Elizabeth Cosenza

Elizabeth Cosenza is an associate professor at the Gabelli School of Business. She was a recipient of the 2020 Poets & Quants Best Undergraduate Professor Award.  She earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was senior editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and her B.A., summa cum laude, from Fordham University, where she was valedictorian of the Class of 1998 and elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

A former Truman Scholar from New York and Rhodes Scholar district finalist, Professor Cosenza entered into private practice at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP upon graduation from Harvard Law School. Her practice areas included securities law, credit, and mergers and acquisitions. In 2016, the New York Law Journal selected Professor Cosenza as one of its Rising Stars—an elite group of attorneys under age 40 who “have established a record of accomplishments and demonstrated that they are top contributors to the practice of law and their communities.”

Professor Cosenza has written a number of articles on significant developments in the federal securities laws, including The Persistent Problem of Multi-Forum Shareholder Litigation: A Proposed Statutory Response to Reshuffle the Deck, 10 VA. L. & Bus. Rev. 413 (2016), Is the Third Time the Charm? Janus Capital Group et al., v. First Derivative Traders: Has the Supreme Court Properly Calibrated the Balance Between Primary and Secondary Actor Liability Under Section 10(b)?, 33 CARDOZO L. REV. 101 (2012), Paradise Lost: Section 10(b) After Morrison v. National Australia Bank, 11 CHI. INT’L L. J. 343 (2011), and Rethinking Attorney Liability under Rule10b-5 in Light of the Supreme Court's Decisions in Tellabs and Stoneridge,16 GEO. MASON L. REV. 1 (2008).

In addition, she has authored and published on important issues relating to corporate governance, including The Holy Grail of Corporate Governance Reform: Independence or Democracy?, 2007 B.Y.U. L. REV. 1, which was cited by the Delaware Court of Chancery in Jana Master Fund v. CNET Networks, 954 A.2d 335 (Del. Ch. 2008)—an important decision on shareholder proxy access.

Professor Cosenza also has written on venture-capital investments and damages issues flowing from such investments, including Co-Invest At Your Own Risk: An Exploration of Potential Remedial Theories for Breaches of Rights of First Refusal in the Venture Capital Context, 55 AM. U. L. REV. 88 (2005).

Professor Cosenza’s articles have been cited in a number of prominent legal journals, including the University of Chicago Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, Alabama Law Review, Fordham Law Review, Iowa Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law, Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, Delaware Journal of Corporate Law and Indiana Law Journal.

In the last few years, Professor Cosenza has participated in numerous amicus briefs in connection with significant securities-related litigations. Most recently, she joined a number of leading securities law professors in amicus briefs submitted to the United States Supreme Court and the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in several high-profile securities class action litigations.  Several of these amicus briefs have been published by The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation.

At Fordham, Professor Cosenza has taught Legal Framework of Business, Commercial Transactions, Business Law I, Securities Law, and Survey of the Law. She has served in several leadership positions at Fordham. In addition to her current role as Chair of the Law and Ethics Area, she previously served on the Gabelli School’s Executive Committee and as the Secretary of the Gabelli School Council.

Professor Cosenza is fluent in Portuguese and has basic knowledge of spoken and written French and Spanish.

