Law students interested in public service, democracy and leadership training now have a new hub at New York University School of Law.
NYU Law launched the Center for Law and Public Trust in December 2025, directed by Vanita Gupta, an NYU Law adjunct professor, alum and former U.S. associate attorney general.
The center offers practical training, policy design and scholarship aimed at rebuilding trust in American institutions and preparing lawyers to lead them.
“It is striking to me that so many lawyers in our country go on to lead institutions with little to no intentional management or leadership training,” Gupta said. “So, I hope to offer that to NYU Law students, young lawyers and mid-career lawyers.”
Gupta said the center will help students and lawyers learn “effective ways to lead and get things done in government service and civil society organizations,” including how to manage crises and navigate difficult political terrain.
“These are the types of things that are really important and valuable, and that I wish I had had with every new job that I started, including my most recent job in the government,” Gupta said.
She added, “The center will be very practically oriented. Through issue briefs, roadmaps for the future and innovation and design labs, it will develop blueprints for reimagining institutions. And since institutions are trusted only as far as we trust the people who lead them, we’ll also be looking very closely at leadership and what leadership needs to look like at this moment.”
Gupta served as U.S. associate attorney general from 2021 to 2024. She previously led the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division during the Obama administration and was president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. She is currently a distinguished scholar in residence and adjunct professor at NYU Law.
“Ever since she joined our community as a distinguished scholar in residence, I have been struck by Vanita’s energy, her dedication to her students, and her constructive approach to addressing the times in which we find ourselves,” said Troy McKenzie, dean and Cecelia Goetz professor at NYU Law. “This new center will be an enormous asset to both our community and to our country at large.”
The center’s work responds to a shared, nonpartisan crisis of confidence in American institutions and will examine which institutions retain legitimacy, which are viewed as broken and how they can be rebuilt to be more resilient against corruption and abuse.
“Trust in American institutions — government, courts and even civil society — has steadily eroded and now stands at historic lows,” Gupta said. “Our focus will be on thinking about how to rebuild institutions that have been so core to our democracy and doing that in a forward-looking way.”
Throughout her career, Gupta has worked across ideological lines on issues ranging from criminal justice reform to police-community trust.
“The best ideas can emerge or can stick when we break down silos and invite people in who challenge us,” she said.
Gupta acknowledged that cynicism and status quo thinking pose challenges but is optimistic.
“This work is hopeful and forward looking,” she said. “People are hungry to chart a future and feel like we are building towards something. So, I’m excited to launch this center, at this moment, to do just that.”
