New York Law School’s Digital Commons@NYLS

Lieberman, Jethro K.

DigitalCommons@NYLS 
Other Publications Faculty Scholarship 
8-18-2023 
Liberal Ideology Can't Be Reduced To A Meaningless Catchprase 
Jethro K. Lieberman 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/fac_other_pubs 
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English

Liberal Ideology Can\u27t Be Reduced To A Meaningless Catchprase

Wice, Jeffrey M.

DigitalCommons@NYLS 
Redistricting Roundtable Updates NY Census and Redistricting Institute 
9-5-2023 
September 5 Roundtable Update 
Jeffrey M. Wice 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/redistricting_roundtable_updates 
 
 
 
 
 
N.Y. CENSUS & REDISTRICTING ROUNDTABLE UPDATE 
  
VOTING RIGHTS 
  
Mt Pleasant (Westchester): First State Voting Rights Act 
Challenge 
  
In the first challenge since the New York State Voting Rights Act became 
effective, a group of Hispanic voters in Westchester County’s Mount Pleasant 
have sent the township notification that the town’s at large town council 
disenfranchised them over the lack of Hispanic representation on the town 
council. 
Enacted into law in 2022, New York’s “John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act” 
creates new legal protections against denying or abridging the right of 
minority New Yorkers to vote by creating civil liability for discriminatory voting 
practices in certain situations.  
Attorneys in Abrams Fensterman’s White Plains office (including former NYS 
Independent Redistricting Commission Chair David Imamura) are asking the 
town to change its voting system to better enable Hispanic voters better 
representation.. 
According to the letter, the town’s current council election results 
demonstrate  “significant and persistent patterns of racially polarized voting 
with regards to Hispanic voters.”  
Mount Pleasant has approximately 90 days to resolve this challenge. If the 
town agrees that there is an impermissible level of discrimination and does 
not work out a solution, the voters are enabled under the new state law to 
challenge the town in state court.   
LITIGATION 
Nassau County Legislature: Coads v. Nassau County 
What You Need To Know: 
• This case is currently in the trial-level Nassau County State Supreme 
Court  
• This challenge centers on alleged violations of the state’s Municipal 
Home Rule Law, Article 4, §34, Subsec. 4 (a)-(f). This law includes a 
 
 
specific set of redistricting criteria that counties must follow when 
redrawing their electoral districts, with prioritized criteria. 
• Democratic voters who filed this challenge argue that Nassau County’s 
2023 redistricting map violates this law, particularly the partisan 
gerrymandering ban “[d]istricts shall not be drawn to discourage 
competition or for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring incumbents or 
other particular candidates or political parties.” 
• They claim that the map impermissibly benefits Republicans and 
disadvantages Democrats by: 
o “Packing” Democratic voters into Districts 2 and 3 while 
spreading out or “cracking” other Democratic areas into Districts 
10, 14, and 18 “so as to dilute their voting strength.” 
o Pairing two Democratic incumbents and not pairing any 
Republican incumbents. 
o Relocating the Democratic minority leader from a firmly 
Democratic district to one that leans Republican. 
  
Recent Action: 2 Answers + Motion to Dismiss 
  
An Answer is a written response filed by the Defendants to address the 
claims made by the Plaintiffs in the complaint. 
  
A Motion to Dismiss is a request asking the court to end the lawsuit or specific 
claims within the case based on certain legal arguments that the party 
believes establish that there are valid reasons to stop the case from 
proceeding any further. 
  
Following the complaint, Republican Elections Commissioner Joseph J. 
Kearney and Democratic Commissioner James P. Scheuerman filed separate 
answers last week. 
  
On August 31st, the County and the Legislature filed a motion to dismiss and 
a memo setting forth their arguments for dismissing the case.    
  
The Details: Here is a summary of the BOE’s answers along with the 
County’s arguments for dismissal. 
  
Nassau Board of Elections & GOP Commissioner Kearney 
  
The Board of Elections and Commissioner Kearney denied the vast majority 
of the allegations contained in the complaint. However, they did admit to the 
basic structure and composition of the legislature. They provided seven 
affirmative defenses. An affirmative defense is an argument asserting that 
even if the claims in the complaint are true, there are legal justifications for 
the defendant’s actions. Their affirmative defenses include: 
 
 
1. Plaintiffs fail to state a cause of action against them. 
2. Plaintiffs’ constitutional and statutory rights have not been violated by 
them. 
3. Plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the applicable limitations period, 
contractual limitations period, and/or jurisdictional prerequisites. 
4. Plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the equitable doctrines of laches, 
waiver, estoppel, and/or unclean hands. 
5. All actions taken by them were in full accord with applicable law. 
6. They enjoy full, partial, and/or qualified immunity from civil suit. 
7. As employees of the Board of Elections, they acted in good faith and 
without malice and their actions did not violate clearly established 
constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known, 
therefore, they are immune from civil liability. 
  
They ask the court to dismiss the complaint in its entirety.   
  
Democratic Commissioner James P. Scheuerman 
  
Scheuerman denied the majority of the allegations contained in the complaint. 
However, he did admit that voting in recent county elections has been closely 
divided along party lines as shown in Table 3 of the complaint. He also 
admitted to the basic structure and composition of the legislature. 
Scheuerman provided two affirmative defenses: 
1. He carried out his responsibilities as an employee of the Board of 
Elections in good faith and is immune from civil liability. 
2. If the Plaintiffs did in fact sustain the damages they allege, the 
damages were not the result of any of his conduct. 
  
Nassau County and Nassau County Legislature’s memo in support of 
their motion to dismiss the complaint 
  
The County and the Legislature base their argument for dismissal on 
the doctrine of laches. The doctrine of laches refers to the principle that if 
plaintiffs wait too long to assert their rights, they may forfeit their ability to do 
so, especially if their delay causes prejudice to others. 
  
The County and the Legislature argue that the plaintiffs took nearly five 
months to file this challenge, seeking relief that would compel the Legislature 
to engage in mid-decade redistricting in consecutive election cycles. They 
argue that the delay is inexplicable and if the plaintiffs were to succeed in this 
case, it would severely prejudice the County and the public. They argue that 
mid-decade redistricting would confuse voters and candidates and would 
require significant expenditures by the county. 
  
Therefore, the County and the Legislature argue that the court should dismiss 
the complaint under the doctrine of laches. 
 
 
  
AROUND THE NATION 
  
Louisiana Congressional: Robinson v. Ardoin 
  
            On August 29, A U.S. District Court judge denied Louisiana's motion 
to cancel a hearing on the remedy for the state's likely violation of Section 2 of 
the Voting Rights Act. The state moved to have the hearing cancelled and 
wanted to bring the matter to trial, arguing that the lack of a trial was unfair, 
that there is insufficient time for the parties to prepare for the hearing, and 
that the Court lacked jurisdiction to hold the hearing.  
            Louisiana's congressional map was blocked in June of 2022 for likely 
violating Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act.  After the map was 
blocked, Louisiana officials appealed to The U.S. Supreme Court requesting 
relief. The Court issued a ruling via its shadow docket reinstating the map for 
the 2022 midterm election and paused the case. It later allowed litigation to 
continue and blocked Louisiana's congressional map following its decision to 
uphold Section 2 of the VRA in the Alabama case Allen v. Milligan. The 
remedy for the state's likely Section 2 violation will be determined during the 
hearing, scheduled for October 3 through October 5, as will the congressional 
map to be used for the upcoming 2024 election cycle.  
  
