November 2007

Dear Friends,

On Sunday, October 21 we dedicated our new building in Central Islip . It was a wonderful ceremony filled with both serious and light-hearted moments. Our Touro family has much to be proud of – and our speakers, including United States Senator Charles Schumer and Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, all focused on various aspects of the long journey that began with Dean Emeritus Howard Glickstein’s vision. A particular highlight for me was the unveiling of the newly refurbished portrait of Judge Jacob D. Fuchsberg, which looks terrific in the Atrium. I am glad so many members of the Fuchsberg family were on hand for the occasion.

We did manage to surprise a few folks. We awarded an Honorary Degree to Senator Schumer; named two side-by-side classrooms for Dean Glickstein and our builder Ron Parr in recognition of their tireless dedication as true partners on this project for more than fourteen years; and we named our new Atrium for Judge Leon Lazer – in honor of his distinguished career as lawyer, trial judge, appellate judge, and Touro law professor. The day truly reflected Touro in its best light. 

We expect the positive press coverage of the dedication ceremony and our new facility is just the beginning of more public accolades to come. Add to that the enthusiastic welcome of the Central Islip community and the local bench and bar and you can see how it is easy to stay focused on Central Islip. I’m pleased that our students, alumni and friends in the legal community realize what a terrific opportunity we have as the first law school in the United States to be part of a campus with a federal courthouse and a state courthouse. Everyone I meet is supportive, generous and enthusiastic about our move and our proactive plans to take full advantage of our building and new location.

We dedicated our William Randolph Hearst Public Advocacy Center on Monday, October 29. The Center is home to 15 not-for-profit legal advocacy agencies devoted to helping people who are under-represented in our region, groups devoted to helping the poor, persons with disabilities, victims of domestic violence and others in the community who do not have adequate access to justice. Each agency has an office staffed by attorneys who work with students, providing them with an opportunity to sample the satisfaction of public service and imparting practical experience that will help them in their careers and teach them the value of pro-bono service. You can learn more about the Center by visiting www.tourolaw.edu/PAC.

Touro’s visionary approach to legal education includes a new curriculum that teaches today’s students the skills employers seek and the profession demands. A major objective of the curriculum is to facilitate advanced experiential learning by exposing students to a range of skills through practice-oriented courses and supervised placement in the public and private sectors.

At the same time, our excellent faculty ensures ample coverage of doctrinal law. Touro students learn to think critically about the lawyering process from the start of their education – and each year they learn progressively more sophisticated practice skills. In our innovative Court Observation Program, students visit the State Courthouse in their first semester, observing Family Court, Criminal Court or Supreme Court proceedings, as well as visiting the Arraignment Part of Suffolk County District Court and the prisoner holding area. In their second semester, students observe oral argument on motions, jury selections and trials in the Federal Courthouse.

A short story that illustrates the value of the Court Observation Program, as well as our rapport with federal and state court judges, comes from Judge Leonard Wexler, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York. Judge Wexler’s courtroom is in the Central Islip Federal Courthouse. He recently told me about seven Touro students who decided to visit his courtroom during an ongoing trial (each day Touro students receive an electronic update of the proceedings in both courthouses). Judge Wexler not only welcomed the students to his courtroom, he allowed them (with counsel’s permission) to sit in on side bar conversations. Access like that does not happen for students in any other law school in this country.

Our new building is exciting. We’ve finally “graduated from the junior high school,” to paraphrase The New York Times. Students no longer have to scramble for a space to study. The entire building is wireless. Classrooms have “smart podiums” with computer command consoles that control a wide range of audio-visual devices. Visiting law firms find elegant offices in which to conduct student interviews. Large LCD screens on each floor direct visitors to events on campus. A full-service bookstore sells everything from textbooks to bestsellers to candy and a wide range of Touro Law apparel. Classrooms are configured to encourage lively legal debate. There are rooms of all sizes for student and public events. The centerpiece is the 500-seat Auditorium/Moot Courtroom with walls adorned with stunning Marc Chagall inspired tapestries. 

