University at Buffalo Law School

Infobox_University


name = University at Buffalo Law School
established = 1887
type = Public
interim dean= Makau Mutua
city = Amherst, NY
state = New York
country = USA
campus = Suburban
website = [http://www.law.buffalo.edu www.law.buffalo.edu]

Since its founding in 1887, the University at Buffalo Law School (also known as UB Law, State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law, SUNY at Buffalo School of Law or University of Buffalo Law School) is the State University of New York system's only law school. The law school is currently ranked in the second tier of law schools at 100 by U.S. News and World Report. However, it has established a favorable reputation as its curriculum provides both a strong theoretical foundation and the practical tools graduates need to succeed in a competitive marketplace, wherever they choose to practice. A special emphasis on interdisciplinary studies, public service, and opportunities for hands-on clinical education makes UB Law unique among the nation's public law schools.

While the first-year program includes traditional legal courses in civil procedure, torts, contracts, property, criminal law, constitutional law, and ethics, in the second and third years students can choose from a dozen curricular concentrations that allow for in-depth study. Moreover, each student has the opportunity to craft a custom-made curriculum, beyond the selected concentrations, drawing from numerous offerings to build a personalized sequence of courses and experiences. http://law.buffalo.edu/Academic_Programs_And_Research/default.asp?firstlevel=1&filename=clinical_education_and_public_interest] offer diverse practice opportunities for second and third-year students. Known for its approaches to skills training and public interest practice, UB Law's Clinical Education Program combines client service, impact litigation, and transactional planning.

The school has a very low student-faculty ratio. Currently, more than 75 percent of its upper division courses comprise fewer than 40 students. Many of the 50 faculty members are prominently known and hold advanced degrees in the social sciences and other disciplines, in addition to their law degrees.

Interdisciplinary and dual degree programs permit UB Law students to combine their legal studies with masters or doctoral programs through the [http://law.buffalo.edu/About%5FUBLaw/default.asp?firstlevel=1&filename=ub_law_in_brief# Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy] , as well as the UB School of Management, the School of Social Work, the School of Informatics and the School of Medicine. UB Law also offers post-professional [http://www.law.buffalo.edu/Academic_Programs_And_Research/default.asp?firstlevel=2&filename=LLM_program Master of Laws degree in Criminal Law] , and a [http://www.law.buffalo.edu/Academic_Programs_And_Research/default.asp?firstlevel=3&filename=general_llm General LL.M.] program designed exclusively for international students.

University at Buffalo New York City Program in International Finance & Law

The Law School currently runs a [http://www.law.buffalo.edu/UBinNYC/ joint program] with UB's Business School each Spring in New York City. The Institute is named after Neil D. Levin, the former Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who was killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The Institute which ran its first complete program in 2006 focuses on international finance. It allows approximately 20 students from UB's Law and Business school to spend a semester studying and working in New York City. Students are divided into five teams to work on semester-long projects sponsored by law firms and financial institutions. Each team receives instruction and feedback from its sponsor in person, by teleconference and/or e-mail, and each team produces a substantial product. As the semester ends, teams present their work to their sponsors, as well as to their peers and the deans of both the Law School and the School of Management. The projects are an invaluable opportunity for the students to get an idea of some of the work that is done by, and useful to, their sponsors.

2006 Project Examples:

*Project Sponsor: CLSA - Find private companies in China that are ripe for IPO and investment banking services (The deal size for an IPO should be between $100M and $400M.)

*Project Sponsor: Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson - Analyze the leveraged buyout of Toys R Us by a private equity consortium made up of KKR, Bain Capital, and Vornado

*Project Sponsor: UBS - Analyze the issue of “unbundling” of client commissions by broker/dealers. Study the potential effects of unbundling on UBS’s business, Identify possible changes to the company’s current commission structure/business model

*Project Sponsor: Credit Suisse - Study Pepsico’s business model. Analyze its decision to enter the fast food business and its subsequent decision to spin-off its restaurant chains, Analyze Pepsico’s current market position and devise a strategy moving forward

*Project Sponsor: M&T Bank Corporation - Investigate trade financing opportunities in Ukraine, Locate Ukrainian companies potentially interested in financing the purchase of U.S.-produced goods

