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Taylor Ann Weber ’19

Taylor Ann Weber ’19 is an Assistant District Attorney in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, NY.

Weber graduated from New York Law School with a JD in 2022.


Taylor’s Purchase Experience in Her Own Words

​I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer, so when I began attending Purchase as a freshman in 2015, I made sure to carefully choose classes that would align with that goal. When I signed up for my first Anthropology class, I did so more out of curiosity than anything else. Little did I know just how strong of an impact that class would have on me. I was so enthralled by what I was learning, that I added Anthropology on as a major just a few months later.

Anthropology is an intrinsically compassionate science, where you spend much of your time working in the field, truly hands-on, observing and interacting with your fellow human beings. It’s also incredibly diverse. In four years I took courses on magic and witchcraft, politics and activism, art, sound, and culture–all viewed through the lens of the complicated human experience. I was drawn to the politics and activism sides of Anthropology, and many of the courses I took at Purchase have continued to have an effect on the choices I make.

I graduated from New York Law School in 2022, with a focus on civil rights and criminal defense. I have worked for the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender, the New York State Attorney General, and The Legal Aid Society. I also worked with my school’s Post-Conviction Innocence Clinic to assist wrongfully convicted defendants in moving to vacate their convictions.

Purchase’s Anthropology program also inspired me to get more involved with the movement to assist immigrants in seeking safe asylum here in the US, and I have worked with some amazing organizations to directly assist asylum-seekers.

People are always confused when I tell them I majored in Anthropology, and now I’m a lawyer—they can’t see where those two things connect. But I’ve always felt it was obvious—lawyers, especially those working in criminal law, work with many different people from many different cultures.

Anthropology helped me to better understand and respect the diversity I will encounter in the legal field, and it also assisted me in communications with clients dealing with trauma. Most importantly, it has instilled within me the desire to see human beings thrive, and persevere, despite what the world may throw at us.

Anthropology has continued to provide me with insights into the legal community that I would not have otherwise had.

I continued to remain engaged with and fascinated with this field and am so thankful for all of the lessons it continues to teach me.