CUNY Law Student to Advance Sanctuary Law Protections at The Legal Aid Society
CUNY School of Law is pleased to announce that Jacalyn Goldzweig Panitz has been awarded a 2026 Skadden Fellowship, one of the most prestigious honors in public interest law. Goldzweig Panitz will join The Legal Aid Society in New York City, where she will work on a project focused on enforcing New York’s sanctuary laws to fight unlawful arrests and detention. Goldzweig Panitz is part of a class of 34 new Skadden Fellows selected in December 2025, an increase of more than 20 percent from previous years. Since its founding in 1988, the Skadden Foundation has awarded more than 1,000 fellowships, launching generations of attorneys into distinguished careers in civil rights and poverty law.
Goldzweig Panitz exemplifies CUNY Law’s distinctive model of legal education. While completing her J.D. in the evening program, she worked full-time at The Legal Aid Society and was a proud member of 1199SEIU, bringing direct experience with the communities she will now serve as a fellow. “I cannot say enough good things about the broader evening student community and the brilliance of my classmates,” she reflects. “I have learned so much by just being in their presence.”
Her clinical training in the Defenders Clinic proved formative. Under the mentorship of Clinical Professor Bahar Ansari, Goldzweig Panitz developed both the technical skills and advocacy philosophy that will guide her fellowship work. “Bahar taught me the practical skills of lawyering while also modeling the type of advocate I want to be—determined, empathetic, gritty, and creative. She shows up for the long-haul and showed me what it means to be a movement lawyer. I am so grateful for her mentorship,” she says.
Goldzweig Panitz also credits Professors Ann Cammett, herself a Skadden Fellow (Class of 2000), and Ally Coll as instrumental to her development, describing them as “true greats at CUNY and exceptional doctrinal teachers.”
CUNY School of Law congratulates Jacalyn Goldzweig Panitz on this extraordinary achievement and anticipates her significant contributions to immigrant rights advocacy in New York City and beyond.