February 5, 2019: State Bar Association and CUNY Law Collaborate on Groundbreaking Technology and the Law Class

February 5, 2019: State Bar Association and CUNY Law Collaborate on Groundbreaking Technology and the Law Class

2.5.2019

By Communications Department

The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) and the City University School of Law (CUNY) School of Law are partnering to offer a groundbreaking Technology and the Law class for second and third-year students at CUNY Law. The course will feature expert guest speakers with experience in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, blockchain applications, privacy, social media, eDiscovery, biometrics and algorithms.

“NYSBA has long supported the mission of CUNY Law in their fight for justice and we are excited to embark on this new venture together,” said NYSBA President Michael Miller. “As far as we can tell, this may be the first-time a bar association in the United States is teaching an entire law school class and we hope that this collaboration between the practicing bar and CUNY will be a model for others. We are confident that this will enhance legal education and the profession.”

Mark A. Berman, chair of NYSBA’s Committee on Technology and the Legal Profession, and CUNY Law professor Joseph Rosenberg aim to provide students with technological skill and expertise in understanding of the fundamentals of how technology intersects with the law. With New York joining the growing number of states adopting a professional duty of technology competence in their Rules of Professional Conduct, there is a need to properly prepare law students for practice in the electronic world.

“NYSBA is bringing the best lawyers engaged in cutting edge technology to CUNY Law,” said Berman. “It is through a jointly taught class of this type that law students receive the legal education that will best prepare them to practice law in our ever-changing digital world.”

The course is taught once a week during the evening and will feature guest speakers including:

Mark A. Berman – Partner – Ganfer, Shore, Leeds & Zauderer LLP

Craig Campbell – Special advisor – NYC Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics

Parth Chowlera – Associate – Greenfield, Stein, & Senior, LLP

Cynthia Conti-Cook – Staff attorney – New York City’s Legal Aid Society

Tracee E. Davis – Partner, litigation and cybersecurity/data privacy – Zeichner, Ellman & Krause, LLP

Honorable James C. Francis IV – Former Magistrate Judge – Southern District of New York – Distinguished Lecturer of Law, CUNY Law School

Gail L. Gottehrer – Co-chair, privacy, cybersecurity and emerging technologies – Akerman LLP

Maura R. Grossman – Research professor & director of women in computer science – University of Waterloo (Ontario)

Ronald Hedges – Senior counsel, litigation and dispute resolution – Dentons – Former Magistrate Judge – District of New Jersey

Conrad Johnson – Clinical Professor of law – Columbia Law School

Shawndra G. Jones – Senior counsel, employment, labor & workforce management – Epstein, Becker & Green, P.C.

Dan Kass – Co-founder & executive director – JustFix.nyc

Sanford Strenger – Partner – Salamon, Gruber, Blaymore & Stenger PC

Miguel Willis – Program director – Legal Services Corporation ATJ Tech Fellows

“With the support of NYSBA, CUNY Law is in a unique position to train legal advocates within, and with understanding of, the ethics and technology that are poised to become the center of not only the profession but also of effective radical and progressive lawyering, organizing, and advocacy,” said Rosenberg.

Seminars will cover fundamentals of technology and the law, focus on what news lawyers need to know to practice competently and give students the opportunity to discuss how technology affects law practice, the legal system, legal ethics and marginalized and vulnerable communities. Syracuse College of Law plans to unveil a similar course in Fall 2019.

“NYSBA believes the future is working with law students and young lawyers,” said Berman. “The first step in this process is to collaborate with law schools to assist in educating students in what they want – which includes technology to further their career objectives.”

About the New York State Bar Association
The New York State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. Since 1876, the Association has helped shape the development of law, educated and informed the legal profession and the public, and championed the rights of New Yorkers through advocacy and guidance in our communities.

About the City University of New York School of Law
The nation’s premier public interest law school is driven by a mission to serve human needs. Central to that work is its commitment to transforming the practice of law so that it includes and represents those it has excluded, marginalized and oppressed. Founded in 1983, the law school leads the country in diversity and offers full and part-time programs to train outstanding public interest advocates.

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Contact: Brendan Kennedy
bkennedy@nysba.org
518-487-5541