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Biography

B.A., Fordham University
J.D., Yale Law School

Professor Brescia combines his experience as a public interest attorney in New York City with his scholarly interests to address economic and social inequality, the legal and policy implications of financial crises, how innovative legal and regulatory approaches can improve economic and community development efforts, and the need to expand access to justice for people of low and moderate income.  He is the author of “The Future of Change: How Technology Shapes Social Revolutions” (Cornell University Press, 2020), which examines the intersection of technology and social movements, from the American Revolution, to the present day.  His forthcoming work, “Lawyer Nation: The Past, Present, and Future of the American Legal Profession,” due out in late 2023, will be published by New York University Press.

He is also the co-editor of two books: Crisis Lawyering: Effective Legal Advocacy in Emergency Situations” (New York University Press, 2021); and “How Cities Will Save the World: Urban Innovation in the Face of Population Flows, Climate Change, and Economic Inequality” (Routledge 2016).  He has also published over fifty law review articles in such publications as the Ohio State Law Journal, the Florida State University Law Review, and the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.

Before coming to Albany Law, he was the Associate Director of the Urban Justice Center in New York, N.Y., where he coordinated legal representation for community-based institutions in areas such as housing, economic justice, workers' rights, civil rights and environmental justice. He also served as an adjunct professor at New York Law School from 1997 through 2006. Prior to his work at the Urban Justice Center, he was a staff attorney at New Haven Legal Assistance and the Legal Aid Society of New York, where he was a recipient of a Skadden Fellowship after graduation from law school.

Professor Brescia also served as Law Clerk to the pathbreaking Civil Rights attorney-turned-federal judge, the Honorable Constance Baker Motley, Senior U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York. While a student Yale Law School, Professor Brescia was co-recipient of the Charles Albom Prize for Appellate Advocacy; was a student director of several clinics, including the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Law Clinic and the Homelessness Clinic; and was Visiting Lecturer in Yale College.

​Read his blog: the Future of Change.

View Professor Brescia’s TEDx Talk on Creativity in the Law.

Blog: the Future of Change

​Read his blog: the Future of Change.

Opinion Pieces

Washington Post: Cases this term will shape the Supreme Court far more than Biden’s commission:, Dec. 3, 2021.
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The Hill : A Better Way to Investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol Attack, Feb. 18, 2021
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Washington Post, The USPS Is a Crucial Tool for Democracy — Helping the Left and the Right Organize , August 17, 2020
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The Hill : Preventing a Public Health Crisis from Turning into a Homelessness Crisis , July 16, 2021
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Next City: Saving Homes to Save the Nation , June 24, 2020
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The Hill: It's Not the Technology, It's the Movement , June 8, 2020
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Slate: Eat the Loan Sharks!: Let’s solve the subprime mess by going after lawbreaking lenders, Nov. 24, 2008
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In the News

Professor Ray Brescia's column,"For Lawyers, the Future is Now," was published in The Huffington Post on September 6, 2016.
Professor Ray Bresciajoined TWC News' "Capital Tonight" to discuss his book, "How Cities Will Save the World," on June 6, 2016.
​Professor Ray Bresciadiscussed the issues and themes in his book, "How Cities Will Save the World," with WFAN's Bob Salter on May 22, 2016.
​Professor Ray Brescia's column, "How Cities Will Save the World: Where Progressive Reform Starts," was published by The Huffington Post on May 9, 2016.
​Professor Ray Brescia was quoted in the article"Attorneys face cyber future in sharing economy" in the Times Union on April 22, 2016.
​Professor Ray Brescia's column,"Lawyers: Bulwark against Inequality and Gentrification?" was published by The Huffington Post on April 11, 2016.
​Professor Ray Brescia's column,"Could 'Uber for Lawyers' Be a Thing?" was published by The Huffington Post on March 28, 2016. Hisscholarship on the topic was alsocovered by Law360.
​Professor Ray Brescia's column,"Legal Tech: Rise of the Machines, or the Phantom Menace?" appeared in The Huffington Post on January 12, 2016.
​Professor Ray Brescia's op-ed,"Fighting Social Change, and Hiding Behind Religion," was published by The Huffington Post on September 23, 2015.
​Professor Ray Brescia wrote about Amazon-style working conditions and the path to a fulfilling career in the law in anop-ed for The Huffington Post on September 11, 2015.