Quinnipiac School of Law Magazine Spring 2012 by Quinnipiac University

QUINNIPIAC•LAW QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW MAGAZINE

SPRING 2012

Unbundled legal services increase access to justice and courtroom efficiency

QUINNIPIAC•LAW Spring 2012 • Volume 18 • Number 1

CONTENTS

Features 16

Departments

LAW À LA CARTE

Some lawyers are finding that offering clients unbundled services not only increases the clients’ access to justice and contributes to courtroom efficiency, but also helps with the bottom line.

OUTSOURCING IS IN

Sending legal work abroad can free lawyers to focus on more complex and skilled work, says Max Iori ’97, a member of the outsourcing subcommittee for the Securities Industry and Financial Association.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

Connecticut lawyer expands his business to the burgeoning British Virgin Islands capital of Tortola.

On the cover: Some lawyers offer a menu of services to clients who can save money by handling a portion of their legal representation. In some states, the menu includes partial representation in court. Left photo: An afternoon shower gave way to an impressive double rainbow over the School of Law Center last fall. Photo Mark Stanczak

Vice President for Public Affairs Lynn Mosher Bushnell Editor Janet Waldman, MS ’09

Manager of Photographic Services Mark Stanczak Photography • Anthony DeCarlo, John Hassett, Robert Lisak, Stan Godlewski, Steve Simonsen

Director of Publications & Design Thea A. Moritz Assistant Editor Alejandra Navarro Senior Graphic Designer Cynthia Greco Contributors • Lisa Ganga, Rhea Hirshman, Natalie Missakian, John Pettit, MS ’99, Erica Siciliano, Donna Pintek, Nellie Scoble

Faculty Focus

Professor Profile

Student Spotlight

Alumni Notes & Profiles

Events Calendar

Making Connections

In Closing

New course encourages students to consider the entrepreneurial challenges of running their own law firm.

CLIMATE FOR CHANGE

QULaw Briefs

The Quinnipiac University School of Law magazine is published by the Public Affairs office of Quinnipiac University for alumni and friends of the law school. Visit us on the Web at http://law.quinnipiac.edu. Publication and editorial offices are located at the Development and Public Affairs Building, Quinnipiac University, 275 Mount Carmel Avenue, Hamden, CT 06518-1908.

Visit us at www.quinnipiac.edu www.facebook.com/quinnipiacuniversity Twitter@QuinnipiacU

Quinnipiac University admits students of any race, color, creed, gender, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, and disability status to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. Quinnipiac University does not discriminate in these areas in the administration of its educational policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

Cert no. SW-COC-002556

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QULAW•BRIEFS Opposing counsel dedicated to justice, fair hearings

arc Durso ’03 and Nicole Donzello ’03 may have sat in the same School of Law Commencement ceremony, but today they sit on opposite sides of the GA2 courtroom in Bridgeport, Conn. Durso is the assistant state’s attorney, and Donzello is a senior assistant public defender. In October, they went tête-àtête at the School of Law, each describing his or her role in the courtroom, and specifically at arraignment hearings. The discussion was part of the “Arrest to Arraignment” program organized by the Criminal Law Society and the criminal law and advocacy concentration program. In a conversation filled with friendly banter, the two lawyers explained that they don’t always agree on the charges filed or the bail set in any given case, but they each work to ensure that the hearing is fair. They described a typical day,

from reviewing arrest reports to tackling the fast-paced flow of cases during arraignment hearings. They emphasized the importance of making the most of the time they have. In court, the lawyers often are writing notes from one case even as a court officer begins reading the charges for the next one. “In our field, you really need to learn how to read and talk at the same time,” says Durso. Donzello has a specific amount of time to meet with the accused. Durso explained that he makes time to talk to the victims. Both lawyers work with law enforcement to ensure information in police reports is accurate. They emphasized to students the importance of following court procedures. “It takes forever to build your reputation and a second to ruin it all,” Durso says.

Criminal Law Society member Brian Young, left, with Nicole Donzello ’03, senior assistant public defender, and Marc Durso ’03, assistant state’s attorney, both in Bridgeport. 2

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Christina Colla, above left, a 1L, gets a lick from new puppy, Copper, at the auction. With her are 1L Alma Nunley, center, and Randale Nunley. Below, Professor Robert Farrell auctions a signed ESPN banner displayed by 2L Desmond Ryan, PILP president.

PILP AUCTION RAISES GREEN Embracing an Irish theme, members of the School of Law community raised more than $17,000 at the 19th annual Public Interest Law Project Auction in March. Both students and alumni bid on items, from activities with professors to gift cards donated by the community. In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, the attendees donned green to raise green. This year some of the items up for auction included a one-of-a-kind package to Belmont Park Race Track in New York, with preferred seating in an owner’s box and a gourmet lunch; vacation rental homes in both Montana and Florida; and a baseball signed by Red Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis. Faculty and staff donations to the auction included yoga and a meal with Professor Jennifer Brown and homemade pizza for six at Dean Brad Saxton’s house (won by 1Ls Christina Colla and Alma Nunley). The auction raises money for PILP grants, which support students in unpaid public interest internships.

Family Day Awards

SHORTS

Images of Justice — Judith Resnik and Dennis Curtis, Yale Law School professors and authors of the book “Representing Justice,” gave a presentation about the images of justice, often presented as a woman holding scales in one hand and a sword in the other. In the October program, Resnik showed images of justice from around the world and at different moments in history and talked about the connections they have to democratic courts. Professors Jeff Meyer, Sarah Russell and Christina Spiesel also participated in the discussion.

he School of Law honored top students at the annual Family Day Awards in November. Distinguished Academic Achievement Awards were given to law students who earned the highest grade point average in each section of a course during the previous academic year. Other awards, including named scholarships, were presented as well.

