Message From Dean Gillian Lester

Dear Alumni & Friends,

As I reflect on the 2021–2022 fiscal year, I feel immense pride, satisfaction, and gratitude for how our community reinvigorated itself after more than a year of pandemic restrictions.

We reunited for classes and intellectual collaborations, as well as for milestones like orientation, graduation, and reunion. Uplifting us all was a renewed appreciation for being together in person—by serendipity or design—to discuss and seek solutions to the urgent issues of our time.

In August 2021, more than 470 members of the J.D. Class of 2024— selected from the greatest number of applicants in the history of the Law School—arrived on campus for orientation. And we welcomed a record number of LL.M. students in the Class of 2022, coming to us from 58 countries. It was exhilarating to see them meet their classmates and faculty in person—their broad smiles apparent even behind masks.

After two years of remote ceremonies, we gathered in May beneath massive tents on the South Lawn of the Morningside campus to mark the graduation of more than 900 J.D., LL.M., J.S.D., and E.LL.M. candidates in the Class of 2022. A few days later, in a long-awaited moment, more than 325 members of the Classes of 2020 and 2021 returned to campus to hear their names read and cross a ceremonial stage.

While the Law School continues to send a greater percentage of graduates to the nation’s 100 largest law firms than any of our peer schools, we are also rapidly expanding programs for career development beyond the private sector. Our new Academic Scholars Program offers support for J.D. candidates with strong potential and ambition to become law professors. For students who plan to pursue careers in public interest, human rights, or government, the Public Interest/Public Service Fellows Program has been permanently endowed by a gift from Max Berger ’71 through the foundation he created with his wife, Dale. Another significant commitment, from Brad Smith ’84 and Kathy Surace-Smith ’84, provides sustainable funding for the Human Rights Clinic, which has been named in their honor. And a gift from Albert E. Cinelli ’55 established the Albert and Lois Cinelli Business Law Fund, which supports scholarships, learning opportunities, and faculty research in the area of business law.

Providing students with modern spaces to collaborate, study, and learn remains a priority. In January, we took full occupancy of William and June Warren Hall, which we used to share with Columbia Business School. The additional space includes eight new classrooms, 12 group study rooms, more than 100 study seats, and a multipurpose events space. We also reignited our ambitious plans to renovate the Law Library and are grateful to those who have pledged their support toward this project, including Alia Tutor ’00, whose transformative lead gift will help propel it forward.

One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is working with our appointments committees to recruit new faculty colleagues—both entry-level and mid-career scholars—who are as passionate about teaching as they are about research, writing, and advocacy. In fiscal year 2022, we hired six new professors (seven more—and counting—started in fiscal year 2023). These hires allowed us to introduce two new law clinics: the Criminal Defense Clinic and the Science, Health, and Information Clinic.

Providing a range of opportunities for our students and faculty to respond to current events is essential to the Law School’s mission. Among several new programs, we created—with support from Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger ’71—the Constitutional Democracy Initiative, which organized the “Democracy’s Future” seminars, and “Beyond the Casebook,” a new lunchtime series for faculty and 1Ls to discuss timely, relevant issues outside of the classroom setting. And the International Claims and Reparations Project will advise the government of Ukraine as it develops international law frameworks for the management of claims and reparations.

Our commitment to anti-racism within the Law School community and beyond continues apace. To support the work and help hold ourselves accountable for progress, we established the Anti-Racism Coordinating Committee (ARCC), which meets regularly and includes faculty, students, and senior administrators. The ARCC was instrumental in supporting the Columbia Clerkships Diversity Initiative and developing a framework for helping students of color overcome barriers to entering public interest careers. In addition, we selected a new cohort of Racial and Social Justice Fellows and awarded the first round of anti-racism grants, which provide financial and non-financial assistance to members of the Law School community who are pursuing projects that combat structural racism.

All of these innovations and initiatives bolster Columbia Law School’s preeminence as a place of scholarly excellence and inspired pedagogy. The generous support we receive every year from our alumni and friends is crucial and enables us to fortify our mission to foster excellence in research and teaching, to test new ideas, and to mentor a new generation of leaders. On behalf of our students and faculty, I thank you for your unwavering loyalty and faith in the future of the Law School. With your steadfast support and engagement, we will forever be a force in the world.

Best regards,

Gillian Lester Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law

Uplifting us all was a renewed appreciation for being together in person—by serendipity or design.

