Yale Law
Yale Law Selects Cristina Rodríguez As New Dean
Yale Law: “Professor Cristina M. Rodríguez ’00, the Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law at Yale Law School, has been selected as the next dean of Yale Law School, Yale University President Maurie McInnis announced on Dec. 19.
Rodríguez will assume the deanship on Feb. 1, 2026, as the Sol and Lillian Goldman Dean and Professor of Law at Yale Law School.
In her announcement to the Law School community, President McInnis praised Rodríguez, a longtime faculty member of the Law School, for her nationally acclaimed scholarship, wide-ranging leadership experience, dedication to the rule of law, and deep commitment to public service.
“Cristina’s commitment to scholarship, excellence, and service make her the ideal person to lead Yale Law School, and the entire Yale community is fortunate to have such a devoted and experienced leader take the helm,” McInnis said. “I have no doubt that under Cristina’s principled leadership, Yale Law School will continue to produce pathbreaking scholarship and embody the highest ideals of the legal profession.”
Described by her academic peers as a preeminent thinker and steadfast leader in the legal world, Rodríguez’s career spans 25 years in academia and the legal profession. She currently serves as the deputy dean of the Law School, where her scholarship and teaching center on constitutional law and theory, administrative law and process, and immigration law and policy.
“I am deeply honored to be appointed the next dean of Yale Law School. I am grateful to the search committee, my colleagues, President McInnis, and the broader Yale community for their confidence and trust,” Rodríguez said. “Yale Law School stands apart for its intellectual vibrancy, its commitment to the pursuit of ideas through rigorous scholarship and open dialogue, the quality and ambition of its student body, and its dedication to public service,” Rodríguez said. “As dean, I look forward to working with the entire community to pursue the Law School’s critical mission.”
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Columbia University Law School
Columbia Law Opens Li Lu Law Library
Columbia Spectator: “The newly renovated Li Lu Law Library has opened, with the school marking the multimillion dollar expansion during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Dec. 5.
The renovation, the school described in a press release, is one of the most significant capital projects in the school’s history and the “largest investment in student and community life in a generation.” Architectural firm Perkins Eastman “fully reimagined” the renovated library with input from students, faculty, and staff, according to the press release. Located in Jerome L. Greene Hall, the library spans 50,000 square feet and includes a two-story reading room, an open concept layout with views across Revson and Ancell plazas, and a redesigned entrance connecting the library to the hall’s third-floor lobby and Revson Plaza.
The renovation was funded through gifts from lead donor Li Lu, CC ’96, Business ’96, Law ’96, and more than 50 other alumni and friends of the University. The Law School named the space after Lu in recognition of his $15 million donation, which the school said matches the largest single donation from an individual in its history.
The renovation expanded student capacity, with more than 600 additional seats across carrels, tables, study pods, and group rooms—an increase of more than 60 percent from the previous capacity. The space also includes more than 20 reservable group study rooms equipped with “state-of-the art technology,” according to the press release.”
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ABA Considers Dropping Diversity Rule
Reuters: “The American Bar Association will undertake a sweeping review of its standards for law schools as states weigh dropping the organization as an accreditor and critics blame its regulations for driving up student costs.
The ABA may also eliminate its diversity and inclusion requirement for law schools, which has placed the ABA in the crosshairs of the Trump administration and other conservatives who claim it is discriminatory.
The ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar announced the accreditation standards review during a meeting Friday. It said the review will align the standards law schools must meet for accreditation with a set of “core principles and values” it adopted in August focused on quality, affordability, consumer and public protection and innovation.
“It’s a very different era in legal education,” council president Daniel Thies said in announcing the review. He cited “a changing regulatory environment, driven by questions about whether the national accreditation the council provides is necessary to ensure quality legal education and the portability of law degrees across the country.”
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