40°43′49″N73°59′58″W / 40.73028°N 73.99944°W /40.73028; -73.99944
| New York University School of Law | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parent school | New York University |
| Established | June 2, 1835; 190 years ago (1835-06-02) |
| School type | Privatelaw school |
| Dean | Troy McKenzie |
| Location | New York,New York, U.S. |
| Enrollment | 1,413 full-time (2022)[1] |
| Faculty | 393 (2022) |
| USNWR ranking | 8th (tied) (2025) |
| Bar pass rate | 94.9% (2023)[2] |
| Website | law |
| ABA profile | Standard 509 Report |
 | |
TheNew York University School of Law (NYU Law) is thelaw school ofNew York University, aprivateresearch university inNew York City.
Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest extant law school inNew York State and one of the oldest law schools in the United States. Located inGreenwich Village inLower Manhattan, NYU Law grantsJ.D.,LL.M., andJ.S.D. degrees.
As of 2025, NYU Law's first-time bar passage rate is 96.6 percent, with an ultimate bar passage rate of 99.2 percent.[3][4][5]
New York University School of Law was founded in 1835, making it the oldest law school inNew York City.[6] It is also the oldest surviving law school inNew York State and one of the oldest in the United States. The only law school in the state to precede it was a small institution conducted byPeter van Schaack inKinderhook, New York, from 1785 to his death in 1832.[7] Founded just four years after the establishment of New York University,[8] NYU Law is also the university's oldestprofessional school.[9]
The school was founded byBenjamin Franklin Butler, theUnited States Attorney General, at the request of the Council of New York University. Butler submitted to thechancellor of the university,James M. Mathews, a "Plan for the organization of a law faculty in the University of the City of New York,"[7] which defined a three-year course of study.[9] This plan was formally accepted by the university council on June 2, 1835, marking the inception of the school of law. Instruction began, and Butler was elected the school's first principal professor in March 1838.[7] The curriculum he instituted was the first in the country to teach law using the "course method," which came to be adopted as the standard for legal education in the United States.[9]
NYU School of Law was one of the first law schools in the United States to admit women, beginning in 1890.[6] The Metropolitan Law School was absorbed by NYU School of Law in 1895, and became its evening division. The law school began raising its standards for admission in the early 20th century. In 1924, it required that all students have had completed at least one year ofundergraduate education or its equivalent. This was increased to two undergraduate years in 1926, in conformity with theAmerican Bar Association's recommendation.[10]
The law school relocated to its present location of 40Washington Square South inGreenwich Village in 1951, under the direction of its dean,Arthur T. Vanderbilt. That year, it also established theRoot-Tilden-Kern Scholarship for public service.[6]
NYU Law offers approximately 300 courses in 16 distinct areas of study, as well as 10+ colloquia.[11] An additional 50 international courses are available at non-NYC locations through NYU Law Abroad.
NYU Law hosts between 50-60 clinics and externships every year.[12]
NYU Law publishes ten student-editedlaw journals. The journals appear below in the order of their founding:
NYU Law also publishes three faculty-edited law journals:
NYU Law School's LL.M. programs inTaxation and inInternational Taxation have been consistently ranked first by theU.S. News & World Report magazine since they started ranking specialty law school programs in 1992.[16][17] Brant Hellwig is currently the faculty director of the program.[18]
The MS in Cybersecurity Risk and Strategy[19] is a one-year program offered jointly by NYU School of Law andNYU Tandon School of Engineering. The program is intended for mid-to-senior level professionals, and cohorts have historically been diverse,[20] professionally and academically. Faculty directors include:Nasir Memon, Randy Milch, andSam Rascoff. Other notable faculty[21] include: Ed Amoroso, Judi Germano, Zach Goldman,Ira Rubinstein, Rob Silvers, and Chris Sprigman.
The MS in Health Law and Strategy program[22] is a one-year program administered jointly with theNYU Wagner School of Public Service. It offers mid-career professionals and covers the legal aspects of the health sector. Faculty includeSherry Glied, Charlie Klippel, and Jason M. Schultz.
