20 Things You Didn’t Know About Touro Law School
The Touro Law School is a private accredited institution in Long Island, New York. The campus is centrally located for easy access to the amenities of the metropolitan area. It’s) a small not-for-profit school that provides coeducational opportunities as a part of the Touro College and University institution. If you’re considering law as a career, the Touro Law School can help you prepare for a successful career. If you’re not yet familiar with the institution, here are twenty things you probably didn’t know about the Touro Law School to bring you up to speed.
1. The Touro Law School is known by a few different names
Wikipedia confirms that the Touro Law School is known in the New York area by three different names, but they all describe the same school It’s also called the Touro Law Center and The Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. The most common name is Touro Law Center.
2. The Touro Law Center is ABA accredited
Prospective students interested in a law school are wise to ensure that the law school selects a school that offers the type of education with appropriate specializations and accreditation to prepare them to take and pass the Bar Exam. The Touro Law School received provisional accreditation by the American Bar Association in 1983. The American Bar Association granted the Touro Law School full accreditation in 1989.
3. The Touro Law School is named in honor of a judge
The Touro Law School, also known as the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law School was named to honor a New York area judge who advocated for the school’s growth and accreditation. Judge Fuchsberg received the honor of having the school named after him in April 1986. He served on the New York State Court of Appeals as an associate judge from 1975 through 1983. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees for Touro College when it opened in the 1970s. He was a powerful advocate for the school.
4. The law school is a young establishment
Touro Law School didn’t open its doors to students until the Fall of 1980. It’s one of the newer law schools and does not have the long and storied history of some of the older and more prestigious law schools in the country, but it is working on building a strong and enduring reputation by delivering high standards of premium education in the law. The first class of law students at the Touro Law School graduated in the Spring of 1983. The school is 42 years old as of 2022. The four decades of its existence have helped to establish its strong reputation for scholarship within the Greater New York area.
5. Touro Law School has moved a few times
The Touro Law School’s first building was in Manhattan, New York City at 30 West 44th Street. The school moved to Huntington, in Suffolk County in 1982 at the former Toaz Junior High School where it operated for two decades. Its current location in Central Islip, Long Island is where students attend classes. The main campus of the Touro Law School moved to the site in 2007.
6. The Touro Law School is close to the courthouses
A benefit of the current location of the Touro Law Center is its proximity to several courthouses. It is within walking distance of the John P. Cohalan State Court complex, home of the Suffolk County District and Family Courts, as well as the New York Supreme Court. it is also close to the Alfonse M. D’Amato United States Courthouse. Law students do not have far to travel for internships and other education-related activities at the courthouses. The law school is on a 180,000-square-foot building with four stories.
7. Touro Law School is among the most undervalued law schools in the US
the Touro School was named the 13th most undervalued law school in May of 2014 by the US News peer reputation, based on the number of downloads from the Touro Law faculty scholarship’s Social Science Research Network. Two law professors established the system in a law review article in 2006. In other words, far more merit is due to the institution than may initially meet the eye. The Social Science Research Legal Studies Research Paper Series eJournal of the Touro Law Center was established in 2013 and continues to positively impact the legal system.
8. The Touro Law School publishes four legal journals
Touro Law Center students and faculty operate four law journal publications. they include the Touro Law Review which ran its first publication in the Spring of 1985. In the Fall of 1988, the Touro International Law Review was published under its original name, the Touro Journal of Transnational Law. In August of 2006, the first publication of the Touro Law Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity emerged, followed by its fourth publication, the Touro Journal of Experiential Learning with the first run in the Fall of 2014.
9. The Touro Law School has employed notable faculty
The Touro Law School’s students have been instructed by some of the greatest minds in the legal and public service professions. United States Senior District Court Judge for New York’s Eastern District Leonard Wexler taught at the school. He became a distinguished jurist in Residence. Sol Wachtler served as a distinguished adjunct professor at Touro Law School. He was previously a Chief Judge for the New York Court of Appeals. Joseph Franc Bianco teaches National Security and Law at Touro Law School. He served as a US District Judge in New York’s Eastern District under the appointment of President George W. Bush.
