Matthew Diller

The New York City Bar Association on Thursday announced the nomination of the former dean of the Fordham University School of Law and Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law to serve as its next president, elevating a prominent voice at the intersection of law and social welfare.

If elected, Dean Matthew Diller would succeed President Muhammad U. Faridi in May.

"Fordham is thrilled that Matthew is taking on this vital role at the helm of the City Bar. We are immensely proud of him and excited to see him build upon his transformative impact as dean at such an important institution," Fordham Law Dean Joseph Landau said in a statement to Law360 on Thursday. "His nomination also honors a storied Fordham tradition. Matthew is the first academic to lead the association since Dean Emeritus John Feerick in the early '90s. We look forward to seeing him continue this legacy of service, bridging the gap between legal education and the profession with the same vision he championed at Fordham." 

Fordham Law calls Diller "one of the nation's leading voices on access-to-justice issues." Diller served as dean there from 2015 to 2024, founding the school's Access to Justice Initiative. Last July, he joined the John D. Feerick Center for Social Justice as co-senior counsel alongside Feerick.

Under Diller's leadership, Fordham Law launched an initiative to train students to become voting rights lawyers under the leadership of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP special counsel and Fordham Law adjunct professor Jerry Goldfeder. The school also partnered with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP to open an institute focused on cross-border transactional trends and global regulatory and legal issues.

Before his time at the helm of Fordham Law, Diller served as the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law's dean from 2009 to 2015. He also spent seven years as a staff attorney in the civil appeals and law reform unit of The Legal Aid Society, where he litigated several important cases, including Jiggetts v. Grinker, which held that shelter allowances must bear a "reasonable relation" to the cost of housing in New York City.

Within the bar, Diller has served on the administrative law, civic education and federal courts committees. He has also been a vice president, member of the board of directors and co-chair of the Council on the Profession. Diller currently chairs the Independence of Lawyers and Judges Task Force.

"I am honored to have been nominated for the position of president of the New York City Bar Association at a critical moment. The mission of the association has never been more important than it is today," Diller said in the announcement. "I look forward to working with all of our committees, officers, the association's superb staff and others in the legal community to make our legal system more fair, to uphold the principles and institutions of our great democracy, and to bring us closer to the ideal of justice."

Patrick T. Campbell of BakerHostetler, Paula T. Edgar of PGE Consulting Group LLC and New York state court Justice Andrea Masley were also nominated for one-year terms as vice presidents of the bar.

Ana Alfonso of O'Melveny & Myers LLP was nominated to continue in her role as association treasurer, and Michael A. Fernández of Cozen O'Connor was nominated to serve as association secretary.

Danielle C. Lesser of Morrison Cohen LLP, Glenn Metsch-Ampel of Lawyers For Children, Michael P. Regan of Meister Seelig & Fein, Tracey Salmon-Smith of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, Jessenia Vazcones-Yagual of Sompo International, Kaylin Whittingham of Whittingham Law and Chris Wilds of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP were nominated to the bar's board of directors.

--Additional reporting by Sarah Martinson and Kevin Penton. Editing by Melissa Treolo.