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Barbara Schatz

Barbara A. Schatz is Clinical Professor of Law Emerita at Columbia Law School  where she has taught and supervised students in representing nonprofit organizations since 1986. Her principal areas of interest are nonprofit organizations, social enterprise, community development, and clinical teaching. ​​She has served on the PILnet board since its incorporation in 2006 and chaired the board from 2006 until 2017. She currently serves on the boards of The Bank Street College of Education, Trickle Up, and Nonprofit New York.  She also serves on the Emeritus board of Human Rights First, an organization that she co-founded and on the board of which she served for more than 35 years. She has taught and consulted with law faculties in China, Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Poland, Hungary, and several other countries in central and eastern Europe in connection with their efforts to establish clinical legal education programs. Prior to joining the faculty of Columbia, she served as executive director of the Council of New York Law Associates (now the Lawyers Alliance for New York). As director, she administered a pro bono program for 1,800 lawyers, created the organization’s Community Development Legal Assistance Center and co-founded Court Appointed Special Advocates, a program of advocacy for children in foster care, as well as Human Rights First. She also represented nonprofits, particularly developers of low-income and special needs housing, in corporate, tax and real estate matters.