Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Blogging About Touro Law Center

Perhaps you have heard Touro Law Center's new radio ad on CBS News Radio, 880 AM. It's a great ad that is targeted to employers, and lets employers know how well prepared Touro Law Center students are to practice law when they graduate. Well, people are listening.

Susan Cartier Liebel graduated from Quinnipiac University School of Law and, upon graduation, started the law firm of Cartier, DeMatteo and Forman, LLC based in Fairfield, Connecticut. After five years, the law firm became Cartier & DeMatteo, LLC as the partners grew into their own. Since 2001, Ms. Liebel has operated the Law Offices of Susan Cartier-Liebel, LLC. In addition, in 2005, Ms. Liebel created the national coaching/consulting firm of Build A Solo Practice, LLC, which she describes as a natural evolution from her professional and life experience.

Ms. Liebel is the author of a blog entitled Build a Solo Practice, and she recently heard Touro's ad on CBS News Radio and penned a blog post about it:

Just today I heard an ad on CBS news radio for Touro Law Center. I wanted to jump for joy but nearly drove into a tree instead because I was so giddy. The radio spot (and I'm paraphrasing) said:

All law students get an education. Our law students are prepared to practice law. Our students get training in their first year, meet judges, do pro bono work and basically can hit the ground running as competent trained associates and practitioners of law.

Can you imagine my stunned but euphoric state when I heard this law school on the radio promoting their students to potential employers (as it was to employers) not through grades but their practical training? (And for those USNWR snobs, I don't know or care where this school is ranked.) Whatever the motivation, the school listened to what employers wanted and what their students wanted. For employers, experience and training in school so the students would come out with practical knowledge the employers were requesting. For the students, this in turn helps them find jobs! (Which also, by the way, prepares them upon graduation for solo practice.)

I was truly impressed. Maybe, just maybe, not every law school aspires to be the next Yale. Maybe, just maybe, more positions will open at these law schools for adjuncts who actually practice law. Maybe, just maybe more law schools will opt out of competing for artificial ranking in U.S. News and World Report. And maybe, just maybe, as we preach to new lawyers to fashion practices centered around the client those same law schools will fashion educational programs around the needs of their clients, the students. And maybe, just maybe, the ABA will loosen up or revamp their accreditation process to mandate more skills training so the education makes more sense in the real world.

Or maybe, just maybe, I'm tired and delusional and I didn't really hear the radio ad. (No..I heard it. I really did :-)


In addition, one of Ms. Liebel's readers posted a comment to her blog post:

So true. I can tell you, having been an adjunct faculty member at a law school, that very often practical experience for the faculty is not sought after and can be perceived as a negative - those in practice are "dirtying their hands in trade" - not being true scholars and academics. This mindset needs to change and I'm glad Touro is getting on board. I have seen some other schools moving in this direction - but its a big ship that turns slowly.

It's so good to see that word is getting out about Touro Law Center's mission.

Monday, October 27, 2008

NYC Legal Services Open House

Legal Services NYC is the largest organization in the nation devoted exclusively to providing free civil legal services to low-income New Yorkers. For over 40 years, its network of 19 offices has provided legal help to people who have no where else to turn. Its multi-disciplinary, multi-lingual staff of more than 350 dedicated individuals — attorneys, paralegals, social workers and support personnel — helps more than 60,000 individuals and families every year to resolve urgent crises in critical areas such as family, housing, health, benefits, consumer, employment, economic development and education law.

Legal Services NYC’s community-based offices in low-income communities throughout New York City include Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Legal Services, the Brooklyn Family Defense Project, Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, Legal Services NYC-Bronx, Legal Services NYC-Brooklyn Branch, Manhattan Legal Services, Staten Island Legal Services, Queens Legal Services, and South Brooklyn Legal Services.

The November 13th Open House is an opportunity to discuss employment, fellowship and internship opportunities at Legal Services NYC. Leadership from the various offices will attend the event. There will be staff presentations about its vital work and innovative projects.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Touro's Public Advocacy Center Featured
in New York Law Journal Article

The October 24 issue of the New York Law Journal has a great article on Touro Law Center's Public Advocacy Center. Here's a portion of it:

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

October 24, 2008

(Picture: Thomas Maligno, director of the Touro Law Center's public advocacy center and Maria T. DeGennaro, a Touro law student who works at Long Island Housing Services, one of 16 nonprofits housed at the center.
NYLJ Photo/Rick Kopstein)

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.

During a ribbon-cutting ceremony last October, Dean Raful said of the advocacy center, "This is the first of its kind in the nation. Our community and our law school will be enhanced because of this collaboration, and I believe the center will have an impact on social justice and legal training."

Monday, October 6, 2008

New York City
Law Department Reception

(Click on image to enlarge it.)

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Environmental Law Writing Competition

(Click on image to enlarge it.)

Writing Competition in World Trade Law

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Oktoberfest 2008!

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Presidential Management Fellow
Application Period Open

The 2009 Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program Application Period is Now Open!!!

The PMF Program was established by Executive Order in 1977 to attract to the Federal service outstanding men and women from a variety of academic disciplines and career paths who have a clear interest in, and commitment to, excellence in the leadership and management of public policies and programs. By drawing graduate students, including law school graduates, from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, the PMF Program provides a continuing source of trained men and women to meet the future challenges of public service.

The application for the PMF Class of 2009 is open Wednesday, October 1, 2008, through 11:59:59 p.m. (Eastern Time), Wednesday, October 15, 2008. Students must also be nominated by their school to be considered for the PMF Program. The nomination deadline is October 31, 2008.

PMF Class of 2009 Schedule:

October 1 – 15, 2008, 2009 PMF Application Period
October 1 – 31, 2008, 2009 Nomination Period
January/February 2009, 2009 PMF Assessments
February/ March 2009, 2009 PMF Finalist Selections
March 24-26, 2009, 2009 PMF Finalist Job Fair

Please go here for complete details about the program, and visit Erica in the Career Services Office to talk about your application.