Ohio Congressional: Huffman v. Neiman 
  
            Ohio State Attorney General Dave Yost sent a letter to the Ohio 
Redistricting Commission on August 28 stating that, under his interpretation 
of Ohio's Constitution, only the governor has the power to reconvene the 
commission. This comes after the two chairs of the commission, State 
Representative Jeff LaRe and Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, 
announced that the panel would meet on September 13 to start the process 
of drawing a new state legislative map. According to Antonio, LaRe and she 
were following past practice by calling for the commission to reconvene. The 
commission hopes to have a district plan in place by December 20, which is 
the deadline for candidates to file for the March 19, 2024, primary election.  
            Last year, the Supreme Court of Ohio struck down the state's 
congressional map for being gerrymandered to benefit Republican 
candidates. The court held that the map violated the Ohio Constitution and 
ordered the legislature to redraw the map within 30 days. Following the 
decision, the legislature failed to pass a new map, at which point the Ohio 
Redistricting Commission took over the redrawing process, with their revised 
map being enacted in March of 2022. This map was only marginally different 
from the map it replaced, with it still being heavily skewed in favor of 
Republicans. New lawsuits were filed, and the Ohio Supreme Court ultimately 
struck down the revised map in July of 2022 due to it being a partisan 
gerrymander.  
 
 
            Four Ohio Republican lawmakers filed a petition for a writ of certiorari 
asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the Ohio Supreme Court's July of 
2022 decision to strike down the congressional map. The U.S. Supreme 
Court ultimately vacated the decision, ordering the Ohio Supreme Court to 
rehear the case. It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out, as 
the Ohio Supreme Court has recently grown more conservative. Chief Justice 
Maureen O'Connor, who casted the deciding vote in each of the prior 
decisions, has retired and has been replaced with a more conservative Chief 
Justice, Sharon Kennedy. In addition, Republican Joe Deters filled the spot 
on the bench left open through Chief Justice O'Connor's retirement. 
  
Florida Congressional: Black Voters Matters Capacity 
Building Institute v. Cord Byrd  
On September 2, Florida Second Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh struck down 
North Florida's congressional districts, finding that the map illegally reduced 
Black voter's electoral power. The state argued that mandatory protections for 
Black voters violated the Equal Protection Clause, alleging that such 
protections involve racial gerrymandering. In a joint filing in August, the state 
acknowledged that none of the enacted districts in North Florida allow Black 
voters to elect the candidate of their choice. This is in stark contrast to the 
2016, 2018, and 2020 election cycles, where Black voters were able to elect a 
candidate of their choice in North Florida, Democrat Al Lawson. The state 
must file a notice of appeal by September 4. Both parties intend to request 
the Florida Supreme Court hear the case directly, skipping the usual step of 
going through a lower appellate court. They will also propose a schedule to 
allow the Court to decide by December 31.  
Judge Marsh has instructed Florida's legislature to draw a new map for 
Northern Florida that is in compliance with Florida's constitution. If the 
legislature fails to draw a new map, both parties have agreed to accept a map 
similar to the one initially proposed by the legislature. This map preserved 
Representative Lawson's district but was vetoed by Governor DeSantis. The 
outcome of this case can have national implications, as if the Florida 
Supreme Court sides with the state, it would be advancing the argument that 
it is inherently wrong to take race into account when mapping out 
congressional districts, even if it is done with the intent to preserve the 
political voice of minority groups.  
JOB OPPORTUNITIES 
  
New York State Attorney General Voting Rights Section 
  
 The New York State Attorney General (OAG) is seeking to hire attorneys with 
experience or interest in voting rights to serve in the New York City office in 
 
 
the Voting Rights Section (VRS), a recently-established Section within the 
OAG’s Civil Rights Bureau. Attorneys will work on, among other matters, 
implementation and enforcement of the newly-enacted New York Voting 
Rights Act, one of the strongest state voting rights laws in the country.  
  
Qualifications for this position include the following:  
• Applicants with a minimum of three (3) years of post-graduate legal 
experience with a focus on civil litigation experience, including engaging in 
discovery and motion practice are preferred, however, the Bureau will 
consider well-qualified applicants who have fewer years of experience; • 
Excellent legal analysis, legal writing and editing, and oral advocacy skills;  
• Strong organizational, interpersonal communication, problem solving, and 
teamwork skills; and • Experience investigating, litigating, and/or engaging in 
policy advocacy regarding voting rights-related issues is strongly preferred.  
  
Applicants must reside in (or intend to soon become a resident of) New York 
State and be admitted to practice law in New York State. In addition, the 
Public Officers Law requires that attorneys in the Office be citizens of the 
United States. A two (2) year commitment upon being hired is a condition of 
employment.  
  
The deadline to apply is September 29, 2023. For more information, see the 
attachment. 


September 5 Roundtable Update

https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/wilf_conversations/1004/thumbnail.jp

New York Law School

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Spring 2023 
Symposium: Reclaiming Disability Justice 
New York Law School 
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lff1 Brooklyn Law School N~ YORK ---= ESTABLISHED 1901 
Symposium: 
Reclaiming Disability Justice 
Panelists, community members, 
advocates, and activists will discuss the 
origins and goals of disabi lity justice, 
including its intended focus on the lives 
and experiences of people of co lor with 
disabilities and disabled people with 
multi-marginalized identities; explore 
disability justice 's relationship to 
incarceration, reproductive justice, and 
environmental justice; and discuss how 
to ensure that advocates and 
proponents of disability justice are 
working to make its goals concrete, 
particu larly in the lives of multi -
marginalized people with disabilities. 
This event is co-sponsored by Brooklyn Law 
School's Disability and Civil Rights Clinic; 
Brooklyn Law School's Center for Health, 
Science, and Publ ic Policy; New York Law 
School's Civil Rights and Disability Justice 
Cl inic; New York Law School 's Office of 
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and New 
York Law School's Wilt Impact Center for 
Public Interest Law. 
Masks and proof of COVID vaccination or 
negative COVID test within 48 hours of 
event is required for all in-person attendees. 
Contact for general inquiries: 
haley.•rkham@nyls.edu 
Please let Haley know your accessibility needs. 
DATE and TIME: 
Friday, March 31 , 2023 
10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. EST 
Saturday, April 1, 2023 
10:00 a.m.- 1 :30 p.m. EST 
Lunch will be provided 
Day 1: 
10:00 a.m. • Welcome/opening remarks 
10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. • Panel 1: Defining 
Disabil ity Justice 
12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. • Lunch 
1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m. • Panel 2: Disability Justice 
in Carceral Spaces 
3:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m. • Panel 3: Disability Justice, 
Sexual Freedom, and the Right to Family 
Day 2:. 
10:00 a.m.- 11:30 a.m. • Panel 4: Ableism and 
Environmental Justice 
12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m. • Panel 5: Linking the 
Theory and Practice of Disability Justice 
LOCATION 
In person and Zoom. Details about Zoom access 
are forthcoming . 
New York Law School 
185 West Broadway 
New York, NY 10013 


