“My experience at Haub Law has been a blessing. From my first day stepping on this campus, I knew this was my home for the next three years of my life. Not only did this school made a great first impression, but they have maintained their commitment to my colleagues and me throughout our legal education. I could go on and on thanking and being grateful to our career counselors, financial aid professionals, media personnel, professors, chefs in the dining hall, janitors, and so many more. At Haub Law, I am around people who accept me and are genuine—long after I graduate, it will always be a place that I call home.”
Michael Mingo is a 3L who is expected to graduate in May 2022. This past summer, he was a summer associate in the Legal Department of the American Civil Liberties Union of New York (NYCLU). As a summer associate, Michael performed legal research and writing, was regularly briefed on policy throughout New York State, and was given a variety of assignments on a weekly basis. Michael notes that at the NYCLU he was “primarily responsible for conducting legal research on pressing and often nuanced issues the NYCLU faces. Much of my work this summer revolved around protecting the civil liberties of all New Yorkers. In doing so, I worked to protect First Amendment rights, Sixth Amendment rights, and Equal Protection and Due Process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. I gained a more extensive network of skilled and passionate professionals.”
While at Haub Law, Michael is focusing on criminal law and upon graduating hopes to pursue a career in criminal defense. “I hope to join alongside a group of other passionate attorneys who, just like me, are committed to the individuals and communities impacted by our criminal legal system.”
Law Professor Bennett Gershman provides expert legal analysis to amNewYork on the distinction between New York City’s corporation counsel and chief counsel. Gershman explains that while the Law Department represents the city in litigation, the chief counsel serves as the mayor’s personal legal adviser, operating under attorney-client privilege on sensitive policy and legal matters— and New York Metropolitan Magazine has the story.
In her recent op-ed published in the Albany Times Union, Pace Haub Law Professor Bridget J. Crawford examines a new federal tax rule that would allow tipped workers to claim a deduction—unless their tips come from what the Treasury Department defines as “pornographic activity.” Professor Crawford argues that this exclusion is not a question of morality, but of labor and tax fairness, warning that it disproportionately harms the modern digital workforce, especially women who earn income through subscription-based platforms. She notes that creators on sites like OnlyFans and Fansly are already taxed as independent contractors and receive 1099s like other freelancers, raising a critical question: why should one group of tipped workers be denied a benefit available to everyone else? “Tax policy should meet women where they actually work, not exclude them from deductions,” writes Professor Crawford. “The IRS’s job is to review income, not to judge women’s bodies or the way they earn a living. Women working in digital creator spaces deserve the same neutrality, fairness and access to deductions that the tax code offers other workers.”
The Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic is featured in a recent Sierra Magazine article examining the successful effort to protect the 1011 2nd Avenue Forest, one of the last remaining waterfront forests in Troy, New York. In the case, the Clinic provided pro bono representation challenging the City of Troy’s environmental review and rezoning decisions, arguing that the City improperly issued a negative declaration under New York’s State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and failed to adequately assess potential environmental and cultural impacts of the proposed development. As Managing Attorney Todd Ommen notes in the piece, the case reflected the Clinic’s core mission: representing environmental groups in matters where legal advocacy can play a critical role in protecting the natural environment.