Touro Law Center Marks Appointment of Dean Patricia Salkin at October 11 Convocation

Former Chief Judge Judith Kaye Will Deliver Keynote

October 4, 2012

Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, an innovator in legal education, will host an Academic Convocation to mark the installation of Dean Patricia E. Salkin, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip on Thursday, October 11.

Judge Judith Kaye, former Chief Judge of the State of New York, will deliver the keynote address following opening remarks from Dr. Alan Kadish, president and chief executive officer of the Touro College and University System. The Hon. Victoria Graffeo, Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, will also participate in the program.

“Touro Law Center has developed a national reputation for its innovative learning programs that prepare law students to be practice-ready upon graduation,” said Dean Patricia E. Salkin. “It is a privilege to assume leadership of a law school that so uniquely blends an intellectual understanding of the law with a real-life understanding of day-to-day legal practice. Working together with our outstanding faculty, I aim to further elevate Touro Law’s status as a model for law schools nationwide.”

Touro Law Center is one of the only law schools in the country to offer a “Collaborative Courthouse Program” that brings all first-year students into a courthouse setting as a part of their curriculum, and it is the only law school to house a public advocacy center.

Patricia Salkin, a nationally renowned legal scholar, is the law school’s fifth dean and its first female dean. She replaces Dean Lawrence Raful, who distinguished himself during his eight years of service.

Dean Salkin has published numerous casebooks, treatises, books and more than 100 articles, columns, studies and reports on topics including municipal law, sustainable development, climate change, affordable housing, and aging law. She is a member of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) House of Delegates and has held leadership positions within both the ABA and the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA). She is currently a member of the ABA’s Standing Committee on Governmental Affairs.

The Dean, who has chaired several NYSBA task forces, also chaired the State and Local Government Law Section for the American Association of Law Schools. An elected member of the American Law Institute, Dean Salkin is an advisor for the drafting of the Principles on the Law of Government Ethics. She chairs the amicus curiae committee for the American Planning Association, and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Urban Lawyer.

Salkin has served on the transition teams for attorneys general Eric Schneiderman, Andrew Cuomo and Eliot Spitzer. She is a member of the University Council for Empire State College, has served on the Council for the University at Albany, and has worked with the National Park Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Academy for Public Administration and the National Governors Association.

She has received honors from the ABA, the New York State Bar, the Capital District Women’s Bar and other organizations. Salkin is on the New York City Bar Task Force on New Lawyers in a Changing Profession.

Judge Kaye -- currently of counsel to the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom -- served in the New York State Judiciary for more than 25 years, appointed in 1983 as Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, and then in 1993 as Chief Judge of the State of New York. She was the first woman to be appointed to either position. She gained a national reputation for both her groundbreaking decisions and her innovative reforms of the state’s court system. She is a graduate of New York University School of Law (cum laude) and Barnard College.

The convocation will be preceded by an open house at Touro Law Center, offering tours of the law school building, clinical suite, Gould Law Library and William Randolph Hearst Public Advocacy Center, as well as an opportunity to meet Dean Salkin.

Because of limited seating, reservations are required for the 6:00 pm convocation. For information or to reserve a seat, email events@tourolaw.edu or call (631) 761-7064.

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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip. Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, with a student body of approximately 750 and an alumni base of more than 5,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for American and overseas law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College and University System.

About the Touro College and University System
Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 19,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris, and Florida. Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro College Los Angeles and Touro University Worldwide as separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/media/.

For more info contact:

Patti Desrochers
Director of Communications
pattid@tourolaw.edu
(631) 761-7062

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