Paul, Weiss Hosts Conversation on Race, Inequality and the Law With the 2020–21 Paul, Weiss Fellows at NYU Law School

Paul, Weiss hosted a webinar on race, inequality and the law featuring the 2020–2021 Paul, Weiss fellows at the Center for Race, Inequality and the Law at NYU Law School. Deputy Chair Valerie Radwaner gave opening remarks and litigation partner Loretta Lynch moderated the discussion with the six Paul, Weiss fellows.

As Valerie noted, the center was launched in 2017 to confront the laws, policies and practices that lead to the oppression and marginalization of people of color. It advances the cause of racial equity through research, advocacy, public education, litigation and collaboration with racial and social justice organizations. In 2019, Paul, Weiss established the Paul, Weiss Fellowships at the center for 2L students to support the center’s work and train the next generation of social justice advocates.

During the webinar, the Paul, Weiss fellows presented on a variety of cutting-edge issues they have worked on over the past year. These include matters of structural racism in the criminal justice system, such as racial disparities in the parole system; the doctrine of qualified immunity that shields state and federal government employees from civil liability for constitutional violations; and the role of race in “reasonable person” analysis of searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment—whether a so-called reasonable person would feel free to terminate an encounter with law enforcement.

The fellows also discussed projects analyzing implicit bias in the use of technology as a purportedly objective employment screening tool; the impact of COVID-19 on communities of color; and how minority groups are disproportionately impacted by the use of eminent domain—the right of government to seize private property for public use, while providing compensation—in flood-risk areas.

Loretta saluted the fellows, noting that “the work performed by the center and these six fellows is reshaping the narrative on race and inequality, and exemplifies the highest principles of NYU and Paul, Weiss.”

Learn more about the center and the fellows here.