CUNY School of Law

DEAN
Michelle J. Anderson Esq.
FOUNDATION CHAIR
Michelle J. Anderson Esq.
TOTAL ENROLLMENT
425
ALUMNI ON RECORD
3,020
FULL-TIME FACULTY
41

CUNY School of Law, opened in 1983, is the only law school in the country whose mission, from its inception, has been to train its students for public service. “Law in the Service of Human Needs” is the school’s motto, and its goal is to prepare students to practice public- interest law. To this end, the law school has developed a unique and comprehensive curriculum that integrates legal skills and doctrine at every level, making it a national leader in progressive legal education. CUNY School of Law has won national recognition for its innovative pedagogy and its superb clinical program.

Philanthropic Support FY00-FY09 — $6,106,015
Projected Philanthropy Target thru FY2015 — $13,000,000

Philanthropic support totaled over $6 million. Gifts and pledges assist students through scholarships and Bar study grants. Private support also provides a stable base for the innovative Community Legal Resource Network that assists graduates who provide legal services to underserved communities.

Gift Highlights

  • Several foundations have provided generous grants in support of the Community Legal Resource Network (CLRN):
  • The Booth Ferris Foundation contributed $200,000; The Bernard and Alva Gimbel Foundation gave $125,000; The New York Foundation donated $90,000; New York Community Trust gave $40,000, and JEHT Foundation (Justice, Equality, Human dignity and Tolerance) donated $25,000.
  • CUNY Law received an anonymous gift of $46,000 to support Main Street Legal Services, the law school’s clinic.
  • The Charles Lawrence Keith and Clara Miller Foundation donated $40,000 to the law school’s Bar Study Grant Fund, which supports students’ expenses while they study for the Bar Exam after graduation.
  • Fund for Social Change/FAR Fund Grants donated $37,500 for immigrant initiatives associated with the law school’s clinic.
  • O’Dwyer & Bernstein LLP gave $31,000 for scholarships.

Look Who's Investing in the CUNY School of Law

Anonymous Gift of $1 million

In December 2008, an anonymous donor made a multiyear pledge totaling $1 million, the largest gift ever received by CUNY School of Law. Made without restrictions, this gift supports three key initiatives at the law school: The Bar Grant Study Fund, which enables new graduates to forego paid work so they can devote two months of fulltime study before the July Bar Exam; the Pipeline to Justice Program, which offers a second-chance admission to CUNY Law to students from communities underrepresented in the legal profession; and the Student Debt Relief Fund, which offers debt relief to students so they can afford to pursue careers in public-interest law.

 

Hon. Bryanne Hamill ’90 and Thomas Hamill

A CUNY alumna, Judge Bryanne Hamill has long supported the school by counseling students, judging moot court competitions, and mentoring students who intern with her as she presides over Brooklyn Family Court. A gift of $31,000 from Judge Hamill and her husband, Thomas, established a scholarship fund that has offered fellowships for students pursuing family law and scholarships for students who enter the law school through the Pipeline to Justice Program.

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