Videos

On February 2, 2026, Burns Chair Kristen Clarke hosted Elie Mystal, lawyer, advocate, and journalist, for a spirited discussion of his book Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America, examining how voting laws, immigration statutes, and const...

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Nathan’s work in admissions is shaped by a deep belief that experience matters — especially for students who may not otherwise see themselves reflected in legal education. Before coming to CUNY School of Law, Nathan worked in higher ed...

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CUNY School of Law hosted its second annual CUNY-wide Pre Law Conference, bringing together students from across the CUNY system and all five NYC boroughs to demystify the path to law school and expand access to the legal profession. Designed for asp...

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On November 18, 2025, Kristen Clarke, the 2025 Burns Chair and former U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, was joined by Joy Reid, an award-winning political analyst, bestselling author, and host of the Joy Reid Show, to examine the endu...

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Meet Kristen Clarke, the 2025–2026 W. Haywood Burns Chair in Human and Civil Rights at CUNY School of Law. Through this visiting professorship, which brings leading civil rights advocates to campus each year, CUNY Law students gain direct acce...

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Law schools who came to recruit at our CUNY-wide Pre-Law Conference had plenty to say about why they’re always eager to see applications from CUNY students. They get it: CUNY students embody the best of New York—vibrant, diverse, and gr...

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Social Justice Lawyering Strategies | LGBTQ+ Justice In this episode of Sustained, Professor Jared Trujillo moderates a heartfelt and urgent conversation with Elana Redfield ’08, Milo Primeaux ’13, and Amy Leipziger ’07 on LGBT...

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This panel was recorded on December 4, 2024, the first of CUNY Law’s series Social Justice Lawyering: Strategies to Confront the New Administration, which brings together expert faculty and alumni to examine the legal landscape, anticipated ch...

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Roe was never enough. In this episode, Professor Cindy Soohoo, Co-Director of the Human Rights & Gender Justice Clinic, leads a forward-looking conversation with three alumni working at the forefront of reproductive justice. Adapted from the Social J...

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Professor Daniel Loehr unpacks the eugenic foundations of “three strikes” and habitual offender laws—sentencing statutes that remain on the books in 49 states. Drawing on his newly published report with The Sentencing Project, Loeh...

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James Forman, the 2025 W. Haywood Burns Chair in Human & Civil Rights, reflects on his tenure at CUNY Law. From the public dialogue he led in the fall to the deeply immersive trial advocacy course he taught in the spring, the Pulitzer Prize-winning ...

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On May 22, CUNY Law proudly celebrated its 40th commencement ceremony at the iconic Apollo Theatre. It was a momentous occasion filled with joy and achievement, and we invite you to look back through a heartfelt photographic recap of this memorable e...

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El primero de una serie de webinars para mantener la comunidad binacional de clínicas jurídicas al tanto de los múltiples cambios a las políticas migratorias en los EEUU en el primer semestre de 2025, con un enfoque en la protección de...

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Colaboración Clínica EEUU-México: Litigio Estratégico para Combatir las Políticas Migratorias de Trump El segundo de una serie de webinars para mantener la comunidad binacional de clínicas jurídicas al tanto de los múltiples ...

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El tercero de una serie de webinars para mantener la comunidad binacional de clínicas jurídicas al tanto de los múltiples cambios a las políticas migratorias en los EEUU en el primer semestre de 2025, con un enfoque en la protección de...

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El ultimo de una serie de webinars para mantener la comunidad binacional de clínicas jurídicas al tanto de los múltiples cambios a las políticas migratorias en los EEUU en el primer semestre de 2025, con un enfoque en la protección de ...

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2025 CLEA Award for Excellence | Immigrant & Non-Citizen Rights Clinic CUNY School of Law’s Professor Nermeen Arastu, Co-Director of the Immigrant & Non-Citizen Rights Clinic (INRC), has been awarded the 2025 Clinical Legal Education Associat...

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The First Impressions Youth Legal Collaborative (“First Impressions”) conceived by New York State Senator Jamaal T. Bailey ’12 and supported by Governor Kathy Hochul was launched on May 4, 2023, at CUNY School of Law. First Impress...

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In the final event of 2024, James Forman Jr. hosted a panel discussion featuring esteemed guests: Hon. Frederic Block, Senior Federal Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York; Thomas Gant, Advocacy and Community...

