Stein Center for Law and Ethics

Stein Prize

Stein Prize

Stein Scholars

Stein Scholars

Publications

Publications

Scholarly and Professional Programs

Scholarly and Professional Programs

About the Center

Stein Center

The Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics works in collaboration with law students, practitioners, judges and legal scholars to study and improve the legal profession by: honoring exemplary lawyers; inculcating ethics into teaching law; training future lawyers “in the service of others;” incorporating ethical and professional values into academic and mentoring programs; and encouraging scholarly inquiry and scholarship on the professional conduct and regulation of lawyers.

 

Stein Prize

Above all, the Stein Center fosters an understanding of “ethical legal practice” that goes beyond adherence to the rules outlined in professional codes of conduct.  The Stein Center funds and, jointly with the Public Interest Resource Center, oversees the student-driven Stein Scholars Program, an academic and service program in which selected students to participate through all three years of law school, and throughout their careers.

 

Stein Center

Global Legal Professions

The Stein Center collaborates with legal academics, practitioners and legal ethics centers internationally to promote dialogue and encourage comparative scholarship on legal professions around the world. The Center hosted and organized the 2016 International Legal Ethics Conference VII: The Ethics and Regulation of Lawyers Worldwide: Comparative and Interdisciplinary Perspectives in conjunction with the International Association of Legal Ethics, as well as the Conference on Regulation of Legal and Judicial Services: Comparative and International Perspectives in 2017.

In 2025, the Stein Center became a founding member of the Global Network for Centers on the Legal Profession, which held its inaugural meeting at IE Law School in Madrid.


Stein Center

Access to Justice

The Stein Center studies and supports all sectors of the legal profession, but its special emphasis has been on the legal needs of those who are the most vulnerable. The Center established the Stein Scholars Program in 1992 to support Fordham Law students seeking careers in public interest law and public services, especially those committed to serving low-income clients.

Since the late 1990s, the Center has organized conferences and publications addressing the legal needs of older clients, children, low-income clients and other vulnerable populations. In recent years, the Center has collaborated on programming with the law school’s Access to Justice Initiative and the National Center for Access to Justice. Among the most recent programs is an Innovation Day in June 2025, co-sponsored with NCAJ, bringing together scholars and practitioners to discuss research on laws and practices that govern state court decision-making regarding parties’ ability to pay fines and fees.

Upcoming Events

Podcast: The History of the Criminal Justice Standards Project

Listen to Chair Bruce Green

Ethical Issues in Crisis Lawyering: Representation and Advocacy Challenges

Watch now

Stein Center News

Fordham Law Helps Launch Global Initiative on the Legal Profession

Fordham Law Helps Launch Global Initiative on the Legal Profession

In April, Fordham Law, represented by Professor Bruce Green, joined six leading law schools at the inaugural meeting of the Global Network of Centers on the Legal Profession, a new …

New Class of Stein Scholars Tackle Social Justice Issues

New Class of Stein Scholars Tackle Social Justice Issues

This year’s class of 21 Fordham Law Stein Scholars includes students pursuing public interest law in areas that range from labor justice to education and housing equity, among other issues, …

The Big Idea: Partisanship, Perception, and Prosecutorial Power

The Big Idea: Partisanship, Perception, and Prosecutorial Power

Bruce Green, the Louis Stein Chair and director of the Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics, is an expert on the legal profession and lawyers’ professional responsibility as well …

The 2023 Fordham-Stein Prize is Presented to Civil Rights Leader Sherrilyn Ifill

The 2023 Fordham-Stein Prize is Presented to Civil Rights Leader Sherrilyn Ifill

Sherrilyn Ifill knew since she was a young child that she wanted to become, in her words, “someone who makes a difference.” Today, she is one of the most renowned …

Fordham Law’s Stein Center Hosts Annual Criminal Justice Ethics Schmooze

Fordham Law’s Stein Center Hosts Annual Criminal Justice Ethics Schmooze

On June 8, nearly two dozen legal scholars gathered at Fordham Law School for the annual Criminal Justice Ethics Schmooze in which they presented and discussed papers on the professional …

Urban Law Journal Celebrates 50th Anniversary with Discussion on the “Future of Prosecution”

Urban Law Journal Celebrates 50th Anniversary with Discussion on the “Future of Prosecution”

