Thomas O’Connor '89 Named to Touro Law Board of Governors

Touro Law is pleased to announce that Thomas O’Connor, partner with the firm of Cooley LLP and Touro Law graduate class of 1989, has joined the Board of Governors. The Board of Governors, chaired by Howard M. Stein, a partner at Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP, includes approximately 45 members and has had a significant role in the development of the law center.

“Tom will be a great addition to our already outstanding Board of Governors,” said Dean Lawrence Raful. “The Board is comprised of both Touro Law alum as well as leaders from other law schools and colleges. I am extremely proud to have another dedicated individual join this prestigious group who is a graduate of Touro Law. I am excited to work closely with him and look forward to his help in steering the development of our law school.”

Thomas O'Connor is a partner in the Real Estate Group with the firm of Cooley LLP, in the business department. He serves as Chair of the Real Estate Group, Co-Chair of the Latin American Real Estate Group and Co-Chair of the Structured Real Estate Investments Group. Mr. O'Connor joined Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman LLP in 1997, which was merged into Cooley Godward Kronish LLP in 2006. He is resident in the New York office.

Mr. O'Connor practices in the area of commercial real estate transactions with particular emphasis on real estate finance, acquisitions and sales. He has extensive experience with both the lender and borrower side of real estate lending (including the origination, workout and restructuring of real estate debt). He represents several major institutional lenders and borrowers in originating and restructuring mortgage and mezzanine financing and in structuring preferred equity investments.

Mr. O’Connor was named Touro Law Center’s Alum of the Month in August 2010.

Touro Appoints New President and Chancellor

The Board of Trustees of Touro College and Touro University today announced the appointment of Alan Kadish, M.D. as president and chief executive officer, and Rabbi Doniel Lander, son of Touro founder Rabbi Dr. Bernard Lander, to the position of chancellor. Plans for formal convocation ceremonies will be announced soon.
In succeeding Dr. Lander, Dr. Kadish becomes only the second president in Touro’s history. Dr. Lander founded Touro 40 years ago and led the institution through tremendous growth until his recent passing.

As chancellor, Rabbi Lander’s role will be to perpetuate and preserve the legacy of his father. Presently, Rabbi Lander is dean of the Institute for Advanced Talmudic Studies at Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim, in Queens, a position he will continue to hold.

“We are proud to name Dr. Alan Kadish to succeed Dr. Lander as president and CEO of Touro College, and Rabbi Lander to the post of chancellor,” said Dr. Mark Hasten, chairman of the Board of Trustees, in making the announcement. “In the spirit of our beloved and respected founder, Rabbi Dr. Bernard Lander, we wish to ensure the continuity and well-being of future generations at Touro. They will provide strong leadership as Touro College moves forward into this new phase of our development with confidence and vigor.”

Touro is the largest Jewish-sponsored educational institution in the United States. Founded in 1970 as a small men’s college, Touro has expanded broadly since its inception and today educates approximately 17,500 students at 29 schools and colleges in several states and overseas. A pioneer in Jewish education, The Touro system is engaged locally, nationally and worldwide in promoting academic excellence, egalitarian values, tolerance and the well-being of others through quality educational programs and community engagement.

As president and CEO, Dr. Kadish has overall administrative responsibility for the Touro system, which includes numerous colleges in New York, Florida, California and campuses abroad - as well as Touro University California and Touro University Nevada.

“Since he joined Touro last year as senior provost and COO, I have been fortunate to have worked closely with Dr. Kadish, and I have the utmost confidence in his leadership abilities, which are extraordinary,” said Rabbi Lander. “I am deeply grateful that he has embraced the opportunity to apply his energy and enthusiasm to help lead Touro into the next century.”

Said Dr. Kadish: “I am honored to be appointed president and CEO of Touro College by the Board of Trustees, and to have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of a great leader. I look forward to pursuing Touro’s important mission, and to continuing our tradition of providing quality education to secular and Jewish students across the globe.”