Symposium: Reclaiming Disability Justice

DigitalCommons@NYLS 
Other Publications Faculty Scholarship 
12-27-2023 
’Tis the Season: Tale of the Three Unwise Women 
Jethro K. Lieberman 
New York Law School, jethro.lieberman@nyls.edu 
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 Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons 
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’Tis The
Season:
Tale Of The
Three
Unwise
Women
December 27, 2023
2003 words On December 5, at a widely broadcast hearing
of the U.S. House of Representatives
Education and Workforce Committee, three
unwary college presidents made a hash of
testimony on campus antisemitism, prompting
the resignation of one of them and noisy and
still ongoing calls for the others to step down as
well. The common enduring impression is that
the three presidents, Claudine Gay of Harvard,
Elizabeth Magill of the University of
Pennsylvania, and Sally Kornbluth of M.I.T.,
sought to sidestep answers to a question about
dealing with those who call for genocide of
Jews. In so doing the presidents offended
almost everyone by appearing to evade the
moral issue with overly rehearsed legalisms.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R.-NY), put to Ms. Magill
this simple question: “I am asking, specifically:
Calling for the genocide of Jews, does that
constitute bullying or harassment?” Ms. Magill,
a lawyer, responded, “If it is directed and
severe, pervasive, it is harassment.” To which
Rep. Stefanik replied: “So the answer is yes.”
Ms. Magill then said: “It is a context-dependent
decision, congresswoman.”
The ensuing uproar, prompted in part by
denunciations from Pennsylvania Governor
Josh Shapiro and U.S. Senators Bob Casey
and John Fetterman (both D.-PA), led to
Magill’s resignation four days later. Although
the brunt of the immediate criticism fell on
Magill because of her extended colloquy with
Rep. Stefanik, Gay and Kornbluth have also
suffered withering criticism and though they
remain in their jobs three weeks later, the
fallout has not yet dissipated.
To all of this, several things stand out, all of
them relating to the failure of moral leadership.
A contrarian opinion piece in The Chronicle of
Higher Education declared that “it’s a good
thing” the college presidents “behaved like
academics.” No, it’s not. The three presidents
were not there as academics, that is, as
teachers or scholars of a particular discipline.
They were there as presidents, as leaders of
leading American universities, being
questioned in the sanctum of the U.S. House of
Representatives, not on the fine points of law
but of public policy and moral behavior.
The Expertise Problem
The first thing to notice is that this whole
debacle is likely an instance of the failure to
recognize the limits of expertise—or perhaps a
misplaced trust in the wrong expert knowledge,
an odd but common problem in universities.
Instead of speaking to a House committee as
leaders of significant organizations with wide
influence on important segments of the
American public, the presidents spoke as
defenders of a legal view, filtered through the
lenses of lawyers and courts, on the
constitutional meaning of freedom of speech.
Of course there is nothing wrong with
espousing such a view; I’ve done it myself,
when teaching a course on the First
Amendment. But that’s not what the presidents
were being asked. Yet it may have been the
predictable outcome of the coaching they
received from lawyers at a top American law
firm, WilmerHale in Washington, which has a
unit that helps prepare witnesses for legislative
testimony. How much of this was the fault of
Wilmer’s specialty practice is unclear and may
remain unknown, since the details are still
being hidden behind the understandable
attorney-client relationship. It’s possible that the
firm’s advice may have been better than the
presidents’ delivery.
The Leadership Problem
And that’s the second thing to notice: the failure
of leadership. (Many commentators no doubt
would put this failure first.) The answer to a
question from Congress on a matter so fraught
should not be, “Well, it depends on all the facts
on the ground,” including the euphemisms
used, maybe this, maybe that, maybe the other
thing. Leadership demands responding to the
main thing first, and equivocating later.
Compare these hypothetical Equivocating and
Leadership responses:
Equivocating
Question: Does it violate your
campus code, Madam President, to
shout “The first thing we do, let’s kill
all the lawyers?”
(Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2 (Act
IV, Scene 2)
Answer: Well, it depends on who is
saying it and under what conditions.
We’d need to know what the previous
sentence referred to. Did the speaker
mean only “bad” lawyers? Was he
speaking of lawyers in the technical
sense, as members of the bar or
more generally as people with a legal
education? Did he mean all the
lawyers somewhere other than on our
campus? Was he referring to a game
we’re playing or to an actual
homicide? Of course, if the speaker
advocated actually killing actual
people who are actual lawyers who
are actually part of our community on
our actual grounds, then we’d
certainly want to examine whether he
had the present ability to kill all the
lawyers or only some of them or
maybe none of them. And if he had
the means to carry out his verbalized
proposition, we’d need to know
whether his call to action would have
led to killing, or whether the lawyers
could have protected themselves in
an obvious way that would have
communicated itself to the
aggressors. And if all of those
variables and nuances lined up
properly after a full investigation,
then, why, of course we would
condemn it.
Leadership
Question: Does it violate your
campus code, Madam President, to
shout “The first thing we do, let’s kill
all the lawyers?”
Answer: Any call for people to be
killed on the basis of group identity
should be condemned outright and
without equivocation. To solicit
genocide violates our clear campus
rules, as it should violate those of any
organization or community. How to do
deal with a person who expresses
that position depends on a number of
things—did he explicitly call for
genocide or did he mask it in a fuzzy
euphemism; was he merely blustering
or did he have the means to act on
his demand? The courts have said
that the First Amendment protects
speech that does not directly incite
immediate violence. For example, if
the speaker had said, “let’s create a
lawyer-free zone from the courthouse
to your house,” that might not be
enough to warrant us to act. If there’s
a problem with this interpretation,
take it up with the courts. And I should
add, Madam Chairwoman, that in
addition to the sanctity of life, we
believe in the First Amendment as
interpreted, as do many of your fellow
Republicans who are not intent on
banning books.
The Courage Problem
A third thing to notice, as lots of commentators
have remarked, is the bind that these
presidents were in. They found themselves
tactically giving legalistic answers to
provocative question accompanied in one
notorious instance by the hostile demand that
the answer be either “yes” or “no.” The problem
was that their (and many other) universities
have been wildly inconsistent on the very policy
they were pressing: adherence to a broad
conception of freedom of speech. For example,
two years earlier MIT notoriously disinvited a
distinguished geophysicist and climate
scientist from speaking on his subject when the
hosts discovered he had taken a position on
affirmative action which to strong proponents of
such policies sounded as if he philosophically
favored limiting admissions and hires made on
the basis of race. And Harvard’s record of
handling free speech controversies has put it at
the very bottom of one serious annual college
survey on the issue. At the least it’s
embarrassing to claim to be standing up for
free speech when you deny it to many others
for less egregious expressions (or for holding
opinions on matters unrelated to and not even
to be mentioned in a public talk). More likely
your claims of virtue are downright hypocritical.
Had they the guts to speak to the point, Rep.
Stefanik’s question gave the presidents the
opportunity to demonstrate courage and pluck.
The answer should have been something like
this:
Congresswoman, you have
pointed to an embarrassing
situation we, and many other
colleges, find ourselves in. Our
response to these recent events
fairly raises the question whether
we have been consistent in
applying our context-based rules
in other situations. It’s entirely
possible that we have not. As
demoralizing and depressing as
the current campus unrest has
become, it does present us with
the important opportunity to
rethink how we have reacted and
should react to the whole range of
speech questions on campus. I
pledge to do so, and to apologize
on behalf of the university in
those cases in which on more
mature consideration we have
wrongly or unfairly applied the
free speech principles we all
value. We cannot merely profess
our principles; we must practice
them.
As part of this pledge to be consistent, the
presidents might also have considered the
vogue word and concept that have put down
roots on campus the past decade or
more: microaggression. I refrain here from
exploring the history and meaning of the term
as it is commonly used today, but it is fair to
ask why, if minor and often unintentional insults
are taken as forbidden aggressions, the three
presidents should have hesitated in
condemning the ultimate macroaggressive calls
for genocide.
The Law Problem
And if you are going to press nuance, context,
and “legalistic” differences in interpreting your
campus policies, you ought also to have been
prepared with a fuller understanding of the law
than was on display. At a minimum, the
presidents might have consulted their HR
departments (and the WilmerHale lawyers?)
about Title VII of the 1964 federal civil rights
act, which bars discrimination against
employees on the basis of race, religion, sex,
or national origins. In a landmark case in 1986,
the Supreme Court held in Meritor Savings
Bank v. Vinson that a sexually “hostile
environment” constitutes a form of sex
discrimination that Title VII prohibits.
Notwithstanding the First Amendment. I won’t
work through the legal analysis (and all the
nuances and exceptions) that would take us
from Meritor to the antisemitic harassment that
has surfaced in the recent campus turmoil, but
it doesn’t take a great leap of imagination to
understand that—always with nuance in mind,
of course—a series of demonstrations calling
for what may reasonably be understood as
genocide against some part of the student body
is a hostile environment. To the extent that the
hostility affects employees, the law applies
directly to the university as employer. It might
take an argument, but not one that’s difficult to
articulate, that whether or not the law applies to
campus residents, neither the First Amendment
nor free speech principles generally stand in
the way of a university’s applying an equal rule
to protect students—namely, an enforceable
ban on menacing demonstrations that raise
justifiable fears of violence against individual
people.
A New Year’s Resolution for 2024
I recognize that my reflections are all
afterthoughts. That’s the joy of blogging. One
can do it later, and at leisure, when the heat is
off. That’s why, as the expression does not go,
I’m not paid the big bucks. Here’s hoping that
those who are paid to lead will do so from now
on (and I include in this call a prayer for the tiny
minds in Congress who have refrained from
demonstrating a like consistency in their own
rhetorical flourishes—and votes). May all of
them resolve in the year to come to summon
the moral courage and intelligence to minimize
the offense that pusillanimity and narrow focus
so often cause.
 
