Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Yeshiva University, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law History

Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law was established in 1976 and is a private institution. The campus is in an urban area in the heart of Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan. The primary mission of the law school is to enhance the student’s understanding of the legal profession and of the ethical dilemmas and professional responsibilities facing lawyers in today’s society. Students have access to federal, state, county, city, and local agencies, courts, correctional facilities, law firms, and legal aid organizations in the New York area. Students benefit from the school’s proximity to city, state, and federal offices. Organizations within proximity of the law school include the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange, the United Nations, and New York’s many cultural institutions. Housing for students is available in a residence hall, which is located 1 block from the law school. The Admissions Office maintains apartment listings and circulates a roommate newsletter. All law school facilities are accessible to the physically disabled.

Yeshiva University, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Academics

In addition to the J.D., the law school offers the LL.M. Students may take relevant courses in other programs and apply credit toward the J.D.; a maximum of 2 credits may be applied. The following joint degree may be earned: J.D./M.S.W. (Juris Doctor/Master of Social Work).

Students must take 5 courses in their area of concentration. The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law offers concentrations in corporate law, criminal law, entertainment law, family law, intellectual property law, international law, litigation, media law, tax law, communications law, commercial law, constitutional law and rights, property and real estate, and dispute resolution. In addition, clinics, open to second- and-third year students, include the Innocence Project (4 credits per semester), Mediation Clinic (4 credits per semester), and Human Rights and Genocide Clinic (4 credits for 1 semester only). Special courses and seminars are offered in human rights and children, intellectual property and globalization, and multicultural dispute resolution. A wide variety of internships and externships is offered during the academic year, including a full-time internship with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Research assistants are hired by professors. Students also have the option to conduct their own research under the supervision of a faculty member. Field work opportunities include the Alexander Fellows Program. Cardozo hosts numerous lectures, including the Uri and Caroline Bauer Memorial Lecture, the Jacob Burns Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, and the Distinguished Lecture in Intellectual Property Law. Cardozo offers a summer program at Oxford in Comparative Corporate Governance and a program in Budapest in Mediation and Democratic Dialogue. Cardozo students also have the opportunity to spend a semester in Hamburg, Germany; Budapest, Hungary; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Bilbao, Spain. Cardozo also offers short-term intensive programs abroad during winter breaks. Seminars in 2007-2008 were held in Japan, Rwanda, India, and China. Minority programs include activities of the Minority Law Student Alliance. Countless panels and outside speakers are sponsored by such institutes as the Howard M. Squadron Program in Law, Media, and Society, the Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Center on Corporate Governance, the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution, the Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy, Cardozo Center for Public Service Law, and the Program in Family Law, Policy, and Bioethics. The most widely taken electives are Copyright, Corporations, and Evidence.

To earn the J.D., candidates must complete 84 total credits, of which 55 are for required courses. They must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.4 in the required courses. The following first-year courses are required of all students: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Elements of the Law, Legal Writing I and II, Property, and Torts. Required upper-level courses consist of Advanced Legal Research, distribution requirements, Professional Responsibility, and upper-level writing requirement. The required orientation program for first-year students is held over 3 days and includes programs to introduce students to Cardozo and the legal profession as well as social gatherings.

To graduate, candidates must have a GPA of 2.4, have completed the upper-division writing requirement and the Advanced Legal Research and Professional Responsibility courses, and fulfill distribution requirements.

Yeshiva University, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Unique Programs

Library

The law library contains 539,391 hard-copy volumes and 1,270,794 microform volume equivalents, and subscribes to 6470 serial publications. Such on-line databases and networks as CALI, Legal-Trac, LEXIS, NEXIS, OCLC First Search, WESTLAW, Wilsonline Indexes, CCH Tax, HeinOnline, BNA All Library, CCH Securities and IP Network, Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals, Legal Scholarship Network, LLMC Digital, Cambridge Journals Online, JSTOR, and LEXIS NEXIS Congressional Research Digital Collection are available to law students for research. Special library collections include the Louis and Ida Shlansky Family Foundation Library of Jewish and Israeli Law and U.S. government depository. Recently, the library added 1 floor and renovated the main floor. The ratio of library volumes to faculty is 10,372 to 1 and to students is 502 to 1. The ratio of seats in the library to students is 1 to 2.

Special Consideration

The law school recruits minority and disadvantaged students by means of special mailings, attendance at law fairs and receptions, a brochure designed for minority applicants, and an on-campus visitation program. Requirements are not different for out-of-state students. Transfer students must have one year of credit, and have attended an ABA-approved law school. Most of the emphasis in the admissions decision is placed on first-year performance.

Yeshiva University, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Admissions

In the fall 2007 first-year class, 4815 applied, 1348 were accepted, and 371 enrolled. Fifty-one transfers enrolled. The median LSAT percentile of the most recent first-year class was 91; the median GPA was 3.52 on a scale of 4.0.

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and take the LSAT. The most important admission factors include academic achievement, LSAT results, and general background. No specific undergraduate courses are required. Candidates are not interviewed.

The application deadline for fall entry is April 1. Applicants should submit an application form, LSAT results, transcripts, a personal statement, a nonrefundable application fee of $65, and 2 letters of recommendation. A r

Yeshiva University, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Financial Aid

About 85% of current law students receive some form of aid. The average annual amount of aid from all sources combined, including scholarships, loans, and work contracts, is $33,004; maximum, $65,150. Awards are based on need and merit. Required financial statements are the FAFSA and Need Access. The aid application deadline for fall entry is April 15. Special funds for minority or disadvantaged students are available. First-year students are notified about their financial aid application at time of acceptance.

Yeshiva University, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Students

About 49% of the student body are women; 20%, minorities; 3%, African American; 10%, Asian American; and 6%, Hispanic. The average age of entering students is 25; age range is 20 to 67. About 29% of students enter directly from undergraduate school, 8% have a graduate degree, and 66% have worked full-time prior to entering law school. About 8% drop out after the first year for academic or personal reasons; 92% remain to receive a law degree.

Students edit the Cardozo Law Review, Arts and Entertainment Law Journal, Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender, Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law, Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, The Cardozo Public Law, Policy, and Ethics Journal, Law and Literature, New York Real Estate Reports, and the newspaper The Cardozo Dispatch. Cardozo students compete in numerous moot court competitions including the John Marshall Information Technology/Privacy Law Moot Court Competition, Southern Illinois University Health Law Moot Court Competition, and Emory Civil Rights and Liberties Moot Court Competition. Cardozo’s Moot Court Honor Society hosts the national BMI Entertainment and Communications Law Moot Court Competition and the intramural Monrad G. Paulsen Moot Court Competition. Law student organizations, local chapters of national associations, and campus organizations include the International Law Students Association, Public Interest Law Students Association, the Federalist Society, Minority Law Students Alliance, Cardozo Women Law Students Association, and Outlaw.

The law school operates on a traditional semester basis. Courses for full-and part time students are offered days only and must be completed within 5 years. New full-time students are admitted in the fall and spring; part-time, summer. There is a 13-week summer session. Transferable summer courses are not offered.