Student Organizations

Agape is a Greek word which means love and represents God’s love for the humankind. We seek to assist law students in exploring how Christian values foster social justice by pursuing the knowledge of God. The group supports spiritual growth through the study of the Bible and Christian tradition.
Contact: agape@mail.law.cuny.edu

The American Constitution Society is a nationwide network of more than 200 student and lawyer chapters in 48 states that brings together many of the country’s best legal minds to articulate a progressive vision of our Constitution and laws. One of the American Constitution Society’s principal missions is nurturing the next generation of progressive lawyers, judges, policy experts, legislators and academics.

The CUNY chapter provides a platform for debate and discussion about both enduring principles and the issues of the day, as well as opportunities for networking, mentoring and organizing around matters of both local and national significance. The 2015 ACS national convention, attended by CUNY chapter members, featured Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former Texas State Senator Wendy Davis, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court Goodwin Liu.
Contact:acs@mail.law.cuny.edu

The Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) strives to promote a greater understanding of Asian-Pacific American legal issues affecting our diverse communities and cultures by serving as a vehicle for political activity and by providing thorough academic support for future Asian Pacific American lawyers.
Contact: apalsa@mail.law.cuny.edu

Our lives are becoming increasingly intertwined with new technologies. The more this happens, the more we as a society must weigh the benefits and costs that come with such widespread technology adoption. The Artificial Intelligence & Blockchain Tech (Ai/BT) club seeks to educate others about the ethical and equitable uses and consequences of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. We aim to build a community of inquisitive and skeptical individuals—from techies to luddites—at CUNY School of Law, who are interested in discussing, teaching, and learning more about these exciting and concerning new technological capabilities.

Contact: aibtech@mail.law.cuny.edu

The Black Law Students Association (BLSA) at CUNY School of Law is committed to supporting the success and empowerment of its members by maintaining a student mentorship program, hosting alumni networking activities, and fundraising to award annual summer fellowships to students partaking in internships serving the Black community. Additionally, CUNY BLSA sponsors events such as lectures, panels, and workshops that highlight issues confronting the Black Diaspora and celebrate the achievements of persons of color in the legal profession. CUNY BLSA is dedicated to cultivating and promoting a diverse and welcoming community for its members and allies. We are a proud chapter of the National Black Law Student Association.
Contact: blsa@mail.law.cuny.edu

This program pushes the boundaries of the legal profession past adversarial relationships through self-sustaining and collaborative practices such as non-violent communication, active listening, and stress management through meditation and yoga.
Contact: cculp@mail.law.cuny.edu

This group aims to provide CUNY Law students with organized opportunities to raise and address labor-related issues. By coordinating grassroots activism and addressing global issues developments in labor through educational events.
Contact: cunylaborcoalition@mail.law.cuny.edu

The CUNY Law Democrats seek to facilitate the participation of CUNY Law students in the democratic process, advocate for progressive principles, and work to safeguard the fundamental right to vote for all.
Contact: cunylawdemocrats@mail.law.cuny.edu

The City University of New York Law Review (“CUNY Law Review”) is an independent, student-run publication devoted to producing public interest scholarship, engaging with the public interest bar, and fostering student excellence in writing, legal analysis, and research.

Visit the City University of New York Law Review site for more information.

CAP provides training to students, conducted by Sanctuary for Families, so that students are fully trained to advocate for victims of domestic violence in family court.
Contact: cap@mail.law.cuny.edu

“Employing social science findings could prove highly useful, if not vital, in determining the strength of the
interests and the effectiveness of different public policies.”
─ Angelo N. Ancheta, Scientific Evidence & Equal Protection Of The Law (2006).

PURPOSE:

Empirical Law & Society (“ELS”) is the first student-run organization at CUNY School of Law focusing on
empirical and social scientific perspectives on law. ELS aims to serve as a space for students to explore the
contours of law through an interdisciplinary lens across the social sciences: sociology, psychology, anthropology,
history, among others.