Dennis Curtis and Judith Resnik

1. Diane Bryant, center, with academic achievement award recipients, from left: Lowell Tillett, Anna Keegan, Cara Platt, Thomas Plumridge and Michael Roy, all Class of 2011. Bryant is the assistant to the assistant dean for student and career services. 2. Katie Cruickshank, center, a 3L and academic achievement award recipient, with her parents, Lori and Jay ’99. 3. Sarah Keller, left, 3L, a recipient of both a Distinguished Academic Achievement Award and the Marci Karbane Endowed Scholarship, with her mother, Linda. 4. Danielle McGee, 2L, the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship recipient.

Young lawyers share experiences over lunch

n September, three lawyers in the early stages of their careers gave advice to law students to help them make a smooth transition into the legal profession. Shari-Lynn Cuomo Shore of

Wolf & Shore in Hamden, Sue Kirkeby of Halloran & Sage in Hartford, and David McGrath of the Louden Group in Norwich, Conn., had a conversation with students in September as part of

From left: Shari-Lynn Cuomo Shore, Sue Kirkeby and David McGrath spoke with current law students at a program co-hosted by the CBA Young Lawyers Section and the QUSL Career Services office.

the Lunch with Young Lawyers Series. The CBA Young Lawyers Section and the School of Law’s Career Services office sponsored the event. The alumni advised students to take practical courses in lawyering techniques, visit courts to get a feel for how they run, network by joining professional associations such as the CBA, and try to pinpoint an area of the law they think they’d enjoy. “You will work long hours so you want it to be interesting, and it is,” said Shore. McGrath enjoys helping families through the stress of divorce. He said trials are rare and mediation more common, but the latter can prove to be expensive for couples who afterward decide to hire their own lawyers.

Perspectives on DOMA — In November, Sister Mary Ellen Burns of Apostle Immigrant Services joined professors Jennifer Brown, Mary Ferrari and Toni Robinson in a discussion about the Defense of Marriage Act and its effects on constitutional, tax and immigration law. The federal law, for example, allows no rights for same-sex couples of mixed-immigration status. Constitutional interpretation is topic — Roger Pilon, founder and director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies, presented “Limited Government to Leviathan: How Washington Misinterprets the Constitution” in January in the Grand Courtroom. The event was sponsored by the Federalist Society and the QUSL American Civil Liberties Union. SPRING 2012 • QUINNIPIAC LAW

FACULTY•FOCUS Jennifer Gerarda Brown Carmen Tortora Professor of Law PUBLICATIONS “E-Marriage: ‘Dot-Com’ or ‘DotOrg’?,” 2011 Michigan State Law Review, Vol. 2011, pgs. 209–215 (2011). Brown presented “Deeply Contacting the Inner World of Another: Practicing Empathy in Values-Based Negotiation Role Plays” at the New Directions in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution conference hosted by Washington University School of Law. She also chairs the planning committee for the Fall 2012 John A Speziale ADR Symposium co-sponsored by the School of Law and the Connecticut Bar Foundation.

Jeffrey Cooper Professor PUBLICATIONS “2010 Developments in Connecticut Estate and Probate Law,” Connecticut Bar Journal, Vol. 85, pgs. 179–194 (2011), with John R. Ivimey. In June 2011, Cooper spoke at the Federal and Connecticut Gift Tax Workshop, sponsored by PESI Law, and presented “Reflections on Trust Investing” at the ACTEC New England Regional Meeting in September.

William Dunlap Professor PUBLICATIONS “Why We Should Avoid the T-Word,” The Connecticut Law Tribune (September 2011). The article was about the overuse of the “terrorist” label.

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Dunlap attended the Fourth International Symposium on Contemporary Criminal Law at Beijing Normal University in China in December, where he spoke on prosecuting international terrorist crimes in the United States. In January, he was elected chair of the Section on International Human Rights at the annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools in Washington, D.C. He served as a deputy editor of the annual International Legal Developments in Review issue of The International Lawyer, the journal of the American Bar Association’s Section on International Law and Practice. Dunlap also contributed to an amicus brief in Florida Department of Corrections v. Shelton, an appeal to the 11th Circuit in a habeas case challenging the constitutionality of a Florida law that makes drug possession a strict liability offense carrying a potential penalty of life in prison.

Neal Feigenson Professor PUBLICATIONS “The Visual in Law: Three Problems for Legal Theory,” Journal of Law, Culture, and Humanities (in press). Feigenson commented on Eigen and Listokin, “Do Lawyers Believe in Their Own Hype and Should They?” He presented “What It’s Like: Demonstrative Evidence of Subjective States,” at Wesleyan University Center for the Humanities in September 2011 and attended the Conference on Empirical Legal Studies at Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago in November.

Martin Margulies

Linda Meyer

Professor Emeritus

Professor

Margulies reviewed Peter Pininski’s “Bonnie Prince Charlie: A Life,” for the March-April issue of History Scotland magazine. He also wrote an op-ed piece for the Connecticut Law Tribune titled, “Judge Goes Ballistic Over First Amendment Defense,” published on Jan. 30, 2012. The piece focused on a recent state court criminal proceeding in which Margulies represented a man who was wrongly accused of incitement for posting what he thought was a humorous comment about Connecticut’s governor. The defendant finally pleaded to a lesser charge to avoid risking jail time on a more serious charge. Margulies contended that any prosecutor remotely familiar with the pertinent First Amendment principles would have brought neither of the charges.