Update
Nearly a month after her congressional
testimony, Claudine Gay became the second of
the three presidents to step down, announcing
her resignation on January 2, 2024. Her
statement was silent on the issues that
prompted her to resign, saying, in pertinent
part, that “after consultation with members of
the Corporation, it has become clear that it is in
the best interests of Harvard for me to resign
so that our community can navigate this
moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus
on the institution rather than any individual.”


’Tis the Season: Tale of the Three Unwise Women

Gewolb, Matthew

Law Professors’ Conceptualization and Use of Students’ Prior Knowledge and Experience in Developing Subject-Matter Understanding

Barnhart, Melynda

DigitalCommons@NYLS 
Articles & Chapters Faculty Scholarship 
2023 
Labor Trafficking 
Melynda Barnhart 
New York Law School, melynda.barnhart@nyls.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/fac_articles_chapters 
 Part of the Law and Race Commons, and the Law and Society Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Barnhart, Melynda, "Labor Trafficking" (2023). Articles & Chapters. 1664. 
https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/fac_articles_chapters/1664 
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more information, please contact camille.broussard@nyls.edu, farrah.nagrampa@nyls.edu. 
L
Labor Trafficking
Melynda Barnhart
New York Law School, New York, NY, USA
Synonyms
Forced labor; Human trafficking; Modern-day
slavery
Definition
Labor trafficking is a subset of human trafficking,
involving the exploitation of a person’s labor by a
variety of means whereby the person does not
believe he or she is free to leave his or her work.
Trafficking usually begins with the transporta-
tion, harboring, recruiting, or procuring of a per-
son by means of force, deception or fraud,
coercion, confiscation of identity documents,
debt, or abuse of power or vulnerability, ending
with the person in a form of labor servitude.
Labor trafficking is more than the condition of
servitude, slavery, or exploitation, as it also
includes the process by which a person was
placed in that servitude. It is a form of modern-
day slavery.
Detailed Description
Labor trafficking is a form of human trafficking
involving the exploitation of workers who are
forced, defrauded, or coerced into a condition of
servitude. Labor trafficking encompasses all
forms of labor or services except sexual exploi-
tation. Labor traffickers often target migrants,
finding their victims at various stages of the
migration process. Labor trafficking victims
may be migrating for a variety of reasons, but
most seek better employment or working
conditions than what is available at home.
While travel from home is not a necessary
component of trafficking, labor trafficking com-
monly occurs in internal and external migration.
The International Labor Organization reports
that almost half of forced labor victims migrate
within their country or across borders before
enduring forced labor (International Labor
Organization, Questions and answers on forced
labor, http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/
newsroom/comment-analysis/WCMS_181922/
lang--en/index.htm. Last visited 18 Dec 2012),
also confirming the connection between move-
ment and labor trafficking. The cost of labor
trafficking exploitation is estimated to be $20
billion annually in the amount of wages, and
other benefits denied enslaved migrant workers
(United States Department of State).
The separation of human trafficking into two
forms, sex and labor, does not have a clear defin-
ing line. In general, any form of sexual
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023  131
F. D. Bean, S. K. Brown (eds.), Selected Topics in Migration Studies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19631-7_20
exploitation, commercial or not, is considered to
be sex trafficking rather than labor trafficking.
Some forms of legal commercial sex work, such
as erotic dancing, may be included in labor traf-
ficking definitions rather than sex trafficking,
depending upon the relevant laws. For the most
part, labor trafficking is a catchall definition that
encompasses all nonsexual labor exploitation.
Legal definitions of what precisely encom-
passes the crime of labor trafficking vary at the
state and international levels, but most include all
forms of nonsexual labor or services, wherein the
person’s services are procured initially through
various methods and the person is kept in servi-
tude by a variety of means. Labor trafficking
shares many aspects of forced labor, but such
terms are usually not legally synonymous. At
the international level, forced labor focuses only
on the conditions of servitude at the site of labor,
while labor trafficking also encompasses the
methods of recruitment and the means of control-
ling the victims. The methods of trafficking com-
monly include transporting, obtaining, recruiting,
harboring, or selling a person for his or her ser-
vices. These methods commonly involve decep-
tion and fraud, as many trafficking victims are
willing migrants and trust their recruiters. The
common means of control once the person is at
the labor site involve restriction of movement and
harmful living and working conditions. These
means of labor trafficking encompass physical
force or restraint, psychological coercion, fraud
or deceit, abuse of power or vulnerability, confis-
cation of identity or travel documents, and threats
against the person or their loved ones.
Labor trafficking situations manifest in a vari-
ety of ways, but there are common patterns. The
stereotypical migrant labor trafficking case
involves traffickers who have established them-
selves in the foreign country or region and then
recruit others in their hometown with promises of
helping newer migrants to successfully migrate
just as the trafficker did. The trafficking usually
begins with recruitment for a “good job” else-
where, such as a job with better pay, benefits, or
working conditions than may be available to that
person at home. The recruiter establishes trust
with the victim, such that the victim usually
willingly undertakes migration. Recruiters may
be friends, relatives, or neighbors of the victim
and approach them individually, or recruiters
may set up storefronts advertising jobs in other
countries, just like legitimate labor recruiters.
Some recruiters are trafficked people themselves,
who are offered the opportunity to “purchase”
their freedom by recruiting others. Some traffick-
ing recruiters find victims after they have entered
or been smuggled into the destination country and
may be crew foremen or recruiters paid by legit-
imate employers to hire laborers. Due to the con-
stant market for workers in many parts of the
world, traffickers usually have no difficulty
recruiting their victims. Because this recruitment
mimics usual migration patterns and traffickers
often insert themselves into active migration
paths, most victims are not aware that they are
being trafficked until it is too late.
Once the worker arrives at the worksite, the
falsity of the “good job” is revealed. The prom-
ised job is instead labor exploitation, from which
there is no apparent escape. Typically the migrant
arrives at the foreign destination only to have his
or her identification and travel documents confis-
cated, to be threatened and physically or sexually
abused, and to be forced to perform work that is
either unpaid or severely underpaid. Debt bond-
age is quite common, in which a manufactured
fraudulent debt is required to be “repaid,” which
can be a highly effective form of coercion. This
debt is often in the form of a smuggling or
recruiting fee, set so high that the person can
never pay it. Labor trafficking cases may also
involve indentured servitude, wherein the person
is held in servitude for a certain period of time,
but this is less common than debts. Time periods
may be a harvest season or a term of years or
months. The trafficking ends when the person
frees himself or herself from the exploitative
situation.
The psychological trauma involved in labor
trafficking is a primary reason victims find it so
difficult to escape, even if the person is not being
literally restricted in his or her movement. Com-
mon emotional responses to trauma and victimi-
zation include emotional detachment and
feelings of self-blame, anxiety and fear, and
Labor Trafficking132
difficulty in making decisions or concentrating.
Many experience a loss of memory related to the
traumatic event. Physical reactions, particularly
where the person was physically or sexually
abused, include weakened physical state,
untreated medical conditions, and often hunger
(2012 TIP report, p. 17). These traumas, com-
bined with threats from traffickers, can cause a
person to believe that he or she is not able to
leave. Trafficked people often do not know that
what they are experiencing is a crime, and many
are unwilling to trust law enforcement or govern-
ment officials in the country where they are.
