Dean’s Priorities

• In response to increased competition for the best applicants, Cornell Law School has more than tripled financial aid since 2014. Yet, just 17 percent of the current financial aid budget is funded by our endowment.
• Increased philanthropy has allowed us to attract the best qualified students, regardless of their financial means, and ensure that crushing debt does not limit their career choices upon graduation.
• Your gift to support scholarships will help us maintain and enhance this momentum.

• Cornell Law’s faculty has long attracted stars in legal education—but a significant number of our current professorate is slated to retire in the coming decade.
• We have recruited top-flight new faculty to lead emerging areas of interest, but we are limited by the small number of endowed professorships we can offer compared with peer institutions.
• Your gift to support endowed chairs and faculty research funds will ensure we remain competitive in the market for today’s top legal teachers and scholars.

• A great law school places its graduates at the highest reaches of every part of the profession—including public service. Our strong public service program ensures that all Cornell Lawyers are prepared to do the greatest good in support of a strong democracy and well-functioning economy.
• Yet, law jobs in government and nonprofits are difficult to obtain and pay just a quarter of those in “big law.” We need additional funding to incentivize students to seek these important avenues.
• Your gift to support Cornell Law’s public interest programs will prepare our graduates to thrive in these vital roles and make public service law a financially viable option for them.

• Nearly 70 percent of Cornell Law students participate in a clinic at least once—one of the reasons our alumni are so highly prized by employers.
• Clinical education gives students essential hands-on experience in serving real clients, which requires close—and expensive—supervision. This makes it difficult to meet student demand; for example, the waitlist for our First Amendment Clinic regularly tops 50 students for just eight seats.
• Your gift to support funding for clinical faculty and fellows can make these critical clinical experiences more accessible to more students.

• Today, every lawyer must understand how emerging technologies impact both the law and citizens.
• Since establishing a campus at Cornell Tech in 2012, Cornell Law has tripled the number of technology law classes offered both in Ithaca and New York City, established a law technology concentration within the JD program, and provided myriad opportunities for students to deepen their knowledge.
• Cornell Law can become a national leader at the nexus of technology, society, and the law—but we need additional resources to realize that potential.
• Your gift to support funding for faculty, clinical professors, and student housing at Cornell Tech will enable us to capitalize on our unique assets in this vital area of law.

Gifts to the Law School Annual Fund go to work immediately!

Current Use Unrestricted Funding (Law School Annual Funds)

***Highest Priority***: Empowering Dean Ohlin to respond quickly to emerging student needs and seize new opportunities that enhance the educational experience. Unrestricted gifts allow the Law School to allocate resources where they’ll have the most immediate impact, upholding excellence in legal education while adapting to meet the needs of the future.

Give now

This fund creates lifelong opportunities and fulfills personal dreams for outstanding Cornell Law students. Today, 8 in 10 Cornell Law students receive scholarships and financial aid. As a result, the debt load of students at graduation is lower than it has been in many years. Your gift enables deserving students to enter Cornell Law and pursue justice through their education and careers.

Give now

This unrestricted fund provides financial assistance for students and alumni as well as programming such as career counseling, job-search strategies, pro bono projects, and events like the Public Interest Law Career Symposium.

Cornell Law School Summer Grants provide full funding for 1L and 2L students who secure summer employment as public defenders, prosecutors, legal aid lawyers, judicial interns, and more.

Give now

This fund helps Cornell Law students acquire the practical skills and experience to represent a diversity of clients in need of legal services. Your support funds 27 specialized clinics and practicums that provide life-changing learning opportunities and help Law students become standouts in multiple fields.

Give now

This practicum enables Law students to gain hands-on experience in the field of Administrative Law (which has very limited course offerings in Cornell Law School) while working on real cases with practicing attorneys to assist veterans in the Ithaca community. This effort has recently lost its funding through the Veteran’s Administration and needs your support now to continue.

For more information: https://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/academics/experiential-learning/clinical-program/veterans-law-practicum/

Give now

The Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic’s dual mission is to teach students important aspects of the First Amendment and to vigorously defend its clients’ First Amendment rights.  Through coursework and cutting edge First Amendment litigation and advocacy, students gain theoretical and practical skills while achieving the best possible outcomes for its clients. The Clinic houses the Local Journalism Project, an innovative initiative that provides focus to the Clinic’s work on behalf of local and community news outlets and journalists.

For More Information: https://cornell1a.law.cornell.edu/

Give Now