January 21, 2020: New York Law School Professor Wins State Bar’s Sanford Levy Award

New York Law School Professor of Law Rebecca Roiphe is the 2020 recipient of the Sanford Levy Award presented by the Committee on Professional Ethics of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA).

Roiphe will receive her award on January 29 during the NYSBA’s Annual Meeting in New York City. It is presented to an individual or institution that, in the opinion of the committee, has contributed most to understanding and advancement in the field of professional ethics.

“Professor Roiphe has written wisely and instructed incisively on legal ethics. She is frequently and rightly quoted for her expertise on legal ethics and criminal justice in the media,” said Gerard E. Harper of Manhattan (Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison), chair of the Committee on Professional Ethics. “We are pleased to honor her contributions to the field.”

Roiphe studies lawyers’ ethics and the history of the legal profession. Her scholarship focuses on the role of prosecutors and the country’s tradition of prosecutorial independence. Her opinion pieces have appeared in Slate, the New York Review of Books, Politico and U.S. News. She is a contributing legal analyst at CBS News.

She is a graduate of Columbia University. She received her law degree cum laude, from Harvard Law School and her Ph.D. in American History from the University of Chicago.

Honoring attorneys who render extraordinary service to the public and the profession is part of NYSBA’s Annual Meeting, which each January attracts thousands of lawyers from around the state, the nation and the world. They come to meet and connect with colleagues and to learn from experts in many areas of law.

A wide range of programs at NYSBA’s 143rd Annual Meeting January 27-31 explores current issues for lawyers and legal practice.

The Presidential Summit on Wednesday, January 29, will look at White Nationalism and Domestic Terrorism in America.  At Thursday evening’s sold-out Gala Dinner, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan will receive the Gold Medal, NYSBA’s highest honor, and participate in a fireside-style chat with Prof. John Barrett of St. John’s University School of Law.

Other featured speakers at the Annual Meeting include New York State Attorney General Letitia James, the first African American and the first woman elected to that office; Janet DiFiore, chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals; and Craig Boise, dean of Syracuse University College of Law.

For more information on NYSBA’s Annual Meeting, visit nysba.org/am2020.

About the New York State Bar Association
The New York State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. Since 1876, NYSBA has helped shape the development of law, educated and informed the legal profession and the public, and championed the rights of New Yorkers through advocacy and guidance in our communities.

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Contact: Brandon Vogel 
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