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To support the next generation of great public interest lawyers, click here: https://law.cunytuesday.org/organizations/cuny-schoolof-law

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James Forman Jr., the W. Haywood Burns Chair in Human and Civil Rights, led a discussion on his co-edited anthology, "Dismantling Mass Incarceration: A Handbook for Change." This event explored the crucial role of public defenders within the criminal...

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Meet Denise Rojas, an experienced staff member, as she takes on the challenge of becoming a law student in our evening program. Her story showcases the determination it takes to balance work and study, along with just how invaluable support from the ...

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In his first event as Burns Chair, Professor Forman explored how criminal justice advocates, including those who were once incarcerated themselves, fought to make our prisons less destructive and to increase opportunity for people leaving prison. Two...

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In his final lecture as Burns Chair, Vince Warren explored the local and global impact of two cases from the Center for Constitutional Rights’ environmental and mass incarceration advocacy. Using cases from the Center for Constitutional Right...

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We take pride in our students’ inspiring journeys to becoming public interest advocates. Meet Lorraine Bishop ’24, a Queens native who grew up walking past the old CUNY Law building in Flushing and dreaming of becoming a lawyer. Her jo...

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This year, the Second Look Project: Beyond Guilt (SLPBG) hired Lorenzo Johnson and Greg Mingo, two people the CUNY Law Defenders Clinic supported on their pathways to freedom after serving decades in prison. According to Professor Steve Zeidman, thi...

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Vince Warren, Center for Constitutional Rights Executive Director and 2023 - 24 W. Haywood Burns Chair in Human and Civil Rights, led a panel discussion featuring Baher Azmy, Legal Director, Center for Constitutional Rights; Alejandra Ancheita, Found...

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Get an inside glimpse into the people who contribute to CUNY Law's reputation as the top institution for Social Justice Lawyering with "Who's In The Building." Our latest feature highlights Gayla Jacobson, the Director of Admissions, who shares insig...

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The Office of Alumni Engagement’s unique initiative referred to as the Community Legal Resource Network (CLRN), activates our alumni community across New York City to use the law as a tool for access to justice and social change, and is now ce...

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CUNY School of Law held a celebration to confer Juris Doctors to the 335 graduates from the Classes of 2020 and 2021. Speakers included Professor Fareed Hayat, elected by the Class of 2021, and Professor Sofia Yakren, elected by the Class of 2020. El...

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On Friday, May 13, the City University of New York School of Law celebrated the achievements of the 160 students who make up the Class of 2022. The program featured Professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, who delivered the commencement address and receive...

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On May 12, we conferred Juris Doctors to 207 graduates, 24 of whom make up the largest cohort of Pipeline to Justice graduates in a single year. The Class of 2023 joins our alumni community of nearly 5,000 advocates who overwhelmingly work in social ...

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On May 12, we conferred Juris Doctors to 207 graduates, 24 of whom make up the largest cohort of Pipeline to Justice graduates in a single year. The Class of 2023 joins our alumni community of nearly 5,000 advocates who overwhelmingly work in social ...

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Author Derecka Purnell joined Burns Chair Vince Warren for a discussion of her book, Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom. The conversation details her experiences as a lawyer, writer, and organizer initially skeptical...

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CUNY Law in collaboration with the Center for Constitutional Rights presents SMUG Executive Director Frank Mugisha in conversation with W. Haywood Burns Chair for Human and Civil Rights, Vince Warren, Center for Constitutional Rights Attorney Pamela ...

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The Office of Alumni Engagement’s unique initiative referred to as the Community Legal Resource Network (CLRN), activates our alumni community across New York City to use the law as a tool for access to justice and social change, and is now ce...

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2023 Burns Chair Vince Warren and Janai Nelson discuss their work as lawyers and leaders fighting against current civil rights challenges. Their wide-ranging conversation touches on transformative leadership, the impact of efforts to ban Critical Rac...

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"The role of a lawyer is to embroil themselves in the social issues of the time." Vince Warren, Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, introduces himself as the 2023 Burns Chair by sharing his vision for his time at CUNY Law.

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The Indigenous Americans and the Law Student Advocates is an unofficial student group seeking to Indigenize the CUNY School of Law by advocating for coursework and programming related to Indigenous legal issues as well as pushing the law school to in...

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A group of 2021 grads organized this bar exam tips session for students.

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Celebrating the pandemic's graduating classes in person, as a community, alongside dignitaries, elected student speakers, outstanding faculty, and more.

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Celebrations for the 2022 graduating class of public interest lawyers featuring remarks from the day's dignitaries, elected students, faculty, and Commencement speaker Keeanga-Yahmahtta Taylor.