Modern-day slavery thus involves psychological
chains more than physical ones.
Identified labor trafficking cases range in scale
from single victims, most commonly in house-
hold domestic service as nannies or maids, to
hundreds of victims, often occurring at sweat-
shops or factories. Labor trafficking has been
discovered in regulated and unregulated forms
of labor. Industries common to labor trafficking
include domestic service, restaurants, agriculture,
construction, manufacturing, and mining. World-
wide, very few industries have not included traf-
ficked workers. Even occupations requiring
extensive education have included trafficking
victims, such as teachers and nurses. Certain
industries may have higher incidence of labor
trafficking in particular geographic regions,
such as fisheries in Western Africa or
brickmaking in South Asia.
The International Labor Organization (ILO),
an international treaty organization, compiled the
most accurate global statistics on forced labor in
2012. While the ILO’s Global Estimate of Forced
Labor report focuses on more broadly defined
forced labor rather than human trafficking, all
human trafficking is encompassed within the def-
inition of forced labor (International Labor Orga-
nization). The ILO estimates the division of
forced labor as 90 % by the private sector and
10 % by governments, in the form of work
imposed by militaries or prisons in contravention
of ILO agreements (ILO Global Estimate of
Forced Labor, p. 13). Sixty-eight percent of vic-
tims are estimated to be in forced labor exploita-
tion, with the remaining 22 % in sexual
exploitation (Id.). Forty-four percent of the total
victims of forced labor had migrated either inter-
nally or internationally, although cross-border
movement was more strongly associated with
sexual exploitation than labor exploitation
(Id. at 17).
Women and children are often the focus of
anti-trafficking campaigns, but comprise about
half of all victims of labor trafficking. This
focus means that male trafficking victims are
often overlooked by governments and law
enforcement and are often not identified properly.
Women are the most likely victims of forced
labor through migration, but this is largely due
to their overrepresentation in sexual exploitation
cases. Women are 98 % of sexually exploited
forced labor victims, while comprising slightly
less than half of the labor exploitation victims
(Id. at 14). Women’s representation in labor traf-
ficking cases is roughly consistent with their rep-
resentation in migration overall (United Nations
Population Fund). Children are also trafficked for
labor; the type of labor and age of victims varies
greatly by geographic region. Approximately
26 % of forced labor victims are children (ILO
Global Estimate of Forced Labor at 14).
The current international definition of human
trafficking is from the “Palermo Protocol,” an
anti-trafficking protocol to the United Nations’
Convention Against Transnational Organized
Crime (Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
Children, supplementing the United Nations
Convention Against Transnational Organized
Crime (“Palermo Protocol”), Article 3(a),
25 December 2003, http://www.uncjin.org/Doc
uments/Conventions/dcatoc/final_documents_2/con
vention_%20traff_eng.pdf). The convention also
included a separate protocol against the Smug-
gling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air (United
Nations Convention Against Transnational
Organized Crime and the Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children). Notably, the
definition does not distinguish between labor
and sex trafficking, focusing on the means and
methods of trafficking for “exploitation”
(Palermo Protocol, Article 3(a)). Exploitation
Labor Trafficking 133
is given an inclusive definition, enumerating
exploitation of “the prostitution of others or
other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor
or services, slavery or practices similar to slav-
ery, servitude or the removal of organs. . .” (Id.).
This protocol has been ratified by 154 countries
(United Nations Treaty Collection database,
http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=
TREATY&mtdsg_no=XVIII-12-a&chapter=18&
lang=en. Last visited 18 Dec 2012). As well as
providing a common definition of human traf-
ficking, the Palermo Protocol mandates legal
and physical protection for victims of trafficking
in persons, including counseling, housing,
employment opportunities, and protections in
repatriation (Palermo Protocol, Articles 6–8).
The protocol also details the measures govern-
ments must undertake to prevent trafficking in
persons, detailing particular policies and pro-
grams and cooperation with other nations
(Palermo Protocol, Articles 9–13).
In the wake of extensive political pressure
from the United States, as well as to implement
the ratification of the Palermo Protocol, most
countries have adopted domestic criminal sanc-
tions against labor trafficking as well as sex traf-
ficking. Enforcement of these laws varies, but is
relatively nonexistent. When most countries
attempt to enforce anti-trafficking laws, the
focus is almost exclusively on sex trafficking
cases. Law enforcement officers are generally
unfamiliar with enforcing labor laws, while pros-
titution crimes are quite familiar. Considering the
estimates that most forced labor victims do not
leave their country of origin, although they may
move internally (ILO report at 16), the lack of
enforcement of labor trafficking statutes in par-
ticular means that labor trafficking victims are
unlikely to receive any assistance. Thus, imple-
mentation of domestic labor trafficking laws con-
tinues to be a widespread concern.
Labor trafficking falls within a continuum of
migrant labor exploitation. Migrants are often
vulnerable to exploitation, traveling to places
with which they are unfamiliar, with few support
networks, where they may have few legal pro-
tections as migrants. Thus, slavery, forced labor,
and labor trafficking are only one end of the
continuum of abuses. The spectrum also includes
difficult or dangerous working conditions, denial
of safety equipment, underpayment or lack of
payment, sexual harassment, overly long-
working hours, no breaks, lack of union protec-
tions, the absence of promotion or advancement
opportunities, etc. Just like with trafficking vic-
tims, exploited migrants may not seek the pro-
tections of labor or employment laws in the host
country where such exist for fear of being
deported, ignored, solicited for a bribe, or
harmed. In many ways, migrants are perfect tar-
gets for labor exploitation because these are a
group of willing workers who are less likely to
demand fair treatment and may not have legal
protections available to them. Until migration is
made safer, labor exploitation of migrants is
likely to continue.
References
International Labor Organization, ILO global estimate
of forced labor: results and methodology, 2012
report, pp 19–20. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/
public/---ed_norm/declaration/documents/publication/
wcms_182004.pdf. Accessed 18 Dec 2012
United Nations Convention Against Transnational
Organized Crime and the Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially
women and children. http://www.unodc.org/docu
ments/treaties/UNTOC/Publications/TOC%20Con
vention/TOCebook-e.pdf. Accessed 18 Dec 2012
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Female
migrants: bridging the gaps throughout the life cycle,
May 2006, p 3. http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/
global/shared/documents/publications/2006/bridging_
gap.pdf. Accessed 18 Dec 2012
United States Department of State, 2012 trafficking in
persons report, p 13. http://www.state.gov/docu
ments/organization/192587.pdf. Accessed 18 Dec
2012
Further Reading
Brennan, Denise. Life Interrupted: Trafficking into Forced
Labor in the United States. Duke University Press,
2014
Bales, Kevin. Disposable People: New Slavery in the
Global Economy. University of California Press,
Third Edition, 2012
European Commission Organized Crime and
Human Trafficking website. http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/
home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/organized-crime-
and-human-trafficking/index_en.htm
Labor Trafficking134
Free the Slaves and Human Rights Center, University of
California, Berkeley, Hidden Slaves: Forced Labor in
the United States, Sept 2004. http://www.
freetheslaves.net//Document.Doc?id=17
International Labor Organization Elimination of Forced
Labor website. http://www.ilo.org/washington/areas/
elimination-of-forced-labor/lang--en/index.htm
International Organization for Migration Counter-
Trafficking website. http://www.iom.int/cms/
countertrafficking
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime website. http://
www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/index.html
?ref=menuside
US Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking in Persons website. http://www.state.gov/j/
tip/index.htm
Labor Trafficking 135


