Professor Philip Genty

Philip M. Genty

  • Everett B. Birch Innovative Teaching Clinical Professor in Professional Responsibility and Vice Dean for Experiential Education
Education

J.D., New York University, 1980
B.A., Colorado College, 1977

Areas of Study
Areas of Specialty

Professional Responsibility
Family Law
Civil Procedure
Criminal Justice, Prison, and Re-entry
Legal Writing and Advocacy

An award-winning teacher, Philip Genty is a leader in clinical education pedagogy. He co-founded and led the Law School’s Prisoners and Families Clinic, which was later renamed the Incarceration and the Family Clinic. He served as the longtime director of the Law School’s prestigious Harlan Fiske Stone Moot Court Competition, in which the four student finalists present oral arguments in a fictional case before a panel of federal judges including, on occasion, Supreme Court justices.

Genty writes about family law, legal ethics, clinical education, and prisoners’ rights. He has developed legal resource materials for incarcerated parents and works with several nonprofit organizations that assist women in prison. He has taught and consulted on legal ethics and clinical legal education in Israel and central and eastern Europe.

Before joining the Columbia Law School faculty in 1989, Genty taught at Brooklyn Law School and worked as an attorney at Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Legal Services. He assumed the role of vice dean for experiential education and clinic director in January 2021. 

Publications

  • “The State’s Role in the Regulation and Provision of Legal Services in South Africa and the United States: Supporting, Nudging or Interfering?” (co-authored with Helen Kruuse, Faculty of Law, Rhodes University, South Africa), 42 Fordham International Law Journal 373, 2018
  • “Reflections on US Involvement in the Promotion of Clinical Legal Education in Europe,” in Reinventing Legal Education: How Clinical Education Is Reforming the Teaching and Practice of Law in Europe (Alberto Alemanno and Lamin Khadar eds.), Cambridge University Press, 2018
  • “Celebrating the Difference: A U.S. Educator’s Perspective on Legal Education Under the Civil and Common Law,” in Re-Thinking Legal Education Under the Civil and Common Law (Richard Grimes ed.), Routledge 2018
  • The Promise and Potential Pitfalls of Limited Scope Representation and Unbundled Legal Services, 21 Verdict 9, National Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals, April 2015
  • “An Examination of the Challenges, Successes and Setbacks for Clinical Legal Education in Eastern Europe,” (co-authored with Dubravka Askamovic, University J.J. Strossmayera), 20 International Journal of Clinical Legal Education 427, Faculty of Law, Commercial and Company Law, Osijek, Croatia, 2014
  • “Taking Stock and Moving Forward to Improve Prison Visitation Practices: A Response to Prison Visitation Policies: A Fifty-State Survey,” 32 Yale Law & Policy Review 211, 2013
  • “Family-related Consequences,” Collateral Consequences of Criminal Convictions: Law, Policy and Practice (Margaret Colgate Love, Jenny Roberts, and Cecelia Klingele), Thomson Reuters, 2013, 2014 (update), 2018–2019 (update)
  • “Dichotomy No Longer? The Role of the Private Business Sector in Educating the Future Russian Legal Professions,” 40 Fordham Urban Law Journal 283, 2012
  • “Moving Beyond Generalizations and Stereotypes to Develop Individualized Approaches for Working with Families Affected by Parental Incarceration,” 50 Family Court Review 36, 2012
  • “The Challenges of Developing Cross-Cultural Legal Ethics Education,” Professional Development, and Guidance for the Legal Professions, 2011 J. Prof. Law. 37, American Bar Association, 2011
  • “Changes to Parole Laws Signal Potentially Sweeping Policy Shift,” New York Law Journal, September 1, 2011
  • “Sometimes Good Intentions Yield Bad Results: ASFA’s Effect on Incarcerated Parents and Their Children, in Intentions and Results: A Look Back at the Adoption and Safe Families Act,” (with Martha L. Raimon, Arlene F. Lee), Urban Institute and Center for the Study of Social Policy, 2009
  • “Overcoming Cultural Blindness in International Clinical Collaboration: The Divide Between Civil and Common Law Cultures and Its Implications for Clinical Education,” 15 Clinical Law Review 131, Fall 2008
  • “Some Reflections About Three Decades of Working with Incarcerated Mothers,” 29 Women’s Rights Law Reporter 11, 2007
  • “Damage to Family Relationships as a Collateral Consequence of Parental Incarceration,” 30 Fordham Urban Law Journal 1671, 2003

Honors and Awards

Columbia University Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching

2014

Willis L.M. Reese Prize for Excellence in Teaching, Columbia Law School

2008

Activities and Affiliations

  • Visiting Professor, Bar Ilan University Faculty of Law, Ramat-Gan, Israel: intensive courses, Lawyering and Legal Ethics, 2009-2010, 2012-2014; Lawyering for the Elderly and Other Vulnerable Clients, 2016-2017; 2019
  • Visiting Professor, Romanian American University, School of Law, Bucharest, Romania: intensive courses on lawyering and legal ethics, 2012-2016; 2020
  • Facilitator, “Professional Responsibility and Ethics in the Global Legal Market,” Moscow State University Faculty of Law, Moscow, Russia, 2011 and 2013
  • Professor Honoris Causa, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, 2008
  • Litigation; Civil Procedure, Amsterdam/Leyden Summer Program, Netherlands, 2007; 1997-2000
  • Workshop on Innovative Law Teaching: Human Rights and Ethics, Central European University, Summer University, Budapest, Hungary, 2006-2009
  • Presenter, “The Role of Legal Ethics Education in Improving the Legal Professions: A Comparison of Russia and the U.S.,” International Legal Ethics Conference VI, City University, London, July 2014
  • Keynote speaker, “International Conference: Complex Law Teaching: Knowledge, Skills and Values,” Law Faculty of Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic, September 2012
  • Co-presenter, “An Examination of the Challenges, Successes, and Setbacks for Clinical Legal Education in Eastern Europe,” Global Alliance for Justice Education (GAJE) 6th Worldwide Conference, Valencia, Spain, July 2011
  • Planner and Facilitator, Clinical Workshop: “Pedagogical Challenges of Teaching Skills,” Tbilisi, Georgia, May 2011
  • Presenter and consultant, Law Faculty of Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic, May 2011