CITYADMIN - Key Persons
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- Director, Oak Spring Farms LLP
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- Founder and President, Argent Ventures LLC
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- Dean and President / Professor of Law
- Law School 's 16th Dean and President
Anthony W. Crowell is marking his tenth year as New York Law School's 16th Dean and President. He has served in the role since May 2012 and has taught state and local government law at NYLS since 2003.
As a first-generation student and a long-time New York City public servant, Dean Crowell proudly reintroduced NYLS as New York's law school. His management philosophy is rooted in his experience as a senior executive in New York City government for more than a decade, where he served as Counselor to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Under the Dean's leadership, NYLS has repositioned itself as a law school for the 21st-century lawyer. It issued its first comprehensive Strategic Plan in 2013, annual progress reports on that plan, and a new 2020 Strategic Plan, An update to the 2020 Plan will soon be released to reflect the new demands and opportunities confronting law schools and the profession as a result of the global pandemic and America's racial reckoning. NYLS also published an Institutional Diversity Plan; built an Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; adopted a dynamic and successful new curriculum-known as Think BIG-and strengthened academic and bar success programs.
Education
Harvard, Ph.D. 1987, J.D. 1978 cum laude, A.M. 1975, A.B. 1973 summa cum laude
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Founding Partner
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- Director of the Library, Associate Dean, and Professor of Law
- Professor of Law Associate Dean for Information Services Director, the Mendik Library
Camille Broussard joined the New York Law School Library staff as head of reference services in 1991. She has been the director of the Library since 2008. Before coming to NYLS, she was the collection services and reference librarian at New York University Law Library, and attorney services librarian at the Boley Law Library, Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
Professor Broussard teaches an Advanced Legal Research seminar, research workshops, and database searching classes. As part of her teaching duties, she works with faculty members to integrate legal research skills and training into their course work. It is her firm belief that law students who see the contextual connection between the theory and the practice of law will be more prepared to engage completely in the practice of law. Incorporating research discussion and assignments into the substantive curriculum is a successful way to provide a contextualized learning experience. Many classes offered at NYLS include a research component that is taught in collaboration with the reference librarians.
Professor Broussard is also an active member of the professional law librarian community. She belongs to both the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) and the Law Library Association of Greater New York (LLAGNY), with focuses on legal research and social responsibilities of the profession. Recently, she chaired the AALL Awards Committee. She has also chaired the Law Library Journal and AALL Spectrum Editorial Advisory Boards, the Committee on Mentoring and Retention, and the Social Responsibilities Special Interest Section.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
Education
University of California, Hastings College of Law, J.D. 2005 cum laude; Yale University, B.A. 2000
Education
The George Washington University Law School, J.D.; University of South Carolina-Columbia, B.A.
Job Titles:
- Leader
- Counselor to New York City Mayor Bloomberg
Dean Crowell has also led the creation of new academic centers, institutes, and leadership programs that capitalize on New York City's fastest-growing job sectors, including those focused on financial services, technology and intellectual property, government and public interest, and in-house counsel and the business of law. Under Dean Crowell, NYLS became one of the first law schools to combine its academic planning and career development functions into a seamless unit, maximizing the student advising experience and driving more meaningful outcomes.
Consistent with Dean Crowell's belief in the importance of place-based learning, NYLS has dramatically expanded clinical and experiential learning programs. Under his leadership, NYLS established The Joe Plumeri Center for Social Justice and Economic Opportunity. This sophisticated, high-tech training center is home to NYLS's 20-plus clinics and experiential learning programs in the heart of Lower Manhattan. NYLS also launched its Social Justice Hub, part of the Wilf Impact Center for Public Interest Law, which provides co-working space to four national legal advocacy nonprofits, and opportunities for students to engage on the frontlines of social change.
Having earned his J.D. as an evening student and while working full-time in Washington, D.C., Dean Crowell has committed significant resources to strengthen NYLS's Evening Division. Under his tenure, NYLS has dedicated new funding for evening student resources and NYLS is busy building a 21st-century Evening Division that meets the needs of today's ambitious working professionals.
For its efforts, NYLS has received top rankings and accolades in clinical and experiential learning, diversity and inclusion, and a host of legal specialty areas, including government and public policy, criminal law, immigration law, family law, and corporate law. Dean Crowell has been honored as Faculty Member of the Year by the NYLS Black Law Students Association, named one of the "People to Watch in Higher Education" by Crain's New York Business (the only law dean to make the list), and recognized as one of the 2021 "Law Power 100" and among the "50 most influential people in academia statewide" by City & State New York. In June 2020, he was named to the Crain's New York Business list of "Notable LGBTQ Leaders and Executives."
