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Touro Law Auction Raises $84K for Public Interest Student Fellowships

March 30, 2016

Central Islip, NY - Touro Law Center’s 22nd Annual Goods and Services Auction, held on March 16th at the law school, raised a total of $84,000. All proceeds from the auction benefit Touro Law’s Public Interest Law Fellowship Program, awarding stipends to students who are dedicated to helping others through public service work during the summer. In addition, nine attorneys were honored for their dedication to public interest and pro bono work through the Public Interest Attorney of the Year Recognition Program, led by auction co-chair Lois Schlissel, Esq., managing partner of Meyer, Suozzi, English, Klein, P.C. 

“Touro Law Center’s Goods & Services Auction brings the Touro Law community and the legal community together for a fun evening of networking and fundraising directly for students who work to help members of our community,” stated Dean Patricia Salkin. “The funds raised enable students to focus on public interest work throughout the summer.”

The Public Interest/Pro-Bono Attorney of the Year Program at the Goods & Services Auction honors and recognizes those attorneys who devote their time to those in need through their pro-bono efforts. Those who are recognized best exemplify public interest legal work performed in the areas of poverty law, civil rights law or public rights law, including representation of charitable organizations. The public interest attorneys of the year, nominated by their colleagues and honored at this year’s auction are:
Ralph Branciforte - Sahn Ward Coschignano & Baker, PLLC
Amanda Gentile - Rosicki, Rosicki & Associates, P.C.
Richard Guay - Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C.
Landon Dais - Forchelli Curto Deegan Schwartz Mineo & Terrana LLP
Matthew Spero - Rivkin Radler LLP
Rosanne Trabocchi, Touro Law Center Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Rights Clinic
Cory Morris - Law Firm of Cory H Morris
Robert Abiuso - Sahn Ward Coschignano, PLLC
Tesla Carrasquillo - Legal Aid Society of Nassau County
Mark A. Murray - Murray Law Group, P.C.

As a result of this year’s auction and fundraising efforts for public interest scholarships, Touro Law will be able to award 21 Summer Public Interest Law Fellowships. Fellowships are awarded to upper-division students, who receive a $4,000 stipend for ten weeks of full-time employment with a public interest legal employer including work in poverty law, civil or public rights law, and more. 

Touro Law offers a variety of fellowships and scholarships to both incoming and current students. In the past two years, Touro Law has raised more than $1.5M in student scholarships. The Public Interest Law Fellowship program began at Touro Law nearly 25 years ago. 

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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art law school 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 650 and an alumni base of more than 6,000, 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.

Touro Law’s newly implemented Portals to Practice is a cutting-edge, experiential learning program that reconceives and restructures the law school experience. Portals to Practice expands the scope and quality of legal education by focusing on the development of legal professionals, from pre-law through post-graduation. 

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/.

For more info contact:
Patti Desrochers
Director of Communications
pattid@tourolaw.edu
(631) 761-7062

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