Dr. Kadish stressed the importance of working to help ensure that all students enter the workforce prepared to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive economic climate armed with the skills and resources provided by a Touro education. He also noted that Touro has become an important school for the study of health sciences and said he looks forward to moving Touro’s geographically distinct medical programs into leadership roles in American medicine.

Currently, Touro operates two colleges of pharmacy, three colleges of osteopathic medicine, and graduate schools and colleges in health sciences in several states, including California, Nevada and New York. In December, Touro entered into an agreement to affiliate with New York Medical College, a 150-year-old allopathic medical school in upstate New York. In addition to its health sciences programs, Touro operates numerous other graduate schools in a variety of fields including business, education, psychology, social work, Jewish Studies, and the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center.

Dr. Kadish joined Touro from Northwestern University in September 2009, as senior provost and chief operating officer. At Northwestern University, he was a prominent cardiologist on the national stage, and served on the faculty and as an administrator for the previous 19 years. He has worked as a teacher, research scholar and scientist, and clinician. He held numerous senior-level administrative positions at Northwestern, and also at the University of Michigan, where he had various appointments prior to joining Northwestern. A prolific researcher and writer, he has written extensively in his field, authoring over 300 peer-reviewed papers and contributing to several textbooks.

He received his M.D. degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University and his postdoctoral medical training at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a fellow in cardiology. He is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease and cardiac electrophysiology.

Touro Law Launches New Mortgage Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Clinic

Touro Law Center has established a new Mortgage Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Clinic that will serve members of the local community and offer students the opportunity to learn about New York foreclosure law and federal bankruptcy practice. To celebrate the establishment of the clinic, Touro Law is hosting an open house on Thursday, February 11 at 10:30 a.m. at the law school located at 225 Eastview Drive in Central Islip. Please join us to learn more about the program from Dean Raful, Senator Brian X. Foley, who successfully secured major funding for the clinic, and clinical director Leif Rubinstein.

The only legal clinic of its kind in New York State, the Mortgage Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Clinic at Touro Law will allow students to work under the supervision of experienced faculty representing clients in a wide range of legal matters. Through training and weekly seminars, students will negotiate mortgage modifications, appear in New York State Supreme Court at Mandatory Foreclosure Settlement Conferences, research and draft litigation documents necessary for foreclosure defense, assist in the preparation and filing of both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy petitions and appear at hearings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

“This clinic is serving both law students and community members,” said Professor Rubinstein. “Local members of the community will have a place to turn and a resource to help them when facing foreclosure and bankruptcy while providing students with hands-on practice skills that will assist them in becoming experienced attorneys.”

Clients for the clinic, which began on January 11, 2010, will come from the local community through referrals and word of mouth. Major funding for this clinic provided by: The State of New York, Office of Senator Brian X. Foley; Suffolk County; Capital One Bank (USA), N.A.; Bank of America. Additional funding provided by Citibank, N.A. and Astoria Federal Savings.

Mitchell Shelowitz '91 Named Super Lawyer

Mitchell C. Shelowitz '91, Managing Member of Shelowitz & Associates PLLC, has been recognized as one of the top business lawyers in New York City by New York Super Lawyers.

Super Lawyers identifies the top five percent of attorneys in the New York metropolitan area who have attained a high degree of professional achievement and recognition, as determined through a selective and extensive process of peer nominations, blue ribbon panel review and independent research by Law & Politics Magazine.

The listing was published in a special supplement to the New York Times Magazine, and in a stand-alone magazine, New York Super Lawyers – Metro Edition, in the Business and Corporate Law category. This places Mitchell Shelowitz among the top New York City lawyers from powerhouse firms such as Wachtell Lipton, Skadden Arps, Kirkland & Ellis, Weil Gotshal, Schulte Roth, Debevoise & Plimpton, Cravath Swaine & Moore, Greenberg Traurig, and others.