10. The Touro Law School graduated many notable alumni
The Touro Law School is where many notable professional politicians, judges, and lawyers graduated with their law degrees. Sam Nunberg graduated in 2009. he served as Donald Trump’s campaign advisor. Former New York State Senator Kenneth LaValle graduated in 1987. John J. Flanagan former New York State Senator of the Second Senate District graduated in 1990. Bradley Blakeman, Fox News Contributor and former Senior Advisor to George W. Bush graduated in 1986. Gata Kamsky, Chess grandmaster, and World Rapid Chess Champion graduated in 2004. Gabriel Silva Marques graduated from Touro Law School in 20914, then went on to become the Deputy Nassau County Comptroller, then a member of the Portuguese Government’s diaspora Advisory Council. Other notable alumni include game show host, writer, and comedian Sal Iacono, Musician and housing attorney Bikram Sing, who became a Bhangra fusion star and alumni, along with activist Martin Tankleff from the 2014 class. Kathleen M. Rice, US House of Representatives of New York’s 4th Congressional District in November of 2014 graduated in 1991.
11. The Touro Law School maintains a diverse campus
A national comparison of law schools has ranked the Touro Law School as number fifty-five in its percentage of minority students categorized by ethnic or racial status. 40.7 percent of Touro Law School students have minority status, according to Public Legal. It doesn’t do as well in its ratio of minority faculty. It ranks number 1131 with just 10.6 percent of faculty with ethnic or racial minority status. Touro Law School ranks number 103 in its percentages of female faculty members. 39.4 percent of faculty who teach at Touro Law are female.
12. The Touro Law School’s Distinguished Jurist in Residence Program has welcomed international members
some of them include Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, the Right Honorable Lord Woolf of Barnes, Justice Robert Shelton French Chief Justice of Austria, and Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada’s Justice Rosalie Abella. Others include South African Justice of the Constitutional Court, Justice Richard Goldstone, Justice Gabriel Bach, a judge on the Supreme Court of Israel, and Adolph Eichmann prosecutor. . The Touro Law School has a Summer abroad program Law students who are interested in foreign study programs may find the Touro Law School a suitable choice. The institution developed a Summer Abroad Program in 1993. The first collaboration for sending students to partner law schools and programs for international study was in Moscow, Russia. It gives law students interested in international law experience in a foreign country, and exposure to other legal systems.
14. Justice Antonin Scalia supported the Touro Law School
One of the most notable Justices in American history visited the Touro Law School as a Distinguished Jurist in Residence. Justice Antonin Scalia honored the school with his service on the panel. The event occurred in 1994. It was a significant year for the institution as the first graduating class came to complete the groundbreaking for the Public Interest Law Perspective requirement. It was a year when Bruce K. Gould established the first endowed faculty chair, and the LLM in American Legal Studies for foreign law graduates launched.
15. Ruth Bader Ginsburg also supported Touro
In 1997, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg visited the Touro Law School. She served as a Distinguished Jurist in Residence. It was an honor for the school which will forever remain a part of its history. It elevates the prestige of the institution. This was the same year that Touro purchased the land that would be used for its new campus in Central Islip, New York. It was a sixteen-acre parcel that is now the official home campus.
16. The Touro Law School’s Capital Campaign launched in 1999
Shirly Fuchsberg was the first donor to kick off the first Capital Campaign for the Touro Law School She donated $2 million to the fundraising effort. She was joined by another generous donation of $2 million from the Gould family. It was the year that the library was named and it was also the year that Touro Law School established the general LLM degree in law. The Touro Law School closed the end of the millennium on a positive note as it headed into the 21st century.
17. The Touro Law School helps its students financially
The Touro Law School reports that it offers financial aid programs to assist its students in paying for their education in law. Those who meet the criteria and qualify receive generous scholarships to help defray the cost of tuition and related expenses. The school reports that 92.3 percent of admitted students receive some form of scholarship assistance.
18. The Touro Law School requires clinics or externships
Touro Law School is committed to graduating knowledgeable and skilled professionals. All students are required to participate in a clinic or an externship before they are eligible for graduation. it gives them hands-on experience working in a real-world legal setting. It’s one of the measures taken to ensure that sits graduates are fully prepared for the professional world outside of law school.
19. The Touro Law School enhances students’ odds of success
Attending the Touro Law School gives students who complete their programs and graduate an advantage in securing gainful employment in their chosen fields. The school reported that 89 percent of graduates for the Class of 2021 gained employment after completing their programs of study. The Touro Law School is recognized as an institution of higher learning that produces quality graduates.
20. Touro Law School offers combined degree programs
Students have a broad choice of specializations to choose from at Touro Law School. The institution offers a JD/MSW degree through collaboration with the State University of New York at Stony Brook. The combined degree programs allow students dual qualifications in specific niche areas of law practice to enhance their competitiveness in employment. Students gain knowledge in law practice combined with non0law areas of expertise to broaden their perspective on legal problems. The cross-disciplinary training prepares students for career choices in law and other industries. Touro Law School provides undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral level programs for part-time and full-time students.