Labor Trafficking

Leonard, Arthur S.

Same-Sex Family Recognition and Anti- Discrimination Law: A Free Speech Battleground

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Law School, New York

DigitalCommons@NYLS 
NYLS Community News History & Archives 
3-9-2023 
New York Law School Appoints Molly Guptill Manning, New York 
Times Best Selling Author, as Associate Professor of Law 
New York Law School 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/community_news 
Since 1891
WE ARE NEW YORK’S LAW SCHOOL
Professor Manning’s scholarship focuses on 
prisoners’ right to access the courts, soldier 
voting rights, and the freedom of the press in 
wartime.
NEW YORK, NY – New York Law School (NYLS) Dean Anthony W. 
Crowell today announced that Professor Molly Guptill Manning, 
has been appointed as Associate Professor of Law. She has 
taught at NYLS since 2017, and her courses include Constitutional 
Law, Civil Procedure, and Federal Courts. She is the author of 
three books including The Myth of Ephraim Tutt: Arthur Train and 
His Great Literary Hoax (2012), New York Times bestseller When 
Books Went to War (2014), and The Best-Read Army in the World 
(2020).
“Professor Molly Manning is a vital member of our community, 
and I am so pleased she will continue to serve on our 
extraordinary faculty,” said Anthony W. Crowell, NYLS Dean and 
President. “Professor Manning is an impressive historian and 
scholar and has been a dedicated mentor and teacher to many of 
our students. Through her scholarship and published work, she has 
shined a light on how words and writing shape the most important 
and difficult moments in our history. We are very fortunate that 
she will continue to expand upon her work, and I know she will 
make deeply meaningful contributions to the profession, to our 
nation’s understanding of our history, and ensuring that future 
generations understand the importance and impact of the written 
word.”
“I am grateful and excited to continue my work at New York Law 
School,” said Professor Molly Manning. “It is an honor to be 
part of such an incredible community of faculty and students. 
I appreciate the support for my work inside and outside the 
classroom, and I am proud to play a role in shaping our profession 
and practice. New York Law School is at the cutting edge of legal 
higher education, and I look forward to working with my faculty 
colleagues to prepare our students for fulfilling and meaningful 
legal careers.”
“Professor Molly Manning has been an exceptional colleague 
and member of distinguished faculty, and I am very pleased that 
we will benefit from her extraordinary scholarship and writing,” 
said Dean of Faculty William P. LaPiana. “Professor Manning 
has made invaluable contributions to the public’s understanding 
of our nation’s history and cares deeply about the development 
and success of our students. Our law school community, the legal 
profession, and the general public will benefit from Professor 
Manning’s work and teaching for many years to come.”
Professor Manning’s articles have been published in the Columbia 
Journal of Law and the Arts, New York University Journal of 
Legislation and Public Policy, and the Federal Bar Council Quarterly. 
She is currently working on a fourth book, The War of Words: How 
America’s GI Journalists Battled Censorship and Propaganda, to be 
published in September. She has been interviewed on MSNBC, 
NPR Morning Edition, and WNYC, and she has given talks across 
the United States, including at the FDR Presidential Library, the 
Library of Congress, and the U.S. Senate Library.
Professor Manning will be curating the exhibit “The Best-Read 
Army in the World” at the Grolier Club from September to 
December 2023. The exhibit examines how the United States, 
during World War II, fought against Germany’s book bans and 
viewpoint censorship by arming troops with books, magazines, 
and newspapers to spread information and ideas.
Before joining NYLS in 2017, Professor Manning served at the 
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit including 
as a supervisory staff attorney. She also clerked for the Honorable 
Kevin Nathaniel Fox at the United States District Court for the 
Southern District of New York. She holds a J.D. from Cardozo 
Law School and a B.A. and M.A. in American History from the 
University of Albany. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
New York Law School Appoints 
Molly Guptill Manning, New York 
Times Best Selling Author, as  
Associate Professor of Law
New York Law School  •  Published March 09, 2023
Find more NYLS stories at news.nyls.edu.


