| Fordham University School of Law | |
|---|---|
 Seal of Fordham University School of Law | |
| Motto | In the Service of Others |
| Parent school | Fordham University |
| Religious affiliation | CatholicSociety of Jesus |
| Established | September 28, 1905; 120 years ago (1905-09-28) |
| School type | Privatelaw school |
| Dean | Joseph Landau[1] |
| Location | New York City, New York, United States 40°46′17″N73°59′06″W / 40.7714°N 73.9850°W /40.7714; -73.9850 |
| USNWR ranking | 38th (tie) (2025)[2] |
| Bar pass rate | 92.98% (2024 first-time takers)[3] |
| Website | www |
.jpg)
TheFordham University School of Law is thelaw school ofFordham University. The school is located inManhattan and is one of the eightABA-accredited law schools inNew York City. According to the school's ABA-required disclosures, 88.12% of 2023 graduates obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment (i.e. as attorneys) nine months after graduation.[4]
1,335J.D. students attend Fordham Law.[5] Fordham Law also offers Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees in the following specializations:Banking,Corporate, &Finance Law;Corporate Compliance;Fashion Law;Intellectual Property &Information Technology Law;International Business &Trade Law;International Dispute Resolution;International Law & Justice; andU.S. Law.[6] LL.M. students can take a second concentration after finishing the first one by enrolling in a third semester.[7] Fordham University offers a "3-3 Program" that allows students to earn aBachelor of Arts orBachelor of Science and aJuris Doctor in six years of study: three at Fordham College and three at Fordham Law.[8] Fordham Law offers three joint degrees in conjunction with Fordham University's other graduate schools: J.D./M.A. inInternational Political Economy andDevelopment; J.D./M.B.A.; and J.D./M.S.W.[9]
The School also offers aMaster of Studies in Law (M.S.L.) degree with specializations in Corporate Compliance and Fashion Law,[10] and aDoctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) degree, which is research-based[11] and culminates in adissertation of at least 50,000 words.[12]
Founded in 1905, Fordham Law commemorated its Centennial during the 2005–06 academic year, and capped the year-long celebration with an alumni gala onEllis Island on September 28, the school's official birthday.[13] $20 million was fundraised and six new academic chairs created.[13]
The dean of Fordham Law School is Joseph Landau.[14]
For the class entering in 2023, 21.13% of applicants to Fordham Law were accepted. Of those accepted 32.14% enrolled. The average full time Fordham Law student had a LSAT score of 167 and an undergraduate GPA of 3.75, while the average part time student had a LSAT score of 164 and an undergraduate GPA of 3.58.[15]
In the 2024 edition ofU.S. News & World Report's "Best Graduate Schools", Fordham Law was ranked tied for 33rd.[2] It has the highest ranked part-time law program in New York state (ranked 2nd in the nation in the 2021 edition.)[16] Additionally, five specialty programs were nationally ranked: Dispute Resolution, 13th; Trial Advocacy, 13th; International Law, 15th; Intellectual Property, 16th; and Clinical Training, 22nd.[17]
In 2020,The National Law Journal ranked Fordham Law 4th nationally in terms of placement of 2018 graduates in the 25 largest law firms of the largest legal market, which is New York. It is placed 15th nationally in terms of placement of 2018 graduates in top 100 law firms.[18] This is an improvement from four years earlier when it ranked 20th and 23rd in comparative rankings.[19] In a survey conducted by Vault in 2017, Fordham Law comes 8th in terms of big law placement and 9th when class size was factored in.[20]
In 2020, PublicLegal placed Fordham Law among the top 23 law schools for the highest median salaries along with Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Chicago, NYU, UC-Berkeley, Duke, Cornell, UPenn, Georgetown and 12 others.[21]
Originally located in New York's downtownFinancial District, Fordham Law is currently located inLincoln Square, Manhattan, as part of Fordham University'sLincoln Center campus. As part of the university's Lincoln Center Master Plan, unveiled in 2005,[22] a new law school building was built. After groundbreaking on February 3, 2011,[23] the building was completed in four years, opening September 18, 2014.[24] The new law school building is part of the university's phase 1 redevelopment of its Lincoln Center campus.[22]
The 22-story building was designed byPei Cobb Freed & Partners to serve a dual-purpose for Fordham University: a nine-story pedestal (and lower-level floor) houses the law school, and a 12-story tower serves as an undergraduate residence hall.[25]
The law school portion of the building was dedicated on September 18, 2014. FormerNew York City mayorMichael R. Bloomberg delivered the keynote address andU.S. Supreme Court Associate JusticeSonia Sotomayor also gave a speech before presiding over the ribbon-cutting ceremony.[26]
The Clinical education program at Fordham Law is ranked 22nd nationally by U.S. News & World Report in its 2016 edition of America's Best Graduate Schools.[27] At Fordham, clinical education is available but not required. Students are selected for clinics via a competitive application process. Fordham students have an opportunity to enroll in clinics following their first year, and after taking the Fundamental Lawyering Skills course. Currently, 17 clinics are offered:[28]
Fordham's clinics represent clients as "Lincoln Square Legal Services," a small law firm housed within the school.
