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| | LOOKING FORWARD/LOOKING BACK
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Happy New Year!
As we look forward to better days ahead, we’re devoting this issue of See infra to a look back at an unprecedented year at St. John’s Law.
Just about 365 days ago, as we started another orbit around the sun, students returned to the building for intersession courses. Eight weeks later, with the pandemic’s shutdown, we moved 140 Law School classes taught by 39 full-time and 85 adjunct faculty members completely online. In a few more days, all our operations were fully remote.
This fall, we were back in the building to welcome the diverse and talented incoming Class of 2020, who joined us in person and remotely for the semester along with many of our 2L and 3L students. As we social distanced from six feet apart and over Zoom and WebEx, St. John’s Law remained a vibrant teaching and learning community.
The Law School stories shared below offer a snapshot of 2020. They’re stories of unity, strength, and success. And they’re stories of adversity, and how we responded to it. Together, they illustrate the point Dean Michael A. Simons made back in March:
It’s not the building that defines us; it’s the people—all working together to create something: lawyers that our world sorely needs.
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1Ls Learn About Dispute Resolution Hands On
During the January intersession, first-year students took Lawyering, a required course that teaches negotiation and other key dispute resolution skills.
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Volunteer Programs Address Justice Gap
As they have in past years, St. John’s Law students and alumni volunteered their time in 2020 helping pro se litigants in consumer debt and uncontested divorce matters in Queens Civil Court.
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St. John’s and ABI Host Premier Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition
The annual Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition brought 59 teams from 46 law schools together from February 29, 2020 to March 2, 2020 to vie for top honors.
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| As New York Pauses Child Advocacy Clinic Continues Its Vital Work
While operating at a distance and navigating a hobbled legal system, Professor Jennifer Baum and her clinic students remained steadfast in their commitment to helping vulnerable New Yorkers.
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| Class of 2020 Celebration
With our virtual conferral of degrees and a shift of their tam's tassel, St. John’s Law J.D. and LL.M. candidates in the Class of 2020 officially became graduates and members of our alumni family.
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| No More Talking, What Are We Going to Do?
In the wake of the senseless killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans, St. John's Law students, faculty, and staff gathered for a virtual Dialogue Day program about law, justice, racism, and anti-racism.
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| Students Thrive in New Queens DA Summer Program
The Queens DA’s Brave Justice Summer Legal Internship Program launched this past summer with a unique mix of remote and in-person work for 54 law student interns, including 13 rising 2Ls and 3Ls from St. John’s Law.
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| Law School Welcomes Its Diverse and Talented Incoming Class of 2020
Many of the 246 members of the incoming J.D. Class of 2020 opted to participate in person while keeping a social distance and diligently wearing masks. Others joined virtually from near and far.
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| Summer Teaching Assistants Work to Build More Diverse and Inclusive Legal Profession
Five Law School students were tapped to be TAs during a unique summer of fully remote programming presented by the Ronald H. Brown Law School Prep Program for College Students, the award-winning pipeline initiative of the Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights at St. John’s Law.
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| Law Review Symposium Commemorates 100 Years of the 19th Amendment
On October 23, 2020, the St. John’s Law Review brought legal scholars together to explore the past, present, and future of women’s rights in the United States during its 2020 symposium: Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment.
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| Meet Our New Faculty Members
Several years ago, the St. John’s Law faculty launched a bold strategic plan anchored by twin goals of academic excellence and student achievement. An important part of that plan is adding new talent to the faculty. In the last four years, the Law School welcomed six full-time faculty members. And, in 2021, three additional faculty members will join the full-time faculty.
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| Students, Faculty, and Staff Help to Bridge Digital Divide
When young clients needed a computer for remote learning, our Child Advocacy Clinic put out a call to St. John's Law students, faculty, and staff to see if anyone had a device to donate. The response? A collaboration that helped to bridge the digital divide.
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| The Law School mourns the loss of two esteemed alumni who passed away over the holidays:
Howard Rubenstein ‘59
The founding chairman and president of Rubenstein Associates, Howard Rubenstein made his mark and created an enduring legacy as New York’s foremost public relations impresario.
Hon. Jackie Stack '79
Judge Jackie Stack, who graduated college at 39 and law school at 47, would become an organized crime prosecutor, a criminal defense lawyer, a New York State Supreme Court judge, a family law mediator, and an adjunct professor at St. John's Law.May they rest in peace.
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| Need CLE Credits?
We’ve got you! Join us for our online 2021 Winter CLE Series starting with:
Bankruptcy Fundamentals
Wednesday, January 13, 2021, 5-7 p.m.
Family Law Front Lines: Latest Developments and Personal Tips
Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 5-7 p.m.
Read On . . .
Our popular First Friday Book Club hosted by Professors Cheryl Wade and Sheldon Evans continues virtually on February 5, 2021 with a discussion of the Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race From 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D. by sociologist, historian, and writer Chancellor Williams, a widely read classic that is among the most researched scholarship of African continental history
Law Matters in the New Year
For the next Law Matters webcast, Dean Michael A. Simons welcomes Valerie Capers Workman ’90, who oversees human resources at Tesla, North America as the electric vehicle and clean energy company’s VP, People. They’ll discuss Workman’s longtime career as a strategic partner to C-level leadership and there will be a Q&A session.
Date
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Time
7 - 8 p.m. (EST)
Location
We're coming to you live via WebEx.
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| Comments, Suggestions, or Content Ideas?
Please email Lori Herz, See infra's Managing Editor and Lead Writer, at herzl@stjohns.edu.
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