Mitchell C. Shelowitz is a business lawyer with 17 years experience representing U.S. and international businesses in the full range of corporate and commercial legal matters – from corporate deals to dispute resolution. He has multi-industry experience representing clients in the venture capital, technology, telecommunications, Internet, software, healthcare, biomedical, homeland security, wine, food and restaurant, cosmetics, consumer brands, banking and insurance industries.

For Mitchell Shelowitz's full bio, please click here. And for more information on Super Lawyers, click here.

Greg Rinckey '98 Named Super Lawyer

Greg Rinckey, Esq., '98, managing partner of Tully Rinckey, PLLC, was recently named a Super Lawyer by New York Super Lawyers-Upstate Edition magazine. Super Lawyers is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Rinckey was listed as a Super Lawyer under the criminal defense category in the magazine.

The process for nominating a Super Lawyer is a multiphase process. Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with third party research. The objective is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel.

Rinckey concentrates his practice on military law and federal criminal defense. He has prosecuted and defended military personnel in over 100 felony cases with charges ranging from drug possession to murder. Rinckey has also become a recognized leader in the military and federal employment law sectors. His legal expertise reaches government employees on a weekly basis through his role as a nationally syndicated columnist for the Gannett News Service.

“I am very honored to have received this recognition as a Super Lawyer under criminal defense,” said Rinckey. “Super Lawyers magazine is a prestigious publication and it is a great accomplishment to have been recognized by my peers.”

Rinckey is available for comment on his criminal defense practice. For more information or to speak with Rinckey, please contact Courtney Reed at 518-218-7100 or via email at creed@tullylegal.com. For his full bio, click here.

Howard Stein, Chairman of Touro Law's Board of Governors, Named One of LI's Top 50 Around 50

Howard M. Stein, Chairman of Touro Law Center's Board of Governors and Partner-in-Charge of the Real Estate Practice Group at Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP, will be honored as one of 50 Long Islander leaders around the age of 50 who have made tremendous contributions to their communities. Long Island Business News will recognize the 50 honorees at a dinner on September 24 at the Garden City Hotel.

On behalf of the entire Touro Law community, we extend our congratulations to Howie. To read the full press release, please click here.

Touro Law Welcomes Two New Full-Time Faculty Members

Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center has announced the hiring of two new full-time faculty members this year: Tamara Relis, Assistant Professor of Law and Joan Foley, Assistant Professor of Legal Process.

Tamara Relis joins Touro Law from the Department of Law of the London School of Economics (LSE). She holds a Ph.D. in law from the LSE, where she will continue as a post doctoral research fellow. Dr. Relis also earned an LL.M. degree with Merit from the LSE, specializing in procedural law, and an LL.B. degree from the University of London.

Dr. Relis is currently conducting a large-scale three-year empirical study on formal court and informal justice processing of international human rights violation cases of violence against women in India. She is a barrister, with experience in trial court practice, as well as having qualified as a solicitor, working primarily in litigation. She will be teaching Evidence in the Fall 2009 semester.

Prior to joining the Touro Law faculty in 2009, Joan Foley taught at the University of Washington School of Law from 2007 to 2009. From 2000 through 2006, she was a partner at the law firm of Gordon Thomas Honeywell in Seattle, Washington. Her practice focused on complex litigation, appellate litigation, and environmental litigation. Professor Foley graduated from the New York University School of Law. She interned at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, New York County District Attorney's Office, and Evergreen Legal Services.

Professor Foley was named a "Rising Star of Washington Law 2007" in Law & Politics Magazine. She was named a Chapter Member of the Year by Washington Women Lawyers in 1997. She will be teaching Legal Process courses to first-year and upper-level students.

We welcome Tamara Relis and Joan Foley to the Touro Law Community! To read the full press release, click here.

Touro Law Welcomes Incoming Class

Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center welcomed more than 300 students last week at orientation for the incoming class of 2009. This class is one of the largest in Touro Law history, with approximately 240 full and part-time day, 70 part-time evening, 11 new students in the Master of Laws program for foreign law graduates (LL.M.-FLG), and a dozen students who transferred in from other law schools.

