Pomerantz, a partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, was one of the most influential real estate attorneys in the country to offer his secrets for success at a panel on “Careers and Trends in Real Estate Law,” sponsored by the NYU School of Law’s Real Estate and Urban Policy Forum and the Andrew (’92) and Justin (’96) Segal Real Estate Forum. Pomerantz also encouraged students to learn economics, but to study it in a way that emphasizes psychology over charts. “Understanding why people do what they do is essential to representing people in real estate,” he said.

Professor Michael Schill, then the Wilf Family Professor of Property Law and director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy and now the dean of UCLA School of Law, moderated the event, where panelists discussed the ins and outs of real estate legal work in New York City.

Jonathan Mechanic (’77), a partner and head of the real estate department at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, praised his alma mater’s real estate curriculum and explained his reasons for pursuing real estate law. “If you like walking around the city of New York—and I love it—there’s just no other practice of law where you can walk down the street and see different projects that you had some involvement in.” Mechanic also discussed his recent project representing the buyer of the GM Building, which was sold for $1.4 billion, a record-breaking price.

Ross Moskowitz (’84), a partner at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, noted that students’ choice of the NYU School of Law was an enormous step toward success in real estate work. “The Law School has one of the best real estate curriculums around.” He added that his love of the city also influenced his choice. “I became a real estate lawyer because you can smell it, you can touch it, you can feel it.”

Moskowitz discussed a real estate transaction familiar to students: the new Law School building. He explained the different stages of the deal—understanding the zoning laws, negotiating with neighbors, securing tax-exempt financing, responding to a lawsuit filed to stop construction, and settling the lawsuit.

Meredith Kane, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and a graduate of Harvard Law School, and Jennifer McCool, an associate at Schulte Roth & Zabel and graduate of New York Law School, also participated in the panel.

“Tell the assigning partners what you want to do, what you haven’t done yet,” said Kane. “Almost every law firm will take the opportunity to develop you into a wellrounded lawyer.” McCool added that young lawyers should attend seminars whenever possible. “If you’re the youngest face in the room, then good for you,” she said.

The panel was organized by Nicholas Bagley (’05) and Joshua Babbitt (’05), co-chairs of the Real Estate and Urban Policy Forum, a Law School student organization that connects students to New York City’s real estate and urban economicdevelopment worlds.

Four attorneys who were involved in those cases, Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, examined the question, “The University of Michigan Cases: What Do They Mean for Affirmative Action and Where Do We Go From Here?” In Gratz, the university’s undergraduate admissions program, which awarded underrepresented minorities bonus points on an admissions scale, was struck down as unconstitutional; in Grutter, a policy of conferring favor on individual minority applicants to the university’s law school was upheld.

Melissa Woods, assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, represented student intervenors in the Gratz case and was deeply disappointed by the decision. Under the point system that was struck down, four of the five factors— school attended, curriculum, geography, and alumni legacy—favored white students, according to Woods. “Some sort of preference needed to have been done to make up for that difference.”

A majority of the panelists were supporters of the Grutter decision backing affirmative action. Miranda Massie (’96), who served as lead counsel for the student intervenors in Grutter, said she made arguments in that case about the necessity of affirmative action in today’s society “that continues to be in many ways a caste society.” She attacked law schools’ reliance on LSAT scores for admissions, citing a study that showed white students score 9.2 points higher on the LSAT than students of color after controlling for college GPA and major. “It’s a test that has been proved to be racially biased,” Massie said. “To use it as a putative measure is completely unacceptable and a tool of re-segregating our society.” Thomas Gerety, executive director of the Brennan Center for Justice and former president of Amherst College, agreed with Massie that the LSAT might be biased against people of color, but he argued that law school admissions boards are unlikely to abandon it. The question, he said, is what should be done about the bias?

Panelist Manuel Klausner (’62, LL.M. ’63), general counsel of the Individual Rights Foundation and an affirmative action opponent who filed amicus briefs in both cases, said that until Grutter, a strict scrutiny standard existed for finding a compelling state interest in upholding affirmative action policies. “The Court abandoned the whole concept of using strict scrutiny, and race was allowed to be used. I submit that the case, at bottom, was a political decision.”

Massie and the others saw it differently, arguing that Grutter was a good decision for the right reasons—and a case that will have a huge long-term impact.

