SUNY BUFFALO LAW PHILANTHROPY - SUNY Buffalo Law School

More documents

Recommendations

Info

18SUNY BUFFALO LAW PHILANTHROPYAnnual GivingProfessor PhilipHalpern, center, withstudents in the NewYork City Programin Finance and LawAlumni givingpowers NYCprogramUnique among SUNY BuffaloLaw School’s diverseprogram offerings,theschool’s New York CityProgram in Finance and Law is fundedentirely by alumni donations – a primeexample of what focused alumni givingcan accomplish.The New York City program is animmersive experience in which a selectgroup of students spend a semester oftheir second or third year in Manhattan,learning from their professors and fromcutting-edge practitioners.“The program doesn’t work withoutthese alumni who contribute their expertiseand their time and their money,and some people do all three,”says ProfessorPhilip Halpern,who heads theprogram for the Law School.“The oneswho give the most in terms of their timeand teaching are usually the ones whogive the most money as well.There’s astrong sense of wanting to give back.”Because SUNY Buffalo Law’s affordabletuition draws many students frommodest family backgrounds,he says,“sometimes it’s a bit of a social and culturalleap”to imagine themselves in thehigh-stakes world of law and finance.“Soit’s very important,”hesays,“for our students to go andlisten to UB graduates who are at thepinnacle of the profession,and have thesense that they too can go there if they’rewilling to harness their energies.It expandsthe horizons of our students.”Programs like this,Halpern notes,areincreasingly important as law firms,squeezed economically like many otherbusinesses,are doing less training oftheir first- and second-year associates.“That puts pressure on law schools to domore for students than to simply teachthem to think like a lawyer,”he says.But Halpern emphasizes that theprogram is about much more than skillstraining – it’s about the context of practice.“There’sa lot of contextual understandingthat goes into the practice oflaw,”he says,“whether it’s a global context,understandinga bureaucracy,representingsomeone before one agency asopposed to another,understanding thecontext of the political economy.That’san amazing opportunity for the students.”David E.Franasiak ’78,a principal inthe government affairs law firm Williams& Jensen,is one of the prime movers ofthe New York City program in financialsupport and academic instruction.“Youcan’t pay back the people who helpedyou,”Franasiak says in reflecting on hiscontributions.“What I can do is do whatthey did for me – help young people getto their next step.That’s where the passioncomes from.”The program is a distinctive attributeof SUNY Buffalo Law,one that attractshigh-quality students with interest in financeand one that takes advantage ofthe Law School’s geographical locationas well.“This has always been a corecompetency of the school,”Franasiaksays.“SUNY Buffalo Law is the SUNYsystem’s only public law school,and becausewe’re in New York,it seems like ano-brainer to have a program that focuseson New York City and its cottage industry,financialservices.”He also notes that the program providesan entrée for students to the somewhatinsular world of high finance:“There’s a big world out there,and forpeople who want to take a chance andrelocate and get involved in financial services,thisis a tremendous gateway.”Andrew Devine ’11 spent his finalLaw School semester in Manhattan andfound the program eye-opening andproductive. “The program was a majorreason I came to UB,and I learned a tonof new information,”Devine says.“Differentspeakers came in that put on aweeklong course in capital markets,bankruptcy,commercial lending – theyreally gave us an opportunity to learn.”
WINTER 201119The GOLD standardAnne Joynt ’05 and Annual Fund Director Lucy Dadd ’04The post-law school years,newly minted lawyers say,aren’t the easiest in one’s life.There’s the hurdle of the barexam,of course,and the uncertain legalemployment market to negotiate,andthe fiscal reality of beginning to repaystudent loans stretching back to the firstyears of college.But for a solidcontingent ofSUNY Buffalo Lawgraduates in theirfirst decade out oflaw school,thoselife complicationsdon’t get in the wayof their continuingengagement,bothfinancial and energetic,withtheschool and its mission.Sure,thecheckbook can be a challenge – but,they say,the Law School has been tooimportant in their lives to set it aside.“For people my age who have graduatedmore recently,it’s about wantingto honor what UB gave us,”says AnneJoynt ’05,who heads the Law School’sGOLD group for graduates of the lastJim ’04 and Christy Lilley ’04 withchildren James and Dianadecade.“There’s a real acceptance thatwe had so many opportunities inschool that alumni support has madepossible.”Joynt,who practices in the area oftoxic torts,particularly asbestos litigation,withthe Buffalo law firm Lipsitz &Ponterio,says she finds about a 50-50split in the group:“Some people arenaturally really interestedin givingback,others not yet.When you leave lawschool many thousandsof dollars indebt,it may feelgood to put theschool behind you.”But,she says,inher own giving sherecognizes the formativeimpact thatthree years in O’Brian Hall has had onher life.“I loved my Law School experience,”shesays.“But also,I really do feel Iowe my career to SUNY Buffalo Law.Iwas recommended for the job I currentlyhave by a research and writingprofessor – it was an unadvertised position.Ihonestly feel that,absent that,Iprobably wouldn’t be here.And I’mgrateful for that.”Jim and Christy Lilley,both membersof the Class of 2004,have an emotionalattachment as well – they met atthe Law School,where she earned theJ.D.and he completed the jointJ.D./MBA program.They were marrieda month after the bar exam; weddingplanning,he says,was a welcome breakfrom the stress of the bar review grind.The Lilleys,natives of Western NewYork,moved first to Pittsburgh,whereshe did merger and acquisitions workwith a large law firm and he worked as afinancial planning adviser to high-levelcorporate executives.They now live inCharlotte,N.C.,where Jim works forWells Fargo in financial planning,estateplanning and income tax consulting;Christy serves as assistant general counselfor Corning Cable Systems in nearbyHickory,N.C.They are the parents oftwo small children: James,2,and Diana,born this past July.“I always knew I wasn’t going topractice law,”Jim Lilley says.“I was oneof those who said,‘I don’t know what Iwant to be, but I know this will helpme get where I want to go.’”And thathas proved true, he says:“Being introducedas an attorney creates instantcredibility.”They,too,have been giving at a leadershiplevel to SUNY Buffalo LawSchool – not that it’s effortless,giventhat both still carry student loan debt,mostly from their undergraduate universities.“Wewere lucky enough tograduate in a very-low-interest-rate environment,”hesays,“and carrying loandebt should not prohibit us from givingback to the school.We’ve been successful,relativelyspeaking,in our jobs,andto not give something back to the universitywould be a mistake.On top ofthat,it’s like a 401(k) match – our giftsare matched by Wells Fargo,and to notgive a dollar here means we would notgive the dollar from the company.”
Page 1: SUNY Buffalo Law School • The Sta
Page 6 and 7: WINTER 20115Transition and traditio
Page 8 and 9: WINTER 20117difference for our law
Page 11 and 12: 10SUNY BUFFALO LAW PHILANTHROPYLead
Page 17: 16SUNY BUFFALO LAW PHILANTHROPYCirc
Page 21 and 22: WINTER 201121Plaque dedicated forMa
Page 23 and 24: WINTER 201143When SUNYBuffaloLaw ca
Page 25 and 26: Alumni DonorsWINTER 201145Dean’s

SUNY BUFFALO LAW PHILANTHROPY - SUNY Buffalo Law School

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?