The beginning J.D. students come from over 100 undergraduate institutions and include recent grads, government officials, teachers, law enforcement officers, physicians, nurses, and stockbrokers, among many current and past professions. The new students in the LL.M.-FLG program come from nine nations: 2 each from Russia and Pakistan, and one each from Bangladesh, India, Iran, Liberia, Myanmar, St. Lucia and Uzbekistan. The LLM-FLG program enables attorneys from outside the US to earn a prestigious credential and qualify for the NY bar exam.

“We are glad to see such interest in Touro Law Center,” said Dean Lawrence Raful. “This year we are developing new clinics, working on a new court integration program, and expanding our commitment to public interest legal work, among other new initiatives, while welcoming a bright, enthusiastic class of new law students. It promises to be a great year.”

Orientation is designed to introduce students to the skills and values students will need to succeed in law school and throughout their careers as legal professionals, including sessions on professionalism and justice, helping others, learning styles and time management, using the library, briefing a case, using social media for networking, and more. Students are invited to attend an optional session doing pro bono work in the local community. This year, more than 30 students spent a day doing preservation work at the historic 1888 Heines Homestead, home of the Central Islip Civic Council.

Click here to view video from the Third Annual Touro Law Cares Orientation Community Service Project.

Melanie D. Hendry '04 Named to NYS Bar Association House of Delegates

Melanie D. Hendry, a Touro Law alum from the class of 2004 and an Associate in the law firm of Meyer, Suozzi, English and Klein, P.C., has been appointed to the New York State Bar Association House of Delegates representing persons of racial and ethnic diversity.

“The work of the Bar Association is invaluable, and I am pleased to be involved in ensuring its actions, policies and work meets the highest objectives of its mission,” said Hendry. “The programs and resources of the NYS Bar Association are second to none in meeting the needs of the legal profession throughout the state, throughout our careers, and I am proud to make this contribution ensuring this work is reflective of the racial and ethnic diversity we enjoy across the State.”

On behalf of the entire Touro Law community, we extend our congratulations to Melanie. To read the full press release, please click here.

Touro Law Center Welcomes New Members to the Board of Governors

Touro Law Center is pleased to announce that Frank MacKay, National Chairman and New York State Chairman of the Independence Party, and Jeffrey Starr, Executive Vice President and Chief Counsel for Capital One, N.A., have joined the Board of Governors. The Board of Governors, chaired by Howard M. Stein, a partner at Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP, includes approximately 45 members and has had a significant role in the development of the law center.

In 1995, Frank MacKay became an organizer in Ross Perot’s run for the Presidency and became active in local third party politics. By the year 2000, at the age of 31, MacKay became the youngest State Chairman of a political party in New York State history, and has been re-elected as State Chair of the Independence Party of New York five times. The Independence Party has grown significantly under his leadership – it is the largest third party political organization in the nation with more than 350,000 members.

Jeffrey Starr is currently the Executive Vice President and Chief Counsel for Capital One, N.A. He joined Capital One in 2006 with its acquisition of North Fork Bank. Starr served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at North Fork Bank from 1997 until the 2006 acquisition. Prior to that, he was employed by Wickham, Wickham & Bressler for five years acting as legal advisor to North Fork. Jeff began his legal career in the Los Angeles office at Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey with a focus on labor and employment law matters. He then spent four years at the New York firm of Lord Day & Lord, Barrett Smith as an associate specializing in corporate and real estate transactions.

To read the full press release, please click here.

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 Team Makes "Sweet 16" in International Moot Competition

Touro Law Center’s student team made it through the elimination rounds to the “round of 16” and finished tied for ninth in the prestigious 16th annual Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot in Vienna, Austria. The competition included teams from 233 law schools from 59 countries around the world. Congratulations to Touro students Sardar Asadullah, Han Sheng Beh, Benjamin Noren and James Lucarello, who received an individual award recognizing him as one of the best in the world for his oral argument.


