Careers in Law & Tech

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Overview
Clinics
Courses & Faculty
Get Involved
Internships
Postgraduate

NYU Alumni Contacts

There are numerous NYU alumni contacts who have worked at the intersection of public interest law and technology.We encourage you to reach out to them to ask questions and build connections.

Overview

Technology impacts many areas of law, including but not limited to criminal law, privacy and surveillance, access to justice, reproductive rights, poverty law, immigration, First Amendment law, and government. Technological advances provide opportunities while also raising many challenging civil rights and liberties questions, among other legal questions. Work in this field also encompasses a range of tools, including policy and regulatory advocacy, civil and criminal litigation, government records requests, policymaking, and more.

This field includes a wide range of domestic and international opportunities in non-profits, legal services organizations, law schools, and intergovernmental organizations.

It is important that you use your time in law school – through clinics, classes, faculty relationships, student activities & center involvement, and summer or term-time internships – to develop the skills, knowledge, and experiences that are critical to a successful career focused on the intersection of law and technology. NYU offers a wide range of opportunities for students interested in this field; selected ones are outlined below, in addition to selected postgraduate opportunities and alumni contacts.

Clinics & Externships

Clinics and other experiential courses are critical for your professional development, and you should seek out opportunities that allow you to build the skills, knowledge and expertise needed to be successful in addressing the legal challenges and opportunities technology poses. Clinics also allow you to develop close relationships with faculty, who can serve as mentors and recommenders, while externships enable you to work directly with a non-profit or governmental organization. Below are some of the most useful clinics and externships for developing the experience relevant for careers in this field, but many others, including criminal defense clinics and prosecution externships, would also develop key skills. NYU's Clinical & Externship Program site has detailed information, including descriptions of all clinics and how to apply.

Forensic Defense Clinic: In the Forensic Defense Clinic, students work in partnership with a defender organization to represent or assist in representing indigent clients through a specific focus on issues related to forensic evidence, including surveillance methods and technology.
Guarini Global Law & Tech Externship – Legal Practice in Digital Society: The Guarini Global Law & Tech Externship – Legal Practice in Digital Society is designed for students whose interests intersect the fields of law, technology and transnational legal practice, whether in pursuit of private practice, public interest careers, or non-traditional career paths. Students have the opportunity to do fieldwork projects in partnership with UN agencies and other non-profit organizations or foundations, such as the World Bank, Data2X, YipitData, and Access Now.
Innovation Externship: In the Innovation Externship, students explore the practice of law interfacing with intellectual property (IP), information privacy, technology, and innovation. Students can do their fieldwork in a setting such as a university entrepreneurship center, non-governmental IP policy organization, judicial internship, or government agency.
Science, Health and Information Clinic: The Science, Health and Information Clinic serves the public interest by fighting for—and winning—more equitable access to health care, to scientific, technical, and medical knowledge, and to the benefits that flow from that knowledge. The Clinic’s work includes improving access to medicines and vaccines; protecting the data privacy of abortion, gender-affirming, and other increasingly criminalized forms of health care; and expanding and democratizing access to information on medical and other technologies.
Technology Law & Policy Clinic: The Technology Law and Policy Clinic focuses on the representation of individuals and nonprofits engaged with critical and complex questions at the intersections of technology and free speech, privacy, surveillance, and transparency.

Courses & Faculty

Because this field spans several different areas, including cybercrime, privacy, surveillance, press freedom, intellectual property, and others, your course selection will be based in part on which areas of law & technology interest you most. Below is a list of potentially relevant courses that have been offered.

Here is a list of potentially relevant courses that have been offered.

Advanced Copyright

Advanced Technology Law and Policy Clinic

Advanced Trademark and Advertising Law

Antitrust and Intellectual Property Seminar

Big Data, Law and Policy Seminar

Colloquium on Law & Security

Constitutional Law

Current Issues in Civil Liberties & Civil Rights Seminar

Global Data Law (I and II- Ordering & Power)

Information Privacy Law

Innovation Policy Colloquium

International Intellectual Property Law

Patent and IP Licensing Seminar

Patent Law & the Life Sciences

Survey of Intellectual Property

Technology Law & Policy Clinic

Advanced Topics in IP and Information Law Seminar

Guarini Colloquium: Regulating Global Digital Corporations

Guarini Externship: Global Legal Practice in Digital Society

Intellectual Property Crimes Seminar

Patent Law

Patent Litigation Simulation

Trademark & False Advertising Law

The National Security Executive, the Courts, & the Constitution

National Security Law Seminar

Criminal Procedure

NYU Law has a number of faculty members teaching and writing at the intersection of law and technology.

Get Involved

Membership, participation, and leadership in student groups, student activities like journals and moot courts, and law school centers related to law and technology can help you develop expertise, make connections and improve skills. There are many opportunities at NYU Law and you should choose activities you are passionate about. Some excellent options include:

Internships

Both summer and term-time internships will help you develop skills, expertise, and connections that will be extremely helpful for your postgraduate job search.

NYU provides financial support for all 1L and 2L students working in a public interest summer internship through PILC Summer Funding, including internships at domestic and international non-profit organizations, government agencies, or intergovernmental organizations.

PILC posts term-time internship opportunities on CSM, and be sure to check out PSJD.

Postgraduate Opportunities

Postgraduate hiring, like the field of law and technology, varies significantly, depending, in part, on whether you are pursuing employment in direct services, impact litigation, policy, government, or elsewhere. Public defender offices around the country hire an entry-level class. A number of alumni have pursued project fellowships with a focus on law & technology. Government hiring at the local, state, and federal levels occurs through honors programs, fellowships, and staff attorney hiring.

Fellowships at Non-Profit Organizations and Law Schools include: