GW Law in New York

GW Law students interested in business law practice have the unparalleled opportunity to gain substantive hands-on experience while pursuing a domestic off-campus study in the world’s top financial center – New York City. This innovative and unique program creates educational opportunities, linked to student professional goals, in an environment that draws on and deepens GW’s alumni relationships.

The GWNY program is offered during the spring semester to second and third-year GW Law students. Each program participant is required to enroll in a business law oriented 2, 3, or 4-credit externship, a 2-credit co-requisite course, Business Lawyering (LAW 6810), and business law electives taught by leading experts with their fingers on the pulse of the financial markets. GWNY course offerings are curated to mirror ever-evolving market demands and innovation. Past electives have included Banking Law (LAW 6289), Corporate Restructuring (LAW 6263), Securities Law Seminar (LAW 6264), and Legal Drafting (LAW 6652).

All GWNY classes, as well as monthly networking events, are held at the offices of participating law firms including Kramer Levin, Sullivan & Cromwell, O’Melveny & Myers, Morrison Foerster, Paul Weiss, and Kirkland & Ellis. Library privileges are available to GWNY students at Columbia University and New York University as well as the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. While each student is responsible for securing housing arrangements, the program maintains an active partnership with the 92nd Street Y, a non-profit institution offering affordable accommodations to students on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

GWNY students may obtain field placements at a wide array of organizations offering business-centric externship opportunities to law students. Examples: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), Settlement Housing Fund, Lawyers Alliance, New York State Commercial Courts, and U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Courts.

Thanks to the program, GWNY alumni have secured positions at the following firms, among many others: Baker Botts; Cahill Gordon; Clifford Chance; Cooley (2 alums); Davis Polk (2 alums); Hogan Lovells; Kirkland & Ellis; Kramer Levin; Mayer Brown (2 alums); O’Melveny (2 alums); Orrick Herrington; Paul Weiss (2 alums); Ropes & Gray; and Sullivan & Cromwell.

GWNY students find placements at top law firms at rates now surpassing every U.S. law school. In a recent survey of law graduates placed in AmLaw 100 firms, Columbia Law School led by placing 50.0% of its classes in such firms. In comparison, in the most recent GWNY class, our rate is 62.5%. Moreover, we aim for our overall employment rate to be 100%, with all other GWNY students accepting jobs at the best firms and organizations beyond AmLaw 100.

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Program Overview Flyer

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Interested in GWNY?

Interested students must attend a mandatory information session. Several alternative sessions are held throughout the year – twice during the spring semester and twice during the fall. Applications are due in late September. A mandatory externship orientation on the GW Law campus is held late in the fall semester. All GWNY classes and externships commence in January.

Questions about applying to and securing a placement can be directed to Virginia Clarke at [email protected].

Questions about GWNY may be directed to [email protected].

The GWNY Program Director is Professor Lawrence Cunningham, who also teaches the Business Lawyering co-requisite and resides in New York City for the duration of the program.

Download the application form

Course & Externship Information

There are no pre-requisites for participation in the GWNY program. But students are strongly encouraged to take Corporations Law in advance. Please note that some GWNY course electives may have pre-requisites. Spring course offerings will be determined in early fall prior to spring registration. In the past, such courses have included Banking Law (LAW 6289), Corporate Restructuring (LAW 6263), Securities Law Seminar (LAW 6264), and Legal Drafting (LAW 6652).

Eligible externships will be in the New York metropolitan area and have some orientation toward the practice of business law or provide at least some meaningful perspective toward business practice, whether through administration, oversight, or enforcement, and whether involving business law as such or contiguous fields such as antitrust, bankruptcy, financial, governance, insurance, investment, regulatory compliance, or securities law.

Adjunct Faculty

Wendy Goldberg

Wendy Goldberg, JD '00
Sullivan & Cromwell
Banking Law

Jeff Kohn, JD '84
O'Melveny & Myers
Legal Drafting

Paul Basta

Paul Basta, JD '92
Paul Weiss
Corporate Restructuring

Anna Pinedo
GW Law Board; Mayer Brown
Securities Regulation

About the Director

Lawrence Cunningham Lawrence A. Cunningham is an authority on corporate governance, corporate culture, and corporate law, and teaches business-related courses that span these fields. He has written dozens of books and scores of articles on a wide range of subjects in law and business. These include the leading textbook on accounting used in law schools, a popular narrative on contracts, and best-selling books on Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett (The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America and Berkshire Beyond Buffett: The Enduring Value of Values). His extensive work has been published in top university reviews such as Columbia Law Review, influential professional journals such as Directors & Boards, and mainstream media such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Learn more about Professor Cunningham

Lawrence A. Cunningham is an authority on corporate governance, corporate culture, and corporate law, and teaches business-related courses that span these fields. He has written dozens of books and scores of articles on a wide range of subjects in law and business. These include the leading textbook on accounting used in law schools, a popular narrative on contracts, and best-selling books on Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett (The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America and Berkshire Beyond Buffett: The Enduring Value of Values). His extensive work has been published in top university reviews such as Columbia Law Review, influential professional journals such as Directors & Boards, and mainstream media such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Professor Cunningham also serves on public company boards and nonprofits. He is currently on the board of Constellation Software Inc. (Toronto Stock Exchange), owner and operator of hundreds of vertical market software businesses, and previously served on the board of Ashford Hospitality Prime, Inc. (New York Stock Exchange), an investor in luxury hotels. In the nonprofit sector, he is a Trustee of the Museum of American Finance, a Smithsonian affiliate; Member of the Dean's Council of Lerner College of Business of the University of Delaware; and a Member of the Editorial Board of Financial History, the magazine of the Museum of American Finance.