Meyer was named one of four 2012 University Faculty Scholar award recipients and honored at a reception in April.

Elizabeth Marsh Professor of Law In May, Marsh will participate in the Criminal Procedure Discussion Forum at the Yeditepe University in Istanbul, Turkey. American, European and Turkish authors of significant casebooks and scholars in the criminal procedure field will discuss topics in three major areas: national security and individual rights, cyber issues and the protection of privacy against government and the police in an age of advancing technology. Marsh will focus on the limits to governmental access to data stored in the cloud and whether greater protection is needed.

Jeffrey Meyer Professor In January 2011, Meyer spoke before the Federal Practice Section of the Connecticut Bar Association on “Key Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court Term 2011–12.” In February, Meyer also discussed federal environmental enforcement at the New Directions in Environmental Law: [Re]Claiming Accountability conference at Yale University and spoke on the subject of “Federal/State Criminal Justice Disparities––Lessons from Connecticut” at the Yale Law School Federalist Society.

David Rosettenstein, Carmen Tortora Professor of Law PUBLICATIONS “Exit Costs—A New Paradigm for the Treatment of International Conflicts Over Matrimonial Property Regimes,” Oklahoma Law Review, Vol. 63(4), pg. 751 (2011).

Gail Stern Professor PUBLICATIONS “Taking the Journey!” The Second Draft: The Official Magazine of the Legal Writing Institute, Vol. 25, pgs. 7–9 (Fall 2011).

Brad Saxton Dean In March, Saxton gave a presentation to the Criminal Law Society on research he did while on the faculty at the University of Wyoming College of Law in the 1990s. The research explored how well jurors understood instructions they were given in trials. The study led to the Wyoming Supreme Court’s appointment of the Wyoming Commission on Jury System Improvement, which Saxton chaired for several years. In addition, Saxton is serving on the Eyewitness Identification Task Force, appointed by the Connecticut legislature in 2011 to study and make recommendations on procedures used by Connecticut law enforcement officers working with eyewitnesses.

John Thomas Professor PUBLICATIONS “Admission, Review, and Dismissal Committee,” Autism, Springer Press (2011) with Fred Volkmar. “Chicken Pickin’ Chicken Chile,” James Burton Foundation Cookbook (2011). “Christie’s to Auction Richard Gere’s, uh, Assemblage of Guitars,” Fretboard Journal (online, 2011). “Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery

for Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Humanitarian Emergency?” Psychiatric Times Vol 29, pg. 1. (August 2011). “Drop that Guitar and Put Up Your Hands…Guest Column in Dot Earth,” New York Times (October 2011). “The Guitarist at the Center or American Music: James Burton: The Early Years, 1956–1969,” Fretboard Journal (online, 2012). “The Instruments of the Larson Brothers,” Grove Dictionary of American Music, H. Wiley Hitchcock & Stanley Sadie, eds. Oxford University Press (2011). “Knock on Wood: An Illustrated Guide to US v. Gibson Guitar Corporation,” ABA Journal (December 2011). In August, Thomas attended the Healdsburg Guitar Festival in Santa Rosa, Calif., and gave a seminar on “Through the Looking Glass: An in-depth look at CITIES, the Lacey Act and The Select International Laws Affecting the Movement of Woods and Wooden Musical Instruments.” He gave a televised presentation in Hollywood, Calif., in September to Phil Everly to mark the unveiling of Buddy Holly’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Thomas also spoke at the Harp Guitar Foundation’s Harp Guitar Gathering in October on using diagnostic imaging to reveal the secrets of historically significant musical instruments.

FREEDOM RIDERS Marilyn Ford, left, helped facilitate a program for the University’s Black History Month lecture featuring Andrew Young, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and a former mayor of Atlanta (shown with Ford); and Bernard Lafayette, one of the civil rights activists known as Freedom Riders. They rode buses into segregated southern states in the 1960s to test a Supreme Court ruling that outlawed racial segregation. Ed Gordon, host of BET’s “Weekly with Ed Gordon,” moderated the discussion.

Professors Linda Meyer and Neal Feigenson

Tortora professors explore decision-making and mercy

rofessors Neal Feigenson and Linda Meyer, the School of Law’s inaugural Carmen Tortora Professors of Law, led a symposium in October marking the end of their Tortora terms. Feigenson and Meyer gave talks on topics they have studied for much of their careers and continue to explore. Feigenson, who has researched and written about the cognitive and social psychology of legal decision-making, spoke about his work on the role of common sense in jury judgments. Meyer’s research focuses on the theory of punishment and the importance of mercy in law. She is now working on a better understanding of victimization, and discussed how law and suffering tend to mutually define each other: Law implies an absence of suffering, and suffering implies an absence of law. Four prominent scholars responded to those talks, adding their own interdisciplinary perspectives. Responding to Feigenson’s presentation, Shari Diamond, the Howard J. Trienens Professor of Law at Northwestern University Law School, drew on her seminal research of actual jury deliberations and decision-making to argue that jurors follow the law more

closely than Feigenson’s concept of “total justice” would indicate. Diamond also is a research professor at the American Bar Foundation, as well as a leading social psychologist. Terry Maroney, associate professor at Vanderbilt University Law School, focused on Feigenson’s work on emotion in law. He suggested theoretical and practical directions in emotion and law research to pursue in the future. Joining Meyer was Mark Antaki, associate professor at McGill University’s Faculty of Law and a fellow of McGill’s Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas. Antaki explored the connection between his own criticism of “human rights” talk as tending to reduce “humanity” to a dangerously empty abstraction and Meyer’s work on grace and mercy, which calls for thoughtful engagement with given relationships. Jill Stauffer, creator of the interdisciplinary human rights theory program for undergraduates at Haverford College, explored the successes and failures of hearings in courts and truth commissions in order to think about the limits of mercy in promoting restorative justice and how law may, or may not, be necessary to the recovery of victims post-conflict.