When entertainment lawyer Lisa Davis (’85) attended the Law School, racism was an insidious reality. “Call-backs for students of color during Early Interview Week were rare,” she said, and students of color rarely landed jobs with large firms. “We were told [by hiring partners] that ‘people like to hire people who look like them.’ ” Now a partner at New York-based Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, Davis was named one of “America’s Top Black Lawyers” by Black Enterprise magazine. Davis has spent much of her professional life fighting inequity, from working as chairperson of the East Harlem School at Exodus House to her more recent involvement in providing cultural enrichment with the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. Her BLAPA award honored these diligent efforts. Keeping with the upbeat spirit of the event, she used her acceptance speech to reiterate her vow to “never be complacent in the face of discrimination.”

Bryan Pu-Folkes (’94), a former corporate lawyer whose commitment and dedication to public service took him out of corporate work and into immigrant communities, also received a distinguished service award from BLAPA. As the head of the New York City Commission on Human Rights, Pu-Folkes deals with all types of discrimination, from race to sexual orientation to disability. And in 1999, Pu-Folkes founded New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE), a New York-based nonprofit organization seeking to civically educate and empower new immigrants.

Elgin Clemons Jr. (’94) was honored for his efforts in urban economic development. The Root-Tilden graduate is the former CEO of the Economic Development Corporation for Trenton, a nonprofit real estate development company with a mission to improve Trenton’s economic, social, cultural, and physical environment through development and redevelopment projects. As a student, Clemons also won the NYU Greene Memorial Award for Trial Advocacy, which is the highest award given to a prospective trial lawyer in the graduating class.

U.S. Federal District Court Judge Ronald Guzman (’73) received an award for a distinguished career that includes work with the Association House of Chicago, a legal services program that provides free representation for members of the largely Latino and African-American communities in the Chicago area. He also served as a magistrate judge in the Northern District of Illinois for nine years, before being appointed a district court judge for the Northern District of Illinois by President Clinton in 1999.

BLAPA also awarded three $3,500 scholarships against outstanding debt to thirdyear minority students who are already working hard in the public interest. The winners: Chitra Aiyar (’04), for her efforts on behalf of The Door and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) High School for Social Justice in Brooklyn; Michael Hing (’04), who interned at the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education and works with the New York Consortium for Worker Education; and Ming Chen (’04), who helped establish the west coast version of the Harvard Civil Rights Project and worked at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Brookings Institution.

A new BLAPA executive board, led by Michelle Meertens (’98), was also ushered in at the dinner. Meertens got her tenure off to a strong start, urging not only the award winners, but everyone in the audience to continue their noble fight against racial and ethnic inequalities.

The Brennan Center’s Legacy Awards dinner, which drew nearly 800 people, is held annually to pay tribute to the values of U.S. democracy and to raise funds for the Center. This year, Martin Lipton (’55), chair of the NYU Board of Trustees, Elaine Jones, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Cosby were recognized for their human justice work.

Lipton, honored for his dedication to the relationship between the NYU School of Law and the Brennan Center, exemplified the evening’s theme of partnership. “The key to Marty’s heart—the reason why he is being recognized here tonight—is to celebrate the NYU relationship,” said Thomas Gerety, the Center’s executive director. “This relationship is central to the success of the Brennan Center.”

Nancy Brennan, daughter of the Center’s namesake, U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr., and a board member, seconded that sentiment. “Partnerships can
sometimes be marginal, but at the Brennan Center, they are part of the weave of what we do. This partnership and all of our partnerships help a smallish organization to have a great impact.”

Lipton was introduced by John Sexton, president of New York University and former dean of the Law School. “Marty Lipton is a man who deserves to be honored by all of us simply for the kind of man he is,” Sexton said. “This is a man whose spirit and generosity is legend.”

Lipton modestly accepted his award, noting that it took more than a few calls to convince him to be a recipient. “I am here because of a great, great partnership between four friends forged 50 years ago at the New York University School of Law,” Lipton said, referring to the creation of his law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in 1965 by himself and three other NYU School of Law graduates, Herbert Wachtell (’54), Leonard Rosen (’54), and the late George Katz (’54).

Lipton was heralded not only for his commitment to the NYU School of Law, but also for his leadership and generosity to major educational and cultural institutions benefiting equality and human dignity. Through his firm, Lipton has spearheaded various efforts in the public and private sectors, including the establishment of a $5 million scholarship fund at New York University for the dependents of firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical personnel who died during the rescue efforts after the attacks at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Lipton also served as president of the NYU School of Law Board of Trustees for 10 years and is a recipient of the University’s Gallatin Medal, the Law School’s Vanderbilt Medal, and a Presidential Citation.

