[6] Because of its overwhelming popularity, the Department of Commerce broke off from the main Institute and formed its own school under the guidance of Norman P. Heffley, personal secretary to Charles Pratt.

Dean Richardson also allowed students who had difficulty paying tuition to remain enrolled on credit.

World War II struck Brooklyn Law School especially hard, and by 1943 enrollment was down to 174 students.

In 2010, The National Jurist ranked BLS fourth in the country for its public service work, largely influenced by its clinical program.

The clinics specialize in the areas of bankruptcy, securities arbitration, immigration, entrepreneurship, technology, criminal law, real estate practice, intellectual property, and mediation.

Students represent individual clients, groups, and businesses and appear in state, federal, and administrative courts, on both the trial and appellate levels.

Brooklyn Law School created a new mandate in 2014 that requires students to complete at least one clinic or externship course before graduation.

[20] Brooklyn Law School offers five joint degree programs:[21] Brooklyn Law School's Public Service Office provides individual counseling and information on summer and academic year externships, steering students toward pro bono opportunities, and helping students apply for postgraduate fellowships as well as employment opportunities.

[31] Prior to the lawsuit, Brooklyn Law School had claimed that 95% or more of graduates found employment within 9 months of graduation, without always distinguishing between full-time, part-time, and non-JD-required employment (which breakdown ABA/NALP rules did not require at the time of the statistics at issue in the suit, but which breakdown has been required since 2012).

[33] Brooklyn Law School's Law School Transparency under-employment score was 16.2%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2017 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.

[37] Designed by noted architect Robert A. M. Stern, Dean of the Yale School of Architecture, it accommodates about 360 students in 239 furnished apartments of varying sizes, and includes a conference center and café.

[citation needed] Both were highly ranked in Brian Leiter's survey of "Most Cited Law Professors by Specialty.

"[39] Other notable professors include Roberta Karmel, a former Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission and columnist for the New York Law Journal, and Susan Herman, president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Many students from the Moot Court Honor Society are involved in the coordination of the Prince Competition, and a few students have an opportunity to work with faculty members to research and write the problem – an issue at the forefront of evidentiary law – that is used in the Competition.

[36] Brooklyn Law School alumni include New York City Mayor David Dinkins, US Senator Norm Coleman, judges Frank Altimari (US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit) and Edward R. Korman (US District Court for the Eastern District of New York), attorneys Stephen Dannhauser (Chairman, Weil, Gotshal & Manges), Myron Trepper (co-Chairman, Willkie Farr & Gallagher), Allen Grubman (entertainment lawyer), and Bruce Cutler (criminal defense lawyer), CEOs Barry Salzberg (Deloitte) and Marty Bandier (Sony/ATV Music Publishing), and billionaire real estate developers Leon Charney and Larry Silverstein.