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APPLIED

Franchising PROFESSOR ENJOYS CHALLENGE OF TEACHING FRANCHISE LAW BY RHEA HIRSHMAN • PHOTO BY MARK STANCZAK 6

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Up early on a Saturday, you’ve been to Planet Fitness. With a cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in the cupholder of your Honda, which you had serviced yesterday at JiffyLube, you’re on your way to your local Ace Hardware for supplies, then on to Subway for lunch. Welcome to franchised America. According to Alexander Meiklejohn, professor of law, more than 30 percent of goods sold to U.S. consumers are from franchised outlets. The International Franchise Association counts nearly 750,000 franchise outlets in the U.S.,

providing everything from pet grooming to automobile sales and employing some 8 million people. The economic output of franchise businesses is expected to be $782 billion in 2012. Meiklejohn’s interest in this area of law was piqued by an article he read in the Journal of Legal Education more than a decade ago. He has been teaching franchise law since the late ’90s and also teaches contract law, commercial law, real estate law and secured transactions. He began his legal career in a general practice law firm in Vermont, but was drawn to

the classroom, joining the School of Law faculty in 1981. Some recent articles he has published on the topic include “Redressing Harm Caused by Misleading Franchise Disclosure: A Role for the Uniform Commercial Code” in the Entrepreneurial Business Law Journal (Vol. 3, 2009); and “UFOCs and Common Law Claims Against Franchise Counsel for Negligence,” Franchise Law Journal (Vol. 25, 2005). He notes that despite franchising’s significant role in the economy, franchise law is not often taught as a separate subject, perhaps because the variety of franchise relationships makes it hard to find a single set of legal principles that govern all of them. “Franchising brings together so many different areas within the law—contracts, antitrust, real estate, tax, employment, trademarks, arbitration —that it can be a daunting subject,” he says. While franchising in some form goes back at least to the Middle Ages, modern franchising has its roots in the 1850s, when Isaac Singer created an early form of franchising contracts as a way of marketing sewing machines. Widespread changes in the country’s demographic and cultural landscape— including more efficient modes of transportation—fueled franchising’s growth in the U.S., particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, when some of today’s most famous franchise brands (e.g., Baskin Robbins, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts, H&R Block, McDonald’s) were established. A factor in the development of franchise law, Meiklejohn explains, is that From left: Lisa Oak ’87, Dara Solan ’00, Professor Alexander Meiklejohn, John Pfannenbecker ’98 and Lindsey Capece ’11 inside Subway World Headquarters in Milford, Conn.

historically, people often bought franchises on the basis of misleading information. Instances of deceptive or overly aggressive sales tactics led to the 1971 passage in California of the first set of state laws governing franchise offerings. In 1979, the Federal Trade Commission wrote the first national franchise regulations. Much of the complexity of franchise law, Meiklejohn says, derives from the implications of the American federal system of government for franchising because both the federal government and the states exercise authority over franchise sales, and some states regulate ongoing franchise relationships. “Franchise lawyers often point to inefficiencies generated by the differences among the disclosure requirements imposed by the FTC and by the states, but there are also some benefits of the dual system of regulation,” he explains. “In drafting a revised version of its franchise regulation, the FTC recently adopted a disclosure format developed initially by the states.” Layers of legal complexity are added when franchisors enter global markets. Meiklejohn notes that while foreign franchises looking to make inroads into the U.S. must understand the intricacies of our federal system, American franchises seeking to expand overseas require increasingly sophisticated knowledge of international laws, customs and business practices. An America brand that has achieved what Meiklejohn calls truly outstanding success, both in the U.S. and overseas, is Subway. It began with one sandwich shop in 1965 and has grown to more than 36,000 restaurants in 98 countries, making it the largest single-brand global restaurant chain. Franchising services are provided to the Subway brand by Franchise World Headquarters. Located in Milford, Conn., FWH employs almost 30 Quinnipiac

School of Law graduates, many of them Meiklejohn’s former students. One is Lisa Oak ’87, who began her career negotiating real estate leases for new Subway restaurants during the summer between her second and third years of law school. Now she is managing director of Franchise Brands, LLC, created in 2005 by the Subway brand’s founders. She oversees the acquisition, incubation and expansion of all new concepts in the Franchise Brands portfolio. Recently, Oak brought her expertise to campus, discussing her work in her former professor’s franchise law class. “I could see how he is still so in tune with every student—who needs to be reminded of something, who needs to be brought back into the discussion, who needs more detail. He’s really invested in each person’s success,” she says. Other alumni concur. Dara Solan ’00, managing attorney for the legal standards group at FWH, describes Meiklejohn as a dynamic teacher. “He was very patient but also made us work hard, and because he cared so much, you always wanted to do your best and not disappoint him,” she said. John Pfannenbecker ’98, managing attorney of the finance and investment group in the legal department for FWH, credits Meiklejohn with inspiring his interest in franchise law and supporting him as his career developed. And Lindsey Capece ’11, a member of FWH’s dispute resolution group, describes Meiklejohn as the kind of teacher she felt she could turn to for career advice. Meiklejohn, who years ago made his living teaching tennis, says, “Whether teaching law or teaching a sport, the focus has to be on what the student is accomplishing. The satisfaction comes from working with people and helping them learn how to teach themselves. Seeing graduates succeed is the greatest gratification.” SPRING 2012 • QUINNIPIAC LAW