Clinical Programs

UB Law's nationally renowned clinics offer diverse and sophisticated practice opportunities. Known for its groundbreaking approaches to skills training and public-interest practice, their Clinical Education Program combines client service, impact litigation, transactional practice, and public policy development. Students participate in clinics throughout the school year and are given classroom credit for their work. The Clinical Education Program includes:

*Affordable Housing Clinic
*Community Economic Development Clinic
*Environment and Development Clinic
*Environmental Law and Policy Clinic
*Family Violence Clinic
*Immigration Law
*Securities Law Clinic
*Public Service Field Placements
*William and Mary Foster Elder Law Clinic

Law Journals and Publications

Students of the Juris Doctor (JD) program are involved in preparing and publishing the Buffalo Law Review, a generalist law review that publishes articles by practitioners, professors, and students in all areas of the law, as well as a number of other law journals and an independent student newspaper.

The Buffalo Law Review was first published in 1951 and has been staffed and edited by some of the school's most notable alumni. It currently publishes five issues per year with each issue containing approximately four articles, one book review, and one member-written comment per issue.

The student newspaper, The Opinion, has been published monthly since the 1950s, making it one of the oldest law school newspapers in the country.

The law journals are:

*ABA Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law
*Buffalo Environmental Law Journal
*Buffalo Intellectual Property Law Journal
*Buffalo Journal of Gender Law & Social Policy
*Buffalo Human Rights Law Review
*Buffalo Law Review
*Buffalo Public Interest Law Journal
*Law and Policy

Baldy Center

The [http://www.law.buffalo.edu/BALDYCENTER/ Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy] is an institute that supports the interdisciplinary study of law and legal institutions. Over 100 UB faculty members from 17 academic departments participate in Baldy Center research and teaching activities as do an increasing number of graduate students.

The center maintains cooperative ties to other interdisciplinary research centers and cosponsors a regional network of sociolegal scholars in New York and Canada. The Baldy Center hosts distinguished scholars from around the world as visitors, consultants, and conference participants. The Baldy Center and UB Law also publishes the journal [http://www.law.buffalo.edu/baldycenter/lawandpolicy.htm Law & Policy] .

Charles B. Sears Law Library

Named for the Honorable Charles Brown Sears, the Law Library occupies six floors in the center of the Law School. Their services and research collections are carefully tailored to meet the research instruction needs of UB Law’s students. The facility, often referred to as “the heart of the Law School,” provides a comfortable, modern setting that is very conducive to the study of law.

The library’s collection of more than 500,000 volumes and microform equivalents plus a wide array of online resources in legal and cross-discliplinary subjects is augmented by convenient access to the university’s three-million-volume research collection. The library’s instructional technology resources include a state-of-the-art computer classroom, thirty-three networked computer workstations offering a variety of software, numerous laptop connections, and extensive audiovisual curricular support.

The law-trained librarians answer legal reference questions, suggest research strategies, help students locate hard-to-find research material, and teach students how to use the online catalog, the Internet, CD-ROMs, Westlaw, and LEXIS-NEXIS, as well as how to perform traditional legal research. With the help of our Koren Audio-Visual Center staff, first-year students videotape practice presentations in order to perfect their oral advocacy skills for the Research and Writing course. The Koren A-V Center also makes available an unusually rich collection of audio and video tapes, which are in high demand for both course review and curriculum enrichment.

With its dedicated staff, outstanding research resources, comfortable carrels and conference rooms, and state-of-the-art computing resources, the Law Library is well positioned to help law students successfully create research projects that utilize the best of electronic and traditional research.

Administration

*Makau Mutua - Dean and Professor
*Alan S. Carrel - Vice Dean for Development
*Marlene M. Cook - Vice Dean for Resource Management
*Ilene R. Fleischmann - Vice Dean for Communications and Alumni Relations; Executive Director of the UB Law Alumni Association
*James A. Gardner - Vice Dean for Academic Affairs
*James G. Milles - Vice Dean for Legal Information Services, Director of the Law Library, and Professor
*Melinda R. Saran - Vice Dean for Student Affairs
*Lillie Wiley-Upshaw - Vice Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid
*Alexander Dzadur - Associate Dean for Information Technology
*Karen Kaczmarski - Assistant Dean for Development
*BobbyJo LaDelfa - Director of Records and Registration/Registrar
*Lisa M. Mueller - Assistant Dean for Communications/CLE Coordinator
*James R. Newton - Associate Dean for Administration
*Lisa M. Patterson - Associate Dean for Career Services

