The Center is an active intellectual hub for students, alumni, faculty and the community to learn from and engage with the judiciary. Central to our mission is developing a space to foster community and build engagement – between our alumni, students and the judiciary and among our cohort of alumni clerks – while enhancing support for our students and alumni pursuing clerkships.

We celebrated our fifth year with a broad range of activities. 

We are grateful to our alumni community for their incredible support, including the FLAA Alumni Board, our Judicial Council, Faculty Clerkship Committee, Alumni Clerk Council, Peer Clerkship Council and all of the members of the judiciary and clerks who volunteered their time to participate in our initiatives and events.

Second Circuit Court of Appeals Headlines Judicial Center’s 2024 Judicial Day in Residence

On March 6, the Center partnered with  the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for a day-long visit during which judges co-taught classes, enjoyed an informal lunch with faculty and students, hosted coffees with cohorts from various student organizations, and engaged in a lively town hall discussion with the Law School community.

Chief Judge Debra A. Livingston commended the program: “The Day in Residence was not only a learning opportunity for law students, professors, and judges. It was a great deal of fun. The members of my court left stimulated by the engagement of the Fordham students, and by their serious attention to understanding the judge’s role in our constitutional republic, and how lawyers, in particular, promote rule of law values. My colleagues and I thoroughly enjoyed engaging with them and with the outstanding faculty with whom we co-taught. We are looking forward to doing it again!”

Distinguished Jurist in Residence Lecture: Hon. Kent Jordan (3d Cir) Stresses the Need For Civil Debate

In February, the Center welcomed Judge Kent Jordan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit as its 2024 Distinguished Jurist in Residence.

Judge Jordan's lecture titled: Come Now, Let Us Reason Together made the case for addressing contentious issues through respectful dialogue and civil discourse.

“The endeavor of our profession, which ought to be equal justice under law, will be aided and greater success will be assured if we can share at least this one motivation—a sincere desire to actually reason about and, where possible, through our differences,” said Jordan.

Learn more about the CJEC's Distinguished Jurist in Residence Program and visit our FLASH page for our lecture archive.

First to the Bench:
Hon. Hector Gonzalez (E.D.N.Y) Reflects on His Journey to the Bench as a First-Generation Jurist

Reflecting on his career, Judge Hector Gonzalez believes that his lifelong dedication to public service is rooted in his experience as an immigrant.

“From a very young age, I had an appreciation for the value of public service,” said Gonzalez to an audience which included first-generation law students and alumni. “As an immigrant, I think you often appreciate what is, for many others, just a given and so you appreciate the opportunities you’re getting and the advantages that you have here versus somewhere else. And, I think, for many that comes with a sense of duty and responsibility.”

Gonzalez spoke at the First to the Bench Program, an initiative of the CJEC that brings first-generation jurists to the Law School to speak with law students, faculty, staff, and alumni about their experience on the bench.

Celebrating Fordham Jurists

Hon. Eileen Bransten ’79 Celebrated for Her Landmark Contributions to the New York State Judiciary 

In November, the CJEC and the Corporate Law Center collaborated with the Commercial Division Advisory Council to host the Institute on Complex Commercial Litigation at the Law School.  The Institute welcomes judges from the Appellate Division and Commercial Division for training on issues related to commercial litigation.

This year was special for the Institute as it was being named in honor of it's longtime advocate and supporter - former Judge Eileen Bransten '79 (dec. 2022).

At the conclusion of the Institute a moving tribute was held at Fordham Law, during which Judge Bransten was honored by her former colleagues, Dean Diller, and law clerks.

Hon. Robert Kirsch ’91 (D.N.J.) Reflects on His Life-long Career in Public Service

Last summer Judge Robert Kirsch was confirmed to sit on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey after serving for more than a decade on the New Jersey Superior Court.

On March 20, he visited Fordham Law School for an insightful fireside chat.

Kirsch has seen nearly everything on the bench, having adjudicated high-profile cases—including a 36-year-old cold case investigation and a “hatchet-wielding hitchhiker” murder conviction—on the Superior Court and, more recently, securities fraud lawsuits and emergency temporary restraining orders on the District Court.

View from Chambers:
New York State Supreme Court, Commercial Division

In November, in a breakout event for the Fordham Law Community during the Institute on Complex Commercial Litigation, the CJEC and the Corporate Law Center hosted a View from Chambers featuring several of the participating judges:  Andrea Masley ’91,  Jeffrey Oing, and Gretchen Walsh ’87 .

The panel explored the various roles and duties of judges on the court, the benefits to New York State of having this type of business court, emerging trends in New York commercial law, and creative lawyering around contracts. The judges highlighted a range of attention-getting cases they have presided over involving celebrities like Martha Stewart and retailers like Macy’s and J.C. Penney.

Hon. Joseph Laroski ’97 

Hon. Michael Paek ’08

Current and Forthcoming: 

Voice, Prevention, Remedy: Key Elements in a Global Supply Chain Convention, 57 Cornell Int’l L.J. ___ (forthcoming 2024).

Job Security Law in the United States, in Jeffrey Jupp KC et. al eds., MCMULLEN ON BUSINESS TRANSFERS AND EMPLOYEE RIGHTS, (2024) (Butterworths, U.K.)

To see a full listing of Professor Brudney's scholarship, click here.