OBJECTIVES:

1. Serve as a student space for exploring the use of social science in policy arenas and legal
   education, and to inform legal practice.
2. Aid the building of an interdisciplinary study of law and diverse social science methodologies.
3. Address the validity of empirical methods and social science findings used by lawyers and judges today.
4. Collaborate with current efforts connecting law and social science to generate wider support
   among the Law and Society leadership and become part of a larger network of law students
   committed to the empirical study of law.

CONTACT ELS@mail.law.cuny.edu

The ultimate mission of the Environmental Justice Coalition (EJC) is to train lawyers to: advocate for communities directly affected by environmental injustices, to empower those communities in sustainable environmental decision-making, and to navigate the many governmental entities that shape environmental outcomes. The success of achieving this goal depends upon: (1) furnishing a strong foundational, theoretical and legal education on the paradigmatic tenets of environmental justice law and (2) training to work in partnership with local communities and grassroots movements in non-hierarchical ways to advocate on behalf of minoritarian communities that are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate injustice in its manifold manifestations. EJC follows the 17 Principles of Environmental Justice that were drafted at the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit held on October 24-27, 1991.

The Formerly Incarcerated Law Student Advocacy Association (FILSAA) advocates for the needs of law students with criminal records and is composed of both formerly incarcerated students and allies. FILSAA works to dismantle barriers to the legal profession for students with criminal records by supporting applications and recruitment, providing funding and community, and working to abolish the Character & Fitness portion of the Bar application.To contact us, please email filsaa@mail.law.cuny.edu or connect via:

HALT is dedicated to preventing and combating domestic violence, while supporting and advocating for survivors of domestic violence.
Contact: halt@mail.law.cuny.edu

Housing Rights Project (HRP) builds awareness of, and advocates for, solutions to issues on the housing spectrum. HRP generates awareness amongst CUNY Law students and staff, supports established community efforts, provides legal support where possible, and promotes effective, person-centered housing policies and systemic change.

The HRP mission is supported by two project-groups, the Housing/Anti-Gentrification Project and the Homelessness Project. Each project is a working group consisting of HRP members and a leader, who all develop project ideas to work on within CUNY or the greater New York community.

housingrightsproject@mail.law.cuny.edu

IF/WHEN/HOW: LAWYERING FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
This group strives to educate, organize and support law students to ensure that a new generation of advocates will be prepared to protect and expand reproductive rights as basic civil and human rights.
Contact: reproductivejustice@mail.law.cuny.edu

CUNY Law’s International Refugee Assistance Project (CUNY IRAP) chapter is one of the few organizations which gives students hands on direct legal services experience. Our clients are refugees displaced from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and other Middle Eastern and North African countries. Most of these individuals face violent persecution because of their gender, sexual orientation, or political beliefs or for assisting the U.S. as translators or as contracted employees. Estimates show that more than two million individuals in the Middle East have been displaced as a result of U.S. occupation, and the ongoing conflict in Syria has created an urgent refugee crisis.

Working closely with supervising attorneys, CUNY IRAP members provide life-saving legal services while developing the broad range of skills needed to become powerful global public interest advocates. Members learn refugee law, conduct legal research, create a wide variety of legal documents, learn how to conduct interviews, work with interpreters, and learn how to develop rapport with clients who have experienced unbelievable trauma.

Additionally, students have the opportunity to do policy work through IRAP’s National Chapter, attend local and national conferences, and travel to the Middle East for client intake work during spring break. See our Facebook page.

Contact: irap@mail.law.cuny.edu

This group promotes Irish heritage, culture, intercultural relations and knowledge of contemporary Irish politics. ILSA sponsors the annual St. Patrick s Day luncheon as a principal way to fund its Joseph Doherty Civil Rights Fellowship for CUNY law students. ILSA is committed to human rights and has regularly invited renowned guest speakers to speak. ILSA’s primary objective is to raise awareness of human rights, political rights, and civil rights struggles around the world.
Contact: ilsa@mail.law.cuny.edu

The Italian American Legal Association is an inclusive organization whose commitment is to build CUNY Law’s local community through continued community service programming, to share Italian culture while immersing ourselves in other cultures, and to foster relationships between CUNY Law students and professionals in the legal field, in recognition of Italian American heritage and Italian Americans in the legal field.