• J.D.: Harvard Law School
• Master's:
• Bachelor's: B.A., Fordham University

• Securities Law
• Corporate Governance
• Venture Capital

• Brief for Former SEC Officials and Law Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners:  In re Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Securities Litigation, Case 20-222 (forthcoming Sup. Ct. Feb. 1, 2021) (among a group of securities law professors and former commissioners and officials of the SEC who are submitting an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in In re Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Securities Litigation).
• Brief for Former SEC Officials and Law Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Certiorari Petition:  In re Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Securities Litigation, Case 20-222 (Sup. Ct. Sept. 24, 2020) (among a group of securities law professors and former commissioners and officials of the SEC who are submitting an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in In re Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Securities Litigation).
• Brief for Former SEC Officials and Law Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners:  In re Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Securities Litigation, Case 18-2557 (2d Cir. forthcoming May 19, 2020) (among a group of securities law professors and former commissioners and officials of the SEC who are submitting an amicus brief to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in In re Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Securities Litigation).
• Brief for Former SEC Officials and Law Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners:  In re Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Securities Litigation, Case 18-2557 (2d Cir. February 23, 2019) (among a group of securities law professors and former commissioners and officials of the SEC who are submitting an amicus brief to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in In re Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Securities Litigation). 
• Brief for Former SEC Officials and Law Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Petition for Permission to Appeal:  In re Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Securities Litigation, Case 18-2557 (2d Cir. Sept. 4, 2018) (was among a group of securities law professors and former commissioners and officials of the SEC who submitted an amicus brief to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in In re Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Securities Litigation). 
• Brief for Former SEC Officials and Law Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners:  In re Barclays Bank PLC Securities Litigation, Case 17-1209 (Sup. Ct. March 2018) (among a group of securities law professors and former commissioners and officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission who are submitting an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in In re Barclays Bank PLC Securities Litigation).
• Brief of Amici Curiae Law Professors in Support of Petitioners: Cyan, Inc. et al., v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, et al. (Sup. Ct. Sept. 5, 2017) (was among a group of securities law professors who submitted an amicus brief at the merits stage to the United States Supreme Court).
• Brief of Amici Curiae Law Professors and Former SEC Officials in Support of Petition for Permission to Appeal Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(f): In re Big Lots, Inc. Securities Litigation, Case 17-303 (6th Cir. Apr. 7, 2017) (was among a group of securities law professors and former officials of the Securities Exchange Commission who submitted an amicus brief to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the In re Big Lots, Inc. Securities Litigation).
• Brief of Amici Curiae Law Professors and Former SEC Officials in Support of Defendants-Appellants: In re Intuitive Surgical Securities Litigation, Case 17-80001, (9^th Cir. Jan. 17, 2017) (was among a group of securities law professors and former commissioners and officials of the Securities Exchange Commission who submitted an amicus brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in In re Intuitive Surgical Securities Litigation).
• The Persistent Problem of Multi-Forum Shareholder Litigation: A Proposed Statutory Response to Reshuffle the Deck, 10 Va. L. & Bus. Rev. 413 (2016).
• Brief for Amici Curiae Former SEC Officials and Law Professors in Support of Defendants-Appellant: In re Barclays Bank PLC Securities Litigation, Case 16-1912 (2d Cir. Aug. 1, 2016) (was among a group of securities law professors and former commissioners and officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission who submitted an amicus brief to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in In re Barclays Bank PLC Securities Litigation.
• Brief of Amicus Curiae Professors and Former Commissioners and Officials of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in Support of Defendants-Appellants: In re Petrobras Securities Litigation, Case 16-1914 (2d Cir. July 28, 2016) (was among a group of securities law professors and former commissioners and officials of the Securities Exchange Commission who submitted an amicus brief to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in In re Petrobras Securities Litigation).
• Brief of Amici Curiae Law Professors in Support of Petitioners: Cyan, Inc. et al., v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, et al. (Sup. Ct. June 26, 2016) (was among a group of securities law professors who submitted an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court).
• Brief for Amici Curiae Former SEC Officials and Law Professors in Support of Petition for Permission to Appeal: In re Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Securities Litigation, Case 15-3179 (2d Cir. Oct. 14, 2015) (was among a group of securities law professors and former commissioners and officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission who submitted an amicus brief to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in In re Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Securities Litigation).
• Brief for Former SEC Commissioners and Officials and Law Professors as Amici Curiae Supporting Petitioners: Halliburton Co. and David Lesar v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc., HARV. L. SCH. FORUM ON CORP. GOVERNANCE & FIN. REG., Jan. 14, 2014 (was among a group of securities law professors and former commissioners and officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission who submitted an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc.).
• Is the Third Time the Charm? Janus and the Proper Balance Between Primary and Secondary Actor Liability Under Section 10(b), 33 CARDOZO L. REV. 101 (2012).
• Paradise Lost: Section 10(b) After Morrison v. National Australia Bank, 11 CHI. INT’L L. J. 343 (2011).
• Professors Argue Against U.S. Courts Hearing Foreign Securities Claims in Elliott Assocs. v. Porsche, HARV. L. SCH. FORUM ON CORP. GOVERNANCE & FIN. REG., Aug. 28, 2011 (was among a group of professors of American and German securities law who submitted an amicus brief to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Elliott Associates v. Porsche).
• Dura-tion: A New Paradigm for Construing the Statute of Limitations in Securities Fraud Class Actions, 63 BAYLOR L. REV. 681 (2010).
• Rethinking Attorney Liability under Rule 10b-5 in Light of the Supreme Court's Decisions in Tellabs and Stoneridge, 16 GEO. MASON L. REV. 1 (2008).
• The Holy Grail of Corporate Governance Reform: Independence or Democracy?, 2007 B.Y.U. L. REV. 1.
• Co-Invest At Your Own Risk: An Exploration of Potential Remedial Theories for Breaches of Rights of First Refusal in the Venture Capital Context, 55 AM. U. L. REV. 88 (2005).