Frank A. Bress

Professor of Law

Frank A. Bress joined New York Law School in June 2002 after four years as vice president and general counsel for a public company and earlier ten years in private practice. At New York Law School, he developed and teaches a Criminal Law Clinic and Advocacy of Criminal Cases, and also teaches Trial Advocacy, Negotiation, Counseling, & Interviewing, Lawyering, and an Externship Seminar.

Earlier in his career, as associate dean for clinical education at Pace Law School, Professor Bress started the clinical education program, developed and taught a Trial Advocacy course and a Homicide Defense Clinic, and developed Child Support Enforcement and Appellate Litigation Clinics. As part of the Homicide Defense Clinic, Professor Bress litigated a high-profile murder case on Long Island (the "Pebbles Murder") and achieved the first change of venue in a criminal matter in New York since the Brinks Robbery more than five years earlier, and the last until the Amadou Diallo case.

Before Pace, Professor Bress taught clinical and advocacy courses for twelve years at NYU Law School. While there, he served as Executive Director and Managing Attorney of Washington Square Legal Services, the umbrella under which students practiced in the areas of criminal law, juvenile justice, women's rights, prison reform, and public benefits law.

While in private practice, Professor Bress engaged in white-collar criminal defense and commercial and tort litigation. His firm was one of a few that defended the County of Westchester tort cases, including civil rights matters.

Professor Bress has been an advocate for high professional standards, working actively within lawyers' associations to that end. Currently, he cochairs the Criminal Justice section of the New York County Lawyers Association (NYCLA), chairs a NYCLA Task Force on Penal Policy, and is a memeber of the Criminal Courts Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (ABCNY).

In the past, Professor Bress chaired the Central Screening Committee for the Appellate Division, First Department for five years and was a member for another seven years. During his tenure, the Central Screening Committee established one of the first attorney peer review and disciplinary systems. He also served as secretary for the prestigious Council on Criminal Justice, which coordinates the activities of all ABCNY committees involved in criminal justice issues.