The mission of JLSA is to support the Jewish community within the School of Law, provide a voice for Jewish student concerns, create opportunities for learning and debate about topics related to Judaism, Jewish Law, American Law and International Law, provide forums for networking and socialization, and promote the cause of justice as a Jewish value. If you would like to host an event with us, please email jlsa@mail.law.cuny.edu.

Check our Facebook page for event updates: https://www.facebook.com/JLSA.CUNY

This organization promotes the accurate understanding of the Muslim faith and Islam to the legal field; in doing so they hope to redress the misconceptions promoted in media and our social arena.
Contact: mlsa@mail.law.cuny.edu

CUNY’s Moot Court Board is a student organization for those who wish to advance their oral advocacy and writing skills to the highest level. Through training and in competitions against other law schools, Moot Court members write briefs and argue cutting edge legal issues in simulated appellate arguments.

Membership on the Board is achieved through the annual CUNY Law School competition and training program. For the competition, each student writes a brief with a partner and then argues the case before a panel of judges.

Once students qualify to become members of the organization, they may participate in various activities.  Members work together to run the organization, help train other students to be excellent advocates, manage teams, and compete against other schools in outside competitions.

CUNY Moot Court Board members have participated in interscholastic moot court competitions around the country that involve a variety of topics, including constitutional law, criminal procedure, evidence law, family law, international law, labor law, and immigration law. Some examples of recent results for the CUNY Moot Court Team include finalists in the 2015 Elaine Jackson Stack Moot Court Competition, Best Oral Advocate Award in the 2013 Annual Uvaldo Herrera National Moot Court Competition, Best Brief Award in the 2012 Nassau Academy of Law Moot Court Competition, Third Place Oral Advocate in the 2011 John J. Gibbons Criminal Procedure Moot Court Competition, First Place and Best Oral Argument Award in the 2010 Nassau Academy of Law Moot Court Competition, Best Oralist Award in the 2007 Henry G. Manne Moot Court Competition for Law and Economics,  quarter-finalists in the 2005 National First Amendment Moot Court Competition, and First Place in the 2004 Thurgood A. Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition.

Participation in Moot Court helps students improve their speaking, writing, research, critical-thinking, and legal analysis skills. Membership in the organization and the training provide students with skills that will help them throughout their law careers.

Students who successfully complete the annual training competition may earn academic credit by subsequently completing a brief and oral argument of professional quality as part of an external competition or the equivalent thereof.  Throughout the process, students gain experience in oral argument through critiques and feedback during a large number of practice rounds.

This activity helps students gain written and oral advocacy skills that include researching, brief writing, public speaking, and teamwork. Competitions provide for one-on-one feedback and support from faculty, as well as the opportunity to develop confidence and crucial trial and appellate practice skills.
Contact: cunymootcourt@law.cuny.edu

The Mississippi Project seeks to promote justice for all communities, and to provide CUNY Law students an opportunity to learn innovative legal strategies by working with seasoned lawyers and support staff at partner organizations. The Project was founded in 1994 by CUNY Law students who traveled to Mississippi to help investigate the suspicious jailhouse hanging of Andre Jones — one of about 50 men, nearly half African American, who had died in Mississippi jails under similar circumstances since 1987. Students in 1994 also looked into allegations of denied voting rights to African American residents that had continued into the 1990s. CUNY Law students continue this tradition by traveling to Mississippi and Louisiana each January to work with community and public interest legal organizations such as the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights, the ACLU of Mississippi, and the Innocence Project of New Orleans.

Contact: missproj@mail.law.cuny.edu

Middle Eastern and North African Law Society (MENALS) will serve as a secular forum for students of Middle Eastern descent as well as any student genuinely interested in a just and peaceful future in the Middle East. Further, MENALS will provide a continual space for the productive, respectful and non-coercive exchange of ideas, opinions and proposals for various activities and events that heighten institution-wide awareness regarding the Middle East. MENALS provides a support system for the community of law students who desire a critical perspective of the Middle East or who are interested in legal scholarship affecting the region.
Contact: menals@mail.law.cuny.edu

Mentoring Youth through Legal Education (MYLE) works with Legal Outreach, a nonprofit which prepares urban youth from underserved communities in New York City to compete at high academic levels by using intensive legal and educational programs as tools for fostering vision, developing skills, enhancing confidence, and facilitating the pursuit of higher education. The debate program is designed to improve our students’ oral advocacy and public speaking abilities as well as their analytic and reasoning skills. Each debate focuses on a major constitutional topic, such as freedom of speech, procedural due process, or equal protection. No debate experience or constitutional law coursework is required to serve as a debate coach.

