So heating up my lunch in the non-kosher microwave and studying at home on Saturdays is no reason to stamp Cardozo as a school too religious to attend. The best way to evaluate a law school's faculty is to see it in action, and the best way to do this, of course, is through a school visit.
We also have word from a current student who tells TLS what it is like sitting in on some classes:. First year classes are pretty large. Socratic method varies dramatically from professor to professor. Some go alphabetically, some call on 20 students per 50 minute class, some put a certain row "on call" for a certain day, some just take volunteers. I have never heard of one professor making one student run the entire class, though.
This variation in teaching method is relatively standard, and while the Socratic Method can seem intimidating at first, it is prevalent at most law schools and students typically adjust quickly. Professor Hanks who teaches property and elements of law a 1L class is kind of a legend at the school for her age she was there when the school was founded , and she does not allow laptops in her class.
Students volunteer at their own risk, she tears them apart, tends to criticize the class, and thinks of them as one person. If a person comes late, that's when she considers the class to have begun, so she'll hold the class over as long as she needs to. I've never had her, but these are the stories. Students tend to fear her but they also love her. They say she's a fountain of knowledge and putting the laptops away helps them focus.
As for 1Ls, most professors do stick to the cold calling, however, and do expect you to be prepared with thorough knowledge of the case, but if you can't answer a hypothetical they'll usually move on. It's too hard to generalize about them though, because they're all so different. The best plan to not be caught off guard is to get class notes from the year before, since most teachers stick to game plan year after year.
Again, students are very helpful about sharing old notes and outlines. Many of the school's professors are leaders in their fields, and if you are interested in speaking with one in particular, you can find a helpful list organized by field of expertise on this page. The law school has about full and part-time faculty; most of them have advanced degrees in a field besides law and about a dozen hold a Ph.
The student-to-faculty ratio, at 16 to 1, is on the higher end of the spectrum when compared to peer schools. A typical first-year class will consist of about 50 students. Students enjoy a rather generous grading curve with a median between 3. This friendly curve takes some of the pressure off of students to be overly competitive. The workload at Cardozo is, however, reported to be intense, and while students are highly capable, some will find law school immensely stressful.
Cardozo requires its 1L students to enroll in mostly standard core classes: property, torts, elements of law, civil procedure, criminal law, constitutional law, and legal writing. Second and third year students are mostly free to choose their courses. There are over elective courses available. In addition to strong course offerings, and a leading journal in the field, there are a steady stream of IP-related speakers and events that are tremendously well attended.
The same is true for Cardozo's alternative dispute resolution and mediation program. For more information about the course offerings, you can visit this site. Dean Diller also mentioned that "during the mid-winter break, Cardozo offers an intensive trial advocacy program ITAP that brings together lawyers and judges from around the country to provide students with an intensive two-week immersion in the art of trial practice.
Cardozo also makes allowances for students to pursue other academic interests outside of the law school itself. Cardozo lets students partake in a number of study abroad options. Dean Diller spoke again of the winter break; "Our international programs offered during this period expose participating students to the legal communities and problems of such countries as China, Japan, and even Rwanda. Cardozo Law offers its students an impressive array of clinics and externships.
Each year nearly Cardozo students help represent clients in real cases under the supervision of professional attorneys through these clinics. One such program is the Holocaust Claims Restitution Practicum, in which students aim to assist Holocaust survivors and their heirs in legal proceedings.
Our clinics are all in-house and client-based, something you don't see at most law schools. The internationally renowned Innocence Project was founded at Cardozo and provides direct hands-on experience to many Cardozo students each year. Our genocide and human rights clinic does work on the cutting edge of this critically important field.
Our clinics in immigration justice, elder law, criminal law, and securities arbitration are outstanding. Students who are interested in gaining practical experience will have plenty of chances to get involved at Cardozo Law. It is still unclear how large and how permanent the recent contraction in the legal market will be, so it's not surprising that current students have some trepidation about their ability to find work.
