Yale Law School

10/18/2026

Two Yale Law School faculty recently accepted top awards for their books from a national organization for legal writers.

Professor Akhil Reed Amar’s latest book, Born Equal, was named best work of legal scholarship for 2026 year by Scribes – The American Society of Legal Writers. Professor Judith Resnik, meanwhile, took a runner-up prize for her book Impermissible Punishments. Scribes President Michele M. Jochner presented the awards this month.
https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/professors-amar-and-resnik-receive-honors-american-society-legal-writers

10/16/2026

Professor Keith Whittington asks when a judge can be impeached in his essay in a new book challenging the conventional understanding of the separation of powers.
https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/professor-keith-whittington-examines-judicial-impeachment

10/14/2026

A Yale Law School clinic has helped the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office secure the largest wage-and-hour settlement in California history.

Some 25 students in the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project have worked on the case brought against Lyft, which has agreed to pay $272.5 million to settle claims of wage theft in California. The ride hailing company was accused of misclassifying drivers as independent contractors rather than employees.

“Over the past six years, SFALP students have played an important role in helping us litigate this case to hold Lyft accountable,” Deputy City Attorney Molly Alarcon ’16 said.

https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/sfalp-clinic-helps-secure-landmark-settlement-lyft-employees

10/12/2026

Essays out now in the California Law Review show how Yale Law School students have helped bring cutting-edge public interest cases to court with the city attorney of San Francisco.

The essays offer the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project as a model for how law schools and local governments can start clinics and other partnerships to act as progressive plaintiffs.

Read more: https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/new-essays-explore-sfalp-clinic-model-and-affirmative-litigation

10/10/2026

This year, 89 Yale Law School students are receiving the full-tuition Hurst Horizon Scholarship.

The need-based scholarship has funded 190 students since 2022. More than 14% of current J.D. students are Hurst Horizon Scholars.

Read more: https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/yale-law-school-awards-89-hurst-horizon-scholarships-2026-27

10/08/2026

This year, 89 Yale Law School students are receiving the full-tuition Hurst Horizon Scholarship.

The need-based scholarship has funded 190 students since 2022. More than 14% of current J.D. students are Hurst Horizon Scholars.
https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/yale-law-school-awards-89-hurst-horizon-scholarships-2026-27

10/06/2026

Professor Samuel Moyn joined WBUR’s “On Point” to discuss America’s aging politicians. “Half of Americans are still under 40. But we only have one senator that age,” he said.

Older Americans control more political power and wealth than ever before. It's the topic of a special series from On Point all this week -- starting with America's aging politicians.

10/04/2026

The ”algorithmic age” is concentrating power and straining democratic institutions, Professor Jack Balkin says.

Balkin told an audience at Stanford Law that technological change is accelerating what he calls “constitutional rot.”

The federal government increasingly relies on private companies to govern: Palantir for foreign intelligence, Amazon for cloud computing, Starlink for

10/01/2026

In a big win for a Yale Law School clinic and government transparency, the State Department has agreed to address its yearslong backlog of Freedom of Information requests.

The first-of-its kind settlement comes after four years of litigation by the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, whose case analyzed novel claims and involved several classes of students.

Under the settlement, the agency commits to an independent audit of its system for processing FOIA requests. The resolution will benefit everyone who depends on timely access to information about government foreign-policy decisions, according to the clinic.
https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/mfia-secures-settlement-committing-state-department-address-foia-backlog

09/29/2026

Continuing a Yale Law School tradition, Dean Cristina Rodríguez is spending the opening weeks of the semester meeting with each small group of first-year students.

A signature feature of the Yale Law School IL year, the small group is a community of 16 to 18 classmates who take all of their first-semester courses together. A professor who teaches one of those courses leads each group, encouraging students to build connections with faculty in addition to each other.