Brooklyn Law School Appoints Michael T. Cahill as Next President and Dean

NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Brooklyn Law School ("the Law School") today announced the appointment of Michael T. Cahill as its next President and Joseph Crea Dean, effective July 1, 2019. 

A prominent criminal law scholar and experienced law school leader, Cahill returns to Brooklyn Law School from Rutgers Law School, where he has served as Co-Dean and Professor of Law since July 2016.  Prior to his time at Rutgers, Cahill was a member of the faculty at Brooklyn Law School for 13 years.  He also served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2010 to 2013 and as Vice Dean from 2013 to 2015.

"We are very excited to welcome back Dean Cahill to lead our great Law School forward," said Stuart Subotnick, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Class of 1968.  "His wealth of experience in legal academia; his deep knowledge of the Law School from his many years here as Vice Dean and Associate Dean and faculty member; and his vision to advance the Law School's academic excellence while maintaining its financial strength made him the clear choice among a field of exceptionally strong candidates." 

During his time with Brooklyn Law School's leadership team, Cahill was involved in nearly every aspect of the Law School's operation, including curricular oversight and reform, support for faculty research, admissions and financial-aid policy, budgetary planning, maintenance and improvement of school facilities, external relations, fundraising, and close collaboration with administrators and staff.

His new priorities as Dean will include supporting the school's highly qualified and diverse faculty, as well as enhancing the student experience and opportunities for success by capitalizing on the Law School's strategic advantages and innovative clinical and legal writing programs. Cahill will also focus on maintaining the financial strength of the Law School through enhanced alumni engagement and other initiatives.

"I could not be more excited, personally and professionally, to have been given this opportunity to lead Brooklyn Law School," said Cahill. "I am honored and grateful to have received the support of the Board, faculty, and administration, and I am determined to make good on the investment this school has made in me. While I am hardly eager to leave Rutgers Law School, itself an outstanding institution, the chance to return to Brooklyn Law School is a dream come true and an opportunity I could not pass up. I greatly look forward to working with the Board and faculty to ensure that Brooklyn Law School's profile and reputation reflect its true value, and that its future will respond to a dynamic legal landscape while respecting its proud history."

Subotnick continued:

"We are tremendously grateful as well for the ongoing strong leadership and dedication of Interim Dean Maryellen Fullerton, whom we are thrilled will continue to serve BLS as a Professor of Law. She has been an extremely effective ambassador and advocate for the School and has laid the foundation for an even greater future.

"Additionally, I'd like to thank our students, faculty, staff, and alumni for their thoughtful feedback. I'd also like to recognize the tireless and diligent work of the Dean Search Committee, including Trustees Francis J. Aquila '83, Debra Humphreys '84, Hon. Claire Kelly '93, and Eileen Nugent '78; and faculty members Christopher Beauchamp, I. Bennett Capers, Christina Mulligan, and David Reiss.  They led an extensive national search with almost a thousand potential candidates."

Interim Dean Maryellen Fullerton will remain in her role until Cahill begins his post in July 2019.  Fullerton, an expert on refugee and asylum law, took over as Interim Dean when Nicholas W. Allard, Professor of Law, stepped down in June 2018 after six years in the role. 

"It was a privilege and pleasure to work closely with my remarkably talented and brilliant friend Michael Cahill before his departure to serve as co-dean of Rutger's Law School," said Former Dean and Professor of Law Nicholas W. Allard.  "Without doubt it is great news that Michael will return to the Law School to serve as its new dean and we all can count on him to continue Brooklyn Law School's upward trajectory."

About Brooklyn Law School

Founded in 1901, Brooklyn Law School offers a vibrant intellectual community emphasizing teaching excellence, leading-edge scholarship, and an innovative academic program designed to prepare students for public service, business, and private practice, nationwide and across the globe. It is an independent institution, unaffiliated with any university or college, and the only law school in Brooklyn. The Law School offers students the J.D. 2-3-4 Program, with degree options that include an accelerated 2-year J.D. program, traditional 3-year program, and extended part-time 4-year program. Visit Brooklyn Law School at www.brooklaw.edu.

About Michael T. Cahill

Michael T. Cahill has served as co-dean of Rutgers Law School since July 2016. Before coming to Rutgers, he taught at Chicago-Kent College of Law (2002-03) and at Brooklyn Law School (2003-16), where he also served as associate dean for academic affairs (2010-13) and vice dean (2013-15).

Cahill received a B.A. from Yale University, and J.D. (magna cum laude) and M.P.P. degrees from the University of Michigan. After graduating from law school, where he was a note editor for the Michigan Law Review, he served as a law clerk to Judge James B. Loken of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He was then involved as staff director and consultant, respectively, for major criminal-code reform projects in the states of Illinois and Kentucky.

His scholarly work focuses primarily on criminal law, and he also has written about and taught health law and policy. He has co-authored three books with University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Paul H. Robinson: the general one-volume treatise Criminal Law (Aspen, 2d ed. 2012), the casebook Criminal Law: Case Studies and Controversies (also with Shima Baradaran Baughman; Wolters Kluwer, 4th ed. 2016), and Law Without Justice (Oxford University Press, 2006). Cahill's work has also appeared in top law reviews, including Texas Law Review, Iowa Law Review, Washington University Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, and American Journal of Law & Medicine, among other publications.

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SOURCE Brooklyn Law School

Related Links

http://www.brooklaw.edu