when an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court selected a Cardozo graduate for a clerkship. A Supreme Court clerkship is arguably the most prestigious appointment for a law graduate and is an honor typically reserved for the very best students at the most elite law schools. This is the second time a Cardozo graduate has been chosen for a Supreme Court clerkship.
Most of Cardozo's 9,000 alumni reside in the New York metropolitan area, and they have a considerable presence in New York City. However, some Cardozo graduates pursue their careers internationally and many can be found across the country in 46 states.
Rankings
General rankings
U.S. News ranked Cardozo 49th out of 184 law schools. By other measures, the law school ranks:
- 38th - Student Quality
- 23rd - Most "Prestigious" Law Firm Placement
- 28th - Faculty Quality
- 31st - Princeton Review
Specialty rankings
- Top 3 - Law and Literature
- 4th - Critical Theories
- 5th - Law & Philosophy
- 7th - Dispute Resolution
- 8th - Intellectual Property
- 10th - LL.M./Masters of Law
- Top-20 Runner-Up - International & Comparative Law
Miscellaneous rankings
- 2nd - Most Cited Arts & Entertainment Law Journal (1st in Scholarly Impact and Cites by Courts)
- 2nd - Per Capita Publication For Law Schools Ranked Below 50 by U.S. News
- 3rd - New York State Bar Pass Rate (2007)
- 15th - Most Prolific Faculty
- 23rd - Most Cited Law Review
- 31st - Most SSRN Downloads
- Most Competitive Students
Bar exam passage rates
In 2007, Cardozo had the third-highest bar-exam passage rate among the fifteen law schools in New York State, becoming the first school in recent memory other than Columbia Law School, New York University School of Law, and Cornell Law School to place in the top three. Cardozo's bar passage rate was 93.2% in 2008.
Admission
Admission to Cardozo has become increasingly competitive. The GPA and LSAT scores of entering students are consistently higher than schools with similar rankings.
The class entering in Fall 2008 had a 3.55 median GPA and a 164 median LSAT score. The top quarter of LSAT scores were 166 or higher, and the top 25% of the incoming class had a 3.73 GPA or higher.
The top undergraduate feeder schools for Cardozo have been Cornell University, New York University, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, the State University of New York Schools, and the University of California Schools. Approximately 20% of incoming students hail from the Ivy League.
Location and facilities
Cardozo, located on Fifth Avenue in the heart of Greenwich Village, is in one of the most vibrant and accessible neighborhoods in Manhattan.
Brookdale Center – 55 Fifth Avenue Cardozo is located in the 18 story Brookdale Center. The law school occupies the first 11 floors. The top floors are used as office space and are accessed through a separate entrance.
Course and degree offerings
Juris Doctor
For J.D. students, Cardozo offers a selection of over 130 courses in addition to the eight courses required during the first year. Students may choose to graduate with a concentration in one of the following areas:
- Commercial Law
- Constitutional Law and Rights
- Corporate Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Family and Matrimonial Law
- Intellectual Property and Communications Law
- International and Comparative Law
- Litigation (General)
- Property and Real Estate
- Taxation
Cardozo also offers "pathways" in both Public Law and Regulation and Jurisprudence and Legal History, which are not formal concentrations. Students may also earn a Certificate in Dispute Resolution.
Master of Laws
For those who already have a law degree, Cardozo offers LL.M. degrees in General Studies, Comparative Legal Thought, and Intellectual Property. LL.M. students can take almost any of the couses offered to J.D. students. The LL.M. program may be entered in the Spring Term or in the Fall Term.
Study abroad
Cardozo students may study abroad through the following programs:
- International Private Law in Hamburg
- Comparative Media Law in Budapest
- Alternative Dispute Resolution in Budapest, Bilbao, Paris, or Rome
- Comparative and Transnational Media Law and Policy at Oxford
- Comparative Corporate Governance at Oxford
Students may apply for individual study abroad programs to study abroad at other institutions.
Alternative Entry Plan (AEP)
While most Cardozo students begin their legal studies in September, some students are allowed the flexibility to begin in January or May AEP students are able to take classes part-time and during the summer, which gives AEP students the option of graduating in three years or a semester early.
Notable alumni
- Geoffrey Bowers (1954-1987), plaintiff in one of the first AIDS discrimination cases to go to public hearing.
- Madeleine Cosman
- Lawrence A. Cunningham
- Clifton Elgarten (1979), Cardozo's first Supreme Court clerk (1981-82 for Justice William Brennan), now a partner with Crowell & Moring.
- Gary J. Galperin
- John S. Hall
- Sara Klein (2005), Cardozo's second Supreme Court clerk (2007-08 for Justice John Paul Stevens)
- Jeff Marx
- Scott McCoy
- Barbara Olson
- Jon Sandelman: head of Debt and Equities at Bank of America
- Josh Saviano: now a practicing attorney, Saviano played Kevin Arnold's best friend, Paul Pfeiffer, in the The Wonder Years .
- Laura Sydell
- Randi Weingarten (1957-), current president of the United Federation of Teachers.
- Sandra J. Feuerstein District Court Judge, Eastern District of New York
- Ivan Wilzig aka "Sir Ivan"
- Juliette Passer
Notable faculty
- Richard Bierschbach
- Lester Brickman
- Peter Goodrich
- Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr.
- Marci Hamilton
- Justin Hughes
- Michel Rosenfeld
- David Rudenstine
- Barry Scheck
- William Schwartz
- Stewart Sterk
- Peter Tillers
- Richard Weisberg
- Edward Zelinsky
Former faculty
- Barton Beebe - New York University Law School
- Susan Crawford - University of Michigan Law School
- Richard Friedman - University of Michigan Law School
- David Golove - New York University Law School
- John McGinnis - Northwestern University School of Law
- William F. Patry
- Scott Shapiro - Yale Law School
- Kevin Stack - Vanderbilt University Law School
- Telford Taylor
- Katharine van Wezel Stone - Cornell Law School
References
- ^ http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/MemberContentDisplay.aspx?ccmd=ContentDisplay&ucmd=UserDisplay&userid=124
- ^ http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/about_us/factsheet.asp
- ^ "New York Law Schools" . http://www.top-law-schools.com/new-york-law-schools.html . Retrieved 2008-11-30 .
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