PHOTO CAPTION (from left to right): Touro Law Professor and team coach Jack Graves with students Han Sheng Beh, James Lucarello, Benjamin Noren and Sardar Asadullah.

To read the full press release, click here.

Touro Takes Top Honors at NCBA Moot Court Competition

For the third year in a row the student Moot Court team from Touro Law Center defeated teams from CUNY School of Law at Queens College, Hofstra Law School and St. John’s Law School to win the Nassau County Bar Association (NCBA) Moot Court Competition. In the final round, Touro, competing against a very polished team from CUNY, argued in front of a distinguished panel of jurists including Justice Leonard Austen of the Appellate Division Second Department.

Second year students Scott MacLagan and Jessica Mannix demonstrated impressive command of the law and the facts and, in a very close round, went on to win the competition. Second place went to the CUNY School of Law at Queens College Team of Yvette Rosario, Kyung S. Auh and Reka Bala, who also won the Honorable Edward J. Hart Award for best oral argument. The Eugene S.R. Pagano Esq. Award for best written brief went to the St. John’s Law School team of James Walsh and Andrew Schiavone.

The entire Touro Law Center community is very proud of the Moot Court team’s accomplishments – congratulations to the winners!

Touro Law to Hold Program on Tankleff Case

Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center will hold a program about the Marty Tankleff Case on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at the Law Center in Central Islip, New York.

Panelists will include Martin Tankleff; Robert Gottlieb, Tankleff’s trial counsel; Bruce Barket, Tankleff’s lawyer post-conviction; Mark Dwyer, Chief of the Appeals Bureau and Counsel to the District Attorney in the New York District Attorney’s office; and Professor Richard Moran, Mt. Holyoke College sociologist and criminologist and expert on wrongful convictions. Both Gottlieb and Dwyer are members of the New York State Bar Association Task Force on Wrongful Convictions.

Panelists will discuss several aspects of the case including the arrest of 17-year-old Martin Tankleff in September 1978, his subsequent conviction, the appeals process and his release from prison after 17 years.

There will also be a pre-program video presentation on the history and background of the Tankleff Case at 5:30 p.m. at the Law Center.

For more information click here or contact Charity Rodriguez at (631) 761-7066 or crodriguez@tourolaw.edu.

Robin Steinberg Named Touro's 2009 Distinguished Public Interest Lawyer in Residence

Touro Law Center has named Robin G. Steinberg, Executive Director of The Bronx Defenders, as the 2009 Distinguished Public Interest Lawyer in Residence. On Thursday, March 5, Ms. Steinberg will meet with student leaders, guest lecture in classes and interact with students and faculty. In addition, there will be a community lecture and reception to honor Robin Steinberg at the Law Center at 6:30 p.m., which is free and open to the public.

Through the Distinguished Public Interest Lawyer in Residence program, Touro Law Center recognizes attorneys who have made significant contributions to society by representation of individuals or groups historically denied access to justice. Honored by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association for her “exceptional vision, devotion and service in the quest for equal justice,” by the New York Bar Association for her “outstanding contribution to the delivery of defense services,” and awarded Harvard Law School’s Wasserstein Fellowship in recognition of her “outstanding contributions and dedication to public interest law,” Ms. Steinberg is a leader and pioneer in the field of indigent defense.

She has been a public defender her entire career, starting as a criminal trial lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, continuing her career as a founding member and deputy director of The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, and ultimately creating The Bronx Defenders in 1997. From 1999 through 2001, she was a participant in the Executive Session on Public Defense, a series of conferences and meetings conducted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and Harvard University to discuss how to organize and reposition the "industry" of indigent defense. Today, Ms. Steinberg advocates nationally and internationally for holistic representation and the community defender movement, delivering papers, conducting trainings and hosting visitors from around the world.