tudent Bar Association

The [http://wings.buffalo.edu/academic/department/law/sba/ Student Bar Association] is the University at Buffalo Law School's student government. The Student Bar Association, through its committees and decision making ability, provides students with the opportunity to develop leadership and presentational skills. Student Bar Association decisions are made on a daily basis by the SBA Executive Board , elected by the entire student body every spring. It comprises the President, Vice President, Treasurer and Parliamentarian. Each fall 1L, 2L, 3L and LLM Class Directors are elected. They serve with the Executive Board and meet bi-weekly to represent student concerns.

Current President:

*Mark Foti - 2008-2009

Current Vice President:

*Luis F. Segura - 2008-2009

Past Presidents:

*Burton W. Phillips - 2007-2008
*Jacia Smith - 2006-2007
*Ryan Crawford - 2005-2006
*Michael D. Mann - 2004-2005
*Yvonne McKinnon - 2003-2004
*LeVar Nathaniel Burke - 2002-2003
*Luke Basis - 2001-2002
*Vince Gregory - 2000-2001

Notable Alumni and Faculty

*Hon. Michael A. Battle - Executive Director of the Office of U.S. Attorneys, former U.S. Attorney, W.D.N.Y.
*Hon. Lois Bloom - United States Magistrate Judge, Eastern District of New York
*Diane Bosse - Chair of N.Y.S. Board of Law Examiners, Buffalo, NY
*Hon. Thomas Buergenthal - [http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/igeneralinformation/icvjudge/Buergenthal.htm Judge, International Court of Justice, The Hague]
*Frank Clark - Erie County District Attorney, Buffalo, NY
*Hon. Julio M. Fuentes - Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Newark, NJ
*Hon. Paul L. Freidman - United States District Judge, District of Columbia
*Hon. Samuel L. Green - Senior Associate Judge N.Y.S. Appellate Division, 4th Department
*Hon. Ann Mikoll - former Justice, N.Y.S. Appellate Division, 3rd Dept.
*Hon. Henry J. Nowak - former U.S. Congressman
*John Lord O'Brian - prominent antitrust attorney, politician
*Hon. Eugene Pigott - [http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ctapps/efp.htm Associate Judge of the N.Y.S. Court of Appeals]
* Robert Restaino - judge dismissed from the bench in 2007 for imprisoning 46 people over a ringing cellphone
*Hon. Hugh B. Scott - U.S. Magistrate Judge, United States District Court, Western District of New York
*Hon. Michael A. Telesca - United States District Court Judge, Western District of New York
*Hon. Dennis Vacco - former New York State Attorney General, 1994-98
*Hon. Dale Volker - N.Y. State Senator

University at Buffalo

The University at Buffalo is New York's premier public center for graduate and professional education and the state's largest and most comprehensive public university.

A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, the University at Buffalo stands in the first rank among the nation's research-intensive public universities. The university was founded as a private institution in 1846 and merged with the State University of New York in 1962.

UB's College of Arts and Sciences offers undergraduate and graduate study in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences. The university also offers degree programs in schools of architecture and planning, dental medicine, education (graduate programs only), engineering, health-related professions, informatics, law, management, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and social work. Total enrollment is 24,000: two-thirds undergraduate and one-third graduate and professional.

As a research-intensive university, UB supports and houses a wide array of research institutes, centers, and laboratories. These organized units, and the research projects of individual faculty members, expended $142 million in grants from federal and state agencies, foundations, and industrial research partners in the year 2000 making UB the thirty-fourth-largest research campus in the nation in total annual expenditure of external funds.

The university's public mission of outreach to community, state, and nation ties a significant portion of its research and education efforts to the needs of society.

External links

* [http://law.buffalo.edu/ University at Buffalo Law School]
* [http://wings.buffalo.edu/law/jlsa/ Jewish Law Student Association of the University at Buffalo Law School]
* [http://www.buffalolawreview.org Buffalo Law Review]
* [http://www.law.buffalo.edu/portal/course_website/rg24/regrg24/uploaded/about.html Buffalo Public Interest Law Journal]

* [http://www.law.buffalo.edu/UBinNYC/ University at Buffalo New York City Program in International Finance & Law]