40 Years of Recentering Justice

On September 21, 1983, CUNY Law opened its doors.

New York wanted a public law school that would honor aspirations and ambitions toward justice, fairness, and equality. We knew that meant recruiting a student body, faculty, and staff that would change who gets to be a lawyer and how they do it.

In the four decades since, CUNY Law has reframed law school admissions, expanded access to free legal support throughout NYC, refocused conversations on civil and human rights, and built a community that focuses on the movements, moments, and people who belong at the center of social change.

We became what we set out to be: the people’s law school.

We are proud that today, we are the nation’s most racially diverse law school, we are the law school that leads the nation in supporting graduates entering into public interest lawyering work, and we offer one of the leading clinical and experiential learning programs in the country.

Join us in exploring and celebrating the ways CUNY Law changes the very idea of what justice looks like—and who gets to make it.