FACULTY•FOCUS Meyer explores meaning of community with female inmates

uinnipiac Law Professor Linda Meyer knows that education shouldn’t stop because one happens to be living behind bars. Last semester, Meyer volunteered to teach a course called QU 101, The Individual and the Community, to women prisoners at the York Correctional Institute in Niantic, Conn. Meyer had the idea about a year and a half ago after she took students from her law class, Theories of Punishment, to visit the prison. Realizing that inmates’ access to education is limited after earning a G.E.D., she decided to bring higher education to that population. “There are a few vocational programs within the prison— hairstyling, cooking and maintenance—and some students take college correspondence courses,” Meyer says. “But as far as I know, that’s pretty much all the educational opportunities available after high school-level courses.”

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Meyer, who has taught QU 101 on campus, thought the course would be adaptable to the prison environment for several reasons. She knew that it was a course that everyone at QU takes; she saw it as a way of creating a connection to undergraduate education; and it would provide the class with reading and writing opportunities in a seminar environment. “Of course, the issues of the individual and the community are huge for them. That’s where they are,” she says. “The readings were so on point, it was scary sometimes. One ‘aha’ moment came when we were reading Philip Zimbardo and his list of situational factors that can lead to evil acts. ‘That’s just like my gang,’ said one of my students. ‘We even had to sign a contract, just like he said.’” The class of 16 read “Dreams From My Father,” “The Laramie Project,” and “The Individual in the Community,” the same books all QU freshmen read. They talked about the community within their facility but also discussed where they fit in the outside world. The University funded the books for the course, as well as awarding three credits. “Some of the most moving moments in the classroom came after we saw the movie about ‘The Laramie Project,’ which brought many of the students to tears,” Meyer says. The book prompted discussion of samesex relationships within the prison and why straight inmates seek a deep emotional connection and a way to bond with others.

Another student, after seeing the movie, reflected on the Shepard family’s mercy toward the boys who murdered their gay son, Matthew. She wrote in her journal, “I don’t think I could have been that forgiving. But some nights I fall asleep crying for forgiveness like that.” Meyer learned a lot about the difficulties the inmates faced and their struggles with lack of community, or the failure of community, both outside and inside the prison. “I heard my students talk about how the despair and remorse over their crimes drove them to cutting or suicide, and how they struggle inside to find purpose and hope.” She recalls the second class where several students approached her to explain why their assignments were incomplete for that week. “I was prepared to be tough,” Meyer says. But when she asked why, her students explained that they were all Hospice volunteers, taking shifts by the bedside of a young inmate who was dying of cancer. “We don’t want her to die alone,” they told her. “This wasn’t exactly the excuse I had expected from a group of hardened criminals,” Meyer remarks. Another aspect that surprised

Meyer was how open her students became and the honesty each of them brought to class. As a group they discussed racism, gangs, drugs, sexual abuse, strip searches and addiction. They even touched upon the heartache many of these women felt being separated from their children and the anguish of not being around for them. The most rewarding aspect for Meyer was the community that developed within the class. “The prison motto is, ‘you come in alone, you go out alone, don’t get comfortable,’” Meyer says. “But I saw students convicted of the worst crimes going out of their way to help each other, telling each other not to quit, helping to type each other’s papers, edit each other’s prose.” Meyer said she realized she had accomplished her goal with the course upon reading an excerpt from a final essay written by one of her “white-collar crime” students. “QU 101 has changed me at the very core of who I am and what I believe. … This class and the people in it put a very human face on what I believed evil was, and it didn’t look like I expected. These people whose actions were evil are not my definition of evil people…”—Erica Siciliano

STUDENT•SPOTLIGHT Quinnipiac team wins ABA regional mediation contest

lexandra Chalons-Browne, 2L, and Phil Brown-Wilusz, 1L, took top honors at the American Bar Association Regional Representation in Mediation Competition hosted by the Quinnipiac School of Law’s Society for Dispute Resolution in February. The Quinnipiac team prevailed against a team from Western New England in the final round, which involved mediating a complex construction-related dispute. Twenty law students from all over New England attended the two-day event. The students compete as two-person teams (lawyer and client), and engage in a problem-solving mock mediation, said Carolyn Kaas, associate professor of law and co-director of the Center on Dispute Resolution. “A volunteer mediator facilitates the negotiation, but it’s up to the teams to decide how to communicate effectively and generate creative solutions and for the lawyer to protect the client’s interests without becoming either overly aggressive or sacrificing the client’s needs solely to reach settlement,” Kaas explained. Alexandra Buenaventura, 3L, the competition director, said, “More and more, parties and their attorneys are turning to mediation to resolve disputes.” Buenaventura said it was an honor to be asked to host the event in which 10 teams from six schools (Quinnipiac, Suffolk, Roger Williams, Western New England, Widener and New England-Boston) competed. More than 30 attorneys, judges and mediators from the local community volunteered their time and expertise to help judge the competition. Quinnipiac entered two teams

in the competition. Josh Scollins and John Spalding, both 3Ls, coached by Adam LaRue ’11, placed fourth overall. LaRue also coached Chalons-Browne and Brown-Wilusz with the assistance of Stephanie Cummings, 3L. That duo advances to the national competition in April. “Given how hard all the competitors work to learn the necessary skills and values, not to mention facts, it is absolutely key that the competition be well-run and fair,” Kaas said, adding: “It is hard to observe the necessary boundaries, confidentiality and anonymity rules, but our students did so perfectly.” The Society for Dispute Resolution, which is entirely studentrun, also was asked to host the ABA Negotiation Competition this fall, Buenaventura said.