KATE ANDRIAS KATE ANDRIAS Professor of Law Patricia D. and R. Paul Yetter Professor of Law

A labor scholar and former associate counsel in the A labor scholar and former associate counsel in the Obama White House, Kate Andrias writes and teaches Obama White House, Kate Andrias writes and teaches on labor law, constitutional law, and questions of on labor law, constitutional law, and questions of democracy and governance. Her scholarship probes the democracy and governance. Her scholarship probes the institutions, incentive structures, and regulations that govern the interactions institutions, incentive structures, and regulations that govern the interactions between individuals and their workplaces. Drawing from constitutional law, between individuals and their workplaces. Drawing from constitutional law, administrative law, and legal history, she also has explored the relationship administrative law, and legal history, she also has explored the relationship between law and the perpetuation of economic inequality. A former academic between law and the perpetuation of economic inequality. A former academic fellow at Columbia Law School and clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice fellow at Columbia Law School and clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59, Andrias taught for eight years at the University Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59, Andrias taught for eight years at the University of Michigan Law School, where she was the recipient of its L. Hart Wright of Michigan Law School, where she was the recipient of its L. Hart Wright Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2016. In 2021, President Joe Biden named Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2016. In 2021, President Joe Biden named Andrias to a commission examining possible U.S. Supreme Court reform, Andrias to a commission examining possible U.S. Supreme Court reform, for which she served as rapporteur. for which she served as rapporteur. School’s Criminal Defense Clinic. Her clinical work and impacts on communities targeted by intensive policing. Baylor has written about historic advocacy by women in prison, women and pretrial detention, and the impact of trauma from pretrial detention, and her work has been published in journals including the Washington University Law Review, New Mexico Law Review, and Michigan Journal of Gender & Law. She has directed law clinics at Texas A&M University School of Law and Widener University Delaware Law School. Before joining academia, Baylor worked as a trial attorney for Federal Defenders of San Diego and as a staff attorney for the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem.

AMBER BAYLOR CC ’02 Associate Clinical Professor of Law

Amber Baylor is the founding director of Columbia Law School’s Criminal Defense Clinic. Her clinical work and scholarship center on local criminal regulation and its impacts on communities targeted by intensive policing. Baylor has written about historic advocacy by women in prison, women and pretrial detention, and the impact of trauma from pretrial detention, and her work has been published in journals including the Washington University Law Review, New Mexico Law Review, and Michigan Journal of Gender & Law. She has directed law clinics at Texas A&M University School of Law and Widener University Delaware Law School. Before joining academia, Baylor worked as a trial attorney for Federal Defenders of San Diego and as a staff attorney for the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem.

Faculty Focus

In fiscal year 2022 (which extends from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022), Columbia Law School welcomed six new faculty members, including two former academic fellows and two Columbia College alumni. Their expertise includes labor law and constitutional law as well as clinical leadership in criminal law and health care access. Their commitment to teaching and scholarship will enrich the educational experience of students and stimulate the intellectual life of the Law School.

MADHAV KHOSLA Associate Professor of Law

A leading thinker on comparative constitutionalism who has a Ph.D. in political theory, Madhav Khosla has written extensively about the seminal role of the Indian Constitution in the evolution of democracy around the globe. His most recent book, India’s Founding Moment: The Constitution of a Most Surprising Democracy (Harvard University Press, 2020), was an Economist Best Book of 2020 and co-winner of the Order of the Coif Book Award 2021. Khosla studied at Yale Law School and the National Law School of India University, Bangalore; his political theory dissertation at Harvard University was awarded the Edward M. Chase Prize. Before joining Columbia Law School, he was a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. Khosla’s writings have been published in the American Journal of Comparative Law, Harvard Law Review, and International Journal of Constitutional Law, as well as in popular forums such as The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, and The New York Times.

LEV MENAND Associate Professor of Law

Lev Menand studies money and banking, central banking, administrative law, separation of powers, economic regulation, and the history of economic thought. A former senior adviser in the Treasury Department and an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Menand is a champion of reforming the monetary system, including banks, Wall Street, and the Federal Reserve. After clerking for Judge Jed S. Rakoff on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, Menand joined Columbia Law School’s Academic Fellows Program. His first book, The Fed Unbound: Central Banking in a Time of Crisis, was published in May 2022.

CHRISTOPHER MORTEN CC ’05 Associate Clinical Professor of Law

A lawyer with a Ph.D. in organic chemistry, Christopher Morten is the founding director of Columbia Law School’s Science, Health, and Information Clinic. An innovative voice in the areas of information privacy, health care access, and regulation of medical devices and clinical trials, Morten focuses his advocacy and scholarship on intellectual property, information governance, health justice, and science and technology. He joined the Law School from NYU School of Law, where Morten and his students in the Technology Law and Policy Clinic issued a report arguing that the U.S. government could use the prospect of possible patent infringement litigation to negotiate a new deal with pharmaceutical maker Moderna that expands global access to mRNA vaccines.

KERREL MURRAY Associate Professor of Law

Constitutional law scholar Kerrel Murray writes about race and antidiscrimination law and election law. His scholarship examines what democracy demands of our legal rules and institutions, as well as the role of law in mediating conflict and disagreement. He joined Columbia Law School after spending two years as an academic fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Murray was a fellow at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and an associate in Covington & Burling’s Washington, D.C., office, where he focused on complex civil litigation. He clerked for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson when she served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and for Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. Murray is currently on leave serving as a law clerk for now-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Jackson.