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The teach-in will feature Professors Zamir Ben-Dan and Charisa Smith and will be moderated by Dean Yvette Wilson-Barnes. The panel will discuss their lived experiences with microaggressions as well as outright prejudice and racial discrimination in t...

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Join R.J. Thompson, Esq. '05 of the Urban Justice Center in discussion with Amitesh Parikh, Senior Staff Attorney in Immigration Equality’s Pro Bono Program. Moderated by 2L Sneha Jayaraj.

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For CUNY Law Review’s 25th anniversary, we spotlight an article entitled "Restorative Justice in Cases of Sexual Harm," featured in our 25th volume. Revisit this cutting-edge discussion in the social justice arena with authors of the piece, Al...

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10/26/2021, #2 in series. Featuring: - Professor Frank Deale, CUNY Law - Dean Alena Allen, University of Arkansas School of Law - Professor Todd Brower, Western State University College of Law - Moderator Nicole P. Dyszlewski, co-editor & Head o...

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Alums discuss their passions, purposes, and why they chose to study law at CUNY Law.

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CUNY Law's Launchpad for Justice program provides recent CUNY Law graduates with a rich entree into the role of a practicing lawyer through pro bono opportunities. Fellows receive excellent training, free CLE credits, quality supervision, and invalua...

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Interim Dean Capulong delivers unifying remarks to the Class of 2021. A first-generation immigrant and political asylee, he is active in immigrant rights causes. He has published and lectured widely on legal education, dispute resolution, race and ...

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The Honorable Jenny Rivera, Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, CUNY Law Professor Emeritus and Founder of CUNY Law's Center on Latinx Rights and Equality, has spent her entire professional career in public service. Here she leads the graduates...

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Reverend Doctor Yvette Wilson-Barnes '97 joined the CUNY Law as the Associate Dean for Student Affairs after nine years in the same role at Union Theological Seminary. As the Law School’s Chief Student Affairs Officer, Dr. Wilson-Barnes provi...

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Hina Naveed was elected by the Evening Class of 2021 to serve as its student speaker. Hina is a product of the CUNY system. She attended the College of Staten Island for her BS in Nursing, prior to matriculating at the CUNY School of Law for her JD....

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Voted by the Class of 2021 to be the year's Community Service Award Winner, Stephanie McGregor counsels and supports students in realizing their career goals and aspirations to practice law in the service of human needs. Stephanie is a first-generat...

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Cesar Vargas is a nationally recognized leader at the forefront of the fight for immigration reform and the DREAM Act. Cesar was brought to New York from Mexico at age five, after his father passed away. As an undocumented law graduate from CUNY Law...

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Elisabeth (Lisa) Bernard was elected by the Class of 2021 to serve as its student speaker for the full-time, day program. Originally from Brownsville, Brooklyn, Lisa has dedicated her life and career to serving court-involved youth in multiple capaci...

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Fareed Nassor Hayat was elected by the Class of 2021 for its Outstanding Professor Award. Professor Hayat earned his JD from the Howard University School of Law, and then joined the Maryland Office of the Public Defender in Baltimore City’s Ne...

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The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, CUNY Law's 2021 Commencement speaker and recipient of a Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa, is the President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach; Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call ...

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CUNY Law’s 36th Commencement, hosted live online, celebrates the conferring of 189 Juris Doctorate degrees to 189 students in a ceremony honoring their dedication towards learning and practicing law in the service of human needs. The Reverend...

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Professor Natalie M. Chin, Co-Director of the Disability and Aging Justice Clinic, presents “Examining How Crisis Standards of Care May Lead to Intersectional Medical Discrimination Against COVID-19 Patients” This report contextualizes...

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A panel hosted by CUNY Law faculty on the Statewide Central Register that ensnares families based on child maltreatment allegations. Moderator Julia Hernandez '12, Associate Professor, CUNY School of Law Panelists Kesha Rayside, Parent; Joyce McMil...

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Professor Julie Gilgoff ’17 presents “Pandemic-Related Vacant Property Initiatives” This article, published in the Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, details changes that have come with the rapid spread o...

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Professor Eduardo R.C. Capulong ’91 presents “Antiracism, Reflection, and Professional Identity.” This jointly published article in the Hastings Race, Poverty, and Law Journal argues that antiracism is essential to the profession�...

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Professor Julia Hernandez ’12 presents “Lawyering Close to Home.” This article, published in the Clinical Law Review, incorporates ethnographic insights and narrative technique rooted, in part, in Critical Race Theory and critical...

