List of New York University School of Law alumni

New York University School of Law has produced many influential alumni in law, government, business, academia, and society. Following is a list of notable NYU Law School alumni.

Academia

Name	Degree	Notability	References
Michael Broyde	J.D. 1988	Professor of law and academic director of the Law and Religion Program at Emory University School of Law.
John C. Coffee	LLM, 1976	Adolf A. Berle Professor at Columbia Law School
Yoram Dinstein	J.D.	President of Tel Aviv University
Deborah Epstein	J.D. 1988	Professor at Georgetown Law School
Richard Joel	J.D. 1975	President, Yeshiva University
Roberta Karmel	LLB, 1962	Centennial Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School; first female Commissioner of the SEC.
Raymond Lisle	J.D. 1936	Dean of the Brooklyn Law School
Troy A. McKenzie	J.D. 2000	Dean of New York University School of Law
Bridget McCormack	J.D. 1991	Professor University of Michigan Law School and founder and co-director of its Michigan Innocence Clinic
James J. Reynolds	J.D.	Assistant Superintendent, New York City Board of Education	[1][2]
Abbe Smith	J.D. 1982	Professor at Georgetown University Law Center

Advocacy and nonprofit

Name	Degree	Notability	References
Debo Adegbile	J.D. 1994	Director of litigation of NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Crystal Eastman	J.D. 1907	Co-founder and co-editor of The Liberator, co-founder of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Abraham Foxman	J.D. 1965	Chairman and national director of the Anti-Defamation League
Sherrilyn Ifill	J.D. 1987	President and director-counsel of NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Helene L. Kaplan	J.D. 1967	former chairman of the Carnegie Corporation of New York

Business

Name	Degree	Notability	References
John J. Creedon	J.D. 1957	Former CEO and chairman of MetLife
Michael Karlan	LL.M. 1993	Founder of Professionals in the City
Herb Kelleher	LL.B. 1955	CEO and founder of Southwest Airlines
Robert A. Kindler	J.D. 1980	Vice Chairman of Morgan Stanley
Paul Moore Sr.	LL.B. 1911	Founder of Republic Aviation
Barry Salzberg	LL.M.	CEO of Deloitte
Stuart Subotnick	J.D.	President of Metromedia Company, Inc.

Entertainment

Name	Degree	Notability	References
Cherry Chevapravatdumrong	J.D.	Writer and co-producer of Family Guy
Nancy Grace	LL.M.	Court TV host
Sally Kohn	J.D. 2002	Political commentator and contributor to Fox News
Kenny Lucas	Non-degreed	Academy Award-nominated writer and producer of Judas and the Black Messiah
Demetri Martin	Non-degreed	Comedian known for Important Things with Demetri Martin and The Daily Show
Gerald Schoenfeld	LL.B. 1949	Chairman of The Shubert Organization from 1972 to 2008
Matthew Ahn	J.D. 2014	Holds the Guinness World Record for fastest time to travel to all New York City Subway stations	[3]

Judiciary

Name	Degree	Notability	References
Adam B. Abelson	J.D. 2010	Judge, U.S. District Court, District of Maryland
G. Steven Agee	LL.M.	Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Florence E. Allen	LL.B. 1913	Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
Nancy Atlas	J.D. 1974	Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
Richard M. Berman	J.D. 1967	Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
J. Sidney Bernstein	LL.B. 1900	Judge, New York Supreme Court
Pasco Bowman II	J.D. 1958	Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
Thomas Buergenthal	J.D. 1960	Judge, International Court of Justice
Victoria Calvert	J.D. 2006	Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia
Raymond T. Chen	J.D. 1994	Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
Albert Diaz	J.D. 1988	Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Todd E. Edelman	J.D. 1994	Judge, Superior Court, District of Columbia
Nabil Elaraby	LL.M. 1969; J.S.D. 1971	Judge, International Court of Justice
Katherine B. Forrest	J.D. 1990	Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
Cynthia Holcomb Hall	LL.M. 1960	Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Janet C. Hall	J.D. 1973	Chief Judge, U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut
David Hittner	J.D. 1964	Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
Dennis G. Jacobs	J.D. 1973	Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
Judith Kaye	LL.B. 1958	Chief Judge, New York Court of Appeals
Samuel D. Levy	LL. B., 1880	Judge, New York Domestic Relations Court
Tana Lin	J.D. 1991	Judge, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington
Sheryl Lipman	J.D. 1987	United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
Raymond Lohier	J.D. 1991	Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
Wauhope Lynn	1882	Justice, New York Municipal Court J
Bridget McCormack	J.D. 1991	Associate Justice, Michigan Supreme Court
Joseph M. McLaughlin	LL.M. 1964	Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
Roy W. McLeese III	J.D. 1985	Associate Judge, District of Columbia Court of Appeals
Kevin McNulty	J.D. 1983	Judge, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
Katherine M. Menendez	J.D. 1997	Judge, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota
Natasha C. Merle	J.D. 2008	Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
M. Blane Michael	J.D. 1968	Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Nina Morrison	J.D. 1998	Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
Lynn Nakamoto	J.D. 1985	Associate Justice, Oregon Supreme Court
Pauline Newman	LL.B. 1958	Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
Alan Eugene Norris	LL.B. 1960	Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
Jinsook Ohta	J.D. 2001	Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
Solomon Oliver Jr.	J.D. 1972	Chief Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
M. Warley Platzek	LL.B. 1876	Judge, New York Supreme Court
Leo F. Rayfiel	LL.B. 1908	Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
Jennifer H. Rearden	J.D. 1996	Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
Jenny Rivera	J.D. 1985	Associate Judge, New York Court of Appeals
Burton B. Roberts	1949	Judge who inspired the character of Myron Kovitsky in Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities	[4]
Jennifer L. Rochon	J.D. 1997	Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
Berle M. Schiller	J.D. 1968	Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Lorna G. Schofield	J.D. 1981	Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
Margaret Strickland	J.D. 2006	Judge, U.S. District Court, District of New Mexico
Theodore Trautwein	1953	New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division judge known for the"Dr. X" trial of Mario Jascalevich	[5]
Eric N. Vitaliano	J.D. 1971	Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York

