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.

Barry Smolowitz '84 Named June Alum of the Month

Touro Law Center's Office of Development, Alumni Relations and Communications is proud to announce that Barry Smolowitz ’84 has been selected as Alum of the Month for the month of June. Mr. Smolowitz was an active member of the Touro community while attending law school and remains engaged through Touro Law Center’s Alumni Council and special event committees; as well as attending various alumni and student events throughout the years. He is also the first Touro graduate to lead a major Bar Association as president of the Suffolk County Bar Association from 2007-2008.

Barry M. Smolowitz currently has his own law practice in Kings Park, N.Y. He is also an adjunct professor at Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center and Long Island University C.W. Post. He is founder and administrator of the Suffolk County Bar Association’s Research Center (ERC), is the Director of Technology for the Suffolk Bar Center and is a past dean of the Suffolk Academy of Law.

Mr. Smolowitz is a CLE presenter, has appeared on local television business and technology programs, lectures extensively for bar associations throughout the state on both technology and ethics, and has co-authored the publication “Internet Guide for New Lawyers.” He is a two time-recipient of the Suffolk County Bar Association’s President Award (1994 & 2009), recipient of the Suffolk County Bar Association Award of Recognition (1996) and the recipient of the Suffolk County Bar Association’s Service Award (1999).

Before practicing law, he was a Police Officer with the New York City Police Department where he received nine medals for police bravery and was nominated as Officer of the Month.

To read Barry Smolowitz's full bio, please click here. On behalf of the entire law school community, we extend our congratulations to Barry Smolowitz.

7th Annual Susan M. Dietrich Clyne '88 Memorial Golf Outing to be held Monday, August 10, 2009

Touro Law Center's Seventh Annual Susan M. Dietrich Clyne '88 Memorial Golf Outing will be held Monday, August 10, 2009 at the Hamlet Golf and Country Club in Commack, NY. This year's event honors Frank Boulton, Principal Owner and CEO of the Long Island Ducks.

Touro Law Center tragically lost Susan M. Dietrich Clyne, an esteemed graduate of the class of 1988, on September 11, 2001. This annual golf tournament honors her memory. All proceeds benefit the Susan M. Dietrich Clyne Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Our honoree, Frank Boulton, is in his tenth season as founder and CEO of the LI Ducks, Baseball America's 2009 Organization of the Year. He has also owned three other farm teams, and the Long Island Rough Riders professional soccer team. Frank has been involved with many local charities throughout the years including the Great South Bay YMCA, where he chaired the capital campaign that raised $6.2 million dollars to construct the YMCA. Frank and his wife Karen purchased the old Regent Theatre and donated it to the Great South Bay YMCA. The Boulton Center for the Performing Arts recently celebrated its fifth anniversary and is a point of pride in the downtown Bay Shore community.

In January of 2005, Frank was named one of Long Island’s 100 most influential people by Long Island Business News. Presently, he serves as chairman of the QuackerJack Foundation, the charitable arm of the Ducks, and is a member of the Board of Trustees at both Dowling College and Empire National Bank.

For more information and to view photos from last year's outing, click here, or contact Aimee Pearlman at (631) 761-7064 or apearlman@tourolaw.edu.

Danielle Schwager '98 Named May Alum of the Month

Touro Law Center is proud to announce that Danielle Schwager ’98 has been selected as the Alum of the Month for the month of May. Ms. Schwager was an active member of the Touro community while attending law school and remains engaged through Touro Law Center’s Alumni Council, as well as by attending various alumni and student events throughout the years.

Danielle Schwager has well over a decade’s worth of expertise as a trial attorney. Incorporating her past experience as a former Assistant District Attorney for Suffolk County and as a Litigator for Martin, Clearwater & Bell, LLP, Ms. Schwager opened her own practice in 2004 with an emphasis on Family Law. A Member of the Law Guardian Panel and the Suffolk County Family Court 18(b) Panel, her practice specializes in abuse, neglect and termination of parental rights cases as well as custody, visitation, juvenile delinquency. Ms. Schwager practices in the Family Court as well as matrimonial cases in Supreme Court. She also appears regularly before the Appellate Division Second Department in her representation of children.

Ms. Schwager is currently in the process of launching a new company, Ivy Legal Outsource, Inc. that will specialize in the outsourcing of matters related to the running of a law practice that will maximize receivables and decrease overhead for law firms.

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

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.

Harmon Eyes

Associate Dean Louise Harmon is on sabbatical this spring. She is sailing around the world teaching Asian Philosophy, Biomedical Ethics and Immigration History on the University of Virginia's Semester at Sea program, while also "home" schooling her daughter Jo, who joined her on the trip. They began in Bermuda, then traveled to Cadiz, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa, Chennai, Bangkok and Vietnam. Their journey continues on to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kobe, Yokohama, Hawaii, Guatemala then back through the Panama Canal before returning home.

She invites you to read her travel blog at harmoneyes.blogspot.com.