Posts Tagged ‘Brooklyn Law’

Brooklyn Law School, which has over a hundred years of proud history as a local institution in Downtown Brooklyn, is enjoying new prestige in recent years among American law schools. To Dean Joan Gottesman Wexler, it’s long overdue.

“We think that our reputation is beginning to catch up with reality, which is that we have fabulous students and a faculty that’s as good as any in the country,” Dean Wexler said during a recent interview.

However, Brooklyn Law School (BLS) has a somewhat precarious position in the world of law schools. Its alumni have a reputation around the city of being highly capable attorneys, and many members of the Brooklyn judiciary studied there. But it’s not always the first choice for undergraduate students at the nation’s top colleges.

“Sometimes it’s difficult for us because people look at our name and think what is this, it’s a local school,” Wexler acknowledged. “We don’t have a basketball team. Schools that do well in basketball — their ranking goes up.”

Dean Wexler was of course referring to the well-known U.S. News & World Reports rankings of the best law schools in the country. BLS had risen in recent years to 58, but was most recently ranked at 61 out of the 200 law schools accredited by the American Bar Association that are listed. It’s never cracked the first-tier top 50.

One third-year student who had recently chosen to study at Tulane Law School over Brooklyn Law spoke to the Eagle about the process:

[Brooklyn Eagle]

A TV news producer accused of blackmailing David Letterman in exchange for keeping quiet about his sexual affairs was only trying to sell the late-night comic a screenplay, the producer’s lawyer said Tuesday.

Robert J. “Joe” Halderman’s attorney asked a Manhattan judge at a hearing to dismiss the attempted first-degree grand larceny charge.

Gerald Shargel, a defense attorney and Brooklyn Law School professor, said that Halderman was merely trying to sell Letterman a screenplay when he approached him with the package left in Letterman’s car.

“There was no extortion. There was a screenplay for sale,” Shargel, who is the practitioner in residence at the Joralemon Street law school, said outside the courtroom. “There was a commercial transaction. Nothing more.”

An attorney for Letterman called the host the victim in the case and derided Shargel’s claim that Halderman was merely trying to sell a screenplay.

“It’s classic blackmail, no matter how Mr. Halderman’s lawyer wants to dress it up,” Daniel Horwitz said.

Prosecutors have said Halder-man left a bizarre and threatening package in Letterman’s car on Sept. 9, demanding $2 million to keep quiet about some of the “Late Show” host’s dalliances. The materials included a letter, a synopsis of a supposed screenplay that said Letterman’s world would “collapse around him” when information about his private life was disclosed, photos, personal correspondence and portions of a diary, authorities said.

[Brooklyn Eagle]

After Brooklyn Law School students were informed last week that security would be ramped up on illegal internet downloads, the administration has apparently back-pedaled and will adopt a less Draconian stance.

According to the blog AboveTheLaw.com, an email was sent out to Brooklyn Law School (BLS) students on Oct. 28 informing them that the names of network users downloading TV shows and movies on the school’s wireless network would be turned over to copyright holders “for enforcement purposes.”

However, a second email was reportedly sent out on Oct. 29, stating that the school would instead merely send cease-and-desist notifications to students caught doing illegal downloads, in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

“Outside of the legal process, we are not obligated to turn over the names of the alleged infringers to copyright holders and will not do so,” stated an email sent by Phil Allred, chief information officer at BLS, according the blog.

Some students commenting on local blogs seemed to support the school in going above and beyond the legally required protection of copyright law by turning over names of its own students. However, a poll on AboveTheLaw found that 75 percent of readers felt that BLS should do more to protect students from being sued for illegal downloading.

[Brooklyn Eagle]

After losing the runoff Democratic primary election for New York City Comptroller last month John Liu, it’s unknown what direction City Councilman David Yassky will consider for his future career.

Perhaps Yassky will consider returning to his old job as a professor at Brooklyn Law School.

“He loved teaching and he’s been very clear about that,” said Danny Kanner, a Yassky spokesman. “He’s going to be spending the rest of his City Council term representing the 33rd district to the best of his ability, and then he’ll decide what he’s doing next.”

Yassky, who has represented Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO in the City Council since 2002, left his professorship after four years of teaching.

“He’s welcome to apply for a faculty appointment,” said Brooklyn Law School Dean Joan Wexler. “[When] he was here, he was great.”

While a member of the Brooklyn Law faculty, which he joined in 1998, Yassky taught courses in Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Federalism. He had scholarly pieces on the Second Amendment published in the Michigan Law Review and the St. Louis University Public Law Review.

[Brooklyn Eagle]

A forum on hate crimes against transgender people was held in Downtown Brooklyn on Wednesday night.
The forum at Brooklyn Law School comes nearly three months after the state’s first hate crime conviction for the killing of a transgender person.

Dwight DeLee was convicted of manslaughter as a hate crime in the 2008 slaying of Lateisha Green in Syracuse.

The forum’s organizer, the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, expected Green’s relatives to attend. The group says transgender people face “pervasive discrimination, harassment and violence.”

Prevention strategies were discussed.

In June, a national coalition said transgender people accounted for 12 percent of victims of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people reported in 2008.

[Brooklyn Eagle]

Brooklyn Law School is holding a tribute next week to salute a former trustee of the law school who has had a great deal of success in businesses, community organizations, and in important positions throughout Brooklyn.

Robert B. Catell will be honored for his outstanding business leadership, personal accomplishments, and dedication to Brooklyn Law School during his remarkable 50-year career. This special tribute will be held Wednesday, Sept. 23, aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum at Pier 86 in Manhattan, at 12th Avenue and 46th Street.

Proceeds from the event, which is expected to draw a crowd of 400, will benefit Brooklyn Law School.

Catell has worked in a wide variety of companies during his career. He is Co-Chair of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, serves as a Member Emeritus of Brooklyn Law School, is former chairman of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and has served as a trustee of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

[Brooklyn Eagle]

Brooklyn Law School will salute Robert B. Catell in a special tribute to be held on Wednesday evening, September 23rd, aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum at Pier 86, 12th Avenue and 46th Street.

Mr. Catell will be honored for his outstanding business leadership, personal accomplishments, and dedication to Brooklyn Law School during his remarkable 50-year career. He is the Former Chairman, U.S., National Grid and Former Chairman and CEO, KeySpan Corporation and KeySpan Energy Delivery. Mr. Catell served as a member of the Brooklyn Law School Board of Trustees for l7 years.

Over 400 celebrants will be in attendance and $650,000 has been raised thus far. Proceeds of the event will benefit Brooklyn Law School.

Currently, Mr. Catell is Chairman of Alberta Northeast Gas Ltd. and a member of the board of directors of KEYERA Energy Management Ltd. He is Chair of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC), Cristo Rey Network’s Lourdes Academy, Futures in Education, New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR), and the New York State Smart Grid Consortium. The Co-Chair of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, he is also a member of the board of directors or trustees of many other civic organizations that have improved the lives of all New Yorkers.

[PR NewsWire]