Touro Law Center Opens
Public Advocacy Center The first of its kind in the country, Touro Law partners with legal advocacy agencies to benefit community and law students
Congressman Steve Israel's remarks
Central Islip, N.Y. – Touro College Jacob D. FuchsbergLaw Center celebrated the opening of its new and unique William Randolph Hearst Public Advocacy Center. A wing of Touro Law School’s new building is dedicated to the Center, bringing together
non-profit legal advocacy agencies and the Touro Law community to provide services to the local community and provide opportunities for Touro students to participate in pro bono work while gaining hands-on legal training.
“This Center is the first of its kind in the nation and has the potential to affect many lives,” said Dean Lawrence Raful. “Our community and our law school will be enhanced because of this collaboration and I believe the Center will have an impact on social justice and legal training.”
Opening ceremonies included a ceremonial “red tape” ribbon cutting at the entrance of the Center and a formal program which included a recorded message from Congressman Steve Israel, who praised the innovative idea of creating the Center, and Ilene Mack of the Hearst Foundation, who expressed her excitement of being part of the Center. Dean Lawrence Raful announced the appointment of Thomas Maligno, Director of Public Interest at Touro Law who has a 30-year history of advocating in civil legal service agencies, as Executive Director of the Public Advocacy Center. In addition, several individuals from non-profit agencies of the Center spoke about the opportunity to be a part of the Center and shared early stories of success in working with law students to help the community.
“The William Randolph Hearst Public Advocacy Center is visionary,” said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union and a member of the Center. “This model will be replicated in forward-thinking law schools around the country and I say it’s about time.”
Housed within the law school, the Center provides furnished offices to local non-profit agencies who agree to provide opportunities for law students to work with the agency. This partnership provides additional resources for participating non-profit groups and the opportunity for hands-on skills training for students while developing an understanding of the problems facing the local community.
Currently, fifteen agencies are members of the William Randolph Hearst Public Advocacy Center. They include; the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Brighter Tomorrows, The Central American Refugee Center, The Empire Justice Center, The Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, Long Island Advocacy Center, Long Island Housing Services, Nassau/Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc., The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sepa Mujer, Services for the Advancement of Women, The Society of American Law Teachers, The Suffolk Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Suffolk County Coalition Against Domestic Violence, The Victims Information Bureau of Suffolk, The Workplace Project. In addition to these resident agencies, there are also more than 30 additional organizations who are affiliate members of the Center. Affiliate members have access to use Touro Law facilities and the ability to work with our students.
Photo Caption: Seen here at the ceremonial red tape ribbon cutting for the newly created William Randolph Hearst Public Advocacy Center are (from left to right): Thomas Maligno, Executive Director of the Public Advocacy Center and Director of Public Interest at Touro Law Center; Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, a member of the Center; Lauren Bernard, President of the Public Interest Law Students of Touro student organization; Ilene Mack, Program Director of Grants for the Hearst Foundation; Howard M. Stein, Chairman of Touro Law Center’s Board of Governors; and Lawrence Raful, Dean and Professor of Law at Touro Law Center.
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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center has a cutting-edge academic plan and a new 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art law campus adjacent to and working with a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro’s new campus provides a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro, which has a student body of approximately 750 and an alumni base of more than 5,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs as well as graduate law programs.