Equally exciting is the fact that members of the bench and bar are already visiting with much more frequency, participating in conversations with our students and faculty in special meeting areas. It has been a very active fall semester. In September we hosted the Suffolk County Bar Association’s Judiciary Night. In October we hosted numerous local and regional conferences, ranging from zoning and land use planning to Judge Lazer’s Annual Supreme Court Symposium each attracting hundreds of participants. Outside groups such asErase Racism and Keys for the Homeless presented major conferences with fabulous speakers who helped enrich our students education in so many ways. And, on any given day we have multiple activities, including in-house programs and events sponsored by our Black Law Students Association (BLSA), our Jewish Programs Committee, Breast Cancer Awareness, and Court Observation lunches with visiting judges and practitioners. We are well on our way toward becoming a true center for law, education, social activism and community service for the entire region.

New Faculty

A quick glance at the Annual Thanksgiving Card and our faculty pictured in our dignified new atrium will reveal many new faces. In the last two years we have added nine new professors. Last year we welcomed Professors Fabio Arcila, Jr., Rodger Citron, Jack Graves, Sharon Pocock, and Meredith Miller. This year four stellar faculty joined the Touro family: Professors Deseriee Kennedy, who specializes in Family Law, and Shayna Sigman whose interests are in the field of Law and Economics; and Tracy McGaugh and Johanna Dennis in Legal Process.

Deseriee Kennedy, Associate Professor of Law has a B.A. from Lehigh University , a J.D. from Harvard University School of Law, and an LL.M. from Temple University School of Law. She joins Touro Law Center after 12 years on the faculty at the University of Tennessee College of Law, where she taught civil procedure, family law, women and the law, family violence, and business torts. Before starting her career in legal education, she was a commercial litigator and an Assistant City Solicitor in Philadelphia, PA. Professor Kennedy has also represented clients in children's rights cases, worked on death penalty appeals, and was a volunteer member of the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department. Her scholarship has been published in the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, the Arizona State Law Journal, the Missouri Law Review, the Southern California Review of Law, and the Journal of Race, Gender, and Class, among other journals. In addition, she has a chapter in the book, Stepping Forward, Black Women in Africa and the Americas (Higgs, et al. eds).

Shayna M. Sigman, Associate Professor of Law has a B.A. from Boston University and a J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School. Before joining Touro Law Center , Professor Sigman was a faculty member at the University of Minnesota School of Law, where she taught torts, remedies, sports law, law and economics, jurisprudence, and creditor remedies/secured transactions. Prior to teaching at the University of Minnesota, she clerked for Chief Judge Richard A. Posner, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Professor Sigman has written and lectured on a wide variety of subjects including the jurisprudence of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first Commissioner of Baseball, polygamy, Jewish Law, and violence in sports. Her work has been published in numerous law reviews and journals across the country. Her current research focuses on the interaction between private ordering and legal regulation, particularly in the context of the family, as well as the sports industry. In addition, she is the Chair of the Jewish Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) for 2007-2008.

Johanna K.P. Dennis, Assistant Professor of Legal Process has a B.A. from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, a J. D., from Temple University School of Law, and an M.S. (in Biotechnology) from Johns Hopkins University . Professor Dennis joins Touro Law Center from Florida A&M University College of Law, where she taught legal writing and research. Before joining the FAMU faculty, she clerked for Judge William P. Gilroy of the Superior Court of New Jersey , Appellate Division. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar and is a registered Patent Attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Professor Tracy McGaugh, Associate Professor of Legal Process is a nationally known figure in the legal writing community and a much-sought-after speaker on generational issues in legal education. She is the co-author of the Interactive Citation Workbook and Workstation, a standard resource in legal writing programs across the country, and has written and lectured widely on legal writing and law teaching, both nationally and internationally. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Legal Writing Institute and is a founding member of the AALS Section on Balance in Legal Education. Prior to joining the faculty at Touro she taught Legal Research and Writing at South Texas College of Law and at Texas Tech University School of Law, where she also served as Associate Director of the Legal Practice Program.

At our recent Board of Governors meeting, Professor McGaugh gave a presentation on legal writing that was incredible. She really does know how to use the technology in this building to its full advantage. The audio and PowerPoint presentation for her workshop can be found at http://legal_process_program_of_touro_law_center.classcaster.org/blog

Please take the time to look at the 45 minute presentation. It will be worth your while.