The Leitner Center for International Law and Justice works with students and with social justice organizations both locally and internationally to advocate for human rights.[29]
Fordham's Public Interest Resource Center (PIRC) serves as the clearinghouse for student community service andpro bono work, and hosts 19 student-run organizations, includingHabitat for Humanity,Unemployment Action Center, Just Democracy, and others. PIRC earned Fordham Law the American Bar Association's 2008 Pro Bono Publico Award, making Fordham Law only the second university winner in the award's history.[30]
Students at Fordham Law publish six nationally recognizedlaw journals. According to a study byWashington & Lee University, among journals published 2007–2014, they are ranked among the most cited in judicial opinions as follows:[31]
In addition, the study found that four of Fordham Law School's specialty law reviews are among the top ten most cited journals by law reviews in their respective specialty fields.[32]
Notable faculty includeMatthew Diller,Toni Jaeger-Fine,[33] Rebecca Kysar,[34] Joseph Landau,[35] Ethan Lieb,[36]John Pfaff,[37] Olivier Sylvain,[38] andZephyr Teachout.[39] Visiting and adjunct professors include federal appeals judgeDenny Chin,[40] Jewish law scholarDaniel Sinclair,[41] and election law expertsJurij Toplak[42][43] and Jerry Goldfeder.[44][45][46]
Numerous notable attorneys, judges, prosecutors, politicians, and diplomats are among the notable Fordham Law graduates, including Chief Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitIrving Kaufman, andDenny Chin, a current U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit judge.
Over 650 judges are Fordham Law graduates.[47]
In 1924,Ruth Whitehead Whaley graduated, at the top of her class, who later became the first African-American woman admitted to the state bars of New York and North Carolina.[47]
Criminal defense attorneyBrian Steel, a Fordham Law graduate,[48] gained notoriety during the 2022YSL Records racketeering trial as the lead attorney representing rapperJeffery "Young Thug" Williams. The YSL trial is currently the longest trial in Georgia state history, having lasted 22 months. Steel's notoriety increased as courtroom recordings during the trial, including ones in which he is seen attempting to state that the "Thug" in his client's rapper name is an acronym for "truly humble under God", became internet memes.[49] In April 2025, Steel requested to join the trial team of music executiveSean "P Diddy" Combs for his federal sex trafficking criminal case. In July 2025, Combs was acquitted on the 3 most severe charges out of 5, reportedly due in part to the work of Steel.[50]
Governor of New YorkMalcolm Wilson,New York City MayorVincent R. Impellitteri, and United States Attorney GeneralJohn N. Mitchell are Fordham Law graduates. Ten members of the U.S. House of Representatives are Fordham Law graduates includingThomas Suozzi,Thomas Vincent Quinn,Bill Owens,Jerrold Nadler,Vito Fossella,Geraldine Ferraro,Francis E. Dorn,Dan Donovan, andSteven Derounian.
Among the sports personalities were World Light Heavyweight championBob Olin,New York Giants PresidentJohn Mara, General Manager of thePhiladelphia EaglesHowie Roseman, andWalter O'Malley, owner of theBrooklyn Dodgers who moved the team fromBrooklyn to Los Angeles.
According to Fordham Law's official 2014 ABA-required disclosures, 80% of the Class of 2014 were employed full-time 10 months after graduation; 67.8% were in full-time, long-term, JD-required positions; 11.1% held positions the ABA classifies as "J.D. Advantage" (defined by NALP as "legal training is deemed to be an advantage or even necessary in the workplace"[54]); and 20.7% were employed in public sector positions in government, nonprofit organizations, and judicial clerkships. Fordham Law'sLaw School Transparency under-employment score is 20.3%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2014 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.[55]
| Employment Status | Percentage | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employed - Bar Passage Required (Full-Time, Long-Term) | 67.76% | |||
| Employed - Bar Passage Required (Part-Time and/or Short-Term) | 6.9% | |||
| Employed - J.D. Advantage | 11.11% | |||
| Employed - Professional Position | 2.61% | |||
| Employed - Non-Professional Position | 0.0% | |||
| Employed - Undeterminable | 0.0% | |||
| Pursuing Graduate Degree Full Time | 1.31% | |||
| Unemployed - Start Date Deferred | 1.53% | |||
| Unemployed - Not Seeking | 1.31% | |||
| Unemployed - Seeking | 6.97% | |||
| Employment Status Unknown | 0.44% | |||
| Total of 459 Graduates | ||||
The law school was ranked # 21 of all law schools nationwide by theNational Law Journal in terms of sending the highest percentage of 2015 graduates to the largest 100 law firms in the US (19.5%).[56]
The 2015-2016 tuition at Fordham Law is $53,440 for full-time J.D. students and $40,080 for part-time J.D. students; the estimated fees, room and board, and other expenses total $27,996 for full-time and $27,906 for part-time students (not including a $2,529 student health insurance charge, which the school will waive for students who have alternative health insurance coverage).[57] The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $296,077.[58]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
| Schools |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Campuses | ||
| Research | ||
| Buildings | ||
| Culture | ||
| Athletics | ||
| Media | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