As a law student debate coach you will work with your student(s) throughout the year to help them prepare for their constitutional law debates. This includes helping them understand the debate fact patterns, brief the provided cases, outline oral arguments, and prepare to present their arguments to a panel of judges. Debate coaches will also serve as judges at the actual debates. Coaching is challenging, but also fun and rewarding. You will be amazed by the impact that you have on your students and the depth of understanding you will gain on each constitutional law topic!

Contact: myle@mail.law.cuny.edu

The Luis DeGraffe Racial & Social Justice Orientation is a 4-5 day orientation examining race, class, gender, and privilege in the law and in law school through discussions, games, workshops, readings, and films. Founded by Professor Luis DeGraffe, the orientation (formerly known as Third World Orientation) aims to build support and solidarity among students of color and other traditionally underrepresented students entering CUNY School of Law. We hope to enhance skills among students of color and white students to challenge oppression in law school and in the legal profession, and share tools to help incoming students navigate CUNY Law academically, personally, and politically.
Contact: rsjo@mail.law.cuny.edu

This group sponsors academic, cultural, social, and community service activities to strengthen the presence of Latinos in the legal profession. LALSA serves as a liaison between its members and the administration, the student body, alumni, and professionals in the field. LALSA also works to increase the number of Latin American students at CUNY and to ensure that students receive support to achieve academic and professional success. LALSA is a co-sponsor of a student-organized pre-law workshop for incoming students.
Contact: lalsa@mail.law.cuny.edu

The purpose of CUNY-NLG is to enrich a community of radical, compassionate and visionary lawyers at CUNY through active initiatives to effect positive social change and put our skills as law students to use. CUNY-NLG focuses on projects that promote police and government accountability, legal education for members of the public, and building community leadership skills.

Specifically, CUNY-NLG provides law students with free legal observer and know your rights trainings that enable the students to contribute as legal supporters in the multitude of public demonstrations that occur annually throughout the city. CUNY-NLG also organizes legal skills trainings for students and the public on crucial legal topics such as FOIA and FOIL, political repression, police brutality and abuse, and working with under-served populations.

In 2013 – 2014, CUNY-NLG hosted or co-sponsored the following events:

• Sep 19, 2013: Co-Sponsored CUNY Law Students for Justice in Palestine panel “Understanding the Israeli Occupation of Palestine: Strategies for Justice”
• Sep 26, 2013: Hosted NLG Interest Meeting
• Sep 28, 2013: Co-Hosted NLG-NYC DisOrientation with NYU-NLG
• Oct 10, 2013: Hosted NLG Speaking Event with Attorney Maria Pagano (CUNY Law ’93)
• Nov 20, 2013: Hosted NLG Legal Observer Training
• Jan 28, 2014: Hosted NLG General Meeting
• Feb 20, 2014: Hosted NLG Muslim Defense Project Know Your Rights Train-the Trainer
• Mar 5, 2014: Co-Sponsored CUNY Law Students for Justice in Palestine Event “Challenging Apartheid and Oppression from the U.S. to Palestine”
• Apr 3, 2014: Hosted NLG General Meeting
• Apr 8, 2014: Hosted NLG Panel “FOIA/FOIL: A Practical Guide to an Impractical System”
• Apr 17, 2014: Hosted NLG General Meeting

Contact: nlg@mail.law.cuny.edu

Outlaws is an intersectional queer community for people of all genders, sexual orientations, and HIV statuses at CUNY School of Law. We strive for our collective liberation in solidarity with other student groups, and empower each other to deconstruct legal barriers, and effect legal & social progress.