The Brennan Center, created in 1995 by Brennan’s family and his former clerks, has dedicated itself to promoting equality and human dignity through scholarship, public education, and legal action. The Center’s projects include reforming the campaign finance system, promoting fair courts and democratic participation, increasing economic justice and access to the courts, and improving criminal justice policy. The Center represents a new model of public-interest legal advocacy not only because of its wideranging docket of cases, but also in large part because of its relationship with the NYU School of Law, which connects the lawyers and advocates employed at the Brennan Center with the scholars of the Law School.

“We hope to make this a model in the country at large to put idea people together with advocates,” Gerety said.

Tough questions, as illustrated in a spirited panel led during the day by Steven Kelban, the former executive director of the Root program, that analyzed and celebrated changes brought about by Roots in the judiciary, government, law firms, and public interest organizations. Kelban, who started the Law School’s Public Interest Law Center, and is now the executive director of the Andrus Family Fund, which bankrolls community projects, said he was inspired by his time with Root alumni. “These graduates continue to make a real difference in people’s lives,” he said.

During another panel called, “The Challenges Globalization Poses for Public Interest Law,” several speakers maintained that between the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq, it’s a difficult time to be an American working on international human-rights efforts. For many decades, the U.S. led the world both in official action and in private work. But the panelists argued that the U.S.’s unilateral approach to Iraq, the recent handling of detainees in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and an administration that puts a lower priority on international human rights have left its reputation tarnished. “The effect of and reaction to terrorism increasingly affects our credibility,” noted moderator Thomas Buergenthal (’60), the American judge on the 15-member International Court of Justice. “It will set the whole U.S. human rights movement back.”

Boraine made a similar point when asked whether the leaders of the anti-apartheid movement would turn to the United States for help in the same way they once did, if the struggle were arising now. He lamented that it would not be so clear that the United States would be the place to turn. “The United States must get back its focus,” he said. “It is an incredible country, with so much potential and power, but it’s actually ruining its own reputation. America must remind itself of its values.” When asked about what lessons he could offer the United States about Iraq, Boraine listed a number of distinct areas that America must address to achieve reconciliation and restoration. The United States “must consult,” he said, “not just control.” He also stressed the importance of having a legal code that protects ordinary people and of creating and preserving a free, independent justice system.

Such sobering and thought-provoking reflections certainly made clear that although the Root-Tilden-Kern program has accomplished much to be proud of, the need for lawyers who are creative and thoughtful problem-solvers is going to be even stronger during the program’s next half-century.

The Council brought together a group of professionals from a cross-section of alumni to strategize about the goals and aspirations of the NYU School of Law. The 78-member Council is chaired by Eileen FitzGerald Sudler (’74), general counsel of the Sudler Companies, a privately held construction and development concern. Sudler started her legal career as a criminal defense attorney for Legal Aid, later serving as assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. She then worked in private practice before entering the real estate field with her husband, Peter Sudler (’73), president of the Sudler Companies and a trustee of the Law School.

The Council first convened on November 20, 2003, to identify key issues for the next decade.

At the opening session, Dean Revesz and Sudler reflected on the transformation of the Law School, marveling at how much was accomplished with relatively few resources— provoking a comparison from Sudler to the “little engine that could.”

During the daylong session, the Council heard from panels of faculty, students, administrators, and board members. The first panel of the day brought together faculty to discuss the practical application of scholarship. Five scholars—Noah Feldman, associate professor of law; Gerald López, professor of clinical law; Michael H. Schill, then the Wilf Family Professor of Property Law and professor of urban planning, now dean of UCLA’s law school; Stephen Schulhofer, Robert B. McKay Professor of Law; and Linda Silberman, Martin Lipton Professor of Law—discussed the challenges of connecting scholarship to the “real world.” They noted that the purpose of legal scholarship is to improve the ability of the legal system to deliver justice.

The faculty also fielded questions about how they fund their scholarship, the involvement of students, and the importance of the colloquia and weekly faculty workshops in identifying and developing research topics. Feldman identified a need for more specialized training of faculty members in how to acquire the funding they need to support their research. The implications of that change for the Law School are one of many issues the Council plans to consider.

A representative slice of the student population joined the Council for lunch to share their perspectives on the Law School. The group included: Erin Dow (’06), Filomen M. D’Agostino Scholar; Jeremy C. Marwell (’06), Furman Academic Scholar; Sonja Shield (’04), Sinsheimer Public Service Scholar; and Leila K. Thompson (’05), An- Bryce Scholar. When asked to explain why they chose the NYU School of Law, Shield responded: “It was the only place I visited where students said they actually enjoyed law school.” Others mentioned the strong intellectual community that they sensed during the recruitment and orientation sessions, the accessibility of the faculty, the energy and liveliness of the Law School, and the opportunities that New York City offers.