At NYU School of Law, we are charting our course with intention— not just to keep pace but to set it.

We are committed to ensuring a long-term return on our students’ investment in their education that benefits not only the students themselves, but also those to whom they offer counsel and leadership throughout their careers. Through the research of our faculty, we are equally committed to providing thought leadership on the most pressing issues of our time. To meet these obligations, we must anticipate what will be asked of law schools and their graduates in the future. To that end, NYU Law has completed a strategic planning process that maps three critically important directions: one that cements our position as a leader of thoughtful, adaptive, and innovative change in legal education; one that rejects a narrow pipeline into the study and practice of law and instead invests our energy and resources in developing a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable legal community; and one that embraces, supports, and partners with students in their education and their professional careers.

Over the course of the 2015–16 academic year, the Law School engaged in the strategic planning process that led us to these goals. A team of trustees, faculty, students, administrators, and recent alumni was formed to lead the effort. With the help of an outside consultant, this committee solicited input in a variety of forms—from small group meetings to online surveys—from all sectors of the Law School. The committee then analyzed the data it had collected and identified top-level strategic priorities, about which the dean sought feedback from a wide range of internal stakeholders. This Strategic Plan is a document of and for the NYU Law community.

We embark on this plan from a place of great strength. NYU School of Law has earned a reputation as an elite but not hidebound institution distinctly of its New York City location. We are well known for our focus on leadership, justice, and service; we are also proud of our long history of innovation and our record of blazing new paths in legal education, including through our unparalleled clinical offerings, first-of-its-kind Lawyering curriculum, and global programs. The Law School is anchored by our distinguished full-time faculty, who are leading scholars and teachers in a broad range of legal and associated fields, and by our ambitious and public-spirited students. Along with our active and engaged alumni, these groups make the Law School the intellectually vibrant and community-oriented place it is widely known to be. Together, we have a tremendous platform from which to launch our ambitious and consequential goals for leadership and innovation in legal education, diversity and inclusion, and student success. This is the road map to the future of NYU Law.