Law

Name	Degree	Notability	References
David Boies	LL.M. 1967	Lawyer known for United States v. Microsoft, Bush v. Gore
Emilie Bullowa	1900	Lawyer and president of the National Association of Women Lawyers
Fanny Hallock Carpenter	1896	Lawyer and the first woman to win a case before the New York Court of Appeals	[6]
Evan Chesler	J.D. 1975	Lawyer and chairman of Cravath, Swaine & Moore law firm
Amal Clooney	LL.M. 2001	Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London, UK
Bob Ferguson	J.D.	Washington State Attorney General
Martin Lipton	J.D. 1955	Founding partner of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz who invented the "poison pill"
Mimi Rocah	J.D. 1997	District Attorney of Westchester County
Joseph Russoniello	J.D. 1966	U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California
M. Patricia Smith	J.D.	Solicitor for the United States Department of Labor
Joel Steinberg	Non-degreed	Attorney convicted of manslaughter
Charles Tetzlaff	LLM, 1964	United States Attorney for the District of Vermont, 1993–2001
Benjamin B. Wagner	J.D.	United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California
Phil Weiser	J.D. 1994	Attorney General of Colorado
Tsion Gurmu	J.D.2015	Legal Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration

Literature and journalism

Name	Degree	Notability	References
Deborah Coonts	LL.M. 2006	Romantic mystery novelist
Crystal Eastman	J.D. 1907	Co-founder and co-editor of The Liberator and co-founder of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Philip Friedman	J.D. 1969	Author of bestselling nonfiction books
Michael Gartner	J.D. 1972	Journalist who won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing
John F. Kennedy Jr.	J.D. 1989	Publisher and founder of George magazine, son of President John F. Kennedy
Shana Knizhnik	J.D. 2015	Bestselling nonfiction author
Francis M. Nevins	J.D. 1967	Edgar Award-winning mystery writer, biographer, film historian	[7]
Charles Reznikoff	LL.B. 1916	Objectivist poet

