NYU Law: A Legacy of Notable Alumni

New York University School of Law, since its establishment in 1835, has been a pioneering institution in legal education. It holds the distinction of being the first law school in New York City, the oldest extant law school in New York State, and one of the oldest in the United States. Located in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan, NYU Law offers J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees. Throughout its history, NYU Law has produced a remarkable array of alumni who have made significant contributions to law, government, business, academia, and society.

The Foundation of NYU School of Law

NYU School of Law's origins trace back to Benjamin Franklin Butler, the United States Attorney General, who, at the request of the Council of New York University, formulated a plan for establishing a law faculty. This plan, which outlined a three-year course of study, was approved on June 2, 1835, marking the official beginning of the law school. NYU Law was among the first law schools in the United States to admit women, starting in 1890. In 1895, the Metropolitan Law School was absorbed by NYU School of Law, becoming its evening division. The law school began raising its admission standards in the early 20th century, requiring at least one year of undergraduate education or its equivalent by 1924. In 1951, under the direction of Dean Arthur T. Vanderbilt, the law school moved to its current location at 40 Washington Square South in Greenwich Village.

Academic Programs and Opportunities

NYU Law offers a variety of programs and opportunities for its students. The school publishes ten student-edited law journals, including the Journal of Law & Business, which covers a range of business law topics. NYU Law also offers several dual-degree programs, including programs with Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Additionally, there is an exchange program between Columbia Law School and NYU School of Law. Admission to NYU School of Law is highly competitive. The 25th and 75th LSAT percentiles for the 2024 entering class were 169 and 173, respectively, with a median of 172.

NYU Law provides financial aid to a majority of its students. The average annual scholarship award for the Fall 2024 entering JD class was $31,698. The school also offers a Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) for qualifying alumni who choose careers in public service. NYU Law offers several fellowships to students admitted to the LLM Program. The Hauser Global Scholarship admits eight to ten top LLM students from all over the world. The scholarship includes full tuition waiver and reasonable accommodation costs.

Centers and Institutes

NYU Law houses numerous centers and institutes that focus on various areas of law and policy. These include:

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The Center for Law, Economics and Organization: Promotes interdisciplinary research and teaching in law and economics.
The Reiss Center on Law and Security: Houses Just Security.
The Center on the Administration of Criminal Law: Dedicated to the promotion of good government and prosecution practices in criminal matters.
The Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy: A joint venture between the law school and NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
The Institute for Executive Education: Offers focused training for professionals and integrates key elements of law, business, and public policy into its programming.
The Institute for Law & Society: A joint venture between the law school and the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science.
The Institute for Policy Integrity: Headed by Richard Revesz and Michael Livermore.
The Pollack Center for Law and Business: A joint venture between the law school and the New York University Stern School of Business.
The Straus Institute for the Advanced Study of Law & Justice: Brings in leading scholars from different disciplines and cultures.
The Tikvah Center for Law & Jewish Civilization: Headed by Moshe Halbertal and Joseph H. H.
The Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law: The faculty directors are Anthony Thompson and Deborah N.

Facilities

The law school's main building, Vanderbilt Hall, occupies the entire block between West Third and Washington Square South (West Fourth) and between Macdougal and Sullivan Streets. Furman Hall, which opened in 2004, connects to Vanderbilt Hall through the law library. D'Agostino Hall houses student residences. Wilf Hall houses centers, programs, and institutes, as well as the admissions offices.

Notable Alumni

NYU Law has a long and distinguished list of notable alumni who have made significant contributions to various fields. These alumni include:

Government and Politics

Samuel J. Tilden: Governor of New York and Democratic presidential candidate.
Fiorello La Guardia: Former Mayor of New York City. Before enrolling in law school, he worked for the American Consulate in Hungary and Austria. When he returned to New York, he worked with immigrants at Ellis Island while getting his degree at NYU Law. After serving as a pilot in World War I, La Guardia served a member of the House of Representatives until 1932. During that time he co-sponsored the Norris-La Guardia Act, which lessened the Court's power to interfere with organized labor strikes. In 1934, he became mayor of New York City and stayed in office until 1945. During his two terms as mayor, La Guardia, who died in 1947, was responsible for the spearheading the construction of La Guardia Airport and a number of other parks and housing developments in NYC.
Ed Koch: Former Mayor of New York City. Koch graduated NYU Law in 1948 and was an attorney before he entered politics and served on the City Council and the House of Representatives. Koch was elected mayor of NYC in 1977 during a time when the city was facing financial turmoil. During his three terms as mayor, Koch was credited with implementing tough fiscal policies and sharp budget cuts as well as largely improving the subway system. After his term as mayor, Koch, who died in 2013, returned to work as an attorney and also worked in the media as a journalist and radio commentator.
Rudy Giuliani: Former Mayor of New York City. The former mayor of New York City graduated magna cum laude from NYU Law in 1968. After graduating, he landed a clerkship at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. He held a number of jobs in both Washington, D.C., and New York City, including a position as associate attorney general to Ronald Reagan, before running for mayor in 1989. He lost that campaign but made a successful run four years later. When Giuliani became mayor in 1994, he was the first Republican candidate to take office in 20 years.
Ma Ying-Jeou: President of the Republic of China.
Guillermo Endara: Former President of Panama.
Lamar Alexander: United States Senator from Tennessee.
Rudy Boschwitz: Former United States Senator from Minnesota.
Jacob Javits: Former United States Senator from New York.
Hakeem Jeffries: U.S. Representative from New York.
Mitchell Jenkins: Former U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania.
Jefferson Monroe Levy: Former U.S. Representative from New York.
Isaac Siegel: Former U.S. Representative from New York.
Vanita Gupta: Civil rights leader and former United States Associate Attorney General. Before she even started law school, Vanita Gupta knew she wanted to be a civil rights attorney. When she graduated in 2001, she immediately started working for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund as a Soros Fellow. At the NAACP she worked on a case in Tulia, Texas, helping overturn the wrongful drug convictions of 10 percent of the town’s population. In 2014, Gupta was nominated by President Obama to head the US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The assistant attorney general is dedicated to combatting discrimination and is currently involved in the Justice Department’s lawsuit against North Carolina over transgender rights. "History does not reward timidity," Gupta said during her speech at NYU Law’s 2016 commencement. "And even when other people in implicit, quiet ways tell you to know your place, do not stay silent.