More recently, the NYU School of Law has entered into dual degree agreements with theNational University of Singapore Faculty of Law and theUniversity of Melbourne Law School.
NYU Law offers a dual-degree program withHarvard'sJohn F. Kennedy School of Government. Students may earn a JD/MPA or a JD/MPP.[23]
NYU Law offers a dual-degree program with thePrinceton School of Public and International Affairs. Students may earn a JD/MPA.[24]
There is also anexchange program betweenColumbia Law School and NYU School of Law which allows a limited number of JD and LL.M. students to take courses at each other's schools.[25] Columbia Law and NYU Law also play abasketball game every spring called theDeans' Cup, to raise money for public interest and community service organizations.
More than 10,500 applicants competed for about 430 seats in the 2025 entering class at NYU Law.[26] The 2010 edition of University of Chicago Professor Brian Leiter's ranking of the top law schools by student quality placed NYU Law 4th out of the 144 accredited schools in the United States.[27]
Admission to the New York University School of Law is highly competitive. The 25th and 75thLSAT percentiles for the 2024 entering class were 169 and 173, respectively, with a median of 172. The 25th and 75th undergraduateGPA percentiles were 3.80 and 3.96, respectively, with a median of 3.91.[28]
The law school'sRoot-Tilden-Kern Scholarship Program is a full-tuition scholarship awarded each year to twenty students committed to public service.
Furman Academic Scholars benefit from full tuition and summer research funding, faculty mentorship, and specialized training to prepare for a legal teaching career. NYU Law graduates can apply to be Furman Academic Fellows, receiving a stipend and other support to produce a work of scholarship to facilitate entering the teaching market.[29] Furman Public Policy Scholars receive training and support to pursue public policy careers, including work experience in Washington, DC.[30]
NYU Law offers several fellowships to students admitted to the LLM Program.[31] 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. In addition, it offers theHugo Grotius as well as Vanderbilt Scholarships for international law studies and other branches of law respectively.[32]
The school has a law and business program in which eight student-leaders in law and business are awarded fellowships in the Mitchell Jacobson Leadership Program.[33] In addition, the NYU Center for Law, Economics and Organization administers the Lawrence Lederman Fellowship to facilitate the study of law and economics the program provides a $5,000 scholarship to selected students to work closely with NYU Law faculty and participate in a series of collaborative workshops designed to help students write a substantial research paper.[34]
Graduates of the law school routinely obtain employment in elite public and private-sector positions.[35] According to New York University School of Law's official 2025 ABA-required disclosures, 95.4 percent of the JD Class of 2024 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.[36] Among the 2024 Tax LLM graduates, 98 percent were employed full time nine months after graduation.[37]
The law school was ranked fifth of all law schools nationwide by theUS News and World Report in terms of having the highest percentage of 2024 graduates employed in public interest law, calculated at 21 percent.[38]
The total estimated cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at NYU Law for the 2025–2026 academic year is $123,308.[39] The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $309,177.[40]
The majority of the Fall 2024 entering JD class received financial aid, with an average annual scholarship award of $31,698. NYU Law’s Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) eases the burden of debt repayment for qualifying alumni who choose careers in public service. Most LRAP participants can earn up to $110,000 a year and have no monthly payment on their law school loans.[41]
NYU Law School facilities at the school's Washington Square Campus include:
The law school's main building, named afterArthur T. Vanderbilt, occupies the entire block between West Third and Washington Square South (West Fourth) and between Macdougal and Sullivan Streets. Part of the first floor as well as the underground floors host the library, which it shares with Furman Hall. The first floor also holds the auditorium, student center, and main banquet hall. The second floor is mostly classrooms, while the third and fourth floors are mostly faculty and dean offices.[42]
Located onWest 3rd Street betweenSullivan andThompson Streets, and on Sullivan and Thompson Streets between West 3rd andWest 4th Streets, Furman Hall opened on January 22, 2004, and is named for alumnus and donorJay Furman. It connects to Vanderbilt Hall through the law library, part of which is underneath Sullivan Street. The underground level also hosts the Lawyering faculty. Floors one-three have classrooms, lounges, and study space. The fourth floor hosts the career counseling program, and the fifth and sixth floors house the legal practice clinics. The highest floors, generally inaccessible to non-residents, are apartments for faculty and their families. The ninth floor is accessible to students and hosts the Lester Pollack Colloquium room.