People, Programs and Events

• In addition to our long-running and successful Summer Programs in Germany, Russia, China, and India , this year we are adding the first American summer law program in Jerusalem, Israel, in cooperation with the Hebrew University Faculty of Law. We are so pleased to partner with Hebrew University, the oldest and most prestigious law school in Israel – it is a giant feather in our international cap.

• “When those charged with defending the law betray that trust, then the victory of tyrants is assured.” We hope this is the message of “Hitler’s Courts: Betrayal of the Rule of Law in Nazi Germany,” Touro’s award-winning documentary that marked the 60^th anniversary of the Nuremberg trials. The film contains archival footage from the Nazi era, and on-camera interviews with leading voices in international law, including Whitney R. Harris, a member of the prosecuting team in Nuremberg in 1947 and former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Gabriel Bach, who was an assistant prosecutor at the 1961 trial of the “final solution” architect, Adolf Eichmann.

The film is intended to provide history, law, and Jewish studies educators, as well as general audiences, with an exploration of issues arising from the complicity of lawyers and judges in Nazi policy. Some questions addressed include: What political and psychic pressures compelled representatives of Germany ’s legal establishment to implement National Socialist doctrine as law? What price is paid by transgressing law in the name of defending law? What lessons can we draw concerning the consequences of state and political interference in the justice system? Were the distortions of law under the Nazis an anomaly in legal history, or did they point to a potential weakness in all legal institutions?

The documentary grew out of our 2002 and 2005 summer conferences in Berlin and Nuremberg , and has aired on PBS. We recently received a grant from the Samuel & Claire A. Mozel Charitable Trust to produce a study guide for use in high schools and colleges throughout the country, which Professor Rodger Citron is currently developing.

• I am delighted to report that through the hard work of Associate Dean Nicola Lee and the Director of Financial Aid Michele Kaminski, nearly 90 students had prestigious paid placements this year in a program that more than doubled last year’s number of paid summer jobs available through our Public Interest Law Fellowships, Dean’s Fellows, and the Federal Work Study Program.

• In September, we held the 25^th Annual Bainbridge Moot Court Competition. I was honored to join United States District Court, Southern District of Iowa Judge Robert W. Pratt, New Jersey State Supreme Court Judge Jaynee LaVecchia, and United States District Court, Eastern District of New York Chief Judge Raymond Dearie on the finals bench. Second year day student Daniel Cutler won the competition and second year day student Catherine Reyes-Tuzinkiewicz was selected as the best oral advocate.

• In October we continued our Family Day tradition – but this year invited alumni to come back and visit. The event was a great success, with pony rides, pumpkins, and face painting for the children, and an introduction to the Law Center for the families of our students, with simulated classes, tours, and a barbeque. Family Day is usually the first opportunity 1Ls and their families have to interact socially with faculty and administration, and it is always a special part of our fall calendar.

Career Services Office

Our terrific team of career service professionals, under the leadership of Assistant Dean Brett Gilbert, has expanded our On Campus Interview Program to include more than 30 law firms, corporate legal departments, and government agencies. The success of the program is in large measure due to the commitment of many members of the Law Center’s Board of Governors, who have brought in their firms and companies, and we remain grateful to them for recognizing the importance of this program for our students.

I am also pleased to report that we have hired Margarett Williams, a 2005 Touro grad, as Director of Employer Relations. She is responsible for reaching out to law firms, both regionally and nationally, to tell them about our new building and our new curriculum, but mostly to let them know about the caliber of our Touro students and the first-class education they receive at our law school.

Students/Admission News

Touro is a diverse community and a place of opportunity for today’s students. In August we welcomed a well-motivated group of 290 students with outstanding credentials. We received 2,204 applications, and students come to us from 20 states and 123 undergraduate colleges and universities; 49.6% are women and 19.7% are students of color. The average age of our students is 25.6. Our students in the LL.M. Degree Program for Foreign Lawyers come to us from around the globe, and their presence enriches the law school community in many ways.

Alumni and Development News

• Numerous alumni have visited the new campus, many as a part of our newly created Alumni Council under the leadership of Kristin Matthews, Director of Development and Alumni Relations. We are so proud that the Council now has more than 140 members who return to help the law school in the admissions and career services areas, as well as serving as competition judges and mentors for current students.

