Profile

Susan J. Abraham joined the full-time faculty at New York Law School in 2003, after practicing law for 20 years. She began her career as a trial public defender, and subsequently moved on to criminal appeals, first in New Jersey and later at the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York. She also represented clients on civil matters and graded criminal and constitutional law essays on the New Jersey Bar Exam. Professor Abraham currently teaches Restorative Justice and Evidence; has taught Advanced Appellate Advocacy, Legal Practice, and Deposition Skills; and served as the faculty advisor for the NYLS Moot Court Association for 13 years.

She is interested in applications of restorative justice to resolving conflict, healing from harm, and building community in a wide range of contexts. As the Director of the Restorative Justice Project at NYLS, she teaches restorative justice courses, created a restorative justice field placement program, plans events, and advises the NYLS Restorative Justice Law Student Association. She is a trained Restorative Facilitator, has presented about restorative justice at conferences and CLE panels, provided media commentary, and published articles about the importance of teaching restorative principles and practices in law schools. She served as a Restorative Justice Consultant for the Broadway show, Punch, based on a true story of reconciliation after serious harm, and participated in a post-performance talkback.

Professor Abraham was on the transition team for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and has served on a number of Boards, including The Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, the New York Commission on Human Rights Restorative Justice Project, and the NYLS Alternative Dispute Resolution Program.

Professor Abraham also has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and has published poems in journals, including The Paris Review, Poetry, Tikkun, Rattle, and Penn Review, as well as Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and Poetry, an anthology of lawyer/poets published by the University of West Virginia College of Law. She has taught writing courses at community colleges and ESL programs and has volunteered as a writing mentor with Girls Write Now.