Rensselaer will host a discussion on the intersection of law and technology by three members of the Brooklyn Law School—Nicholas W. Allard, dean of Brooklyn Law School, Jonathan Askin, professor of clinical law at Brooklyn Law School, and John Rudikoff, CUBE CEO and managing director of Brooklyn Law School—on Friday, April 7, at 2:30 p.m. in the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies.
Nicholas Allard
Allard is president and the Joseph Crea Dean, and professor of law at Brooklyn Law School. Under his leadership, the Law School has experienced dynamic changes to prepare students for a rapidly changing legal field. These initiatives include the accelerated two-year J.D. program; the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE), which builds on Brooklyn’s emergence as a global center for high-tech entrepreneurship; and Business Boot Camp, a popular winter session program offering students intensive training in the basics of the business world. The Law School also instituted a 15 percent tuition reduction and launched the Bridge to Success program to support graduates in their job search, as part of a comprehensive package of initiatives to make legal education more affordable and more accessible.
Recognizing the increasing globalization of the legal profession, Allard has traveled to Russia, India, China, throughout Europe, and the UAE to speak to prospective students and leaders in the legal field about new frontiers of law. He is widely recognized by his peers and the media as a thought leader in legal education. He has written and spoken extensively about the need to attract a new generation of diverse and promising individuals to the legal profession—and dismantling the economic barriers to attending law school.
He also serves as senior counsel in the Public Policy and Regulation practice at Dentons, a global law firm with presence in more than 50 countries. Before joining the Brooklyn Law School in 2012, Allard served as chair of the Public Policy Department and co-chair of the Government Advocacy Practice Group at Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C.
Allard began his legal career after graduating from Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar) and Yale Law School. He was a law clerk in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., worked on Capitol Hill for the late Senators Edward Kennedy and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and was a partner at Latham & Watkins for over a decade, where he chaired the firm’s Government Relations Group before joining Patton Boggs. He is the recipient of multiple honors and awards for his work. This includes a top ranking in “Government Relations” by Chambers USA from 2012 to 2015, a 2010 Visionary Award from the National Journal-Legal Times, recognition as one of D.C.’s “Top Lobbyists” by The Hill from 2008 to 2013, Super Lawyers list by The Washington Post, 2012 to 2015, and a Hermes Award for Contribution to Study of Communications from the Syracuse University College of Law. He has served on numerous academic boards, taught at several law schools, and published scholarly articles on a broad range of issues, including internet law, new media, and privacy. At Brooklyn Law School he teaches courses on government advocacy, privacy law in a digital world, and introduction to legal process.
He received his J.D. from Yale Law School and holds a B.A. from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is a Rhodes Scholar and holds an M.A. in politics, philosophy, and economics from Oxford University.