For more information about this program, or to RSVP to the community lecture and reception, please Click Here or contact Aimee Pearlman at (631) 761-7064 or apearlman@tourolaw.edu.

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 Students Volunteer to Make a Difference in Katrina-Affected Region

Thirty-six students from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center recently volunteered for a week in New Orleans, a city and region still trying to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina hit the area in 2005. The students volunteered with eight different organizations, using their legal education to benefit the groups they worked for and the people of the Gulf Coast.

Students worked with the New Orleans Public Defenders, Common Ground, the Common Ground Legal Clinic, and The Alliance for Affordable Energy, among others. Students worked on a variety of projects including searching a community group’s documents to determine whether the community had groundwater contamination claims, helping to revive legislation, exploring employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals, working on cases of contactor fraud, and so much more.

To read the full press release, please click here.

Touro Law to Welcome the President of the Republic of Slovenia Dr. Danilo Türk

Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center is pleased to announce that the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Danilo Türk will visit the Law Center to address students, faculty and the community. He will present “Global Human Rights at the Age of 60: The Key Lessons of the Universal Declaration” at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, September 24.

“Dr. Türk previously served as a professor of international law at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana and as an Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the United Nations before he was elected president of the Republic of Slovenia,” said Dean Lawrence Raful. “We are thrilled to have him - a law professor turned head of state - visit our law school and address our community.”

If you would like to attend this event, please contact Dreena Kutch at (631) 761-7103 or dkutch@tourolaw.edu.

For the full press release, including Dr. Türk's biography, please Click Here.

Touro Law Welcomes Michael S. Ettinger to Board of Governors

Touro Law is pleased to announce that Michael S. Ettinger, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Henry Schein, Inc. joined its Board of Governors. The Board of Governors, chaired by Howard M. Stein, a partner at Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP, includes approximately 40 members and has had a significant role in the development of the law center.

“We are thrilled that Michael has joined our board and look forward to his input and expertise in further developing Touro Law Center,” said Touro Law Center Dean and Professor of Law Lawrence Raful.

Michael S. Ettinger currently serves as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Henry Schein, Inc., the largest distributor of healthcare products and services to office-based practitioners in the combined North American and European markets, and a Fortune 500® Company with operations in 19 countries. In his current position, Mr. Ettinger is charged with overseeing Henry Schein’s global legal affairs. Mr. Ettinger began his career at Henry Schein in 1994 as Associate General Counsel. Prior thereto, Mr. Ettinger held legal positions at Bower & Gardner and Arthur Andersen. Mr. Ettinger holds a J.D. / M.B.A. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

New Associate Dean and Assistant Dean Named at Touro Law

Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center is pleased to announce that Professor Louise Harmon has been named Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Faculty Development, and Professor Tracy McGaugh has been named Assistant Dean for Academic Advising.

In her new capacity, Associate Dean Harmon will work closely with faculty members to assist them in research and in the publication of the resulting scholarship from that work. She will continue teaching classes at Touro Law Center.

“With the creation of this position, we now have an added focus on faculty development. The selection of Professor Harmon for this position will ensure that a senior faculty member with a distinguished record of scholarship will spend a significant amount of time on faculty research, scholarship and development and the related broader issues of academic affairs,” said Dean Lawrence Raful. “I believe this is an important step for Touro Law Center and am confident that the work and efforts of Associate Dean Harmon will showcase Touro Law in a new light by promoting and supporting our community of scholars.”

Assistant Dean McGaugh will work in the Student Services Office advising and counseling students on curriculum and other matters. She will collaborate with the Assistant Dean for Student Services and will continue to teach courses in legal process.

“Professor McGaugh is a perfect fit for this new position,” said Dean Lawrence Raful. “She is an authority in American legal education on Generation X and Millennials. Millennials are the generation of students born after 1982, who now comprise a significant portion of our student body. Her expertise will help her guide students through their law school experience at Touro Law.”

To read the full press releases, Click Here for Professor Harmon and Click Here for Professor McGaugh.