As one first year student puts it:. Yes, 3Ls are worried. But, our Dean of Career Services has a student advisory committee where he fields opinions and ideas from a diverse range of students to help with recruitment, etc. I'm probably too early in my legal career to know too much about the job search nightmare though and what Cardozo could do better.
Dean Diller commented that "Cardozo students in the middle of the class are very well situated to compete for NY-based post-grad positions against similarly placed students who come from law schools across the country. Still, Cardozo's job placement numbers have been high in recent years, and its alumni network, concentrated primarily in New York City, is young but committed. Dean Diller notes that "many alumni participate in Cardozo's mentorship, mock interview, career coach, and practice profile lunch programs.
Many are also involved in Cardozo's fall and spring recruitment programs. Recently Cardozo has reported an Students with below-median grades, however, will likely have to look outside of Biglaw.
Cardozo's major advantage is its proximity and access to the prestigious New York City legal market. Those who graduate near the top of their class at Cardozo will likely have some of the top law firms in Manhattan within reach. For all students, employment prospects remain fairly local, though "local," in this case, is the largest and most diversified legal market in the world.
Cardozo Law does offer a Loan Repayment Assistance Program designed to help students pursuing public interest careers with their sizeable law school debt details below.
As mentioned above most Cardozo grads will stay in New York City. A large majority will remain in the Northeast with very few heading further afield.
Cardozo Law generally posts impressive bar passage rates. About 6 percent of Cardozo law students obtain clerkships. While most students head to private practice upon graduation, Dean Diller notes that of those who have clerked from Cardozo, students have been clerks for "the Supreme Court of the United States, U. Circuit Courts of Appeals and District Courts as well as different federal specialty courts, and various state courts at the trial and appellate levels.
Not everyone at Cardozo wants to work in a law firm, and for those students who want to pursue a legal career in public interest, Cardozo Law's LRAP program is there to help.
Funding is also available for students who spend their summers doing public interest work. Dean Diller noted that in , "more than 1Ls and 2Ls received funding to work at legal services providers, public interest organizations, government agencies, district attorneys' offices, the U.
Attorney's Office, and federal and state judicial chambers. There's a diversity office that reaches out to underrepresented students with opportunities. The school also created a few more summer internship opportunities through the school to help with the dearth of hiring.
It seems 1Ls are very successful getting jobs or at least judicial clerkships. Naturally due to the economy public interest is popular this summer. Others work in small- or medium-sized firms that offer the opportunity to practice in areas not typically covered by large firms like family law, immigration, labor, and civil rights.
Others pursue smaller, boutique firms in highly specialized areas such as patent law, for which Cardozo is widely recognized. Cardozo also offers an International Human Rights and a Public Service Fellowship that award grants to first- and second-year students who demonstrate a commitment to international human rights and have secured an internship abroad. Students have worked in Kenya, India, Israel, Peru, and elsewhere. The International Corporate and Intellectual Property Fellowship Program provides a stipend to first and second year law students who intern for law firms or corporations abroad, with a focus in world economies that are presenting new opportunities for American lawyers.
Students have worked in Brazil, China, and Korea, among other countries. Cardozo works hard to provide its students with summer-time opportunities in both the public and private sectors to ensure that they are gaining valuable legal work experience. Center for Rights and Justice at Cardozo. Upcoming Events at Cardozo.
View all Cardozo events. Jan Campus News Cardozo community only. Feb Open to public. Mar Campus News Open to public AM. Cardozo News. View All Cardozo News. Our Areas of Study. Below is a sample of courses currently on offer. Most are semester-long seminars, and several are intensive courses to be taken over a period of four days. The MS in Bioethics requires 32 credits for completion. The remaining 22 credits will come from a range of courses offered primarily through Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Cardozo School of Law.
Note that a good portion of the seminar courses are scheduled from 4pm on, and several are intensive courses held over a select number of days.
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