31st Annual Commencement Ceremony to Honor, Celebrate Class of 2013
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31st Annual Commencement Ceremony to Honor, Celebrate Class of 2013
May 2, 2013Touro Law Center’s 2013 Commencement ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 26, 2013 at The New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan. The ceremony will include an address from Commencement Speaker the Honorable Victoria Graffeo, Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals and an honorary degree will be awarded to Allen I. Fagin, Partner at Proskauer Rose.
“We are proud of Touro Law’s class of 2013,” said Dean Patricia Salkin. “They are a passionate group of dedicated future lawyers and the first class that I have the privilege to graduate as Dean. I know Judge Graffeo will provide an inspiring message as they leave law school behind and embark on their future endeavors.”
Victoria A. Graffeo, Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, was born in Rockville Centre, New York in 1952. Educated in the Schenectady and Guilderland public school systems, she graduated from the State University College at Oneonta in 1974 and received her J.D. from Albany Law School of Union University in 1977. She engaged in private practice from 1978 to 1982, and entered government service in 1982 as assistant counsel to the New York State Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. She began employment in the State Legislature as counsel to Assembly Minority Leader Pro Tempore Kemp Hannon in 1984 and served as chief counsel to Assembly Minority Leader Clarence D. Rappleyea, Jr. from 1989 through 1994.
On January 1, 1995, she was appointed Solicitor General for the State of New York by Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco and served in that capacity until appointed, in September 1996, by Governor George E. Pataki to fill a vacancy in the State Supreme Court, Third Judicial District. She was elected that November to a full term as Justice of the State Supreme Court and, in March 1998, became an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Third Department. Her appointment to the Court of Appeals by Governor George E. Pataki was confirmed by the State Senate on November 29, 2000. She currently resides in Guilderland, New York.
Allen Fagin is being awarded an honorary degree from Touro Law for his service to the profession and commitment and dedication to the law school and his leadership as Chair of the Dean Search Committee. Mr. Fagin is Senior Partner at Proskauer Rose LLP in New York. He served as Chairman of the firm from 2005-2011, and is a former co-Chair of the Labor & Employment Law Department. He has represented clients in such diverse fields as telecommunications, transportation, health care, insurance, legal services, utilities, financial services, entertainment and manufacturing.
Mr. Fagin has represented employers in all types of employment litigation, including claims alleging age, race, sex and national origin discrimination, breach of contract, defamation, and wrongful discharge. He has litigated matters – which include multi-plaintiff and class action litigation – in the state and federal courts of New York as well as a number of other jurisdictions, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Texas, California, and Maryland. In addition to traditional litigation, he has handled numerous employment-related disputes on behalf of insurance and financial services industry clients before arbitration panels of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the New York Stock Exchange.
A recognized leader in the field of labor and employment law, Mr. Fagin has appeared on CNN and been quoted in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Crain’s New York Business, Business Week, ABA Journal, US News and World Report, and The New York Law Journal. He has published regularly in the labor and employment field and has contributed numerous articles to Human Resource Executive, Legal Report (a publication issued by the Society for Human Resource Management), The National Law Journal, The Practical Lawyer, and Corporate Counselor. He also is a frequent lecturer on employment discrimination matters and has spoken at a multitude of seminars for clients, in-house counsel and human resources and labor professionals.
Despite the demands of his practice, Fagin still finds time to provide leadership in the community and has devoted a substantial portion of his spare time to numerous philanthropic organizations. For example, Allen is a Senior Vice President of the Orthodox Union and a former member of the Board of Directors of Lawyers Alliance of New York, an organization providing pro bono legal services to non-profit and community development organizations in the New York City area. He is also on the Board of Trustees of Touro College.
For additional information about this year’s commencement ceremony, please contact the Registrar’s Office at registrar@tourolaw.edu or call (631) 761-7040.
“We are proud of Touro Law’s class of 2013,” said Dean Patricia Salkin. “They are a passionate group of dedicated future lawyers and the first class that I have the privilege to graduate as Dean. I know Judge Graffeo will provide an inspiring message as they leave law school behind and embark on their future endeavors.”
Victoria A. Graffeo, Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, was born in Rockville Centre, New York in 1952. Educated in the Schenectady and Guilderland public school systems, she graduated from the State University College at Oneonta in 1974 and received her J.D. from Albany Law School of Union University in 1977. She engaged in private practice from 1978 to 1982, and entered government service in 1982 as assistant counsel to the New York State Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. She began employment in the State Legislature as counsel to Assembly Minority Leader Pro Tempore Kemp Hannon in 1984 and served as chief counsel to Assembly Minority Leader Clarence D. Rappleyea, Jr. from 1989 through 1994.
On January 1, 1995, she was appointed Solicitor General for the State of New York by Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco and served in that capacity until appointed, in September 1996, by Governor George E. Pataki to fill a vacancy in the State Supreme Court, Third Judicial District. She was elected that November to a full term as Justice of the State Supreme Court and, in March 1998, became an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Third Department. Her appointment to the Court of Appeals by Governor George E. Pataki was confirmed by the State Senate on November 29, 2000. She currently resides in Guilderland, New York.
Allen Fagin is being awarded an honorary degree from Touro Law for his service to the profession and commitment and dedication to the law school and his leadership as Chair of the Dean Search Committee. Mr. Fagin is Senior Partner at Proskauer Rose LLP in New York. He served as Chairman of the firm from 2005-2011, and is a former co-Chair of the Labor & Employment Law Department. He has represented clients in such diverse fields as telecommunications, transportation, health care, insurance, legal services, utilities, financial services, entertainment and manufacturing.
Mr. Fagin has represented employers in all types of employment litigation, including claims alleging age, race, sex and national origin discrimination, breach of contract, defamation, and wrongful discharge. He has litigated matters – which include multi-plaintiff and class action litigation – in the state and federal courts of New York as well as a number of other jurisdictions, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Texas, California, and Maryland. In addition to traditional litigation, he has handled numerous employment-related disputes on behalf of insurance and financial services industry clients before arbitration panels of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the New York Stock Exchange.
A recognized leader in the field of labor and employment law, Mr. Fagin has appeared on CNN and been quoted in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Crain’s New York Business, Business Week, ABA Journal, US News and World Report, and The New York Law Journal. He has published regularly in the labor and employment field and has contributed numerous articles to Human Resource Executive, Legal Report (a publication issued by the Society for Human Resource Management), The National Law Journal, The Practical Lawyer, and Corporate Counselor. He also is a frequent lecturer on employment discrimination matters and has spoken at a multitude of seminars for clients, in-house counsel and human resources and labor professionals.
Despite the demands of his practice, Fagin still finds time to provide leadership in the community and has devoted a substantial portion of his spare time to numerous philanthropic organizations. For example, Allen is a Senior Vice President of the Orthodox Union and a former member of the Board of Directors of Lawyers Alliance of New York, an organization providing pro bono legal services to non-profit and community development organizations in the New York City area. He is also on the Board of Trustees of Touro College.
For additional information about this year’s commencement ceremony, please contact the Registrar’s Office at registrar@tourolaw.edu or call (631) 761-7040.
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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, New York. 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 a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, 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, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College 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. New York Medical College, Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro University Worldwide and its Touro College Los Angeles division are separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/media/.
Patti Desrochers
Director of Communications
pattid@tourolaw.edu
(631) 761-7062