Phil Brown-Wilusz, 1L, and 2L Alexandra Chalons-Browne won the regional mediation competition.

Moot Court shines light on Sixth Amendment convicted murderer’s right to an impartial jury was at the crux of the 2011 Dean Terence H. Benbow Intramural Moot Court competition. In the fictitious case of Arthur Dent v. United States, the attorney for the defendant appealed, claiming that one of the jurors may have been prejudiced by commentary heard in a nearby convenience store. Twelve students advanced to the semifinal round, and two, Mario Cerame, 3L, and Michael Ando, 2L, competed during the final bench, where three Connecticut Supreme Court justices—Ian McLachlan, Richard Palmer and Dennis Eveleigh—presided.

In a very close contest, Cerame was declared the winner. He represented the government in the final round, arguing that the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right was not violated: “The Sixth Amendment guarantees a right to a fair trial, but it doesn’t say you have to ensure a perfect trial. The question was whether the jury was objectively fair, not subjectively fair. And it was.” Ando saw the competition as an opportunity to gain some experience and confidence presenting an oral argument. “It is a different experience being in front of judges who interject questions and put the legal principles in perspective,” said Ando.

Interestingly, the parties differed as to which side had the burden of proof at the hearing, and which legal precedent controlled the case, according to Joseph Olivenbaum, assistant professor of legal skills. The main point of contention was whether prejudice can be “presumed” when jurors are exposed to external influence, or whether it must be proven. Olivenbaum has served as faculty adviser to the Moot Court Society for the past six years. Individual awards went to Kevin Lucid (best overall brief and best overall oral argument), and Mario Cerame (second best overall brief and second best overall oral argument).

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STUDENT•SPOTLIGHT Nervous energy fuels mock trial victory

reesia Singngam was nervous before trying the fictitious case of the State of Lone Star v. Alan Blizard. Once the annual intramural mock trial contest began, however, the 2L forgot about the audience and just concentrated on the work at hand, as did her 2L teammate, Samuel Greenberg.

Sadie Levine, left, and Christine Gertsch competed in the Mock Trial Final Bench last fall.

That laser-sharp focus earned them the victory, and Singngam also won the award for best opening statement. Acting as defense, they competed against 2Ls Christine Gertsch and Sadie Levine, who acted as prosecutors. Judge Howard T. Owens Jr. of Bridgeport presided over the final bench, accompanied by Dean Brad Saxton and attorney Ryan O’Neill ’08. First-year law students acted as witnesses. “It was a great opportunity to apply a lot of what I was learning in the classroom to a real-world setting,” said Greenberg, who was also named the best overall advocate. “We got a glimpse of how litigators do their job every day,” he said. As the defense team, Singngam and Greenberg attempted to establish reasonable doubt. They had a week to prepare for each round. Of all the trials, Singngam said she was

SUPREME COURT REVIEW In October, Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute, and Professor Jeffrey Meyer presented “The Supreme Court Review: Looking at Last Year’s Decisions and This Year’s Term.” Shapiro and Meyer focused on several of the landmark cases before the Supreme Court this year, including the constitutional challenges and the federal health care law to Arizona’s controversial immigration law. The Arizona law includes a requirement that local police officers check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws. The School of Law’s Federalist Society sponsored the event.

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Freesia Singngam argues for the defense, along with Samuel Greenberg, right. the most nervous about the final bench. The competition was a collaborative event, with many members of the Mock Trial Society (past and present) acting as judges in the preliminary and semifinal rounds, including Christian Gunneson, Annie

Muldowney, Rob O’Brien, Wade Luckett, Laurence Tamaccio, Evan O’Hara, Michael Sekkas, Kristin Losi, Stephen Gillett and Cory Schug, all 3Ls. O’Brien, who is executive vice president of the society, organized and ran the tournament. James Cresswell ’11, former president of the society, was presiding judge in the morning semifinal round, and Sean McGuinness ’09 served as presiding judge in the afternoon.

Ryan O’Neill ’08, left, and Judge Howard T. Owens Jr. presided.

A winning argument Erwin takes third place in national contest By Donna Pintek

This issue, which stemmed from an actual case about a 13-year-old student, was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011. The court later adopted the position (5-4) that the student was entitled to a Miranda warning. Today, Erwin works for criminal defense attorneys Kevin Smith and Norman Pattis. He handles pre-trial work, which involves extensive writing and research for appeals and dispositive pre-trial motions. Erwin also wrote the majority of the Supreme Court briefs for ousted Bridgeport Board of Education members Maria Pereira and Bobby Simmons under the supervision of Pattis and Smith, who now have separate practices. The state Supreme Court recently ruled (6-1) in favor of the Bridgeport clients. “It’s a really big win—pretty exciting for my first case out of law school. It takes most lawyers many years to get cases in the state Supreme Court. I already have two and can claim a decisive victory on one. And we beat some of the top lawyers in the state, on the Bridgeport case, using my writing,” Erwin said. Erwin still hopes to someday work in public interest law, representing clients whose rights are violated by people who are more powerful. He identifies courage as the critical quality that separates the good lawyers from the great lawyers. “The lawyers I see as exceptional have no compunctions about speaking truth to power or standing up to people who are trying to bully their clients or seeking to abuse the power that they hold,” Erwin said.

