Brooklyn Law School history

Morris M. Edelstein, 1909, Democratic Member of the United States House of Representatives from NY, 14th District.

John D. Clarke, 1911, Republican Member of the United States House of Representatives from NY, 34th District.

In 1923, Brill was the first woman appointed to serve as a deputy assistant on the state attorney general’s staff, where she handled labor and compensation matters.

During the Depression, the league canvassed local residents and employers to procure positions for women and men with families to support, and it opened a child guidance clinic in 1929, one of the first community clinics in the country.

During her time on the bench, she was a strong supporter of the Adolescent Court in Brooklyn, established as a social experiment in 1935 for youths aged sixteen to eighteen.

While on the bench, Brill attended New York University School of Education at night and received a B.S. in psychology and sociology in 1938.

In 1945, she joined the legal staff of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which was then headed by Thurgood Marshall, who was then Assistant Special Counsel.

In December 1946, Perry and Marshall were besieged by angry protesters in Chicago’s South Side when the two lawyers arrived at the opening of a housing project with apartments for African-American veterans.

They practiced law together until his death in 1950 in their firm, Brill Bergenfield and Brill, at 50 Broadway.

Undeterred by such obstacles, she ran for the City Council in 1957 on the Republican ticket, the first time an African-American was nominated in Queens for elective office.

Judge Jeanette Goodman Brill died in Brooklyn on March 30, 1964.

He was elected to the New York State Senate in 1965—the first state senator from Brooklyn, where he served as chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Child Care Needs.

He began his long career in public service in 1966 in the New York State Assembly and later served as President of the New York City Board of Elections, City Clerk and President of the Borough of Manhattan.

She retired from the state government in 1969 to be an officer of Urban Planning Aid in Cambridge, where she involved community groups in urban renewal, mass transit, and highway development projects.

Perry and her husband moved to North Brookfield, Massachusetts in 1973, where she became active with a committee of lawyers working on federally subsidized housing through the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.

In 1982, she established her own firm consulting with banks in New York, Connecticut, and Ohio.

In 1984, Mayor Edward Koch named her Commissioner of the Department of Correction, making her the first female correction officer in the United States to become Commissioner of a major correctional agency.

She became the first Asian-American woman judge in New York State and the first elected Asian-American public official in the state when she was elected in 1987 to the New York City Civil Court, New York County.

In 1988, she received the first Amicus Award of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, which honored her for pioneering the vital role of women in the legal profession.

David Dinkins, '56, Mayor of New York City (1990–93); first African American to hold that office.

Sheldon Silver, '68, Speaker of the New York State Assembly (1994–present), the second-longest speakership in NY State history.

In 2003, the David N. Dinkins Professorship Chair in the Practice of Urban & Public Affairs was established at Columbia University.

Chris Massey (lacrosse), 2004, attackman who played professional field lacrosse in Major League Lacrosse Lonn A. Trost, ’71, Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel, New York Yankees.

Errol Louis, 2005, journalist and television show host Russell T. Lewis, '73, CEO of The New York Times Company.

He expanded the public policy function beyond government relations to a broader set of stakeholders and has operated at the forefront of all major policies involving electronic payments since the financial crisis in 2008.

In 2009, Brooklyn Law School clinical program was ranked 28th in the nation.

In 2010, The National Jurist ranked BLS fourth in the country for its public service work, largely influenced by its clinical program.

He joined Morgan Stanley in 2011.

In 2012, five Brooklyn Law School graduates filed a class action lawsuit, which was dismissed the following year, alleging consumer fraud and common law fraud.

In 2013, 94% of the law school's first-time test takers passed the bar exam, placing the law school third-best among New York's 15 law schools.

Brooklyn Law School created a new mandate in 2014 that requires students to complete at least one clinic or externship course before graduation.

In June 2015, Dinkins was honored as an Icon of Brooklyn Law School at a gala on Ellis Island.

Since joining BBB National Programs in 2017, Ms.

Judge Johnson took part in Brooklyn Law School's EDNY Day in October 2019.