In his prior role as Counselor to New York City Mayor Bloomberg, Dean Crowell was counsel and a senior management and policy advisor to the Mayor, as well as general counsel to the Office of the Mayor. For more than a decade in City Hall, he successfully managed a broad portfolio of legal, regulatory, legislative, governance, economic development, administrative, and operational matters focused on enhancing New York City's performance, competitiveness, accountability, and public integrity. He also worked on numerous civil rights and government-access initiatives affecting women, immigrants, and people with disabilities. He served as the Mayor's liaison to the LGBTQ community at a groundbreaking time in the state's history. Dean Crowell also served as Executive Director, Counsel, or Commissioner of six city Charter Revision Commissions.
He was previously an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the New York City Law Department's Tax & Condemnation and Legal Counsel Divisions, working on an array of real property tax, eminent domain, and land use and zoning issues. In 2001, he was counsel to the city's Family Assistance Center, aiding families of 9/11 victims and directing the city's World Trade Center Death Certificate Program. Dean Crowell began his career at the International City/County Management Association in Washington, D.C., where he managed government affairs and policy. He also served as a Law Clerk at the State and Local Legal Center assisting in the preparation of amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Dean Crowell is a leader in advancing American legal education, and serves as the President of the National Association of Standalone Graduate Schools. He also is an active member of New York City's legal and civic community, including as a member of the New York City Bar Association's New York City Affairs Committee, as well as the Board of Trustees (former Chair) of the Brooklyn Public Library. He serves on the Boards of the Citizens Union Foundation and the Congressional Award Foundation. He previously served on the City's Conflicts of Interest Board for eight years. And, he is currently Chair of the Tribeca Pandemic Recovery Task, which was jointly established by Tribeca's business community and NYLS to address the economic effects of the pandemic on the local community.
Dean Dizon has created programs and taught courses at all stages of the legal education experience, from pre-orientation to post-graduate bar preparation. He has helped thousands of students succeed in law school and on the bar exam. In recognition of this service, he received the California Western Student Bar Association's Excellence in Academic Advising Award in 2017 and the Brooklyn Law School Latin American Law Students Association's Faculty Award in 2021.
Dean Dizon is a prolific conference presenter and a mentor to many others in the national academic support community. He received the Association of Academic Support Educator's Guiding Light Award in 2019 in recognition of the knowledge and experience he brings to new colleagues. Dean Dizon was also the presenter of Quimbee's inaugural commercial course in contracts and Helix Bar Review's inaugural bar strategies lecture in civil procedure. In addition, he is also a business immigration law scholar, serving as co-author and co-editor of Immigration Law Service 2d, one of Westlaw's multivolume immigration law treatises. His practitioner publications and legal scholarship focus on immigration programs for entrepreneurs, investors, and small business owners.
Dean Dizon brings a wealth of academic support experience to NYLS. He was the Director of the Academic Support Program and Associate Professor of Academic Success at Brooklyn Law School (2018-2022), Assistant Dean for Academic Achievement at California Western School of Law (2014-2018), Assistant Director of the Academic Success Program and Visiting Assistant Professor of Academic Success at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University (2011-2014), and an Academic Support Consultant during his Kauffman Legal Research Fellowship at New York University School of Law (2010-2011).
Prior to law school teaching, Dean Dizon was an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Business Law and Negotiation at Brooklyn College (2009-2010). He also served as a small group and individual tutor and curriculum developer for a major standardized test preparation company. And prior to entering legal education, Dean Dizon was an Associate in the New York office of global immigration firm Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen, & Loewy, LLP.
Dean Gewolb previously served as the Legislative Director of the New York City Council. In that capacity, he oversaw much of the Council's legislative, policy, and oversight work. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School, teaching State and Local Government and the Law of the City of New York.
Dean Gewolb holds two master's degrees in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and is currently completing his doctoral dissertation there, also in Higher and Postsecondary Education. He also serves on a number of Boards, including the New York City Housing Authority and Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Dean LaPiana has been a frequent speaker at continuing legal education events, including several conferences sponsored by the Real Property Trusts and Estates Law Section of the ABA and the Trusts and Estates Law Section of the New York State Bar Association, the Heckerling Institute, and the New York Estate Planning Institute. Since 1987, he has also been a regular participant in the New York University Law School Legal History Colloquium.
Education
New York University School of Law, J.D. 1993; Duke University, B.A. 1987
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean and Vice President for Enrollment Management, Student Financial Services, and Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Associate Dean and Vice President, Enrollment Management Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
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- Associate Dean for Academic Planning and Career Development
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- Vice President for Institutional Operations and the NYLS Experience
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- Vice Chair of the Board President
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- President and CEO, Vector Group Ltd
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- Vice President, Savills Studley
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- Author and TV Anchor of "Conversations With Jim Zirin"
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- Associate Dean and Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Chief Development Officer
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- Vice Chair of the Board Former Partner
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- Senior Director of Institutional Research
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- Vice President of Human Resources
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- Vice Chairman of the Board
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- Professor of Law Stephen J. Ellmann Dean for Clinical and Experiential Learning Co - Director, Housing Justice Leadership Institute
- Stephen J. Ellmann Dean of Clinical and Experiential Learning, Professor of Law
Kim Hawkins joined the New York Law School faculty in fall 2011 to teach Legal Practice. Prior to NYLS, she was Director of the Peter Cicchino Youth Project of the Urban Justice Center, one of the first organizations in the country to provide direct legal services to homeless and at-risk lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered youth.
