Harlan Scholar Centers
Overview
The John Marshall Harlan Scholars Program at New York Law School is a rigorous academic honors program designed for students who have performed at the top of their law school class. It gives students the opportunity to focus their law school studies, gaining depth and substantive expertise beyond a broad understanding of the law. The program also facilitates the development of relationships among students, professionals in the field, and professors who are interested in the same areas of law.
Students who entered New York Law School in the Fall of 2008 and whose first-year cumulative grade point average places them in the top 15 percent of their class division will be invited to join the Program. Eligible students will be offered a new scholarship award if they have not received one during their first year, or will retain their award if they did receive one during their first year. Participation in the Harlan Program includes required participation in the New York Law School Law Review. Harlan Scholars also will affiliate with one of the following academic centers: the Center on Business Law & Policy, the Center for International Law, the Center for New York City Law, the Center for Professional Values and Practice, the Center for Real Estate Studies, the Institute for Information Law & Policy, or the Justice Action Center.
Students will be asked to indicate their preferences for the Centers with which they would like to affiliate, and every effort will be made to accommodate those preferences. After a selection process, students will be notified which Center they may join. Students who affiliate with a particular Center will be required to complete certain curricular requirements as prescribed by that Center. The curricular requirements generally include selecting courses from a menu related to the Center’s areas of study and a capstone experience in the third or fourth year. Details of each Center’s curricular requirements are described in the Program description, the link to which is at the right. Please note that some courses may not be offered every year, and registration materials for each year will have the definitive list.
The Harlan Scholars Program is an academic and professional program which anticipates a high degree of commitment from students, and provides in return a rewarding intellectual experience, the opportunity to develop an impressive professional portfolio, and recognition of high academic achievement. Satisfactory completion of the curricular requirements of the Center with which a student has affiliated, as well as completion of Law Review obligations, and otherwise maintaining academic and disciplinary good standing at the Law School, will culminate in a notation on the student’s final transcript after graduation, and recognition at Law School commencement.
Center for International Law
Founded with funding from the Starr Foundation, the Center for International Law supports teaching and research in a broad range of areas of international law. The Center derives much of its strength from interaction with New York City's business, financial, and legal communities.
Center for New York City Law
The Center for New York City Law was founded in 1993 by New York Law School Professor Ross Sandler. The academic and public mission of the Center is to provide information about, and analysis of, the laws and legal processes that govern New York City. The Center's ultimate goal is to make the City's government and decisions more fair, comprehensible and open to the public.
Center for Professional Values and Practice
The Center for Professional Values and Practice supports research and teaching on the profession, focusing on the dynamics of professional regulation, the market for lawyers, and lawyers’ careers. Designed to provide students with an in-depth portrait of law practice in a variety of settings, from the court room to the board room to Guantanamo Bay, the center sponsors research, symposia, and speakers to bring the “real world” of practice into the classroom and to legal education more broadly.
Center for Real Estate Studies
The practice of real estate law has undergone tremendous change in the past twenty years. Real estate lawyers now work in increasingly varied transactions, ranging from simple residential house purchases to sophisticated multi-use commercial development projects financed with construction loans, long-term ground leases, mortgage-backed securities, and tax incentives.
Center on Business Law & Policy
The Center on Business Law & Policy is designed to provide its Harlan Scholars an enriched educational experience in the business, securities, and commercial law areas. Our goal is to prepare a motivated, hard-working corps of students to excel as planners and counselors in general advising, litigation and especially deal-making situations where businesses and other commercial entities are clients.
Institute for Information Law and Policy
The Institute for Information Law and Policy is New York Law School's home for the study of law, technology and civil liberties. Participants in the Institute aim not only to understand the interplay of law and technology but to influence its development. The Institute develops and applies theories of information and communication to analyze law and policy.
Justice Action Center
The Justice Action Center brings together New York Law School faculty and students in an ongoing critical evaluation of public interest lawyering. Through scholarship and fieldwork, the Center seeks to evaluate the efficacy of law as an agent of change and social betterment. The Center fosters collaborative efforts by faculty and students to engage the specific problems presented in the fields of Anti-Discrimination Law and Economic Justice, Civil Liberties, Criminal Law and Death Penalty, Environmental Law, Family Law, Immigration Law, Labor and Employment Law, and Mental Disability Law.