Contact: outlaw@mail.law.cuny.edu

PALS (Parents Attending Law School) provides an opportunity for CUNY School of Law students who are parents of young children to get together and share their experiences. This organization will host meetings to discuss the challenges of balancing law school and raising a family. It will also plan special events for all the families including the children in the CUNY School of Law Children’s Center.
Contact: pals@mail.law.cuny.edu.

PHI ALPHA DELTA (PAD) was established in 1902 and is one of the oldest professional law fraternities in the U.S. Its mission is to advance integrity, compassion and courage through service to students, the school, the profession, and the community. PHI ALPHA DELTA has law school chapters across the U.S. with over 300,000 initiated members. It is committed to promoting diversity, innovation, and professionalism in the legal field with a focus on public service. PHI ALPHA DELTA also provides its members with a vast network of law students and attorneys who share a sense of commitment to justice and a sense of community within the legal profession that extends beyond law school.

What we do at CUNY:

Better known as the Murray Chapter, PHI ALPHA DELTA’s presence at CUNY is growing and we look forward to adding new members to our roster this coming Fall. Anyone and everyone who is committed to social justice, and who can see the value in being part of a large community of people that share many of the same goals and ambitions in the pursuit of justice are encouraged to join.

Some interesting facts about PHI ALPHA DELTA:

Phi Alpha Delta was the first law fraternity to…

• Open membership to all genders, races, creeds and national origins.
• Host one of the largest Mock Trial Competitions for law students in the country.
• Conduct a “Senior Transition Program” for pre-law students entering law school.
• Establish a Pre-Law Program to assist undergraduate students interested in the law.
• Hold PHI ALPHA DELTA Day at the Supreme Court, a day designated for PHI ALPHA DELTA attorneys to be admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Conduct an Annual Food Drive to directly benefit food banks chosen by Chapters in their local communities.
• Implement an on-line membership database for networking students and alumni/ae together.

Notable members of PHI ALPHA DELTA:

Several U.S. presidents and U.S. Supreme Court Justices have been members of PAD throughout the years. Currently, Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor, and Kagan are all members of PAD.

Contact: pad@mail.law.cuny.edu

The UNICEF Campus Initiative is a growing grassroots movement rooted in a belief that college students have a vital role to play in helping the world’s children survive. UNICEF Campus Initiative clubs engage with their local community to promote UNICEF’s child survival work in over 190 countries and territories in several ways. Many clubs participate in UNICEF Campaigns such as Trick-or- Treat for UNICEF, host international dinners, organize concerts, put on speaker series with expert panelists, advocate on Capitol Hill, collaborate on regional webinars, and much more. Contact UNICEF Campus Initiative.

CUNY Law SJP’s purpose is to advocate for justice, human rights, and self-determination for the Palestinian people.
Contact: sjp@mail.law.cuny.edu

An independent mechanism for unified student action and a voice for academic, government, political, and social concerns.

At CUNY School of Law, the Student Government is an inclusive forum to address students’ needs and concerns. Twelve representatives are elected from each class to represent the student body. Elections for second and third year representatives are held in the spring and elections for first year representatives are held in the fall. Any matriculated student, registered and in good standing, is eligible to run for a Student Government position. The Student Government elects students from within its ranks to serve on selected Law School Committees.

The Director of Student Activities coordinates the elections for Student Government and Law School Committees.

The Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF) is dedicated to providing a forum for education, advocacy, and scholarship aimed at protecting the lives and advancing the interests of non-human animals through the legal system and raising the profile of the field of non-human animal law.
Contact: animallaw@mail.law.cuny.edu

The purpose of this group is to prepare law students to represent artists and athletes from underprivileged communities as they develop careers in the entertainment industry.
Contact: selsa@mail.law.cuny.edu

This is a student-directed organization that promotes the participation of public interest forums and public interest legal work through fundraising activities, including the annual PILA auction (a social highlight of the year). PILA funds student summer public interest internships.
Contact: pila@mail.law.cuny.edu

The Police Accountability Organization works to hold the New York City Police Department accountable to New Yorkers.
Contact: pao@mail.law.cuny.edu

The goal of the ping pong club is to organize tournaments, teach ping pong, and promote CUNITY.
Contact: ping-pong-club@mail.law.cuny.edu