Orientation 2026: Welcoming a New Cohort to Columbia Law

Over two weeks in August, this year’s J.D. and LL.M. candidates arrived on the Morningside campus to begin their Columbia Law School journeys at an orientation packed with programming designed to help them connect with their classmates, prepare for the academic year ahead, and above all, welcome them as the newest members of the Columbia Law community. 

In his opening remarks, Daniel Abebe, Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law, warmly greeted the students. “It could not be clearer that this is a group of exceptional individuals. Individuals who hail from around the country and the world. Individuals who represent wildly different backgrounds and life experiences. Individuals who have come to Columbia with an overriding desire to gain mastery of the law and make an impact in the world,” he said.

The Dean continued by introducing the principles, including free expression and academic excellence, that guide Columbia Law School. “As one of the world’s leading institutions of higher learning, our North Star is to advance knowledge and seek truth—no matter where it lies. We aim to teach you how to think, not what to think,” he said to the incoming 1Ls, explaining that to do so, the Law School encourages faculty and students to discuss and debate issues openly. “This kind of environment helps us to understand the views of others, helps us to strengthen our own arguments, and, at times, dare I say, allows us to even change our minds. It also reinforces the ideas, dialogue, and constructive engagement that are nonnegotiable parts of life at Columbia Law School.”

He later urged the students to do their part to preserve these core values. “Principles like free expression and academic excellence do not uphold themselves. They only endure when people and institutions do the hard, daily work of living up to them,” he said. 

AI and Preparing for the Future of the Legal Profession

This year, for the first time, all incoming students attended a specially designed session that provided a baseline for understanding AI and the ways in which the rapidly evolving technology is already being used in legal education and legal practice. 

The Paul, Weiss Orientation Session: Law in the Age of AI featured presentations by Talia Gillis, Daniel G. Ross Professor of Law; Neel Guha, associate professor of law; and Laura C. Turano, M&A partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. “You're really starting at a time that's particularly transformative and exciting because AI is really changing how law is studied and practiced, but how exactly these changes will land is impossible to predict,” said Gillis when introducing the event. 

Other orientation programming included professional advancement panels and a résumé workshop; sessions on community and academic life; presentations by faculty, administrators, and special guests; and wellness and social activities.

J.D. Class of 2029 Orientation Highlights

Dean Abebe, Associate Dean and Dean of Admissions Nkonye Iwerebon, and Student Senate President Onyx Brunner ’27 welcomed the Class of 2029 to the Law School on the first day of their three-day orientation. 

Beginning this year, 1Ls were also assigned houses (cohorts of first-year students who stay together through all foundational 1L classes), which each serve as a supportive, connected community within the larger first-year J.D. class. Designed to foster close relationships among students and with faculty while creating meaningful opportunities for feedback, advising, and intellectual engagement, the new house system does even more to help first-year students flourish from the moment they set foot on campus.

Students also heard from Columbia Law’s three careers offices—the Office of Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers, the Office of Judicial Careers, and the Office of Private Sector Careers—about pathways to professional practice and career support. In a new exercise, the students had the opportunity to gather with fellow house members and reflect on the moment by writing letters to their future selves about their goals, hopes, and intentions for the year ahead.  

Members of the J.D. class:

• Represent 37 states and the District of Columbia, and 19 countries across six continents. 
• Attended 119 colleges and universities; 80% have been out of college for one year or more; and 17% already hold graduate or professional degrees.
• Include engineers, speechwriters, a fashion designer, military veterans, a podcast producer, and stand-up comedians.
• Speak or read 56 languages spanning the globe—from Aramaic to Armenian; Bengali to Wolof; and from Hungarian to Korean. 

“Three years of law school may seem like a long time today. It is not. Graduation will arrive sooner than you imagine. And between now and then, many of the things that bring you the greatest joy—or ultimately mean the most to you—will never appear on your résumé or transcripts. The people you meet here count. The conversations matter. The small moments are important. There will always be another goal. Another accomplishment. And yet another destination. … So don’t become so consumed with preparing for whichever goal comes next that you miss what is happening now.”—Nkonye Iwerebon, Associate Dean and Dean of Admissions

“What is the Columbia that you want to inhabit? Do you want to create space for collaboration? Do you want to go to school in a place where we can all try things out, learn from our mistakes without fear of reprisal? Will you use your microphone in class and call everyone into the conversation? Can you disagree with one another without losing mutual respect? Can we hold space for our common dignity? … Can we do all of this while having a little bit of fun along the way? These are the questions I encourage you to ask yourselves, to ask me, to ask your colleagues.”—Onyx Brunner ’27, Student Senate President

LL.M. Orientation Highlights

The LL.M. Class of 2027 kicked off their orientation with welcome remarks from Dean Abebe, Associate Dean for Professional Affairs Administration Petal Modeste, and Assistant Dean of the Office of Graduate Degree Programs Julie Sculli. The focus for this year’s LL.M. orientation was connecting students with each other and the broader Columbia community as well as gaining critical information from faculty and campus leaders necessary to navigate the first few weeks as Columbia Law School LL.M.s. The students also met one-on-one with their academic advisers for help with designing an individualized program of study and began two mandatory courses: Introduction to American Law and LL.M. Legal Research and Writing. 

Members of the LL.M. class:

• Studied law in 56 different jurisdictions.
• On average, have four-and-a-half years of professional experience, post–first degree in law, and include judges from Thailand and Japan; Supreme Court clerks from India, Israel, Puerto Rico, and Singapore; and partners from law firms in China, Brazil, and the U.S.
• Have nonlegal experience ranging from teaching high school and writing children’s books to winning championships in fencing, tennis, and kickboxing.
• Include 12 Fulbright scholars.

“Lawyers are taught to think critically, to argue, to negotiate, to advocate, to win. Kindness doesn't usually make the list. Yet, the world you are entering needs more than brilliant lawyers. It needs deeply human ones.”—Petal Modeste, Associate Dean for Professional Affairs Administration

“Our LL.M.s represent the best and brightest. They have traveled the world to be here, including a classmate from Griffith, New South Wales, Australia, which is about 10,220 miles from New York City. They left impressive jobs to be a part of the rare and precious ecosystem that is Columbia Law School. These students are brilliant and driven and worth knowing.”—Julie Sculli, Assistant Dean, Office of Graduate Degree Programs