Associate Dean for Experiential Learning Announced at Touro Law
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Associate Dean for Experiential Learning Announced at Touro Law
Myra Berman, Assistant Professor of Law and Director of Collaborative Court Programs, Appointed to Inaugural Position
November 15, 2012Touro Law Dean Patricia Salkin is pleased to appoint Myra Berman as Associate Dean for Experiential Learning. Berman, the first to be named to this newly created position, will continue her role as a full time faculty member and Director of Collaborative Court Programs in addition to this role.
“Touro Law Center has been a pioneer in experiential education, and the appointment of an associate dean to focus efforts more intently in this arena will enable us to build and strengthen our efforts. Professor Berman has been at the forefront in many of the recent curricular innovations at Touro, and she has already demonstrated national leadership in this area,” said Dean Patricia Salkin. “Dean Berman’s cutting edge work to merge the courtroom and the classroom and create opportunities to collaborate with the Bar and the Bench has created a unique educational synergy that has benefitted our students and enhanced our educational offerings.”
In this new role, Berman will work to expand the existing experiential learning program and create new opportunities to further the law school’s commitment to prepare graduates for the practice of law. Currently the law school offers numerous clinical and externship opportunities as well as unique curricular options including the Collaborative Court Program, a three-year curricular option for Touro Law students, incrementally merging their classroom learning with the practical work of the courts. It begins with observation and culminates with participation, utilizing the integration of theory and practice as its central educational objective. The law school’s Public Advocacy Center provides another opportunity for collaboration and real-world experience that benefits law students as well as non-profit legal services providers.
“Touro Law has outstanding experiential programs already in place. Berman will expand those offerings while inspiring students to use their legal education and their privileges as lawyers to serve private and public interests with excellence, commitment and integrity in a variety of legal settings,” further commented Dean Salkin.
Before attending law school, Professor Berman was a State‑ Licensed Social Worker, primarily in the practice of Child Welfare, and a teacher at SUNY-Stony Brook, Hofstra University and Brooklyn College. In addition to her work at the law center, she has been associated with the Safe Horizon Domestic Violence Law Project where she was involved in pro bono work with victims of intimate partner violence. Professor Berman, also serves as the co-director of the Touro Law Bar Preparation program, where she is actively engaged in all aspects of student preparation for the bar examination. Her creation of the American Trial Courts courses, at both the federal and state levels, provide Touro Law Center students with an experiential learning opportunity that is unique in the nation. Parts of these courses have been replicated at law schools around the United States as well as law schools around the globe. Professor Berman’s program has been highlighted by such publications as the National Chronicle of Higher Education and Long Island Business News. As a result of her innovative Collaborative Court Program, Professor Berman was the recipient of the first Leadership in Law Award for her contribution to the legal profession and the Long Island community awarded by Long Island Business News.
“Touro Law Center has been a pioneer in experiential education, and the appointment of an associate dean to focus efforts more intently in this arena will enable us to build and strengthen our efforts. Professor Berman has been at the forefront in many of the recent curricular innovations at Touro, and she has already demonstrated national leadership in this area,” said Dean Patricia Salkin. “Dean Berman’s cutting edge work to merge the courtroom and the classroom and create opportunities to collaborate with the Bar and the Bench has created a unique educational synergy that has benefitted our students and enhanced our educational offerings.”
In this new role, Berman will work to expand the existing experiential learning program and create new opportunities to further the law school’s commitment to prepare graduates for the practice of law. Currently the law school offers numerous clinical and externship opportunities as well as unique curricular options including the Collaborative Court Program, a three-year curricular option for Touro Law students, incrementally merging their classroom learning with the practical work of the courts. It begins with observation and culminates with participation, utilizing the integration of theory and practice as its central educational objective. The law school’s Public Advocacy Center provides another opportunity for collaboration and real-world experience that benefits law students as well as non-profit legal services providers.
“Touro Law has outstanding experiential programs already in place. Berman will expand those offerings while inspiring students to use their legal education and their privileges as lawyers to serve private and public interests with excellence, commitment and integrity in a variety of legal settings,” further commented Dean Salkin.
Before attending law school, Professor Berman was a State‑ Licensed Social Worker, primarily in the practice of Child Welfare, and a teacher at SUNY-Stony Brook, Hofstra University and Brooklyn College. In addition to her work at the law center, she has been associated with the Safe Horizon Domestic Violence Law Project where she was involved in pro bono work with victims of intimate partner violence. Professor Berman, also serves as the co-director of the Touro Law Bar Preparation program, where she is actively engaged in all aspects of student preparation for the bar examination. Her creation of the American Trial Courts courses, at both the federal and state levels, provide Touro Law Center students with an experiential learning opportunity that is unique in the nation. Parts of these courses have been replicated at law schools around the United States as well as law schools around the globe. Professor Berman’s program has been highlighted by such publications as the National Chronicle of Higher Education and Long Island Business News. As a result of her innovative Collaborative Court Program, Professor Berman was the recipient of the first Leadership in Law Award for her contribution to the legal profession and the Long Island community awarded by Long Island Business News.
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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, which has a student body of approximately 750 and an alumni base of more than 5,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.
About the Touro College and University System
Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 19,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris, and Florida. Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro College Los Angeles and Touro University Worldwide as separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/media/.
Patti Desrochers
Director of Communications
pattid@tourolaw.edu
(631) 761-7062