Fired US attorney Preet Bharara to join NYU Law School

India-born former top federal prosecutor Preet Bharara, fired by the Trump administration after he refused to quit, will join the prestigious New York University's law school as a distinguished scholar.
The NYU School of Law announced today that 48-year-old Bharara will join the school as a "distinguished scholar in residence" on April 1.
Bharara said the opportunity to join the law school will enable him to continue working on issues that he cares about such as criminal and social justice and honest government.
"I am honored to join the NYU School of Law, one of the great educational institutions in America, and I welcome the chance to contribute in such a thoughtful setting," Bharara said in a statement issued by the law school.

He said he is "thrilled for this opportunity to continue addressing the issues I so deeply care about-criminal and social justice, honest government, national security, civil rights, and corporate accountability, to name a few."
Bharara also took to Twitter to announce his new position. "This is one way I plan to keep working hard on important issues I care about "@nyulaw," he tweeted.

The former Manhattan attorney is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School. He has been a frequent visitor to NYU Law and was the convocation speaker in 2015.
Bharara's firing was met with shock and criticism since then President-elect Donald Trump had asked him in November to stay on in his position during a meeting at the Trump Towers.

In a sudden move, the administration this month asked the 46 Attorneys across the US, who had been appointed by former President Barack Obama, to submit their resignations with immediate effect. Bharara had refused to resign and was fired.
In his tenure as the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, Bharara oversaw many prosecutions of financial crimes, including numerous insider trading charges.
He won insider trading convictions against India-born Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, as well as against Gupta's friend and business partner Raj Rajaratnam. Bharara's office had also brought charges against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade leading to tensions in India-US relations.

NYU Law said Bharara comes to institution at the conclusion of his tenure as US attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the longest for anyone holding that position.
"As US attorney, Bharara brought a number of public corruption prosecutions against politicians working at the city and state levels," notably the speaker of the New York State Assembly Sheldon Silver and State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, the law school said in a statement.
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NYU School of Law has a number of research centres devoted to particular areas of law and public policy. From time to time it brings in senior former government officials to collaborate on the work of these centres and to pursue their own research.

Bharara is joining the Law School as a distinguished scholar in residence, a full-time position at the Law School, but that does not preclude him from taking on other engagements.
The school said in particular "we expect he will participate in the activities of NYU's Center for Cybersecurity; the Law School's Center on Law and Security; the Law School's Center on the Administration of Criminal Law; and the Law School's Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement."
The Law School said it also expects that Bharara will take part in the intellectual life of the Law School (participating in panel discussions, student forums, etc.). He may also teach, but no specifics are available on that at this time.

In announcing Bharara's appointment, NYU Law Dean Trevor Morrison said: "We are thrilled to have Preet join the NYU Law community, where both students and faculty will benefit from his deep knowledge and experience in criminal justice.