Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella Named Touro's 2009 Distinguished Jurist in Residence

Touro Law Center has named Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella of the Canadian Supreme Court as our 2009 Distinguished Jurist in Residence. On Tuesday, September 22, Justice Abella will meet with student leaders, guest lecture in classes and interact with students and faculty. In addition, there will be a lecture and reception to honor Justice Abella at the Law Center at 5:00 p.m., which is free and open to the public with advanced RSVP.

Rosalie Silberman Abella was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2004 after 12 years as a justice on the Ontario Court of Appeal. She is the first Jewish woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court. After graduating from the University of Toronto Law School in 1970, she practiced civil and criminal litigation until, at the age of 29, she was appointed to the Ontario Family Court in 1976, making her Canada's youngest (and first pregnant) person to be appointed to the Bench.

She was sole Commissioner and author of the 1984 federal Royal Commission on Equality in Employment, in which she created the term and concept of “employment equity,” a new strategy for reducing barriers in employment faced by women, aboriginal people, non-whites, and persons with disabilities.

She has written over 90 articles and written or co-edited four books on a variety of legal topics. She has given several hundred lectures and speeches extensively in Canada and internationally. As the Boulton Visiting Professor at the McGill Law School for four years, she taught advanced courses in constitutional law, administrative law, human rights and civil liberties, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and jurisprudence, and was a Distinguished Visiting Faculty lecturer at the University of Toronto Law School for three years, teaching courses on the judicial role in a democracy, human rights and civil liberties, and comparative jurisprudence. Justice Abella is a specially elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Senior Fellow at Massey College.

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

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.

Michelle Cohen '07 Named September Alum of the Month

Touro Law Center's Office of Development, Alumni Relations and Communications is proud to announce that Michelle Cohen '07 has been selected as the Alum of the Month for the month of September.

Michelle Cohen practices as an associate in the Real Estate Group at Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman LLP, located in East Meadow, NY. Before joining the firm, Ms. Cohen interned for the Honorable E. Thomas Boyle, Magistrate Judge, United States District Court, EDNY, and she worked as a legal assistant at Certilman Balin in Spring 2007.

Ms. Cohen earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Sociology from The George Washington University in 2004. She spent a semester abroad in London at the American Intercontinental University. She graduated cum laude from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, earning three CALI Awards for Academic Excellence, the National Association Women Lawyers Award and the ABA/BNA Award for Excellence in Labor and Employment Law. Additionally, she was recognized for her exemplary contributions to student life, having served as President of the Women’s Bar Association, Vice President of the Public Interest Law Organization of Touro, Election Chair of the Student Bar Association and Competition Editor of Touro’s Moot Court Board.

She is a member of Touro Law Center’s Alumni Council and participates in Touro Law’s Alumni Mentor Program. She also was a guest speaker for the Real Estate Law Society in March 2009 and participates as a judge for Touro Law Center’s Annual Bainbridge Moot Court Competition.

To read her full bio, please click here. On behalf of the entire law school community, we extend our congratulations to Michelle Cohen.

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 Center Student-Alumni Mentor Programs

Volunteer Alumni Mentors Needed

You can learn a lot in a classroom, but not how it feels to actually practice as an attorney day-to-day. Our Mentor Programs are designed to provide students with an opportunity to meet our outstanding alumni and learn about an area of law they are interested in perusing to expand a student’s legal education.

We are currently recruiting alumni volunteers for our First-Year Mentor program and our Upper-Division Mentor Program. Both programs match students with practicing attorneys based on your area(s) of practice and student interest. Please click here to view the Mentor Program Brochure which outlines both programs.

If you are interested in becoming a mentor for a student, please contact Kristin Matthews at (631) 761-7063 or kmatthews@tourolaw.edu.

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.

Daniel J. Baker '92 Named August Alum of the Month

Touro Law Center's Office of Development, Alumni Relations and Communications is proud to announce that Daniel Baker ‘92 has been selected as the Alum of the Month for the month of August.

Daniel Baker is currently a partner in the firm of Sahn Ward & Baker, PLLC. His practice concentrates in the areas of real estate transactions, zoning and land use planning, corporate law and transactions, tax certiorari and condemnation/property valuation, civil litigation and criminal defense. He is a trustee of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Long Island Chapter and an active member of the Touro Law Center Alumni Association. He is also an appointed member of the State of New York Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled's Surrogate Decision Making Committee (SDMC) Program. Mr. Baker is a member of the American, New York State and Nassau County Bar Associations. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Chicago Title Insurance Company.

Mr. Baker was an active member of the Touro community while attending law school and remains engaged through Touro Law Center’s Alumni Association and special event committees; as well as attending various alumni and student events throughout the years. He has been and continues to be extremely helpful to Touro students and works with a number of Touro graduates at his firm.

To read Daniel Baker's full biography, please click here. On behalf of the entire law school community, we extend our congratulations to Daniel Baker.