Law and Judiciary

Louis Freeh: Former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Judith Kaye: Former Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.
Jonathan Lippman: Former Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.
Dennis G. Jacobs: Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Pauline Newman: United States Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Doris Ling-Cohan: Justice, New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Term, First Department.
Bridget McCormack: Chief Justice, Michigan Supreme Court.

Business and Entertainment

Jonathan Dolgen: Former chairman of Paramount Pictures.
Marc E. Platt: Hollywood and Broadway producer.
Peter Guber: Hollywood producer and former chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Howard Cosell: Sportscaster. The "Monday Night Football" sportscaster attended NYU for both his bachelor's degree and JD. During his time at NYU Law, Cosell, who died in 1995, served as editor of NYU’s law review. Post-graduation, Cosell went on to serve in the US Army during World War II. Once the war was over, he returned to New York and opened his own law firm. During his time as a lawyer he represented a number of sports players like Willie Mays as well as the Little League of New York.
Paul Tagliabue: Former Commissioner of the National Football League (NFL).
Gary Bettman: Commissioner of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Michael I. Roth: Chairman and CEO of Interpublic Group of Companies.
John Carrig: President and COO of ConocoPhillips.
Herb Kelleher: Founder of Southwest Airlines.
John Turitzin: Vice-president of Marvel Entertainment.
Stephen M. Ross: Real estate developer, Miami Dolphins principal owner, and philanthropist.
Leonard Wilf: President of Garden Homes Development, co-owner and vice chairman of the Minnesota Vikings football team and co-owner of the Nashville SC soccer team was waitlisted when he applied to NYU Law’s JD program. “I had only wanted to go to NYU Law, but I didn’t achieve my wish the first go-round,” Wilf says.

Academia and Activism

Roberta Karmel: Centennial Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School and first female SEC Commissioner.
Glenn Greenwald: Journalist.
Sherrilyn Ifill: President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Susan Herman: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School; Former President, ACLU (2008-2021)
Jessica Garretson Finch: Suffragette and college founding president
Crystal Crawford: Executive Director, Western Center on Law & Poverty
Tsion Gurmu: Legal Director, Black Alliance for Just Immigration; Founder and Director, Queer Black Immigrant Project
Chantá Parker: Managing Director, Neighborhood Defender Service of Detroit
Lindsay Kendrick: Dean of Students and Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, NYU School of Law
Alexis Hoag: Senior Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Lisa Marie Boykin: Senior Counsel, Business and Legal Affairs, Netflix
Alina Das: Associate Professor of Clinical Law
Dayna Cunningham: Executive Director, Community Innovators Lab, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

International Affairs and Human Rights

Elihu Root: Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Mohamed ElBaradei: Nobel Peace Prize laureate. After he graduated in 1972, ElBaradei worked as a special assistant to the Foreign Minister of Egypt and then as senior fellow at the International Law Program at the UN Institute for Training and Research. He eventually returned to NYU in 1981 and worked as an adjunct professor until 1987. ElBaradei was appointed director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1997. His work with the IAEA to prevent the use of nuclear weapons earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.
Amal Clooney: International human rights lawyer. Beirut-born Amal Clooney got her bachelor’s degree in law at Oxford University before crossing the pond to obtain an LLM. During her time at NYU, Clooney served as a student clerk at the US Court of Appeals for current Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor. She also won the Jack J. Katz Memorial Award for excellence in entertainment law. Post-graduation, Clooney worked at top NYC law firm Sullivan & Cromwell and then on a United Nations tribunal. She returned to London in 2010 to join Doughty Street Chambers as a barrister where she worked for a number of high-profile clients, such as Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and former-Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Although she was already distinguished lawyer, Clooney’s fame skyrocketed when she married actor George Clooney in 2014.

Other Notable Alumni

Breon Peace: Former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
John F. Kennedy Jr.: Publisher and founder of George magazine, son of President John F. Kennedy. The only son of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, JFK Jr. became a public figure in his own right. After attending Brown University and dabbling in acting, he enrolled in law school and graduated with a JD from NYU Law in 1989. Kennedy failed the bar exam twice before passing on his third try - his sister, Caroline, passed the bar on her first try. Prior to the shocking plane crash in 199 that took his life and the lives of his wife and sister-in-law, JFK Jr. launched the political magazine George.
Demetri Martin: Comedian. Demetri Martin was faced with the option of attending Harvard or NYU for law school - he decided to go with NYU since the school offered him a full ride. “It was liberating for me to stop seeking the approval of my family,” Martin told Salon about his change in path. Martin has since had his own show on Comedy Central, "Important Things with Demetri Martin," wrote for "Late Night with Conan O’Brien," and starred in a number of movies.

This list represents only a small fraction of the many accomplished graduates of NYU School of Law. NYU Law alumni have served as judges of the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Their contributions span across diverse fields, reflecting the breadth and depth of the education they received at NYU Law.

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