From 1998 to 2002, Professor Hawkins taught at New York University School of Law in the Lawyering Program, a comprehensive first-year course in legal writing, advocacy, and research strategies. At New York University, she developed course pedagogy focused on experiential learning, placing students in simulated attorney roles to provide integrated exposure to the foundations of legal argument, negotiation, drafting, interviewing, and counseling.
Earlier in her career, Professor Hawkins was a staff attorney at The Legal Aid Society, where she represented clients in housing court, state supreme court, and at the appellate division. She was also a staff attorney at The Door's Legal Services Center, where she provided direct legal services to young people ages 12-21 in a broad range of legal areas including housing, immigration, welfare, family law, consumer law, and education.
Professor Hawkins has served on the Association of the Bar of the City of New York's Social Welfare Committee and the Committee on Sex and Law, of which she was chair.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Vice President of Business Development and Operations
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- Assistant Dean for Development
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- Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Institutional Strategy General Counsel Faculty Director of Externship Programs
- Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Institutional Strategy, General Counsel (
Matt Gewolb is Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Institutional Strategy. In this role, he serves as the chief administrator of the Law School's academic program. He is responsible for the day-to-day budgeting, planning, and management functions for the academic program. He also works on significant institutional policy, legal, and strategic government affairs matters. He serves as Secretary to the Board of Trustees and directs the NYLS Externship program. He was Executive Director and Counsel for the 2018 New York City Charter Revision Commission.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director for Academic Success
Megan E.K. Montcalm is the Executive Director for Academic Success at New York Law School. In this role, she assists with the design and delivery of academic and bar support programming intended to help students develop the critical skills they need to succeed in their coursework, pass the bar exam, and build satisfying legal careers.
Director Montcalm brings a wealth of real-world experience to her new role. Most recently, she served as Senior Counsel in the Appeals Division of the New York City Law Department, where she briefed and argued dozens of civil appeals on behalf of New York City, the Mayor, and local government agencies in federal and state appellate courts. Her caseload there reflected the tremendous breadth of the city government's dealings and challenged her to think critically about a range of legal issues in civil rights, torts, employment, family, and administrative law. Director Montcalm was previously a senior associate in Vinson & Elkins LLP's Commercial & Business Litigation Practice and a litigation associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. While in private practice, she worked extensively on a series of interrelated international arbitrations and also represented clients in securities matters and other commercial disputes.
From 2010 to 2011, Director Montcalm served as law clerk for the Honorable Alvin K. Hellerstein on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. And from 2009 to 2010, she served as law clerk for the Honorable John M. Rogers on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
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- Chief Compliance Officer
- Counsel
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- Co - Coordinator and Counsel (
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- Associate Dean and Registrar Acting Dean of Students
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- Chief of Building Operations and Security
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- Chief Marketing and Digital Strategy Officer / Vice President
Education
Emory Law School, J.D.; Teachers College, Columbia University, Ed.M., M.A.; Cornell University, B.S.
Job Titles:
- Interim Associate Dean for Academic and Bar Success
Shane Dizon joined New York Law School in fall 2022. He is a nationally recognized expert in academic success and bar preparation, specializing in blended doctrinal and skills pedagogy as well as best practices in study resource creation and joint student-administration academic support initiatives.
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- Assistant Dean for Student Life
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- Vice President of Finance
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- Senior and Founding Partner
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- Chief Information Officer
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- Academic Dean
- Dean of Faculty Rita and Joseph Solomon Professor of Wills, Trusts and Estates
William LaPiana, Dean of Faculty at New York Law School, joined the faculty in 1987, and he was named the Rita and Joseph Solomon Professor of Wills, Trusts and Estates in 1993. His doctoral dissertation was published as Logic and Experience: The Origins of Modern American Legal Education. An analysis of the intellectual roots of the case method and of the reasons for its success, it is widely cited in discussions of legal education and, as Dean LaPiana notes, still sells enough copies to buy one average bottle of wine per year.
In 2012, Dean La Piana published Inside Wills and Trusts: What Matters and Why, part of the "Inside" series of student study aids published by Wolters Kluwer. His other major publication is Drafting New York Wills and Related Documents, Fourth Edition, published by LexisNexis of which he is co-author with Professor Ira Mark Bloom.