The building's West 3rd Street facade incorporates the remaining part of the facade of a townhouse thatEdgar Allan Poe lived in from 1844 to 1846, near the site where the house originally stood, the result of a settlement between NYU and preservationists who objected to the university's 2000 plan to tear down the building, which had already lost two stories from the time that Poe dwelled there.[43]
Located at 240 Mercer Street, on the southern side of West Third street, adjacent to Broadway, and a couple of blocks east of D'Agostino Hall, Wilf Hall, Furman Hall and Vanderbilt Hall, Hayden Hall houses approximately 500 Law students and faculty.
Located at the intersection of West Third Street and MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, D'Agostino Residence Hall houses approximately 300 law students and faculty.[44][better source needed] It is across the street from the rear of the main law school building, Vanderbilt Hall, and less than 1 block from Wilf Hall and Furman Hall.[45]
Elevators to the apartments are on the highest level, the Front Desk is on the street level, and The Commons (residents' lounge with computers and printers) is on the lower level. One floor beneath The Commons is the sub-basement, home to most of NYU's legal journals. The second (above-ground) floor, houses numerous administrative offices (Development, Alumni Relations, Special Events, Communications, Human Resources and Financial Services). Two large function rooms - Lipton Hall and the Faculty Club - are also located in the building.[46]
The law building is named after Filomen D'Agostino, one of the first woman lawyers, who graduated in 1920. Later in life, Ms. D'Agostino donated $4 million to support residential scholarship and faculty research; the school responded by naming their new apartment building after her.[47]
22 Washington Square North, located in a historic 1830s townhouse on the north side ofWashington Square Park in "The Row", houses the Straus Institute for the Advanced Study of Law & Justice, the Jean Monnet Center for International and Regional Economic Law & Justice, and the Tikvah Center for Law & Jewish Civilization. This building was renovated in 2009.
Wilf Hall, at 139 Macdougal Street, houses approximately a dozen of the schools centers, programs and institutes as well as the admissions offices (Graduate and JD). Per the NYU Law Magazine, it is a "campus destination for faculty, students, and research scholars from an array of disciplines to exchange ideas and, through their work, shape the public discourse around the leading social and political issues of the day."
Wilf Hall also contains theProvincetown Playhouse. The playhouse opened in the 1920s and premiered many Eugene O'Neil plays. The theatre is run by NYU's Steinhardt School of Education. The building was designed byMorris Adjmi Architects.