New York Law School Appoints Molly Guptill Manning, New York Times Best Selling Author, as Associate Professor of Law

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Sonenshein, Julia

DigitalCommons@NYLS 
NYLS Community News History & Archives 
8-22-2023 
In the Courtroom and On the Field: Leadership in Sports Law at 
NYLS 
Julia Sonenshein 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/community_news 
Since 1891
WE ARE NEW YORK’S LAW SCHOOL
Matthew Gaeta ’24 Evening was up late studying for his 
Evidence class when his phone started buzzing. It was 1:30 a.m., 
and the New York Law School Evening Division Student was about 
to get incredible news from his day job as an MLB agent: A player 
he represents had been called up to the major leagues. Gaeta 
booked a flight to Chicago and flew out the next morning, toting 
textbooks with him to study on the plane.
There’s no such thing as a “normal” day for Gaeta, who starts early 
in his office at One World Trade Center and ends with a few-block 
walk to NYLS’s Tribeca campus for evening classes. He’s working the 
phones constantly, negotiating with teams on behalf of his clients, 
landing marketing deals, communicating with front offices, talking 
to his players, scouting new talent to add to his roster, reviewing 
contracts, and doing a million other tasks to meet his clients’ needs.
Gaeta is one of many in the New York Law School community 
who are making a major impact as leaders in the sports world. 
Dawn Aponte ’03 serves as the Chief Administrator of Football 
Operations for the National Football League (NFL), Susan Cohig ’02 
is the Executive Vice President for the NHL Club Business Affairs, 
Eric Levin ’98 is Vice President and Assistant General Counsel—
Intellectual Property at NBA Properties, Inc., Michael Brady ’16 
is Senior Associate Counsel—Global Partnerships at the National 
Basketball Association, and Kevin Manara ’06 is the former Senior 
Vice President and General Counsel of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Samuel Porter ’09 is the Co-Managing Partner of Necaxa and 
the D.C. Pickleball Team. J. Martin Morgado III ’97 is the General 
Counsel & VP of Business Affairs at Sports Endeavors, LLC. And 
Marc Lasry ’84 is the former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.
The list goes on: Zygmunt Wilf ’74 is the Chairman and co-owner 
of the Minnesota Vikings and the majority owner of MLS’s Orlando 
City. Vincent Viola ’83 is the owner of the Florida Panthers. Joe 
Plumeri ’15 (Hon.)—for whom the School’s Plumeri Center is 
named—is the co-owner of the Trenton Thunder. Countless other 
alumni, faculty, and students like Gaeta are serving as owners, 
counsel, agents, and more, navigating the complex area of sports 
law, and NYLS provides a foundation for our community members 
to lead the field.
That late night call wasn’t Gaeta’s first—in his 1L year, Gaeta was 
sitting in his second ever Contracts class when he got a similar 
call. One of the first players he’d ever signed had been called up. 
Gaeta finished class, went straight to the airport, hopped a flight to 
Colorado, watched his client pitch, and took a red eye back to make it 
to class the next day. “The life of an agent—it doesn’t ever stop,” he 
laughs. “But New York Law School is great about helping students 
balance their responsibilities. They recognize the obligations you 
have from a professional standpoint. If you show up to class, do the 
work, and put in the effort, they treat you like an adult.”
Gaeta was already an agent when he came to NYLS, but he knew 
law school would help him level up his career. Law school has 
helped him “think differently—more analytically,” he says, and 
also has given him the skills to “better dissect contracts and use 
negotiation tactics, whether it’s reading the bylaws and regulations 
to negotiating deals to even understand players’ daily needs 
Matthew Gaeta ’24 Evening poses with Atlanta Braves’ Nick Anderson and 
Washington Nationals’ Hobie Harris.
In the Courtroom and  
On the Field: Leadership in 
Sports Law at NYLS
 Julia Sonenshein  •  Published  August 22, 2023
 
