Regularly during the school year, the Dean hosts roundtable discussions with prominent guests who have utilized their law degrees in a variety of nontraditional ways. Over lunch with a small group of students, guests speak autobiographically about their work experiences, sharing valuable insight about how they found their chosen path. Please note that the roundtables are informal and off-the-record.
Cliff Chenfeld ’85, who will be the Dean’s guest on Thursday, November 17, is Co-CEO of Razor and Tie Music Corporation and Kidz Bop. In 1990, Cliff and fellow Law School alumnus Craig Balsam’86 created Razor and Tie, an independent record label. Operating out of Cliff’s apartment for the first two years, the company achieved quick success and soon earned a Gold Record for the album “Disco Fever”. Settling into offices in Greenwich Village, the company expanded in the 1990s to include publishing, media buying and home video units. During the 1990s, the company scored a number of Gold and Platinum albums.
In 2001, Cliff and Craig created Kidz Bop, a CD series aimed at the “tween” market. The series was an instant success and quickly became the best-selling children’s music series in the country. In addition to owning and running Razor & Tie and Kidz Bop, Cliff was also the Executive Producer of two recent movies—“Serious Moonlight,” starring Meg Ryan and Timothy Hutton, and “How Sweet the Sound,” an American Masters/PBS documentary on Joan Baez.
Cliff graduated from Ohio State University in 1981, after which he worked as a musician and at a record store. He moved to New York in 1982 and earned a J.D. at the New York University School of Law in 1985. After graduation, Cliff clerked for Judge I. Leo Glasser of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York and then joined Sullivan & Cromwell as a litigation associate.
The Dean’s roundtables are open to 18 interested NYU School of Law J.D. and graduate students. In order to achieve a representational mix of students, we will designate a proportionate number of seats to J.D. students and graduate students, respectively, to be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. The roundtables will begin at 12:30 P.M. in Snow Dining Room. If you would like to attend a roundtable, please sign up in advance by emailing Penelope Fernandes at at penelope.fernandes@nyu.edu. Please indicate whether you are a J.D. or graduate student, and whether you have any dietary restrictions.