UB Law Links

HON. PAUL L. FRIEDMAN, U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, DELIVERS KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT COMMENCEMENT: University President John B. Simpson and Dean Nils Olsen conferred juris doctor degrees on 234 students. Nine students received post-graduate LL.M. degrees in criminal law; six students received post-graduate general LL.M. degrees.

For a complete list of award recipients:

http://www.buffalo.edu/news/fast-execute.cgi/article-page.html?article=73320009

TRIAL COMPETITION PROGRAM BUILDS A NATIONAL REPUTATION: Under the guidance of more than a dozen alumni and members of the Western New York legal community, the trial competition program – which sends teams of students across the country to compete – is finding major success. Chief among the good news is UB Law’s first-place victory in the Lonestar Classic Invitational Tournament in San Antonio, Texas. “This has been our most ambitious year to date in terms of the number of competitions entered and the number of teams winning or advancing to the finals of national competitions,” said Buffalo City Judge Thomas P. “Tim” Franczyk, who coordinates the program at the Law School. “You could say it is our breakout year. Within the past three years in particular, it has really gone through the roof.”

21 SUMMER PUBLIC INTEREST POSITIONS FUNDED BY DEAN, DONORS AND BPILP EVENTS: Between the 10th Annual Buffalo Public Interest Law Program (BPILP) Auction and the UB Jazz Night, BPILP events raised a record $29,000 to be used towards providing UB Law School students with the opportunity to accept unpaid public sector summer positions. With additional support coming from Dean Nils Olsen, the members and leadership of BPILP, public interest-minded alumni donors, and co-sponsoring student groups, 21 public interest projects – throughout the country and around the world-- received funding for this summer. In addition, four outstanding students were awarded national fellowships. We are proud to announce this year's Summer Public Interest Fellows.

BALDY CENTER SPEAKER ADDRESSES ISSUES IN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS DEBATE: An issue of religion and law currently before the U.S. Supreme Court was the topic of a Feb. 18th Baldy Center lecture at UB by Paul Finkelman, Chapman Distinguished Professor at the University of Tulsa College of Law. His address, “The Ten Commandments on the Courthouse Lawn and Elsewhere,” drew on his experience as the chief expert witness in Alabama district court in a widely publicized 2003 case about whether a granite monument bearing the biblical Ten Commandments should be removed from Alabama’s state judicial building.

LAW REVIEW HONORS ROBERT B. CONKLIN ’68 AND HIGHLIGHTS SUCCESSFUL MENTORING INITIATIVE: There is no teacher like experience, it has been said. But an experienced mentor in the legal profession – that comes awfully close. UB Law School’s successful mentoring program, partnering practitioners with law students eager to learn the practicalities of the profession, was the focus of the 16th annual Buffalo Law Review Dinner, held April 21 at The Buffalo Club. The Class of 2005 was the first to benefit from this mentoring, an outgrowth of the school’s Dean’s Advisory Council. And editors of the Law Review honored Robert B. Conklin ’68, who first proposed the idea and has been instrumental in its success.

SPORTS LAWYER MASON P. ASHE ’89 ADDRESSES STUDENTS OF COLOR: A successful sports and entertainment attorney who was listed by Sports Illustrated magazine as among the “101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports” was the featured speaker at this year’s Students of Color Dinner, held April 8 in the Buffalo Niagara Marriott. Awards were given to a number of prominent figures in the legal community, including: Crystal D. Peoples, who serves the 141st District of the New York State Assembly; Barbara A. Sherk ’02, who teaches advanced legal research and writing; Hon. Julio M. Fuentes ’75, who serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit; and Lourdes M. Ventura ’98, an assistant attorney general with the New York State attorney general’s office.

OUTLAW DINNER CELEBRATES THREE IN AREA’S GAY COMMUNITY: Three people prominent in Western New York’s gay and lesbian community were honored on the evening of Wednesday, April 27, as Outlaw – the Law School’s student association for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people – celebrated its ninth annual recognition dinner at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo. The honorees were Barbra A. Kavanaugh ’83, confidential law clerk to New York State Supreme Court Justice John F. O’Donnell; John H. Morgan, executive director of the Men of Color Health Awareness Project; and James A. Ver Steeg, executive director of the Pride Center of Western New York.

FACULTY

LOUIS A. DELCOTTO SR.'51, LAW PROFESSOR TAX AUTHORITY, DIES: University at Buffalo Law Professor Emeritus Louis A. DelCotto Sr. died Saturday, April 9, after a lengthy illness. He was 81. As a leading professor, Mr. DelCotto was instrumental in extensively shaping and defining the tax curriculum at the law school for more than 40 years.

DEAN NILS OLSEN’S EULOGY FOR LOUIS DEL COTTO: “I first met Lou and Bea in Spring of ’77 when I was interviewing for a position on the faculty of the University at Buffalo Law School. Lou went out of his way to show me the Buffalo community and worked with David Kochery, another long-time faculty member, to make arrangements for me to meet with a number of young, successful attorneys in the area.”

PROFESSOR PETER PITEGOFF TO LEAVE; NAMED NEXT DEAN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE SCHOOL OF LAW: In July of this year, Peter Pitegoff, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at the University at Buffalo Law School, will become the sixth dean of the University of Maine School of Law, the only law school in Maine and one of only two public law schools in New England. Located in the City of Portland, it is a unit of the University of Maine System and is administratively affiliated with the University of Southern Maine. Pitegoff has been a law professor at UB since 1988.

UB LAW ALUMNI

NYS COURT OF APPEALS BENCH ARE OUR HONORED GUESTS AT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AWARDS: It was in the presence of distinguished witnesses that the UB Law Alumni Association held its 43rd annual meeting and dinner on April 14. The seven-member New York State Court of Appeals – which had met in session in downtown Buffalo that day – gathered with alumni, friends and honorees for a celebration of the Law School’s best and brightest. Distinguished Alumni Awards for 2005 were presented to three honorees. An additional highlight was the presentation of the Hon. M. Dolores Denman Scholarship Award by the late Justice Denman’s best friend, Hon. Judith S. Kaye.

NEW JOB FOR MICHAEL BATTLE: Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced that he will appoint Michael A. Battle as Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) at the Department of Justice on June 6, 2005. Battle has served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York since January 2002 and will resign prior to taking office as Director of EOUSA. He will succeed Mary Beth Buchanan, who has served simultaneously as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and Director of EOUSA since June 2004.

UB LAW ALUMNI PURSUE JUSTICE IN IRAQ: Forward Operating Base Danger occupies the grounds of one of Saddam Hussein's opulent presidential compounds in the Iraqi city of Tikrit - 6,070 miles and a world away from O'Brian Hall, home to the University at Buffalo Law School on its North Campus in Amherst. But for Capt. David J. State, Lt. Col. Robert C. Moscati and Capt. Christopher Wisniewski, the two structures are closely connected. The three men - all graduates of UB Law School - are assigned to the Tikrit base as lawyers in the Army's Judge Advocate General Corps.

JUDGE VICTORIA GRAFFEO ADDRESSES NEW YORK CITY ALUMNI: A member of the state’s highest court was in New York’s biggest city on Jan. 28 to meet with Big Apple alumni of UB Law School. Judge Victoria Graffeo addressed the alumni chapter, one of the Law School’s most active, at a lunchtime gathering in the famed Waldorf Astoria hotel. Graffeo mused about the odd ways people’s paths cross over the course of their careers, and noted: “The truth is, you never really know where the people you work with and deal with will end up in years to come. How you handle yourself professionally is just so important, and how you develop your reputation.”