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Professor Charisa Kiyô Smith, Co-Director of the Family Law Practice Clinic, presents “#WhoAmI? Harm and Remedy for Youth of the #MeToo Era.” This article, published in University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change, deta...

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Professor Chaumtoli Huq, Co-Director of the Workers Rights Clinic, presents “Charting Global Economic Inequalities and Emancipatory Human Rights Responses from the Ground Up: The Tea Workers’ Movement of Bangladesh.” This case stu...

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Professor Lynn Lu, Co-Director of the Equal Justice Works Clinic, presents “From Stigma to Dignity? Transforming Workfare with Universal Basic Income and a Federal Job Guarantee” This forthcoming article in the South Carolina Law Review...

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Professor Alan White presents his article “The Contract State, Program Failure, and Congressional Intent: The Case of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program,” published in the U.C. Irvine Law Review exploring the Public Service Loan ...

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Professor Rebecca Bratspies, Director of CUNY's Center for Urban Environmental Reform, presents her work “Struggling to Breathe: Asthma, Pollution, and the Fight for Environmental Justice.” Data for Progress uses techniques in data scien...

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A panel hosted by CUNY Law faculty on growing calls nationally and locally to abolish the family regulation system, also known as the family policing system. Panelists discuss specific calls on the road to abolition, bringing their own unique perspec...

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Delivered at the Fall 2020 LSACForum, this short address from Dean Bilek urges prospective law students to seize the opportunity to become a public interest and social justice advocate.

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Prof. Martha Jones ’87, Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University, responds to the election results with the background of her recently published book, “Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equal...

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Clinic faculty host a conversation moderated and foregrounded by Professor Jeena Shah, who begins the discussion with a shared language and framework, before introducing additional presenters: Professor Fareed Nassor Hayat, Criminal Law as a tool of...

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As the uprisings of the summer of 2020 popularized demands for defunding the police, larger questions around abolishing policing and the carceral state have come to the forefront of discussions in the legal community. CUNY Law has been fortunate to h...

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OCT 14, 2020 Judicial diversity and inclusion matter not only on the federal level but also in state courts. This is particularly true in New York State, a leader in law among state courts. There have been a number of recent developments regarding t...

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CUNY Law's Office of Student Affairs and Center on Latinx Rights and Equality (CLRE) host a discussion on the SCOTUS Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) decision handed down on June 18, 2020. Professors Janet Calvo and Natalie Gomez-Velez, ...

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This video celebrates the successes of CUNY School of Law's Class of 2020 ✨Multilingual Congratulations ✨Dean Mary Lu Bilek's address ✨Ashley Franklin, elected student speaker ✨Sofia Yakren accepts the Outstanding Professor Awar...

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To our current students: know that we know you have what it takes to crush finals this semester. Know that every dean, professor, and member of our staff is rooting you on. Know that on the other side is a you who is one step closer to being a lawyer...

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The Admissions Office hosts a Q+A panel with clinic faculty members including Clinic Dean Donna Lee, Professor Nermeen Arastu of our Immigrant and Non-Citizen Rights Clinic, Professor Rick Rossein, and Erin Tomlinson who is both a Visiting Professor ...

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Dean Bilek is sharing the latest on how our progressive law school and movement-building community is continuing to teach, learn and create change during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students, faculty, and the Law School's leaders are already seizing oppo...

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A panel of experts will confront the dangerous consequences of the US government prosecuting Julian Assange under the Espionage Act of 1917

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Join us in congratulating and celebrating the graduating class of 2019!

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Celebrating the CUNY Law Class of 2019 at a landmark commencement featuring the first-ever graduating class of the Evening Program, remarks from Attorney General of New York State Letitia A. James, and esteemed Professor Martha S. Jones ‘87

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The NYC Commission on Human Rights Invites You to Testify at a Public Hearing on Pregnancy and Caregiver Discrimination

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"At CUNY Law, they understand that the stories and the narratives that are least heard are the ones most needed to move us forward."

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"It makes all the difference in the world when you're working with someone who understands what you're going through." Here at CUNY Law, we think the world would be a better place if more attorneys and advocates understood what it's like to be an imm...

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Mikailla Carwin came to CUNY School of Law because she saw people in her community didn't have the representation she knew they deserved. What if the world had more advocates like her?

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The Trump administration is dramatically changing environmental policies. More than ever environmental journalists, lawyers, advocates, and scholars are relying on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get critical information. FOIA requests and l...

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Join us in congratulating and celebrating the graduating class of 2018!

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