hen he was 14, Daniel Erwin ’11 read “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “A Civil Action.” He decided he’d become a lawyer because lawyers, he reasoned, get to do meaningful things for real people. After earning an undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Erwin took a job as a public awareness coordinator for the Asheville City School Foundation in North Carolina. His desire to help others was reinforced. “It was a matter of luck, not rights, when some of the students with less-privileged backgrounds got what they needed from the education system,” he said. “A lawyer can enforce those rights more effectively than well-intentioned people in other fields,” he added. Education, as it turned out, would become a recurring theme in his life. In his second year of law school, Erwin was assigned a case with the Defense Appellate Clinic at Quinnipiac. He wrote the briefs and argued in the Appellate Court on behalf of a client convicted of a drug crime. In an unusual turn of events, the case was elevated to the Connecticut Supreme Court. Erwin filed briefs and will reargue the case this spring. The clinic is run by Elizabeth Inkster, a senior assistant public defender. Last summer, Erwin put his writing talents to work again by entering an American Judges Association national essay competition. He won third place for his piece, “Hear My Words That I Might Teach You: The Rights To Silence and Counsel Down at the Schoolyard.” He received a certificate and $1,000. His 20-page essay argued that students who are interrogated at school should be afforded the same protection as other suspects, perhaps more so because of their age. “School is a place where education is paramount and we teach civic virtue. It is not a Constitution-free zone or a place where students don’t have rights and Judge Charles Gill of Litchfield Superior where police can gather evidence Court presents Daniel Erwin ’11 with a however they wish against society’s plaque for his prize-winning essay. weakest members,” Erwin said.

SPRING 2012 • QUINNIPIAC LAW

QUINNIPIAC LAW • SPRING 2012

Law

à la cart e Unbundled services increase access to justice and courtroom efficiency B Y A L E JA N D R A N AVA R RO

arbara Shea ’85 has helped many clients win cases without ever stepping into a courtroom with them—or for them. The founder of the Partners-In-Law firm in Greenwich, Conn., also untangles the legal process and strategizes cases for clients whom she does not represent. Partners-In-Law, which Shea describes as an interactive law firm, offers traditional legal representation or special services clients can purchase à la carte. She showcases these options in the “Wheel of Unbundled Services,” a visual representation of the individual services. Writing a will, reviewing a contract and drafting a letter are among the everyday legal matters occupying a space on the wheel. Since the mid-’90s, Shea has been attracting clients who can’t afford to retain a lawyer or don’t want to pay for one. “The

whole idea of providing this kind of service is to give people reassurance that they have the expertise behind them,” says Shea, who has practiced matrimonial law for nearly 25 years and now focuses on elder law. Shea, who earned a master’s in counseling before going to law school, considers educating the client part of her profession. Through her “Court Coach” service, she helps people represent themselves in and out of court and teaches people how to maneuver through the legal system. One client, for example, paid for coaching to help with a zoning matter. Shea spoke with the zoning board members, researched the issue and helped the client develop an argument to present at the public meeting. Instead of paying for Shea to wait hours for her issue to come up at the meeting, the client did it herself and came to an agreement that saved her $10,000. Unbundled services give the client

more control over legal fees, a source of conflict in many situations, as lawyers know. “The lawyer gets paid for each discrete task on a pay-as-you-go basis, and there is no accounts receivable,” says Shea. “For an attorney, it’s satisfying because people always end up happy.”

A legal movement Offering unbundled services—most often for specific situations such as negotiations, document preparation or general counseling—is gaining popularity as a revenue-making business model, especially in today’s troubled economy. Lawyers and judges in 43 states have pushed to allow and encourage limitedscope representation (LSR) in courtrooms to provide at minimum some professional legal assistance for the growing number of pro se litigants who are clogging the courts. Connecticut could be next. SPRING 2012 • QUINNIPIAC LAW

Shea. She has seen firsthand how cases pile up while pro se litigants fumble. She’s also seen frustrated judges select a lawyer present to step in and represent the client.

LSR abounds

Attorney Timothy Fisher says more people are fending for themselves when it comes to legal matters.

This movement to unbundle services reflects the changing landscape of the legal profession that is being shaped by the rising costs of running a firm, legal fees beyond reach for the middle class, courtrooms teeming with pro se litigants, and growing competition from online legal resources.

On your own “The legal profession is experiencing the same pressures every profession is experiencing, which is that gradually people are fending for themselves,” says Timothy Fisher, a partner in the real estate, construction and environmental practice group at McCarter & English in Hartford. Fisher is president of the Connecticut Bar Foundation and last year held the position of Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at Quinnipiac’s School of Law. Lawyers have always offered limited-scope representation in the form of advice or writing letters, but taking LSR to the courts has been debated for nearly a decade. The middle class finds itself being squeezed out of affordable legal services, earning too little to pay legal fees and too 14

QUINNIPIAC LAW • SPRING 2012

much to qualify for precious and very limited legal assistance. Many are turning to online legal websites that offer generic legal documents—from wills to contracts—that can be customized. They also rely on online information to represent themselves. To provide assistance to the general public about the legal system, the state’s Legal Aid Network, with funding from the Connecticut Bar Foundation, has developed a website, www.ctlawhelp.org. The website provides quick access to legal information, particularly information lowincome people need, collected in a central location with links to instructional videos, procedures and forms. Family, probate and housing courts in particular struggle to cope with the swelling number of pro se parties. In Connecticut, about 85 percent of the family court cases have at least one pro se party. Courts are held up when a pro se litigant doesn’t know procedures or have the required paperwork. “Even if they do know what they are doing, they are doing it more slowly,” says

