Brooklyn Law School sent off hundreds of new lawyers into the legal world during its 125th commencement ceremony on Monday morning at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House.
The graduates of the Class of 2026 received their judicial degrees from Francis Aquila, the chairman of the school’s Board of Trustees, earning them through years of study, sacrifice and skill as they prepare for careers in law.
Dean David Meyer noted that each member of the class had gained their sheepskin through extraordinary challenges — beginning their studies as the world recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, and concluding them in a world at war and the nation facing deep political division.
“Yet as profound as these challenges have been, they each underscore the importance of your role as lawyers and the urgent need of your passion, your leadership and reason, and your commitment to justice and the rule of law,” Meyer said. “Through all of these challenges, you have grown stronger.”
That, he added, gave him “enormous confidence” that the graduates would use their talents to improve the world.
Brooklyn Law Dean David Meyer addresses the graduating class of 2026.Photo by Ramy Mahmoud 
Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan, U.S. District Judge, District of Columbia, who graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 2010, served as the commencement speaker.Photo by Ramy Mahmoud 
Clara Goldrich, valedictorian of the Brooklyn Law School graduating Class of 2026, with her husband, Jared Bruh.Photo by Ramy Mahmoud 
The graduates of the Class of 2026 received their judicial degrees from Francis Aquila, the chairman of the school’s Board of Trustees, earning them through years of study, sacrifice and skill as they prepare for careers in law.Photo by Ramy Mahmoud 
Dean Meyer with one of the Brooklyn Law School graduates of 2026.Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
The class also heard words of inspiration from someone who had been in their seats just 16 years ago: Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan, U.S. District Judge, District of Columbia, who graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 2010. A native of Trinidad and Tobago, she came to New York at just 16 years of age to pursue a better life — one that, she said, led her to the law.
Earning her judicial degree in 2010 at Brooklyn Law through night courses, she would go on to clerk for several federal judges, including Eric Vitaliano of the Eastern District of New York, and for Associate Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Under former President Joe Biden, Sooknanan was appointed to the federal bench, something that, she told the graduates, she never expected her career to take her 16 years ago.
“This country gave me a better life. It gave me opportunities I could not have dreamed of,” she told the class while advising them to “find your purpose and hold onto it.”
“We each have our purpose. Yours may come from your journey or your family’s journey or from something else,” Sooknanan advised. “Figure out what drives you and what you stand for. And when you find your purpose, hold onto it – because that will carry you through when it gets difficult.”
The attendees and graduates of Brooklyn Law School’s 125th commencement at the Brooklyn Acdemy of Music.Photo by Ramy Mahmoud 
Some of the happy graduates.Photo by Ramy Mahmoud 
Flowers for the graduate.Photo by Ramy Mahmoud 
Celebrating with family.Photo by Ramy Mahmoud 
They did it!Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
Speaking for the graduating class, Valedictorian Clara Goldrich reflected on their time at Brooklyn Law and the way the faculty and staff prepared them for the real world ahead in extraordinary times.
“This is such an exciting moment of celebration and transition,” Goldrich told amNewYork Law. “I am so proud of my classmates and can’t wait to see what the future holds for us all.”