       
like lease agreements.” He especially leans on skills learned in 
experiential learning classes, his Contracts classes, Legal Practice, 
Writing, and Intellectual Property courses. “All of these classes are 
intertwined,” he says.
His mediation, dispute, and resolution coursework has been 
especially critical, as his job often entails navigating tense 
negotiations between front offices and players. “When there are 
millions of dollars, a player’s career, or egos on the line, things can 
get heated,” he says.
“When our sports law students ask me who I root for, I always 
feel safest saying “New York,” says Anthony W. Crowell, Dean 
and President. “In a town that is synonymous with premier, 
domestic and international sports teams and events, there is no 
shortage of opportunity for NYLS students to learn the law, the 
business, and to develop the kind of leadership skills needed to 
make it big,” he says. “What makes our program extra special is 
that it’s not just about the business of sports, but also about the 
power of sports and sports figures to inspire and help transform 
communities, including through social justice programs and 
movements. In New York, you can get it all, and do it all.”
NYLS began a process of re-invigorating its sports law program in 
2021. The School tapped Dan Lust, a nationally recognized leader 
in the field, to teach an introductory class—and this year added 
Advanced Sports Law to the curriculum with major support and 
collaboration from Dean Oral Hope and Dean Howard S. Meyers.
As a member of NYLS’s adjunct faculty, Professor Lust teaches 
these courses, giving a broad and comprehensive look at the 
complex universe and its inhabitants: commissioners, agents, 
players, managers, counsels, broadcasters, and so much more. 
(And, he brings more than a decade of experience and love for 
sports, starting with a job for the New York Giants that started in 
high school.)
The School’s sports law instruction takes an innovative and 
pragmatic approach to prepare students for real world experience. 
While sports law classes of the last few decades focus on a 
somewhat dry examination of antitrust, employment law, and 
intellectual property — without a clear sense of application within 
the sports world — NYLS’s popular sports courses focus on the 
“biggest issues in sports through the prism of being a lawyer,” 
Professor Lust says. That could include a broad variety of issues: 
litigation, arbitration, regulation, oversight, criminal defense, 
personal injury, real estate, bankruptcy, sports better, and yes, 
antitrust or intellectual property. The courses even cover legislation 
and the process of creating college sports laws.
The courses change every year to keep up with the sports world’s 
most pressing issues: Professor Lust even re-writes his syllabi 
each semester. It’s well in line with NYLS’s ethos as an innovative, 
cutting-edge school that always forecasts steps ahead to prepare 
lawyers of the future.
Across the country in Dallas–Fort Worth, Erin Kearney ’10 
Evening starts her day with a to do list. But, the Senior Vice 
President and General Counsel of the Texas Rangers Baseball 
Club says with a laugh, “I never get any of it done.” It’s not 
WE ARE NEW YORK’S LAW SCHOOL
Emerson S. Moore II ’99, Member of Board of Trustees, New York Law 
School and Former Chief People Officer, BSE, and Andrew Latack, Head of 
Legal, Klutch Sports sit on a panel at the Sports Law Symposium 2023.
Wallace Stevens Professor of Law Kris Franklin speaks at the 2023 Soccer 
Dispute Competition.
Erin Kearney ’10 Evening poses with Texas Rangers pride.
WE ARE NEW YORK’S LAW SCHOOL
a commentary on her efficiency: Kearney is a whirlwind of 
productivity, but unpredictability is part of the job—and a perk.
“That’s my favorite part of the job,” she says. “Every day is 
completely different.” She might be in meetings, doing work in her 
leadership or governance roles, responding to requests for help, 
executing contracts, or working with the ownership and executive 
members to deal with that very unpredictability that keeps 
Kearney highly engaged in her work.
Kearney didn’t start out in sports law per se—her work was mostly 
in the commercial mortgage lending market. When she had her 
daughter, she joined DLA Piper. The timing was ideal: It was a 
huge boom for building new stadiums, and teams were moving 
around the country. Their sports law team let her work remotely as 
long as she would review mortgages.
Kearney was working on a contract for the Rangers while at 
DLA Piper to help them open a new ballpark. She traveled to the 
Rangers’ main office for meetings, “and it was just one of those 
moments where you walk in the front door and you know that this 
is where you’re supposed to be,” she says. When they increased 
their headcount, Kearney interviewed for the job, left her firm, and 
joined the team in 2020.
Kearney remembers NYLS as the place where she met some of 
her lifelong, best friends, and she has advice for NYLS students 
who might be interested in following her path. She focuses on a 
need for “openness and realizing that sports law is not necessarily 
what you think,” she says. “We are truly generalists, and we cover 
every topic, from HR to insurance, to anything that you need to 
run a company,” she says. And she’s got one more: “Pay attention 
to your legal research class and take notes,” she quips.
The Sports Law Society at NYLS is an opportunity for students to 
debate and discuss legal sports issues. It’s a wildly popular club 
with tons of participation, and students work together to bring in 
speakers throughout the year for panel discussions about current 
events or for professional development.
“The Sports Law Society has meant so much to me the last 
two years,” says incoming Society President Olivia Hellerich ’24. 
“I’ve met amazing people and made incredible connections both 
personally and professionally.”
In its tent-pole, yearly event, the Society hosts the Sports Law 
Symposium. This year’s event spanned two days, and it included 
panels covering name, image, and likeness; sports media; in-
house counsel in sports; and sports gaming. Andrew Latack, Head 
of Legal at Klutch Sports, and Emerson Moore, Member of the 
NYLS Board of Trustees and Chief People Officer at BSE, provided 
the keynote panel.
The topics for the Society’s symposia are chosen with professional 
development in mind and an effort to help students navigate 
interviews on the job market, says Professor Lust, who advises 
the Society. “You don’t need to be able to talk about a case that’s 
50 years old,” Lust says. “In an interview, you have to be able to 
talk shop.”
Another trademark event of the NYLS sports law program is the 
now-annual Soccer Dispute Competition, co-hosted with the 
Dispute Resolution Team, wherein competitors from law schools 
around the country hammer out the terms of a mock, soccer-
related negotiation. The Competition—one of just a handful in 
the country—mirrors real-life scenarios, like player contracts, 
endorsement, ownership, and stadium construction. While the 
School’s competition team does compete around the country, it’s 
critical that NYLS host its own competition: Approaching its third 
year, the Competition elevates the School’s profile as a leader in 
sports law and allows the School to raise its profile.
From the introduction of the Soccer Dispute Competition, and the 
Advanced Sports Law course—a rare offering which creates a full 
year of sports law instruction for NYLS students—the sports law 
program at NYLS is always evolving, growing, and raising its profile.
“We’re ahead of the curve,” Professor Lust says. “We’re blazing a 
trail and doing things that are simply not being done anywhere else.”
In classes, extracurricular events, symposia, competitions, and 
more, NYLS is preparing the future generation of sports legal 
professionals. Beyond providing legal education, our School is 
committed to developing our students as leaders who will shape 
the field for generations to come.
“NYLS has been easily the biggest benefit to my professional 
career,” Gaeta says. “It’s opened doors that I didn’t even know 
were there.”
Students pose at our 2023 Field Day in Chelsea Park. Students tune in as the New York Yankees take on the San Francisco Giants 
on Opening Day 2023.
WE ARE NEW YORK’S LAW SCHOOL
Dispatches From Our Sports World Alumni
Susan Cohig ’02, Executive Vice President, Club Business Affairs, NHL Enterprises, L.P.
“Our industry is always evolving, and live events and related programming continue to attract growing 
audiences. Related cutting-edge issues we navigate include shifts in technology and consumer 
behavior, which redefine the way fans engage with their favorite teams and players.
Some of the most important tools I gained from my NYLS experience include being able to listen 
carefully, effectively issue spot, and clearly communicate. I employ these skills every single day.”
Kevin Manara ’06, former senior NFL attorney and Las Vegas Raiders General Counsel
“NYLS offered classes in practical skills which I found particularly useful once I reached big firm life and 
then handled my own cases at the NFL. Classes like Lawyering, Trial Advocacy, and a 3L labor law class 
where we conducted mock CBA negotiations were all helpful in developing real-life skills that litigators 
need and you can’t learn out of a textbook.”
Gabriel G. Matus ’00, General Counsel, Excel Sports Management
“As a lawyer in the sports ecosystem—whether in talent representation, advising brands and 
properties, or otherwise—you have to stay sharp, informed, and on your toes. The LIV/PGA saga, NIL 
deregulation, the transfer portal, student athlete recruiting, retention and preparation for professional 
sports, the legalization of sports betting, the meteoric rise and collapse of crypto/NFTs, and athletes as 
content producers are just a few of the rapidly evolving areas that keep us very busy.”
Emerson S. Moore II ’99, former EVP, Chief People Officer, BSE Global (parent company of Barclays 
Center); NYLS Board of Trustees Member
One of the key things I learned while at NYLS is the importance of being able to relate to and engage 
with anyone and everyone. Establishing meaningful relationships at every level is paramount to 
success in any industry—but especially the sports law industry. You should never let your skills take you 
to heights and spaces where your relationships can’t sustain you.
J. Martin Morgado III ’97, General Counsel & VP of Business Affairs, Sports Endeavors, LLC
“NIL is certainly at the tip of every sports lawyer’s tongue. The cobbled-together patchwork of state 
laws governing the rights of college athletes in their own image and likeness has made compliance 
by brands challenging at best. The various NIL frameworks have resulted in the creation of an unfair 
playing field allowing colleges in states with more favorable regulation to one-up competitors in states 
with a stricter regime. It might be argued that such patchwork has led to less traditionally competitive 
universities being able to attract talent they would not have had access to before NIL; however, it’s not 
clear this was a result that was intentional. Other unintended consequences have been felt, leading 
to amended—and in some cases repealed—NIL legislation. Currently there is a hope, including at the 
NCAA, that Congress will step in to provide clarity at the federal level. I am not overly optimistic on 
that front—the federal government is usually not first to the loose ball. Lack of clarity typically counsels 
caution. All of this is to say: It’s challenging to create opportunities while managing risk when the 
guideposts aren’t clear, and that’s the state of affairs of NIL.”
WE ARE NEW YORK’S LAW SCHOOL
Find more NYLS stories at news.nyls.edu.
Lori Wentworth Odierno ’92, Head of Legal and Business Affairs, WME Sports, at Endeavor
“I’m keeping a close eye on college athletics. That business model is at a real crossroads; it’s facing 
multiple complex legal challenges involving employment, labor, antitrust, constitutional law, and other 
areas. There’s activity across all three branches of government, at the federal, state, and regulatory 
levels. There’s much more to come here.”
Samuel Porter ’09, Co-Managing Partner and Owner, Club Necaxa/DC Pickleball Team
“In the space that I’m in, an issue that’s garnering a lot of attention is who or what can own sports 
teams and leagues. There’s the Saudi PIF LIV Golf and PGA deal, and the PIF owns Newcastle in the 
EPL—and Adam Silver recently said that sovereign wealth funds will not be able to invest in the NBA. 
Private equity funds can now own stakes of NBA, MLS, MLB, and NHL teams. How does institutional 
money investing in sports over the coming years continue to evolve with ever increasing valuations and 
interest?
At NYLS, I learned to solve from as many different angles or points-of-view as possible. In complex 
deal-making and problem-solving, it’s extremely valuable to try to understand what all parties in the 
situation are trying to accomplish.”


In the Courtroom and On the Field: Leadership in Sports Law at NYLS

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