• The information gathered from our alumni survey and online directory has proven helpful in developing joint programs between our Development and Career Services Offices. Programs include an alumni lecture series, mentoring activities, and internships to help students with career choices and summer and post-graduation jobs.

• I am also deeply grateful that so many of our alumni are active supporters of the school. They help to make our community stronger. To date close to 100 alumni have made a gift to our “Take a Seat” Campaign – where alumni and others donate $1,000 for a seat plate on the back of an auditorium chair. Equally exciting is our high percentage of overall alumni giving – a fact that portends well for the future of our school.

• A few words about our password protected online alumni directory – please use it! We hope that it will be a resource for our alumni, whether they are looking for a colleague for a referral, to network, for job prospects, or just social interaction. You can search the database by name, geographical area, class year or practice area. You can update your information online or post a class note that allows you to discuss your latest success: partnership, victory or landmark decision – and post your resume, a new feature just added.

• In June, Touro graduate and Board of Governors member Philip Kerstein ’84, Senior Vice President, Tax for Pfizer, Inc. was honored with the Paul S. Miller “With Liberty and Justice For All” Award, and our good friend John Danzi, of Long Island Hotels, was honored with our Friend of Justice Award at our Annual “With Liberty and Justice for All” Fund Raising Dinner at the Garden City Hotel. Proceeds from this year’s dinner were close to $230,000, and were used to benefit the Capital Campaign.

• In October we held our Fifth Annual Susan M. Dietrich Clyne ’88 Memorial Golf Tournament. The event, held at the Muttontown Country Club, is named for Ms. Dietrich Clyne, who tragically perished in the World Trade Center on September 11. This year’s honoree was Touro Board of Governors member Vincent Ferro, Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel of First American Title Insurance Company of New York . Proceeds from the event benefit the Susan M. Dietrich Clyne Memorial Scholarship Fund.

• Also in October, we held Reunion 2007 in our new Central Islip home celebrating the classes of 1987, 1992, 1997, and 2002. It was a resounding success. Alumni arrived to renew friendships, share stories, and network with their professors and former classmates. I am grateful to the committee for knowing how important this still-evolving program is to the future of our law school.

• Our fundraising has been impressive. Some of the highlights since last January include: a $2 million pledge made at our Annual Alumni Winter Reception by Bruce K. Gould ’84 and his family to name the Gould Law Library; a $125,000 grant from the Horace and Amy Hagedorn Fund of the Long Island Community Foundation in support of the Public Advocacy Center; a $250,000 grant from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation to name the Public Advocacy Center; a $250,000 grant by the Samuel & Claire A. Mozel Charitable Trust to name the Jewish Law Institute; a grant of $250,000 by the Abraham Goldstein and Lillie Goldstein Charitable Trust to name the Judaica Room in the Gould Law Library; and a $50,000 grant from the CAMBR Foundation for Jewish-related programming. I am so very grateful to all of our donors - the board members, friends, and alumni behind the foundation, corporate and government support, as well as the many individual donors to our various campaigns and fundraising events. The next time you are in our building take a moment to look at the new Donor Wall in the Atrium. It really shows the commitment of so many generous people. We continue to set the bar high for our fundraising, because we believe that what we are trying to accomplish at this law school is worth the effort and we appreciate the fact that so many of you agree.

A Final Word

With our hands-on programming, busy clinics, visits from the outside legal community and beautiful new setting, I'm convinced that a great partnership is developing that will position Touro as a special place for students now and, upon becoming alumni, for decades to come. For current Touro Law alumni, your diploma can only grow in value with our prestigious new setting and innovative academic plan.

We think our graduates will be very proud of their law school. Both the William Randolph Hearst Public Advocacy Center and the Court Observation Program are the first of their kind in the country – and only could have happened with our move to Central Islip. We have come a long way in the past few years and I invite you to visit us and experience the school in person. The first alumni event of 2008 will be the Annual Alumni Winter Reception during the New York State Bar Association Meeting on Thursday, January 31^st at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan . I look forward to seeing you there.

Touro Law Center is an important institution with great potential.I feel blessed to be able to work with the entire Touro community in order to continue our growth in stature and recognition. My best wishes for health, peace and success in the coming year.

Sincerely,

Lawrence Raful
Dean and Professor of Law