A $1 million gift supports law school’s clinics
Alumni and friends of the law school are the engine that keeps our clinical legal education program moving forward. Philanthropic support funds the clinics’ important work, nourishing the talent and passion of our student attorneys while furthering the law school’s commitment to serving the public interest and closing the gap in access to justice.
“Jacqui and I hope that our gift will not only help law students get very valuable training to launch their legal careers, but also help solidify the law school with the local community,” Lew Rose.
In that generous spirit, alum Lew Rose ’81 and his wife, Jacqui, recently made a transformative gift —a $1 million bequest. The resulting endowment, the Lew and Jacqui Rose Fund for Clinics, is expected to generate at least $40,000 a year to support the school’s expansive clinical program.
Rose built his career around expertise in advertising law. He worked for several years at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., before joining the international law firm now known as Kelley Drye, comprising more than 350 lawyers and other professionals. In private practice, Rose specialized in consumer protection, advertising and consumer product safety law. At the time of his retirement, he served as managing partner of the firm, working from its New York City headquarters.
Rose says the gift stems in part from his own experience in a UB Law clinic addressing the rights of prisoners, including filing a class-action lawsuit over what they argued was cruel and unusual treatment of inmates in the punitive segregation unit of Attica State Prison.
“The world, our country and our communities have gotten very polarized over the recent past,” he says. “Jacqui and I hope that our gift will not only help law students get very valuable training to launch their legal careers, but also help solidify the law school with the local community.”