Biography
B.A., Fordham University
J.D., Yale Law School
Professor Brescia combines his experience as a public interest attorney in New York City with his scholarly interests to address economic and social inequality, the legal and policy implications of financial crises, how innovative legal and regulatory approaches can improve economic and community development efforts, and the need to expand access to justice for people of low and moderate income. He is the author of “The Future of Change: How Technology Shapes Social Revolutions” (Cornell University Press, 2020), which examines the intersection of technology and social movements, from the American Revolution, to the present day. His forthcoming work, “Lawyer Nation: The Past, Present, and Future of the American Legal Profession,” due out in late 2023, will be published by New York University Press.
He is also the co-editor of two books: Crisis Lawyering: Effective Legal Advocacy in Emergency Situations” (New York University Press, 2021); and “How Cities Will Save the World: Urban Innovation in the Face of Population Flows, Climate Change, and Economic Inequality” (Routledge 2016). He has also published over fifty law review articles in such publications as the Ohio State Law Journal, the Florida State University Law Review, and the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.
Before coming to Albany Law, he was the Associate Director of the Urban Justice Center in New York, N.Y., where he coordinated legal representation for community-based institutions in areas such as housing, economic justice, workers' rights, civil rights and environmental justice. He also served as an adjunct professor at New York Law School from 1997 through 2006. Prior to his work at the Urban Justice Center, he was a staff attorney at New Haven Legal Assistance and the Legal Aid Society of New York, where he was a recipient of a Skadden Fellowship after graduation from law school.
Professor Brescia also served as Law Clerk to the pathbreaking Civil Rights attorney-turned-federal judge, the Honorable Constance Baker Motley, Senior U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York. While a student Yale Law School, Professor Brescia was co-recipient of the Charles Albom Prize for Appellate Advocacy; was a student director of several clinics, including the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Law Clinic and the Homelessness Clinic; and was Visiting Lecturer in Yale College.
Read his blog: the Future of Change.
View Professor Brescia’s TEDx Talk on Creativity in the Law.
Blog: the Future of Change
Read his blog: the Future of Change.
Opinion Pieces
Washington Post: Cases this term will shape the Supreme Court far more than Biden’s commission:, Dec. 3, 2021.
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The Hill : A Better Way to Investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol Attack, Feb. 18, 2021
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Washington Post, The USPS Is a Crucial Tool for Democracy — Helping the Left and the Right Organize , August 17, 2020
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The Hill : Preventing a Public Health Crisis from Turning into a Homelessness Crisis , July 16, 2021
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Next City: Saving Homes to Save the Nation , June 24, 2020
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The Hill: It's Not the Technology, It's the Movement , June 8, 2020
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Slate: Eat the Loan Sharks!: Let’s solve the subprime mess by going after lawbreaking lenders, Nov. 24, 2008
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In the News
Hon. Harold R. Tyler Chair in Law and Technology; Professor of Law Ray Brescia authored the Los Angeles Times story, “Opinion: The PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger isn’t the problem,” on June 13, 2023.
Hon. Harold R. Tyler Chair in Law and Technology; Professor of Law Ray Brescia was quoted in the Above the Law story, “Small Firms, Small Towns: Bringing Legal Services To Rural Communities,” on June 20, 2023.
Hon. Harold R. Tyler Chair in Law and Technology; Professor of Law Ray Brescia authored the City Monitor story, “The case against golf courses,” on March 16, 2023.
Hon. Harold R. Tyler Chair in Law and Technology; Professor of Law Ray Brescia authored, “ANALYSIS: Innovative Law Schools Embrace Experiential Learning,” on Bloomberg Law on March 14, 2023.
Hon. Harold R. Tyler Chair in Law and Technology; Professor of Law Ray Brescia was quoted in the Law 360 story, “Law Prof Makes Case For 'Teaching To The Tech' Amid AI Risk,” on February 23, 2023.
Hon. Harold R. Tyler Chair in Law and Technology; Professor of Law Ray Brescia authored the Truthout.org article, “With Warnock’s Win, Senate Dems Could Establish a Jan. 6 Committee of Their Own,” on December 8, 2022.
Hon. Harold R. Tyler Chair in Law and Technology and Professor of Law Ray Brescia was quoted in the Bloomberg Law webstory, “Law School Ethics Becomes ‘Real,’ Tackles Covid, Social Justice,” on Jan.25, 2022.
Hon. Harold R. Tyler Chair in Law and Technology and Professor of Law Ray Brescia authored, “Viewpoint: Shield New Yorkers from predatory debt collectors,” on Dec. 20, 2021.
Hon. Harold R. Tyler Chair in Law and Technology and Professor of Law Ray Brescia wrote, “Cases this term will shape the Supreme Court far more than Biden’s commission,” in the Washington Post on Dec. 3, 2021.
Hon. Harold R. Tyler Chair in Law and Technology and Professor of Law Ray Brescia was featured in the Bloomberg Law analysis, “Should Legal Tech Knowledge Be Tested on the Bar Exam?” on August 6, 2021.
Selected Achievements
Professor Ray Brescia was named a 2019 academic fellow of the Pound Civil Justice Institute, a national legal think tank that works to ensure access to justice for citizens and provide a balanced view of the issues affecting the U.S. civil justice system.
Professor Ray Brescia was named a 2019 academic fellow of the Pound Civil Justice Institute, a national legal think tank that works to ensure access to justice for citizens and provide a balanced view of the issues affecting the U.S. civil justice system.
Professor Ray Brescia was named to the transition committee for incoming New York Attorney General Letitia James in November 2018.
Professor Ray Brescia,with assistance from six first-year students, co-authored amicus briefs recently filed in two U.S. Courts of Appeals on behalf of 165 members of Congress. The briefs argued that the Trump administration's executive order limiting travel from six predominantly Muslim countries was “vastly overbroad.”
Professor Ray Brescia,with assistance from six first-year students, co-authored an amicus brief filed on behalf of 167 members of Congress opposing the Trump administration’s immigration executive order.
Professor Brescia was appointed to Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan's blue ribbon panel on rail oil safety.
Professor Brescia has been appointed director of the law school’s Government Law Center.
Videos
Raymond H. Brescia
Associate Dean for Research and Intellectual Life; Hon. Harold R Tyler Chair in Law and Technology