The Fordham Urban Law Journal celebrated its 50th anniversary by bringing together speakers from both the criminal defense and prosecution side for a discussion about the future of criminal prosecution. …

Meet the Two Newest Members of the Stein Scholars Program

Meet the Two Newest Members of the Stein Scholars Program

This spring, Fordham Law School welcomed Grey Berkowitz ’25 and Taylor Young-Wells ’25 into the Stein Scholars Program in Public Interest Law and Ethics. The program is designed to cultivate …

Merck Chair Ken Frazier Receives Fordham-Stein Prize

Merck Chair Ken Frazier Receives Fordham-Stein Prize

At an award ceremony on Nov. 4, Fordham Law School presented Kenneth C. Frazier, executive chair of Merck & Co., with the 2022 Fordham-Stein Prize. At a moment of increasing …

Authors of Recent Fordham Law Review Essays Discuss Subversive Lawyering

Authors of Recent Fordham Law Review Essays Discuss Subversive Lawyering

Several authors of articles recently published by the Fordham Law Review returned to Fordham Law School on April 28 for a virtual discussion to continue a conversation on “subversive lawyering.” …

Meet the Newest Members of the Stein Scholars Program

Meet the Newest Members of the Stein Scholars Program

Fordham Law School’s Stein Scholars Program in Public Interest Law and Ethics is designed to cultivate the next generation of public interest lawyers through academic and specialized discussion series, mentorships, …

Former New York Times Journalist Discusses Workers’ Rights During COVID-19 with Fordham Law Community

Former New York Times Journalist Discusses Workers’ Rights During COVID-19 with Fordham Law Community

On October 27, the Workers’ Rights Advocates (WRA) and Stein Public Interest Scholars at Fordham Law presented an in-person discussion with Steven Greenhouse, a former labor reporter for The New …

Fordham Law’s Stein Center Files Amicus Brief to Supreme Court in Death Penalty Case

Fordham Law’s Stein Center Files Amicus Brief to Supreme Court in Death Penalty Case

In April, Fordham Law’s Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics filed an amicus brief in support of the cert petition in a death penalty case, Williams v. Texas. In …

Symposium Advances Contemporary Scholarship on Mental Health and the Legal Profession

Symposium Advances Contemporary Scholarship on Mental Health and the Legal Profession

On Nov. 6, Fordham Law School hosted a virtual symposium examining how lawyers’ mental health is affected by the interplay between legal practice and contemporary societal stressors—notably the coronavirus pandemic, …

Stein Center Files Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Death Penalty Case

Stein Center Files Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Death Penalty Case

On August 31, Fordham’s Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics, working with a pro bono team at Jenner & Block, filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in …

Meet the Newest Members of the Stein Scholars Program

Meet the Newest Members of the Stein Scholars Program

Fordham Law School’s Stein Scholars program is designed to cultivate the next generation of public interest lawyers. Selected students with a demonstrated commitment to public interest participate in the academic …

How to Avoid 10 Common Ethics Pitfalls

How to Avoid 10 Common Ethics Pitfalls

Professor Bruce Green shared expert advice on avoiding legal ethics traps with the American Bar Association. Criminal Law Problem: Potentially hostile witnesses There are some potentially thorny ethics traps for …

Two Stein Scholars Awarded Equal Justice Works Fellowships

Two Stein Scholars Awarded Equal Justice Works Fellowships

Two members of the graduating class of 2020, Emma-Lee Clinger and Maura Tracy, have been awarded prestigious postgraduate fellowships from Equal Justice Works (EJW), an organization dedicated to transforming passionate …

Fordham Law Hosts Third Annual Women’s Leadership Institute

Fordham Law Hosts Third Annual Women’s Leadership Institute

The legal landscape in the United States is at an inflection point. At least, that is what New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi ’12 believes. “This is the actual moment …

Professor Kimani Paul-Emile Nominated to National Academies Committee

Professor Kimani Paul-Emile Nominated to National Academies Committee

Professor Kimani Paul-Emile, associate director and head of Domestic Programs and Initiatives at the Center on Race, Law & Justice and faculty co-director of the Stein Center for Law & …

Fordham Law Stein Prize: 2020 Call for Nominations

Fordham Law Stein Prize: 2020 Call for Nominations

Fordham Law Stein Prize: 2020 Call for Nominations The Stein Prize Selection Committee would be honored to receive your nominations! Nominations should be accompanied by a brief supporting statement. Nominees …