NYU Law is home to many centers and institutes, specializing in various areas of law:[48]
| No. | Name | Years | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benjamin Franklin Butler | 1835 (1835)–1856 | [77] |
| 2 | Thomas W. Clerke | 1858 (1858)–1864 | [77] |
| 3 | John Norton Pomeroy | 1864 (1864)–1871 | [77] |
| 4 | Henry E. Davies | 1871 (1871)–1881 | [77] |
| 5 | Aaron J. Vanderpoel | 1881 (1881)–1887 | [77] |
| 6 | David Ralph Jaques | 1887 (1887)–1891 | [77] |
| 7 | Austin Abbott | 1891 (1891)–1896 | [77] |
| 8 | Clarence D. Ashley | 1896 (1896)–1916 | [77] |
| 9 | Frank Sommer | 1916 (1916)–1943 | [77] |
| 10 | Arthur T. Vanderbilt | 1943 (1943)–1948 | [77] |
| 11 | Russell D. Niles | 1948 (1948)–1963 | [77] |
| 12 | Miguel de Capriles | 1964 (1964)–1967 | [77] |
| 13 | Robert McKay | 1967 (1967)–1975 | [77] |
| 14 | Norman Redlich | 1975 (1975)–1987 | [77] |
| 15 | John Sexton | 1988 (1988)–2002 | [77] |
| 16 | Richard Revesz | 2002 (2002)–2013 | [77] |
| 17 | Trevor Morrison | 2013 (2013)–2022 | [77] |
| 18 | Troy A. McKenzie | 2022 (2022)–present | [77] |
 | This sectionmay containexcessive orirrelevant examples. Please helpimprove it by removingless pertinent examples andelaborating on existing ones.(June 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In 2012, NYU Law had the second-highest number of faculty who are members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences with 19 inductees, behind only Harvard.[78] NYU Law was concluded to have the best overall faculty in the U.S. in a 2018 study conducted by legal scholar J.B. Heaton.[79]
NYU's notable professors include:
Notable alumni include governor and Democratic presidential candidateSamuel J. Tilden; U.S. SenatorsLamar Alexander,Rudy Boschwitz andJacob Javits; former New York City mayorsFiorello La Guardia,Ed Koch, andRudy Giuliani; former New York City Councilman and Council Consumer Affairs Committee ChairmanDavid B. Friedland; New York City police commissionerRaymond Kelly;Republic of China PresidentMa Ying-Jeou; formerpresident of PanamaGuillermo Endara; former FBI directorLouis Freeh;suffragette and college founding presidentJessica Garretson Finch; Centennial Professor of Law atBrooklyn Law School and first femaleSEC CommissionerRoberta Karmel; sportscasterHoward Cosell; former NFL commissionerPaul Tagliabue; NHL commissionerGary Bettman;John F. Kennedy Jr.;Jared Kushner, Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program,Neil Barofsky; U.S. Representatives, such asHakeem Jeffries;Mitchell Jenkins,Jefferson Monroe Levy, andIsaac Siegel; former chairman ofParamount Pictures Jonathan Dolgen; Hollywood and Broadway producerMarc E. Platt; Hollywood producer and former chairman and CEO ofSony Pictures Entertainment; comedianDemetri Martin (did not graduate);Peter Guber; journalistGlenn Greenwald; civil rights leader and former United States associate attorney generalVanita Gupta; president and director-counsel of theNAACP Legal Defense FundSherrilyn Ifill; several corporate leaders includingInterpublic Group of Companies chairman and CEO Michael I. Roth;ConocoPhillips president and COOJohn Carrig;Southwest Airlines founderHerb Kelleher; Marvel Entertainment vice-presidentJohn Turitzin;Nobel Peace Prize laureatesElihu Root andMohamed ElBaradei; international human rights lawyerAmal Clooney; former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New YorkBreon Peace; and real estate developer, Miami Dolphins principal owner, and philanthropistStephen M. Ross.
NYU Law alumni have served as judges of theInternational Court of Justice, popularly known as theWorld Court,[80] and of theInter-American Court of Human Rights. Alumni judges includeJudith Kaye andJonathan Lippman, former chief judges of theNew York Court of Appeals;Dennis G. Jacobs, chief judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; Second Circuit JudgeRaymond Lohier, andUnited States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit judge,Pauline Newman.[81] NYU Law private practice lawyers include the four founders ofWachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, andCravath, Swaine & Moore chairmanEvan Chesler.
Just Security is an online forum for the rigorous analysis of U.S. national security law and policy. We aim to promote principled and pragmatic solutions to national security problems that decision-makers face. Our Board of Editors includes individuals with significant government experience, civil society attorneys, academics, and other leading voices. Just Security is based at the Reiss Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law. We are grateful for support from the Open Society Foundations, Atlantic Philanthropies, New York University School of Law, and individual donors.
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