Research Initiatives

Center faculty and students are actively engaged in a variety of research projects; short descriptions appear below. The Center also holds periodic roundtables where student affiliates present their own work. For more information about individual projects or roundtable topics, please contact the Center at CPVP@nyls.edu.

The Future of Legal Education

There is no shortage of commentary about the challenges facing American law schools. Driven by the Carnegie Foundation’s highly critical 2007 report and the dramatic downturn in large firm associate hiring, law school deans and administrators are scrambling to predict the future and position themselves within a rapidly changing market. But what is the likely shape of the future market—or markets—for legal education? What are the most promising models for delivering education and training in those markets? And how do we get there from here?

New York Law School and Harvard Law School are hosting a year-long contest of ideas about legal education. The goal is to come up with operational alternatives to the traditional law school business model and to identify concrete steps for the implementation of new designs. The kickoff event consisted of a two-day conference for educators, employers, and regulators at New York Law School on April 9–10, 2010. Participants met to identify problems, innovations, and constraints, and to organize working groups to develop designs and strategies for implementation. Working groups are currently in the process of refining their ideas in preparation for the conference's second meeting, which will be held at Harvard Law School on October 15–16, 2010. The October meeting will focus on the globalization of legal education and a comparison of professional education in the law and other fields. Final designs will be presented, with commentary, at New York Law School in April, 2011.

Click here to visit the Future Ed website. To view the conference blog, visit futureed.tumblr.com.

Lawyering on the Edge

Recent cases involving those accused of terrorism raise interesting questions about what role lawyers ought to play when representing clients who advocate the overthrow of the American government. How should a lawyer approach the case when the client’s expressed goal is to destroy all the laws and institutions to which the lawyer has pledged his loyalty. Is a client-centered approach possible under such circumstances and if not, how should the lawyer define the objectives of the case? This project approaches these questions from a historical perspective. It will consist of a series of historical essays, portraits of different cases in which the lawyer has attempted to give meaningful representation to those who wish to destroy the political and legal system within which the lawyer must function.

The Role of the Prosecutor

In theory, prosecutors are supposed to pursue justice rather than win cases. Much of the ethical, procedural, and constitutional rules that govern our criminal justice system are based on that assumption. Yet there are a number of recent high profile cases that belie this reality. The recent scandal regarding the politicization of the appointments in the United States Attorney’s Offices also gives reason to question the accuracy of this theory. This project examines to what extent do prosecutors see their role as different from civil attorneys. To what extent does that self-perception effect what prosecutors do?

The Rise of the Tax Shelter Industry

This project examines the role of tax professionals in the rise of the abusive tax shelter industry between 1994 and 2004. During this decade, KPMG, Ernst & Young and other well-respected accounting firms, assisted by tax lawyers at prestigious corporate law firms, developed a huge market for tax shelters, costing the Treasury hundreds of billions of dollars in lost tax revenue, and leading to the prosecution—and attempted prosecution—of many tax professionals. How did these professionals become the principal agents in the creation of abusive tax shelters? What does their role suggest for the integrity of the tax system? The project is based on interviews with the principal participants in the tax shelter industry.

Cause Lawyering in Thailand

Lawyers for social causes are familiar in America. But “cause lawyering”—described as “law practice furthering a vision of the good society”—is also global. This project examines cause lawyering in Thailand. Constitutional reform in Thailand has expanded the reach of law by naming rights and creating institutions of legal accountability. While the “right to have rights” may have broad popular support, the importance of rights and the viability of careers for lawyers who invest in promoting rights for particular causes remain in doubt. The study focuses on the role and careers of activist lawyers and the continuing influence of traditional Thai culture. The study is one of the few to consider cause lawyering in a developing Asian society, and one of the very first to focus on Thailand.