The first cohort of students have completed the Minority Student Program (MSP) Pre-Law Summer Academy and celebrated with a graduation on July 27. With support from Ballard Spahr LLP, its chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, Virginia Essandoh, and the Law School Admission Council, the Pre-Law Academy offered eight weeks of LSAT preparation through 7Sage along with two proctored practice tests. However, the Academy’s support extended well beyond test preparation.
The Criminal and Youth Justice Clinic achieved a significant victory in the New Jersey Supreme Court on July 1, when the Court held that youth placed on the sex offender registry have the right to be removed at any time, as long as they can prove they are not likely to pose a threat to the safety of others.
For children with disabilities, the timely implementation of special education programming and services is crucial for their learning, literacy, and overall development. This urgency is reflected in the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which mandates that disputes over special education services be resolved within 45 days. However, a recent class action lawsuit including more than 5,000 children with disabilities and their families revealed that the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) has failed to meet this requirement for decades.
Erinmarie Byrnes ‘23 always had a passion for social justice, and knew she wanted to dedicate her legal career to serving communities in need. Unfortunately, this path is incredibly difficult for new attorneys because the nonprofit sector often lacks the time and resources needed to pay, train, and mentor them. But Byrnes is meeting this challenge head-on thanks to the Maida Postgraduate Public Interest Fellowship, a two-year program specifically designed to support and sustain public interest legal work by graduates of Rutgers Law School.
Years of work by Professor Ruth Anne Robbins, her students, and their partners at the NJ Coalition to End Domestic Violence (NJCEDV) culminated on January 8 in the signing of bill A-1475, which requires the court to consider information regarding coercive control in domestic violence proceedings.
Every year in February, the nation recognizes the history and contributions of the Black community in the United States. There is no shortage of trailblazers at Rutgers Law School who paved the way for generations and altered the course of American history. Here are just a few Rutgers Law alumni who broke ground in their respective legal fields and beyond.