Before joining GW in 2007, Professor Cunningham taught at Boston College Law School, where he served a two-year term as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. From 1992 to 2002, he taught at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he served a five-year term as Director of the Heyman Center on Corporate Governance and received the Professor of the Year Award in 2000. Professor Cunningham has also taught or visited at Columbia, Fordham, St. John's, and Vanderbilt, as well as Central European University, Hebrew University, University of Navarra, and Oxford. Before entering academia, he practiced corporate law with Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York.

Professor Cunningham is the Founding Faculty Director of GW Law School's semester-long business law program in New York City known as GWinNY.

Publications

GWNY Class of 2021

Photo of GWNY classroom

Securing an Externship

Externships must be business law-oriented, and otherwise in conformity with GW Law’s externships program policies, including organizational eligibility requirements, i.e., 501(c), government, or judicial. All externships must first be approved by the Field Placement Program, and all eligibility determinations are final.

Students are encouraged to seek their own externship placements for participation in the GWNY program and to visit the staff of the Field Placement Program and Career Center for general advice on externships as early in the preliminary planning process as feasible. No commitments concerning externships for the program should be finalized until externships are approved by the Field Placement Office and students are accepted into the program.

Virginia Clarke
Senior Law Career Counselor
GW Law Career Center
(202) 994-0678
[email protected]

Policies and Procedures

Except as expressly provided concerning special procedures and policies applicable to the New York field placements and courses, all procedures and policies of GW Law School apply equally to New York field placements and courses. These include those set forth in The George Washington University Law School Policy on Academic Integrity and The Field Placement Program (FPP) Student and Supervisor Handbooks.

With specific regard to field placements, such procedures and policies include, but are not limited to, those concerning eligibility by organizational type [501(c), government, or judicial], field supervision requirements, the mandatory co-requisite course, registration forms, credits, hours-per-credit, work product logs, grading, mid-semester and final student and supervisor evaluations, and financial aid. Students interested in the GWNY program should also take care that participation is consistent with their overall program, particularly coursework, credits, and enrollment units required for graduation.

For general information about GW’s externship policies and procedures, please visit GW Law Field Placement.

The Field Placement Program requires each student to submit two registration forms, one to be completed by the student and one by their field placement supervisor. Forms are available from the Field Placement Program office.

Permission to Operate

In accordance with New York State statutes and regulations, GWNY has received permission to operate in the State from the Members of the Board of Regents, The New York State Education Department.

Important Dates 2021-2022

Please note the following important dates for the GWNY program:

September 14 (1 pm); and September 21 (11 am)
Student information sessions will be held (attend one)

October 1, 2021
Application period opens—students may submit applications for the program.

October 8, 2021
Application period closes—students must submit applications for the program by the close of business on this date.

October 29, 2021
Accepted students will be notified.

December 10, 2021
Deadline for accepted students to finalize externships and submit Field Placement registration forms.

January 10, 2022
GWNY Classes begin, starting with Business Lawyering

January 5-7, 2022 (times to be announced)
Mandatory Field Placement Program orientation sessions for all participating students.

News

"GWNY Students Provide Mutual Support at Pandemic's Epicenter" - GW Law

"A Direct Path to Wall Street" - GW Law Magazine

"Law School Renews Career, Mentorship Program in New York after Successful Launch" - GW Hatchet

Law School in the Modern Era - Washington Lawyer

"New Book Features Essays on Berkshire Hathaway's Annual Shareholder Meetings" - Omaha World Herald

GWNY Student Testimonials

"GW Law + GWNY gives you deep exposure to both NY and DC. No other law school offers that."

"Besides great courses, classmates, professors, field placement and mentors, we have been given networking seminars and opportunities like no other school or program I have heard of. The complete package."

"This semester, more so than ever, I feel like I am beginning to see my career come into sharper focus, due to GWNY."

"I got my dream job. This would not have been possible without GWNY."

"I've only been in this program a month and I feel like I've learned so much more, thus far, than I have any other semester."

"Fabulous program that really opened my eyes to the world of big-time professional practice . . . and led to getting the job of my dreams."

"Cunningham, the other professors, and so many GW alumni and recent GWNY students pour themselves into our training and career goals. Love it."

"Best thing I did in my entire time at GW Law."

"Makes GW Law's strong New York reputation stand out in real ways."

Recent Photos

1 of 13GWNY group at the annual gala of the Museum of American Finance 2020.
2 of 13GWNY Networking Training Seminar, Spring 2020
3 of 13GWNY 2020 students about to begin Business Lawyering class at Jones Day.
4 of 132019 Alumni Brunch: Guest, Kelly Donahue-O'Melveny; Omid Rahnama-Paul Weiss; Guest; Eashaa Parekh -O'Melveny; Yaasman Goudzari-Kirkland; Guest; Matt Kosier-Cooley; Ben Field-Manor Homes; Martin Estrada-Mayer
5 of 132019 GWNY students present to the Business Lawyering class in the offices of WilmerHale at the World Trade Center.
6 of 13Professor Lawrence A. Cunningham and Dean Blake D. Morant with GW Law in New York students at a 2019 “Conversation with the Dean” event at SiriusXM.
7 of 13Spring 2018 Farewell Reception
8 of 13GWNY students attend the Annual 2018 Gala for the Museum of American Finance, courtesy of The Starr Foundation.
9 of 13GWNY students with Professor and Mrs. Cunningham, Stephanie Cuba, and Steven Kobre, JD '93, after a Networking Strategy Workshop during the Spring 2018 semester at Kobre & Kim.
10 of 13Members of the 2017 GWNY community with Dean Blake Morant.
11 of 132017 GWNY students gear up for Week 2 of Business Lawyering.
12 of 13GWNY Students at the 2017 Museum of American Finance Gala.
13 of 13GWNY Students at the 2017 Museum of American Finance Gala.