Dean’s Message

Every day, lawyers and legal professionals make a real difference in people’s lives. Our society looks to the legal profession for leadership in working through many of the most difficult issues that we face: balancing values of liberty and privacy against the need for security, establishing equality against a history of discrimination, ensuring the fairness of markets and safeguarding our economy, protecting the environment in the face of climate change, preserving free expression and religious liberty.

Our goal at Fordham Law School is to prepare you not simply to manage the many roles that lawyers play but to fulfill the responsibilities that clients will entrust to you and that our society places on the profession. Our goal is to prepare you to overcome the challenges that you will face. To improve the lives of the clients you represent. To make our institutions stronger. To help our society find solutions that are effective and fair, smart and compassionate, principled yet practical. To excel.

The law is a service profession, and Fordham Law is a service-oriented school. Our motto, “In the service of others,” is not a mere catchphrase; it is the guiding principle that will prepare you for a life of responsible legal practice.

Fordham Law professors will help you in your preparation to become a leader in the legal profession. Our professors demand high standards—not simply diligence but also intellectual openness and integrity. They will help you see important connections between the practice of law and principles of justice and fairness.

Perhaps most important, the Fordham Law community will support you throughout your time at Fordham Law and long after graduation. You will become an integral member of a large and loyal support system. You will become connected with Fordham Law alumni who are involved in all aspects of the law, from government service to big business, litigation to arbitration, advocacy to legislation. You will benefit from that we call the Network Effect.

I invite you to check out more of our website to discover what you can do with a Fordham Law education. Of course, visiting us in person is the best way to learn more about us. We’re in the heart of Manhattan just down the block from Central Park. We’re eager to greet you and show you what kind of impact you can make with a Fordham Law degree.

Matthew Diller
Dean
Paul Fuller Professor of Law