Academics

March 2025

Touro Law clinical programs are making an impact. 

Representing immigrants. Representing veterans and servicemembers. Representing senior citizens. Representing children and young adults. Assisting small business owners.

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Honing Essential Lawyering Skills While Providing Essential Services in the Community

Every Touro Law student is guaranteed a clinical experience. With nearly a dozen clinics to choose from, students work under close faculty supervision to assist real clients with legal needs. Read some recent highlights from work done thus far this school year in the clinical program.

 

CLINICAL PROGRAM UPDATES

Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic

The Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic achieved several landmark victories for Long Island
based clients and contributed to the broader conversation on immigration law and policy.

  • Asylum Victory in NYC Immigration Court: Joshua Stickell and Michael O’Connor achieved a major win by successfully arguing an asylum case before the New York City Immigration Court. Their thoughtful preparation and zealous advocacy resulted in a life-changing grant of asylum for their client, offering safety and opportunity after a lifetime of hardship.

  • Green Card Restored: In another significant success, an Immigration Judge in Buffalo granted a motion to reconsider and terminate a years-old removal order. The motion, filed by Daniel Diaz and Joshua Cohen in the Spring 2024 semester, argued that intervening federal circuit court caselaw rendered their client not deportable. This decision restored their client’s green card, offering renewed stability and opportunity.

  • Youthful Offender Convictions Vacated: Rachael Gianetti and Michelle Shimonov tireless work helped a wrongfully convicted client move closer to full immigration relief and a green card by obtaining the vacatur of two prior convictions as a youthful offender.

The clinic also provided vital assistance to asylum seekers through the Attorney of the Day program in coordination with the New York Varick Immigration Court. These victories and initiatives reflect the clinic’s ongoing commitment to providing high-quality representation and fostering a more equitable immigration system.


Veterans' & Servicemembers' Rights Clinic

In the face of increasing numbers of predatory unaccredited groups scamming veterans who wish to file Veterans Administration Disability claims, the Veterans' and Servicemembers' Rights Clinic is committed to excellent pro-bono legal services. The clinic ensures that its veteran clients feel safe, respected, and heard when we take their cases. A significant part of the clinic’s work involves trauma-informed training to help students build trusting relationships with clients, including veterans with PTSD and other mental health challenges. Students visit their clients in rehabilitation facilities, hospitals, and other institutions to ensure that they understand that the clinic works for them and their voices are heard by competent and accredited advocates. This past semester, the clinic obtained a 100% service-connection disability award for a client in addition to successes with VA disability claims and appeals, discharge upgrades, Vocational Rehabilitation Appeals, GI Bill disputes, and CRSC Appeals.

Education Justice Clinic

EDUCATION JUSTICE CLINIC

Students in the Education Justice Clinic lived up to its mission to serve children and young adults with disabilities who are unfairly treated by their public schools.

  • The clinic obtained a settlement of $45,000 in a case against a school district for the improper restraint of a special education student.

  • Student Jonathan Brooks obtained a no-contest plea, as well as a reduction of suspension time from a school year to time served.

  • Students Mackenzie Crabbe and Ally Melendez obtained over $12,000 in compensatory awards and services for their clients.

  • Students Sammy Gaudet and Adam Ungar secured over $5,000 in services for their client.

  • Students Rebecca Sinobio and Clare Meaney filed two state complaints, the first of which has yielded $5,000 in services for their client.

They also represented the clinic at several community events and trainings throughout Suffolk County, and presented to dozens of Touro students and faculty at a joint session between our clinic and the Touro University Graduate School of Health Sciences.

Small Business Legal Assistance Clinic

The Small Business Legal Assistance Clinic (SBLAC) had a strong inaugural semester under the
leadership of Denise Marzano-Doty, who was recently appointed as an Assistant Clinical
Professor. SBLC focuses on small businesses with 10 or fewer employees located in either Nassau or Suffolk County, NY. SBLC’s diverse client docket ranges from a local printing company to a hair salon owner, to a provider of services to the disabled community. SBLAC’s first group of students researched and counseled clients on a variety of business-related issues, including contracts for commercial leasing, employment matters, permits, and tricky landlord-tenant situations.

The clinic has also formed strong relationships with the local Small Business Development Corporation in Farmingdale and Stony Brook, and are working closely with them to identify and serve clients in need in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Clinic director Denise Marzano-Doty recently presented to the Small Business Development Corporation in Stony Brook on Legal Issues and Practices on Employee Hiring in New York State.

Senior Citizens Law Program

AveMaria Thompson was recently named Senior Staff Attorney of the Senior Citizens Law Program, and in that role has been hard at work securing the housing of vulnerable senior clients at risk of homelessness, in particular those with serious health issues. She and Staff Attorney Paul Senzer are members of the Landlord and Tenant Access to Justice Court Committee. The committee is actively working to develop innovative strategies to prevent homelessness in Suffolk County. This commitment is particularly crucial given the ongoing housing crisis, which disproportionately impacts seniors on Long Island and remains a persistent challenge consistently highlighted in local and national news media.

Recent examples of Thompson’s successful advocacy include a client with cancer who was facing eviction. The client’s chemotherapy treatments prevented her from appearing in court. Thompson attended each appearance on her behalf until she was able to obtain a payment plan that allows her to continue living in her home.

Thompson recently shared her expertise in several venues. She presented on housing insecurity and landlord-tenant law to caseworkers and other staff of the Suffolk County Office for the Aging, and to the New York State Access to Justice Commission on recommendations for reform in housing court. Thompson also lectured on elder law as an Adjunct Professor at the Touro University New York College of Podiatric Medicine and on Landlord-Tenant law at Touro's Perfect for Practice Program.

 

Clinic Faculty Spotlight

Our clinic faculty has received notable awards, published articles, and engaged with community in a variety of ways:

Melina Healey published an article in a special clinic-focused edition of the Washington Journal of Law and Public Policy describing Touro’s approach to inter-clinic collaboration and sharing a
methodology for removing silos between in-house clinics.

Senior Citizens Law Program Paralegal Gerontologist Judith Lespinasse was honored as a
“Leader in Law” by Long Island Business News on September 21.

Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic Director Mauricio Noroña presented his co-authored
paper, Constraining the Deportation Machine: Building an Effective Immigration Prosecutorial
Discretion System, at the 2024 Cardozo Immigration Enforcement Workshop, joining leading
scholars in discussing key issues in immigration enforcement.

Melina Healey presented at Touro University’s Interprofessional Education Summit on November 21, on the IPE symposium case study that we convene annually as a partnership with Graduate Schools of
Education, Education Leadership, and Social Work.

Director of the Veterans and Servicemembers Rights Clinic, Patrick Donohue, was recently
highlighted in Newsday about his work supporting and advocating for veterans with mental
illness.

Denise Marzano-Doty and Melina Healey will present at the 2025 AALS Clinical Conference in April on
creating Touro’s innovative client feedback surveys and ideas for using this program-wide client
assessment data to improve clinical programs.

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