Brooklyn Law School

Here’s One Job Brooklyn Law Students Are Definitely Qualified For

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The Good Wife is one of the few legal dramas out there that is worth a damn. The writing is good, the situations are believable yet not so realistic as to be boring, and the acting is quality.

The producers of the Good Wife brought their show to the campus of Brooklyn Law School this week. There was much gawking at the show’s stars: Julianna Margulies and Chris Noth. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports:

The TV show was filming on the Brooklyn Law School campus this week on Joralemon Street, as well as outside Brooklyn federal court. Students reportedly not only witnessed the legal drama being filmed, but also had a spread of snacks and treats set up for them by the show’s producers. Refreshments had attached notes saying, “Have a good day?” according to the Daily News.

Don’t take candy from strangers. Don’t take candy from strangers!!

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Talk About a Frozen Job Market

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Some students at Brooklyn Law School seem a bit frustrated by their job prospects.
So they constructed this, outside one of the residence halls….
UPDATE: We’ve added a second, better photo of what the BLS students built, also after the jump.

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Let’s Commence Commencement Speaker Watch

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Brooklyn law school logo.JPGAs was evident last year, I kind of get giddy around the time colleges and law schools start picking their commencement speakers. I don’t know why. You remember graduation for the rest of your life and it’s interesting to me to see the people your school picks to give you a proper send-off.
And you never know when commencement will put you in the prime seat for history changing news. Remember, the Marshall Plan was unveiled at Harvard Commencement, 1947.
The highlight of last year’s law school commencement speaker circuit was Columbia’s choice of former California Governor Gray Davis. Obviously, I’m talking about “highlight” in terms of comedic value. I mean, any time you can invite a (failed) Governor to speak at your school, it’s an opportunity you have to take.
It’s a little bit early to start a full tally of law school commencement speakers. But one of the early entries is pretty exciting.
Check out who is coming to Brooklyn Law School this spring, after the jump.

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Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 11.1: The Beard

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As expected, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner easily won our October Couple of the Month poll. You can read all about Ivanka’s newlywed bliss here, here, and here (she’s already “gadding about the city ringless.”)
Now we plummet back to earth to turn the LEWW spotlight on more ordinary folk. This week’s contestant-couples:

1. Lisa Klein and Blake Sparrow
2. Sarah Goodstine and Laurie Levin
3. Rachel Moston and Garrett Ross

Get the scoop on these newlyweds, after the jump.

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Brooklyn Law Won’t Proactively Rat Out Its Students

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Brooklyn law school logo.JPGYesterday we reported on this announcement by Brooklyn Law School:

This semester we have received several warnings from our Internet service provider that copyrighted movies and TV shows are being downloaded illegally via our wireless network. The Information Technology office is now ascertaining who is doing this. Once we have names of the individuals involved, we intend to give them to the copyright holders for enforcement purposes.

This stance proved unpopular with BLS students, as well as ATL readers. In a poll, about 75 percent of readers answered “yes” when asked, “Should Brooklyn Law School do more to protect its students from being sued for illegal downloading?”
It seems that Brooklyn Law School has had a change of heart. Check out the email that went out this afternoon, plus selected reader comments, after the jump.

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Is Brooklyn Law School Informing On Its Own Students?

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Apparently so. From a student at Brooklyn Law School:

Brooklyn law school logo.JPGToday we received this e-mail from the administration, which is causing quite an uproar among the student body.

The gist of it seems to be that, contrary to the practice of other schools, BLS will begin actively investigating [illegal] downloading and proactively providing names of people to media [companies] so [the individuals in question] can be sued.

I believe the typical practice at other schools (graduate and undergraduate) and institutions is to wait for a subpoena and either cooperate or fight the subpoena, not to go out of their way to inform on their students.

The total cost of attendance at Brooklyn Law for the 2009-2010 academic year, for full-time students not living with their parents (God forbid), is a shade over $66,000. Shouldn’t that buy BLS’s silence?
Or is the law school in the right here? Shouldn’t law students, i.e., future lawyers, know and follow the law?
UPDATE: Brooklyn Law has announced a change in this policy.
Read the email and take a poll, after the jump.

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Brooklyn Law School: Where Else Can You Learn From a ‘MobFellas’ Attorney?

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Robert Simels Robert M Simels Rob Simels.jpgThe Village Voice had a great piece last week on the developing trial of Robert Simels, a New York attorney who has attracted a fair amount of fame from defending alleged mobsters and other assorted “kingpins.”

Legendary local attorney Robert Simels is only being punished for representing some of New York’s most unredeemable gangsters, say some in local legal circles. Kind of a what-goes-around-comes-around situation.
Simels not only lawyered for mafia turncoat Henry Hill (on whose life GoodFellas was based), but also some of the biggest Latino and black drug kingpins of the ’80s and ’90s. And now, Simels himself is in deep trouble. He’s been indicted for allegedly tampering with witnesses in a case revolving around a comparatively little-known Guyanese drug gangster, Shaheed “Roger” Khan.

There is talk that Simels has been hauled into court as a punishment for his unsavory client list. Coincidentally enough, his trial is taking place before U.S. District Judge John Gleeson — a former prosecutor who went after John Gotti.
So it should come as no surprise that Simels has turned to another legendary defender of clients with supposed mafia ties, Gerald Shargel:

Simels has hired Gerald Shargel, one of Gotti’s main lawyers and a guy who is, in fact, one of the most prominent mob lawyers in the city.

Nice.
But did you know that Shargel also doubles as a professor at Brooklyn Law School?
Details after the jump.

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Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 1.25: Plane-Spoken

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Some of our friendly commenters frequently gripe about the high number of Rabbi-officiated weddings featured in this space. They’ll be delighted to know that only one of our three weddings this week is a straight-up Rabbi wedding. The others were jointly officiated by a Rabbi and a Mennonite minister and a Rabbi and a bankruptcy judge. Yay for diversity!

Here are this week’s lucky finalists:

1. Harper Fertig and James Robinson

2. Marion Ringel and Joshua Panas

3. Julie Hootkin and Benjamin Schneider

Read all about these couples, after the jump.

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Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 11.22: Big Red Heart

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If the photos of this week’s contestants look a little stiff, please understand that it’s because the NYT didn’t run pictures of any lawyer weddings this week, forcing us to Photoshop them from the attorneys’ firm bios. You’re welcome. And Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are this week’s Legal Eagle Wedding Watch finalists:

1. Elizabeth Raizes and Kayvan Sadeghi

2. Amy Stutius and Adam Slutsky

3. Sara Rubenstein and Yariv Ben-Ari

Read our assessment of these couples, after the jump.

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ACLU Looks To Brooklyn Law For New President

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susan herman aclu.jpgOn Saturday the American Civil Liberties Union elected a new president, Susan Herman.

She’s a constitutional law professor at Brooklyn Law School and had served as the ACLU’s general counsel prior to this promotion. It has been a long time since ACLU leadership changed hands:

Herman’s selection gives the organization a new public face for the first time in nearly two decades. Nadine Strossen, the ACLU’s longest-serving president and the first woman to hold the job, had led the group since 1991, overseeing a substantial rise in formal membership and national staff.

Herman intends to spearhead the organization’s outreach to the African-American community, and she believes that her professorial background will help encourage young people to become card-carrying members.

More on Susan Herman’s background after the jump.

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