Downtown

Michael Cahill returns to Brooklyn Law School as the next president and dean

December 18, 2018 By Rob Abruzzese, Legal Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Michael Cahill worked at Brooklyn Law School from 2003 until 2015, serving as vice dean from 2013 to 2015. He will return there July 2019 as the school’s next president and Joseph Crea Dean. Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Law School
Share this:

A familiar face among the faculty will be returning to Brooklyn Law School. The school announced on Tuesday that Michael T. Cahill will take over as its next president and Joseph Crea Dean starting in July.

Cahill has served as the co-dean and professor at Rutgers Law School since July 2016 but said that he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to return to Brooklyn Law School, where he served as vice dean from 2013 to 2015 and associate dean for academic affairs from 2010 to 2013.

“I could not be more thrilled, personally and professionally, to have been given this opportunity to lead Brooklyn Law School,” said Cahill. “I am honored and grateful to have received the support of the board, faculty and administration, and I am determined to make good on the investment this school has made in me.”

Cahill received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his law degree and master of public policy degree from the University of Michigan, where he was a note editor for the Michigan Law Review. Later he served as a law clerk to Judge James B. Loken of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Cahill joined the faculty at BLS in 2003 after teaching at Chicago-Kent College of Law as a visiting assistant professor of law.

“We are very excited to welcome back Dean Michael Cahill to lead our great law school forward,” said Stuart Subotnick, chairman of the board of trustees at BLS. “His wealth of experience in legal academia, his deep knowledge of the Law School from his many years here as vice dean, associate dean and faculty member and his vision to advance the school’s academic excellence while maintaining financial strength made him the clear choice among a field of exceptionally strong candidates.”

Cahill’s scholarly background is focused on criminal law, and he has written about health law and policy. He co-authored three books on criminal law with University of Pennsylvania law professor Paul H. Robinson, including the general one-volume treatise “Criminal Law.”

“It’s great news for the BLS community to have Dean Cahill come back to campus,” said Hon. Barry Kamins, the former administrative judge for the Brooklyn Supreme Court, Criminal Term, and an adjunct professor at BLS. “He is an extraordinary teacher and educator and well-respected by all of those who teach and work at the school. The choice was an excellent one, and it will serve the interest of the law school for many years to come.”

The school has been looking for a full-time dean since Nicholas Allard abruptly resigned last May. Maryellen Fullerton has served the school as the interim dean since the summer while the school has searched for a replacement.

“As an interim dean, Dean Fullerton did an exceptional job in keeping and holding everything together until a new dean can be found,” Kamins added. “She continues to earn the respect of everyone at the school.”

According to the school, it reached out to nearly 1,000 potential candidates before the search committee narrowed a list down to 10 candidates who were interviewed. That list was then narrowed to four.

Cahill is scheduled to start as dean on July 1, 2019. Fullerton is expected to return to her duties as a law professor.

Subscribe to our newsletters


Leave a Comment


Leave a Comment