Touro Law Alum - Women Judges

A new national report on the number of women on the state and federal benches prepared by the Center for Women in Government and Civil Society reveals a small gain for women, and ranks NYS as 11th in the nation for the number of women judges (412 women judges or 30.9%). I am happy to report that the Touro Law Center has contributed to this number with 8 women alumnae on the bench in NY and one in Nevada (which just trailed New York with 30.7% of the judiciary comprised of women). In addition, Touro Law Center claims both a retired and a former woman judge. These distinguished alumnae include: Hon. Rhonda Fischer ’93 Nassau County District Court Hon. Lisa Rana ’92 East Hampton Justice Court Hon. Barbara Wilson ’92 Town of Southhampton Hon. Anna Anzalone ’86 Nassau Cty Dist. Court, 1st District Hon. Gayle Nathan ’88 State of Nevada 8th Jud. Dist. Ct. Hon. Margaret Char ’93 Kings County Hon. Ellen Fishkin ’91 Head of Harbor Village Hon. Jennifer Henry ’93 Dist. Ct. Judge, Central Islip Hon. Lynn Kotler ’91 Manhattan Criminal Court Hon. Eileen Nadelson ’84 New York City Civil Court (ret.) Hon. Sonia Veras ’90 Suffolk County District Court (former) The full report can be viewed at the link below: http://www.albany.edu/womaningov/publications/summer2012_judgeships.pdfv

Senator Foley Announces $50,000 Grant to Create Foreclosure & Bankruptcy Clinic at Touro Law Center

Senator Brian X. Foley (D – Blue Point) was joined by administrators from Touro Law Center and community leaders as he helped launch a major initiative to take on the foreclosure crisis in Suffolk County. Foley announced that he has successfully secured a $50,000 grant to create the Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Law Clinic at Touro Law Center.

The Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Law Clinic at Touro Law Center will serve residents from Central Islip – one of the areas hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis – and the surrounding communities of Suffolk County. The clinic will pair exceptional law students specializing in foreclosure and bankruptcy law with faculty supervisors who will offer free-of-charge legal services to local residents. Clients for the law clinic will include home owners in danger of losing their homes, individuals filing for bankruptcy, and people who have received notices from their bank.

“I am proud to announce that I’ve been able to secure $50,000 in funding for this extremely important initiative in combating home foreclosures,” said Foley, who is Chairman of the powerful Senate Banking Committee. “We need to stand up for Long Islanders who are facing the brunt of this economic crisis. The Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Law Clinic at Touro Law Center will assist families right here in Suffolk County and help alleviate the foreclosure crisis on a local level.”

“We are immensely grateful to Senator Foley for recognizing the importance of this new initiative and securing the funding to make it possible,” said Dean Lawrence Raful of the Touro Law Center. “This clinic will enable Touro Law students to help some of the most vulnerable citizens in our local community while providing valuable skills training in a vital area of the law.”

PHOTO CAPTION: From left to right: Touro Law Center Dean Lawrence Raful, Central Islip Civic Council Executive Director Nancy Manfredonia and Senator Brian X. Foley.

Touro Named One of the 10 Most Innovative Law Schools

The National Jurist and preLaw magazines have named Touro Law Center as one of the 10 most innovative law schools in the United States. The story is featured in the Winter 2009 edition of preLaw and the January 2009 edition of the National Jurist. Touro was chosen as part of this list for its innovative Court Observation Program, as well as the William Randolph Hearst Public Advocacy Center.

“It is quite an honor to be chosen as one of the most innovative law schools in the country,” said Dean Lawrence Raful. “At Touro, we work hard to ensure our students are receiving the best possible legal education and that our graduates are proud of their law school.”

To read the article, please click here.

Touro Law PAC Featured in NYLJ

The New York Law Journal's Tom Adcock wrote a Back Page feature article on Touro Law Center’s Public Advocacy Center. The article covers how the Center came to be at Touro Law, some of the work our students are doing within the Center and how Touro Law obtained funding for the Center through the generosity of the Hearst Foundation. Below is a portion of the article. To read the full article, log on the New York Law Journal’s web site.


Touro's Public Advocacy Center Benefits Students, Community
By Thomas Adcock

October 24, 2008

The William Randolph Hearst Public Advocacy Center of Long Island, a warren of tiny offices on the Central Islip campus of Touro Law Center, was created for the likes of Maria T. DeGennaro.

Never mind that five years ago neither Touro Law Dean Lawrence Raful nor the Hearst Foundations had ever heard of Ms. DeGennaro, who at the time found it ethically challenging to work as she was in the mortgage loan industry with the deals and debentures she saw as portents to the current economic crisis.

"I'm not a whistleblower," said Ms. DeGennaro, today a 44-year-old 2-L evening student at Touro Law. "I found another way."

As a law student with familiarity with the questionable practices of her former line of work, Ms. DeGennaro was a natural fit for Long Island Housing Services, one of 16 public interest agencies housed on campus at the public advocacy center.

The nonprofit agencies each pay $100 monthly for office, phone and Internet service - along with access to the Touro Law library and faculty, as well as proximity to state and federal courts adjacent to the campus. In return, the agencies pledge to use the passions of Touro Law students as legal support.

Touro Students Making A Difference

Thirty-seven Touro Law students are preparing to head down to New Orleans again on October 12 for another week of pro-bono legal advocacy work in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Click here to check out great coverage of our students and the work they have been doing, and continue to do, on Newsday.com.

Professor Jack Graves Quoted in Newsday

Touro Law Center Professor Jack Graves is quoted in Newsday today in an article titled “Dems say bankruptcy proposal is big homeowner fix.” Click here to read the full story!

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Welcome to Touro Law Center’s Office of Development, Alumni Relations and Communications blog! On this site we will post information about upcoming events, alumni news, law-related items of interest, campus-wide developments, fundraising updates, new programs and so much more. The first-rate Development Office team stands ready to keep you up-to-date with timely tips, newsy tidbits and critical information that will add value to your professional career while keeping you plugged into your law school friendships and the continuing Touro experience. We’ll bring it all together for you to read in one place! So bookmark the page, check back often, and enjoy!