Politics and government

Name	Degree	Notability	References
Lamar Alexander	J.D. 1965	United States Senate
William Bernard Barry	LL.B. 1925	United States House of Representatives
Carol Bellamy	J.D. 1968	Director of the Peace Corps, executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund, executive director of UNICEF, and President of the New York City Council,
Rudy Boschwitz	J.D. 1953	United States Senate
Charles Robin Britt	LL.M. 1976	United States House of Representatives
Roberto de Oliveira Campos	Graduate work	Brazilian legislator and Ambassador to the United States and United Kingdom
Peter Angelo Cavicchia	LL.B. 1908	United States House of Representatives (1931–1937)
Maurice Connolly	LL.B. 1898	United States House of Representatives
Clay Constantinou	LL.M. 1986	U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg
Irwin Delmore Davidson	LL.B. 1928	United States House of Representatives
Diana DeGette	J.D. 1982	United States House of Representatives
Fred J. Eckert	Non-degreed	United States House of Representatives and U.S. Ambassador
Edward Irving Edwards	LL.B.	United States Senate (1923–1929), Governor of New Jersey
Mohamed ElBaradei	LL.M. 1971; J.S.D. 1974	Vice President of Egypt and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency
Smith Ely	LL.B. 1846	United States House of Representatives
Guillermo Endara	LL.M. 1963	President of Panama
Leonard Farbstein	LL.B. 1924	United States House of Representatives (1957–1971)
Hamilton Fish IV	LL.B. 1957	United States House of Representatives (1969–1995)
Louis Freeh	LL.M. 1984	Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1993–2001)
Jacob Augustus Geissenhainer	LL.B. 1862	United States House of Representatives
Nathan Goff Jr.	LL.B. 1866	United States Senate
Anthony Jerome Griffin	LL.B. 1892	United States House of Representatives (1918–1935)
Frank Joseph Guarini	J.D. 1950, LL.M. 1955	United States House of Representatives (1979–1993)
Vanita Gupta	J.D. 2001	United States Associate Attorney General (2021-2024)
Rudy Giuliani	J.D. 1968	Mayor of New York City (1994–2001); Presidential candidate (2008)
Jacob Javits	LL.B. 1926	United States Senate
Hakeem Jeffries	J.D. 1997	House Minority Leader, United States House of Representatives
Mitchell Jenkins	LL.B. 1926	United States House of Representatives
Lazarus Joseph	LLB, 1911	New York State Senator and New York City Comptroller
Edward Aloysius Kenney	LL.B. 1908	United States House of Representatives (1933–1938)
Arthur George Klein	LL.B. 1926	United States House of Representatives (1946–1956)
Edward I. Koch	LL.B. 1948	United States House of Representatives (1969–1977) and Mayor of New York City (1978–1989)
Fiorello La Guardia	LL.B. 1908	United States House of Representatives (1916–1934) and Mayor of New York City (1934–1945)
Jon Leibowitz	J.D. 1984	Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission
Jefferson Monroe Levy	LL.B. 1873	United States House of Representatives (1911–1915)
Stanley Nelson Lundine	LL.B. 1964	United States House of Representatives (1976–1987)
John MacCrate	LL.B. 1906	United States House of Representatives
Allan Langdon McDermott	LL.B. 1877	United States House of Representatives (1900–1907)
Thomas Joseph Meskill	LL.B. 1955	United States House of Representatives
James Edward Murray	J.D. 1900	United States Senate (1934–1961)
Yaakov Neeman	LL.M. J.S.D.	Finance Minister of Israel and chair of the Neeman Committee
Edward T. O'Connor, Jr.	LL.M.	New Jersey State Senator	[8]
Tasker Lowndes Oddie	LL.B. 1895	United States Senate (1921–1933)	[9]
James Aloysius O`Gorman	J.D. 1887	United States Senate (1911–1917)
Denis O`Leary	LL.B. 1890	United States House of Representatives
Bob Packwood	J.D. 1957	United States Senate (1969–1995)
Nathan David Perlman	LL.B. 1907	United States House of Representatives (1920–1927)
Scott Peters (politician)	J.D. 1984	United States House of Representatives
Anning Smith Prall	LL.B:, 1908	United States House of Representatives (1923–1935)
Benjamin Rabin	LL.B. 1917	United States House of Representatives
Leo Frederick Rayfiel	LL.B. 1908	United States House of Representatives
Charles P. Rettig	LL.M. 1982	Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Elihu Root	LL.B. 1867	Secretary of War (1899–1903), Secretary of State (1905–1909); and United States Senate (1912)
Benjamin Stanley Rosenthal	LL.M. 1952	United States House of Representatives (1962–1983)
Thomas P. Salmon	LL.M. 1958	Governor of Vermont
Daniel Edgar Sickles	LL.B. 1846	United States House of Representatives
Isaac Siegel	LL.B. 1901	United States House of Representatives
Vaughn Stewart	J.D. 2014	Maryland House of Delegates
Louis W. Stotesbury	LL.B., 1892	New York City attorney, Adjutant General of New York	[10][11]
Ludwig Teller	LL.B. 1935	United States House of Representatives (1957–1961)
Herbert Tenzer	LL.B. 1927	United States House of Representatives
Samuel J. Tilden	LL.B. 1841	United States Senate and Governor of New York
Martha M. Walz	J.D. 1987	Massachusetts House of Representatives
Elijah Ward	LL.B. 1943	United States House of Representatives
Ma Ying-Jeou	LL.M. 1976	President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)

Sports

Name	Degree	Notability	References
Norman C. Armitage	LL.M. 1937, J.D. 1939	Olympic bronze medalist for fencing
Gary Bettman	J.D. 1977	National Hockey League commissioner
Robert Blum		Olympic fencer
Howard Cosell	J.D. 1941	Sportscaster
Bill Daly	J.D. 1990	National Hockey League chief legal officer and executive vice president
Lou Silver	LL.M.	Professional basketball player
Paul Tagliabue	J.D. 1969	National Football League commissioner
Jamila Wideman	J.D.	Professional basketball player
Mark Wilf	J.D. 1987	Minnesota Vikings president and co-owner

Fictional alumni

Name	Media	References
Will Truman	Fictional lawyer (Will & Grace, 1998–2006)