Kathleen Rubenstein
Lecturer in Law - Columbia Law School
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435 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10027
Kathleen Rubenstein is a Lecturer in Law at Columbia University and inaugural Visiting Fellow at Northeastern University School of Law’s Center for Public Interest Advocacy and Collaboration. She brings extensive experience in public interest law and nonprofit leadership, having served as executive director of the Skadden Foundation from 2018 to 2025, where she oversaw a prestigious fellowship program that has granted over 1,000 fellowships to attorneys pursuing two-year careers in public interest work addressing civil legal services for low-income populations. A University of Chicago Law School honors graduate, Rubenstein began her career as a Skadden Fellow at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, followed by a federal judicial clerkship and several positions in New York City government, including deputy chief of staff for the NYC Law Department. She holds a certificate in Social Impact Management and Leadership from the Institute for Nonprofit Practice, currently participates in the Haywood Burns Institute’s Racial Justice Training Series, and serves as secretary of the board for the Advocacy Institute; at Columbia, she teaches Professional Responsibility in Public Interest, Government, and Pro Bono Practice.