Cardozo's reputation for academic excellence is rooted in the scholarship of our faculty, whose work shapes law and policy. I'm proud to share with you some of the recent works of my colleagues that have appeared in major media outlets. I hope you find them thought-provoking.
Melanie Leslie became dean of Cardozo Law School on July 1, 2015. She is the first Cardozo Law graduate and the first woman to hold the position.
Dean Leslie was the driving force behind a number of important initiatives at the intersection of law, technology, intellectual property, and business, including The FAME Center for fashion, art, media and entertainment law, which prepares students to work in the creative industries through its extensive curricular offerings; The Cardozo Patent Diversity Project, which seeks to increase the number of women and minority innovators receiving patents; The Blockchain Project, which offers classes and symposia on blockchain and regulation; The Center for Rights and Justice; and The Center for Real Estate Law and Policy. Dean Leslie spearheaded the Deans Leadership Academy, an annual virtual conference to provide guidance and skillsets to future law school deans.
A Cardozo professor since 1995, Dean Leslie is a leading scholar in trusts & estates, fiduciary obligations and nonprofit governance. Courses taught include Property, Trusts and Estates, Nonprofit Governance, and Evidence. She has been presented the “Best First-Year Professor” award by three graduating Cardozo classes. She served as Cardozo’s Vice Dean from 2014-15.
Dean Leslie is a prolific scholar whose work has been published by the NYU Law Review, Boston College Law Review, Florida Law Review, William & Mary Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, and Indiana Law Journal, among others. She is the co-author of a leading casebook, Estates and Trusts, Cases and Materials, as well as Concepts and Insights: Trusts and Estates. Dean Leslie has been a Visiting Associate Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, and a Visiting Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. She has served on the NY State Bar and NYC Bar Joint Committee on the Uniform Trust Code, as a Legal Fellow of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel (ACTEC), and on the executive committees of the AALS Sections on Trusts & Estates and Nonprofits and Philanthropy.
Prior to joining the Cardozo Law faculty she clerked for Justice Gary S. Stein of the New Jersey Supreme Court and practiced commercial litigation at Debevoise & Plimpton, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and McCarter & English.
A native of Las Vegas, Dean Leslie received her B.A. in Theater from the University of Oregon, with honors, before moving to New York City, where she spent several years working as a professional actor and vocalist. She then received her J.D. from Cardozo Law magna cum laude in 1991, where she was the Executive Editor of the Cardozo Law Review.
“Taking religious organizations at their word on the religiousness of their activities makes it hard for the government to challenge if those activities are actually religious. You open the doors for abuse when you just look at whether there’s a sincerely held belief rather than actually looking at the activity.”
"If Congress is not doing something to suggest that the amendment is ratified, then that's kind of where the ball is going to end. Congress is ultimately the gatekeeper when it comes to amendments."
"As I tell my constitutional law students, our federal government is built on a system of checks and balances that requires coordination and pushback among the branches to work well. When the president overreaches in his assertions of executive power, it’s imperative that our other institutions—Congress and the courts—stand up for due process and the rule of law. And, in a democracy like ours, it’s imperative that We, the People, hold our government to account when it falls short. In this case, holding our government to account includes ensuring that unaccompanied immigrant children continue to receive access to legal services. As the Trump administration moves to prioritize unaccompanied children for deportation, these kids will need lawyers to ensure that they have a fighting chance to have what we all want for our own kids—safety, security, and a chance to thrive as they grow up."
"Second-degree murder can be elevated if there is evidence the defendant intended to terrorize a wide group of people and not just his victim. If Mangione was looking to influence the way the health care industry handles claims or if he wanted to scare, threaten, intimidate or coerce a civilian population, that could qualify."
"Under the Constitution, inmates are entitled to medical care, basic hygienic living conditions and to be free of excessive force being used against them. A question would be whether the conditions of confinement in El Salvador would meet the constitutional level that we require."
“The constitutional point is that the President lacks the authority to impound funds. If Congress says ‘spend this,’ then the President, who is constitutionally obliged to ensure that the laws are ‘faithfully executed,’ must do so. He can’t just say, 'I think this is a stupid idea so won’t pursue it’; it’s Congress’s call.”
“The executive order is a Trojan horse meant to circumvent the sanctuary laws. My overall take is that the mayor’s claim that this effort to put ICE back on Rikers is about public safety and criminal law enforcement is just not a candid presentation of what’s really going on here.”
“The speed of the announcement in the Mangione case is a little bit reckless. If the Trump administration is committed to seeking death in every eligible case, they may end up running afoul of the Constitution. You’re supposed to be narrowing in the types of cases that you seek death for.”
"The judge called the federal government’s arguments “nonsensical,” “erroneous” and lacking “a single historical source that supports their view. If I were a lawyer at the M.T.A., I’d be feeling very good about my chances on final judgment."
“It’s a defining moment for the office in terms of its independence and integrity. Dropping the charges without good cause would be totally demoralizing for the professionals who work there — to everybody who has been trained in a culture of following the facts and the law, without regard to political influence or favor.”
“Liberty is not just passive permission to be something; it is the ability to become something and to be able to make meaningful choices in life. And for children born into a Hasidic community — or an Amish or other insular religious community — the skills a secular education imparts are important for a host of reasons, but one chief among them: They make it possible for an individual to leave the community, should he or she one day choose to, for the wider world — a choice that should be every child’s right."
“Costco likely made the announcement to lessen "the incentive for a strike" by assuaging concerns about stagnant wages. Compensation is commonly the motivating factor behind a work stoppage. I think Costco's response to immediately grant the salary increases to everybody is in some way to lessen that chatter and to say, 'Well, you don't need the Teamsters. We'll take good care of you. Trust us to do the right thing.' Now, the Teamsters are in a position where they have to get more than what the non-unionized would get."
"The volume of claims may reflect a basic legal strategy. Lawyers want to be cautious, and they want to make sure they don’t miss any opportunity to survive a motion to dismiss,. The more claims they can make, the more chances they have to survive those motions."
“The legislation will certainly force landlords and brokers to adapt to a new landscape. It’s a bill that’s bad for brokers [but] I don’t think it’s bad ultimately for landlords.”
“If all he wants is to buy some time to ‘save TikTok’, then he can do that – all it takes is simply doing nothing. All he has to do is not enforce the law vigorously right away, and the status quo can carry on. The president has enforcement discretion over the attorney general and justice department. Even though the TikTok ban is law, Trump could instruct the justice department to simply ignore it."
“The findings do not necessarily mean the vehicle is inherently unsafe, nor do they say anything about the ability of Zoox’s autonomous driving system to safely navigate traffic. I just don’t know how the California DMV can continue to let Zoox test with this vehicle without some document from NHTSA that exempts Zoox from compliance.”