Fordham Law

Professor William M. Treanor, dean emeritus of both Georgetown Law and Fordham Law, reflects on the founding of America in a new Netflix historical documentary looking at the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution.

Watch the trailer:

The American Experiment | Official Trailer | Netflix As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, the new five...

Congratulations to Fordham Law Professor Aditi Bagchi, who was recently elected a member of The American Law Institute, an independent national organization that produces scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and improve the law. She is now the 18th Fordham Law faculty member to be part of the prestigious organization.

Looking for your next great read this summer? From interior design to memoirs, relationship advice, and page-turning thrillers, check out the latest books by Fordham Law alumni authors Jeffrey Deaver ’82 JD, Mark A. Torres ’08 JD, Young Huh ’94 JD, James A. Sexton ’01 JD, Dan Buzzetta ’94 JD, and Claire (Haaga) Altman ’77 JD.

See more in the Spring 2026 issue of Fordham Lawyer, Fordham Law School’s alumni magazine: https://digital.law.fordham.edu/issue/spring-2026/alumni-bookshelf/

From advising real clients in the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic to mentoring 1Ls through the Realizing Excellence and Access in the Law (REAL) Scholars Program, Diego Rodriguez ’26 JD made the most of experiential learning opportunities at Fordham Law. His interest in business, finance, corporate, and bankruptcy law will take him to Blank Rome’s Finance, Restructuring, and Bankruptcy practice group.

Read more about Rodriguez’s journey: https://news.law.fordham.edu/blog/2026/05/29/class-of-2026-meet-diego-rodriguez/

U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel ’85 JD received the 2026 Honorable Malcolm Wilson Distinguished Alumnus Award at this year’s Law Westchester-Putnam Annual Chapter Dinner, for carrying on Wilson’s lifelong commitment to jurisprudence. Thank you to Fordham Law Alumni Association Westchester-Putnam Chapter President Edward J. Guardaro Jr. ’85 JD for bringing the Law School community together for the special occasion.

Today’s Juneteenth message is written by James A. Felton III, Fordham University’s Vice President for Equity and Inclusion:

Dear Fordham Community,

Last year, in this space, I wrote about Opal Lee, the "Grandmother of Juneteenth," and the spirit of Sankofa, the wisdom of reaching back to move forward. As I sit with this year's reflection, two words keep returning to me: hope and resilience.

Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, the day enslaved people in Texas finally received word of their freedom, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed. I first encountered this history nearly thirty years ago in John Hope Franklin's From Slavery to Freedom, where it was called Emancipation Day. What has always stayed with me is not just the delay, but what carried people through it. For two years, freedom was law but not yet life. And still, hope did not break. That is resilience: the refusal to let a slow dawn convince you the sun isn't coming.

Generations later, that same hope carried Ms. Lee, who turned a date marked by personal loss into a national day of healing. Her life reminds me that resilience is not simply enduring; it is holding onto hope long enough for it to become real for someone else.

This is the spirit I want to carry this Juneteenth. Hope that is not naive, but earned through generations of holding on. Resilience that is not just survival, but the quiet, daily choice to keep showing up, for our families, our communities, and ourselves. I find both in small acts: reaching out to relatives I have let too much time pass with, showing up for my community, and sitting in stillness with those who are no longer here, letting their hope and their strength settle into me like an inheritance.

I hope you might find these same threads this Juneteenth, wherever you look for them. In a phone call to someone you've missed. In a quiet moment of reflection. In the simple, defiant act of choosing hope when patience feels hard. These are not small things. They are how resilience moves through generations, and how hope becomes real.

Because that is what hope and resilience were always in service of: freedom. Not just the freedom declared on paper, but the freedom we build, day by day, in how we treat one another, in the communities we sustain, and in the futures we make possible for those who come after us.

This Juneteenth, may we hold fast to hope, draw strength from resilience, and walk a little further toward the freedom we are each called to help make real, recognizing in one another the common humanity at the heart of it all.

Yours in inclusion,
James A. Felton, III
Vice President for Equity and Inclusion

Recent Fordham Law graduate and Stein Scholar Olivia Loomis '26 JD has been awarded a prestigious postgraduate fellowship from Equal Justice Works (EJW), an organization dedicated to transforming passionate law students into committed public service lawyers.

As one of 60 members of the EJW Design-Your-Own Fellowship Class of 2026, she will be working with New York Legal Assistance Group, collaborating directly with homeowners to craft thoughtful estate plans and advance directives that carry out their wishes and add to their defenses against predatory real estate speculators.

"I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to do work I love right after graduating," Loomis said. "The project combines aspects of elder law, public benefits law, and real property law. The state has passed some exciting protections for people who inherit a family home and the project aims to defend these new rights."

Beth Schwartz, a retired clinical professor of law and former director of professional skills at Fordham Law, received a Career Achievement Award, for her teaching and leadership, from the Association of American Law Schools and the Clinical Legal Education Association Externship Awards Committee.

Since retiring from teaching, Schwartz has been performing pro bono legal work with New York State’s Attorney Emeritus Program, a program run by the New York state courts and co-administered by Fordham Law’s Feerick Center for Social Justice. She currently volunteers with several organizations, including the City Bar Justice Center, Parole Advocacy Initiative, and Legal Assistance of Western New York.

Read more: https://news.law.fordham.edu/blog/2026/06/16/professor-emeritus-beth-schwartz-honored-with-career-achievement-award/