Cornell Law School

10/28/2026

Ellen Yacknin ’77 Shares the Legal Odyssey Following Attica

Nearly three decades of litigation helped bring justice to survivors of the 1971 Attica prison uprising. Cornell Law alumna and retired judge Ellen Yacknin ’77 returned to campus to share the story behind a landmark civil rights case and the persistence it took to keep it alive.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4BquRM1

10/26/2026

Juries do more than decide cases. They can serve as a check on government power and give citizens a voice in the justice system. But as fewer cases reach juries, what does that mean for democracy? Cornell Law faculty explored this question during a recent panel discussion.

The discussion, moderated by Professor Alexandra Lahav, featured Professors Joe Schottenfeld, Jessica Eaglin, and Valerie Hans, who examined the jury’s evolving role and why preserving public participation in the justice system matters for democracy.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4jI9i3o

10/23/2026

Autumn at Cornell Law. 🍂

10/22/2026

The Cornell Business Law Society was pleased to host Erik Gerding, Capital Markets Partner at Freshfields and former Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, for a fireside chat at Cornell Law School.

Mr. Gerding led the Division through major rulemaking on public company, cybersecurity, and climate-related disclosure before leaving the SEC at the end of 2024. In conversation with Business Law Society Co-President Sawyer Tierney, he offered students an inside look at how the SEC makes decisions, the future of Rule 14a-8 and shareholder proposals, the Commission’s approach to crypto and tokenization beyond the GENIUS Act, and how disclosure and risk-reporting may evolve, including for AI companies.

Thank you to Mr. Gerding for his time and candor, and to students and alumni who joined us in person and on the webinar for a thoughtful discussion at the intersection of securities regulation, capital markets, and emerging technology.

10/20/2026

Book bans are changing what young readers can access in libraries and schools across the country. Following a screening of The Librarians, a documentary about the growing wave of book bans, Cornell Law School clinic attorneys and a librarian shared how these restrictions affect communities and why the First Amendment Clinic's lawsuit challenging an Idaho book-ban statute matters.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4itD7U2

09/25/2026

September days at Cornell Law. ☀️🌳 Not a bad way to head into the weekend.

09/23/2026

The Cornell Immigration Law & Advocacy Clinic teamed up with Attorney Matt Gonnella to support a client in his habeas corpus case before a federal court. The client was lawfully working a steady job while awaiting his asylum hearing in the United States when he was unlawfully detained without notice in early 2026. Law students assisted with interviews and drafted initial pleadings. Last week, after nine months detained, their client was finally released!

Thanks go to Matt Gonnella and Alejandra Moreno of Gonnella Law for representing the client, and to Cornell Law students Sofia Cuevas Dorador '26 and Matthew Charles '27 (pictured) for litigation support, supervised by Professor Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer (pictured).

09/22/2026

Nearly 20 years after Cornell Law School and the Thai Bar established a program honoring Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, LL.M. ’02, J.S.D. ’05, Cornell and its Thai partners have renewed the Bajrakitiyabha Fund for Legal Education.

The fund continues to support Thai legal professionals pursuing an LL.M. at Cornell while strengthening academic exchange between Cornell and Thailand.

Read the full story and learn more about this enduring partnership and the Princess’s legacy: https://bit.ly/3UW0WuC

09/18/2026

New research from Cornell Law School is drawing national attention to gender bias in capital trials.

Professor Sandra Babcock and Nathalie Greenfield’s paper, “Sex on Trial,” found that prosecutors used sexualizing language or arguments in 71% of 48 capital cases involving women between 1990 and 2022.

Their research, along with Babcock’s work representing a death-row client, is featured in a new New York Times article examining gender bias in the courtroom.

Read more about Babcock’s research and her work examining gender bias in the courtroom:

https://nyti.ms/4Ak4G9n

We need a legal standard that would prohibit sexism and gender bias in criminal trials.

09/17/2026

This , take a closer look at one of the most misunderstood parts of the U.S. Constitution. On the Research Matters podcast, Cornell Law's Gautam Hans explains a key principle of the First Amendment and why its scope is often misunderstood.

Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/8kVy6f-b1Ok