Notable faculty members include Penelope Andrews and Lenni Benson, founder of the Safe Passage Project.

Prominent NYLS alumni include Maurice R. Greenberg, former chairman and CEO of American International Group Inc. and current chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr and Co. Inc.; Charles E. Phillips Jr., former-CEO of Infor and former President of Oracle; and Judith "Judge Judy" Sheindlin, New York family court judge, author, and television personality.

Other past graduates include United States Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan II and Wallace Stevens, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.

[7][8] During the winter of 1890, a dispute arose at Columbia Law School over an attempt to introduce the Case Method of study.

New York Law School held its first classes on October 1, 1891, in the Equitable Building at 120 Broadway, in Lower Manhattan's Financial District.

Continuous growth led the law school to acquire a building of its own in 1908, at 172 Fulton Street, in the Financial District.

[12] However, George Chase contracted an illness that resulted in him running New York Law School for the last three years of his life from his bed; he died in 1924.

With much fewer and poorer performing students, the law school moved to smaller facilities at 253 Broadway, just opposite City Hall.

[15] After reopening in 1947, the law school started a new program that was influenced by a committee of alumni headed by New York State Supreme Court Justice Albert Cohn.

In 1954, New York Law School was accredited by the American Bar Association, and in 1962, moved to facilities at 57 Worth Street, in Tribeca.

In 1973, E. Donald Shapiro became the dean of the law school, and reformed the curriculum, expanding it to include many more classes to train students for more than simply passing the Bar Examination.

Under Simon's successor, Dean Harry H. Wellington, who served in that position until 2000, the curriculum was revised to put greater emphasis on the practical skills of a professional attorney.

In late June 2006, under the leadership of Dean Richard A. Matasar, New York Law School sold its Bernard H. Mendik building at 240 Church Street.

The centerpiece of the expansion is a new glass-enclosed, 235,000-square-foot (21,800 m2), nine-level building—five stories above ground and four below, which integrates the law school's existing buildings.

[20][21] Following the creation of the JumpStart program, NYLS' bar passage rate registered the highest increase of all NY law schools from 2012 to 2013.

[23] In April 2013, New York Law School announced an expansion of its clinical and experiential learning programs, doubling the number offered from 13 to 26.

[29] In October 2013, in recognition of the two-year program and other innovations, Crain's New York Business included Dean Crowell in its list of "People to Watch in Higher Education.

The agreement enables both institutions to capitalize on different schedules and to collaborate on shared programs to serve their respective students and alumni.

These have included former President Jimmy Carter; Justices of the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan Jr., Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Sandra Day O'Connor; former New York State Governor Mario Cuomo; former New York City Mayors Edward Koch, David Dinkins, Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg; Drew S. Days III, U.S.

Senator from Massachusetts, now Secretary of State John Kerry gave the 2012 Sidney Shainwald Public Interest Lecture.

[46][47] Earlier in 2018, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spoke at New York Law School, as part of the Sidney Shainwald Public Interest Lecture.

[83][84] The modern, 235,000 square foot facility was designed by Smith Group and BKSK Architects and is the first large-scale building to be completed in downtown Manhattan after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

[85] The University of Rochester's New York City center for its Simon School of Business is co-located at the NYLS facility, using class and meeting space primarily on weekends as part of a collaborative arrangement between the two academic institutions.

Through courses, events, projects, and research, the Center brings together academics, practitioners, and students to address the challenges that animate business and finance.

Launched in 2007, the center offers an extensive selection of classroom courses, advanced seminars, and independent study projects, as well as externships in governmental offices and real estate firms.