Robert Nissenbaum

Professor of Law

Telephone: 212-636-7609
Email: [email protected]

Research and Teaching Areas

Estates/Trusts/Wills; Technology; Legal Education

Bio

Professor Nissenbaum was the Director of the Leo T. Kissam Memorial Library and Maloney Library and Professor of Law with Fordham Law from 2004 to 2016. During this time he has taught the courses Trusts and Wills, and Decedents Estates while serving on various faculty committees.

Before coming to Fordham, Professor Nissenbaum was the Law Library Director at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where he led courses in trusts and wills, and legal research and writing, chaired numerous committees, and advised student groups. He has previously worked at Cleveland State University as a Law Library Director and Associate Professor and at the University of Texas Law Library as Head of Reference Services and Lecturer in Law.

He has been a Visiting Professor with the University of International Business and Economics Department of Law in Beijing, China as well as the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, Texas.  Professor Nissenbaum holds a Master of Library Science from Pratt Institute, a JD cum laude from Western New England College School of Law, where he also served as Research Editor of the Western New England Law Review, and a BA in International Affairs from George Washington University.

Professor Nissenbaum's research focuses on the estate planning implications associated with that advent of marriage alternatives such as civil unions. He also has many publications about various legal information systems and his book reviews have appeared in the Journal of Library History, Criminal Law Bulletin, American Reference Books Annual, and the Texas Bar Journal.

Throughout his more than twenty year law library career, Professor Nissenbaum has participated in numerous professional organizations to include serving as Chairman of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, the Council of Law Library Consortia Chair with the American Association of Law Libraries, and a member of the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) Program and Services Committee, among others. He has also been active with the American Bar Association and Association of American Law Schools, SCRIBES, and the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT).

Selected Publications

  • "Introductory Tour-William M. Rains Library- Part 2: Library Amenities" (with Patrick Meyer)(web based PowerPoint/video tour (January 2004).
  • "Introductory Tour-William M. Rains Library," (with Patrick Meyer) (web based Powerpoint/video tour)(lucy.lls.edu/tour)(2002).
  • "Origins of the Common Benefits Clause in Vermont and the Implications in the Context of Civil Union: A Post Baker v. Vermont Perspective" (in progress) (supported by a Loyola Law School faculty research grant).
  • "Computer-Assisted Legal Research" (chapter 22) & "Legal Citation Form" (chapter 23) in J. Myron Jacobstein, Roy M. Mersky and Donald J. Dunn, Fundamental of Legal Research, New York: Foundation (7th ed.) 1998
  • Folio-based text. "Workbook Comparing the California Probate Code and the Uniform Probate Code." (database adopted for Spring 1997 Trusts and Wills class at Loyola Law School)(sabbatical project).
  • "Computer-Assisted Legal Research" (chapter 22) & "Legal Citation Form" (chapter 23)in J. Myron Jacobstein, Roy M. Mersky and Donald J. Dunn, Fundamental of Legal Research, Westbury: Foundation (6th ed.) 1994.
  • "Computer-Assisted Legal Research and Microtext" (chapter 22) & "Legal Citation Form" (chapter 24) in J. Myron Jacobstein and Roy M. Mersky, Fundamentals of Legal Research, Westbury: Foundation (5th ed.) 1990.
  • "The Need for Reform in Legal Citation Practices," Integrated Legal Research, Fall, 1988, at 6.
  • "Newly Acquired Constitutional Materials at Cleveland State University Law Library," 58 Cleveland Bar Journal 142 (1987) (with Joseph S. Rosenfeld).
  • "Access to Justice and a National Legal Information Center," 77 LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL 695 (1986)
  • Guest Editor, "Symposium - A National Law Library," 77 LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL 617 (1986) (with Roy M. Mersky).
  • ASSIGNMENTS and INSTRUCTOR'S MANUAL accompanying Fundamentals of Legal Research, third edition (Foundation Press 1985) (co-editor Joyce Saltalamachia).
  • "The Uniform System of Citation, 13th ed. - An Instructional Videotape." Austin: University of Texas, 1985. (with Carole Knobil)(U- matic).
  • "Developing a Rare Book Collection Development Policy at Tarlton Law Library," 4 LEGAL REFERENCE SERVICES QUARTERLY 59 (1984).
  • Guest Editor, "Overview of The Rare Book Collection- A Workshop," 4 LEGAL REFERENCE SERVICES QUARTERLY 39 (1984).
  • Cable Television Bibliography, Conference on Cable Television, Papers and Materials, Austin, TX: University of Texas at Austin, School of Law, 1983.
  • "Broad Background Stressed for Law Librarians,"LEGAL TIMES, June 14, 1983, at 16.
  • "An Impressionistic View of LEXIS and WESTLAW," 2 Legal Reference Services Quarterly 95 (1982).
  • "Legislative History (Bibliography)," 4 NOTES FROM TARLTON LAW LIBRARY, July/ August, 1981, at 4 (with Gary Hill).
  • Editor, Book Appraisals Column, TEXAS BAR JOURNAL, 1982-1984.
  • Index to volume one WESTERN NEW ENGLAND LAW REVIEW including comprehensive cumulative indexing plan.
  • SPONSORED RESEARCH: "Legal Education in Context: A Selective Bibliography," sponsored by the Law School Admissions Council & Law Services, 2001 (with Ruth J. Hill).

Education

  • BA in International Affairs, George Washington University
  • Master of Library Science, Pratt Institute
  • Juris Doctor cum laude, Western New England College