LSR already takes place in the courtroom. Lawyers routinely represent clients for bail hearings or sentencing hearings with no obligation to continue with the case. Corporations might bring in a lawyer with specific expertise to handle one area of a complicated case. In court, the sticking point is that an attorney needs a judge’s permission to stop working on a case. “If the client were to change his or her mind and say, ‘No, I want you to stay on the case,’ it’s very, very hard for the lawyer to get out,” Fisher explains. “When it comes down to the lawyer’s interests against the client’s interests, the judge is going to lean heavily toward the client.” Without an LSR rule, the lawyer cannot rely on a prior agreement with the client that the lawyer will work only on one specific area of the case. The judge might find the client incapable of proceeding without representation and, in an effort to have a fair trial, could require the attorney to stay. That doesn’t necessarily mean the client is going to pay for this representation, which is why some lawyers are reluctant to engage in LSR unless there is a rule assuring them that the limited scope will be honored by the court. It’s easier to collect from a corporation than from a recently divorced person who has child support issues, Fisher explains. Until the rules are clarified to assure attorneys of the approaches Connecticut courts will take in LSR situations, many clients will continue to go unrepresented. “If the client can’t afford a lawyer for the whole thing, then lawyers aren’t going to touch the case,” Fisher says. “Everybody loses in that situation.” The Connecticut Bar Association and a working group from the state’s Judicial Branch have created a proposal to change the Connecticut Practice Book to allow LSR. The proposal will come before the rules committee of the Superior Court in

June. Even if the rules change, it will take time to implement. The CBA has discussed the topic with numerous bar groups and co-hosted an LSR symposium in October with the CBF and Quinnipiac. Supporters of limited-scope representation argue that if a person had the option to pay for some representation, it would not only relieve pressure on the court system grappling with pro se parties, but also expose the client to the benefits of having an attorney. In court, or out of court, that could inspire the client to retain a lawyer, if financially possible.

Some concerns Ralph Monaco ’93, past president of the CBA, says that despite LSR working well in many states, some Connecticut family lawyers are concerned that it will be difficult to discern when they can directly contact a person previously represented in a limited-scope agreement. “In response to this, the proposal includes a provision that allows a limitedscope lawyer to withdraw from a case without court permission, provided that the lawyer certifies that the scope of the representation has been met,” Monaco explains. In Massachusetts, which has “limitedassistance representation,” lawyers can file multiple “limited appearances” for a client. A client can have a lawyer address multiple aspects of a case or just one. Other critics of LSR are concerned that a lawyer could get tangled in errors the client makes. The onus is on the lawyers to communicate very clearly to the clients what they are and aren’t responsible for doing during the case and in the court, Fisher explains. Karen Duffy, a family law attorney in Massachusetts who offers limitedassistance representation services, participated in a pilot program to train lawyers in probate and family courts and presented at Quinnipiac’s LSR symposium. In May 2009, the Massachusetts Supreme Court issued an order to expand its version of limited representation to all of the state’s courts. Other common concerns about LSR, such as a loss in revenues because clients opt to pay for limited services rather than

hiring a lawyer, also haven’t come to fruition, says Duffy. In fact, Duffy’s accounts receivable have dramatically decreased as fewer clients owe her money. In traditional legal services, when the retainer runs out, the client may not pay, especially when his or her case is over. That could leave outstanding balances of hundreds or thousands of dollars. Providing limited representation, she has a better idea of how much time the service will take, and she can give the client a better estimate. If the service takes longer to complete for an unexpected reason, the additional fees are minimal. In the area of limited representation, she most often does ghostwriting of legal documents or makes court appearances. “There are plenty of things that clients can do on their own,” Duffy says. It might be easier for a lawyer to send a subpoena for documents, but clients can request copies of bank statements or contact schools for records, she explains. Duffy says often the client is more apt to read the documents they collect than sift through documents sent by their lawyer, which results in the client having a better

understanding of their own case. “They are much more invested in the process,” Duffy says. “They feel like they are getting a deal. They are getting the legal representation they need, that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford.” After working with Duffy, many clients return to have her help with other aspects of a case or for assistance on another issue. Not all clients are right for limited representation. Complicated cases or those with challenging emotional issues are best handled by lawyers, Shea says. This is particularly critical for lawyers who offer unbundled services in Connecticut. “If it is a complex case, then I represent them,” says Shea. Neither Shea nor Duffy envisions LSR eclipsing most clients’ desire for full legal representation. “There always will be those people out there who would just like to hire a lawyer to handle everything and go the traditional retainer route. I don’t think that will ever change,” Duffy says. “However, what LSR offers is the opportunity to provide legal services to those individuals who would otherwise go unrepresented.”

Barbara Shea ’85 founded Partners-In-Law to untangle the legal process for clients. SPRING 2012 • QUINNIPIAC LAW

Outso Sending work abroad carves out time for more complex tasks

B Y A L E JA N D R A N AVA R RO

Max Iori â&#x20AC;&#x2122;97 in his Manhattan office with views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges.

urcing is IN W

hen Max Iori ’97 joined JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as vice president and assistant general counsel in 2005, the legal and compliance department commonly tackled large-scale contract review or redaction projects with very tight deadlines—often in a few days. Lawyers would divvy up thousands of contracts and burn the midnight oil reviewing them for key terms or marking out sensitive information with a Sharpie. “I realized right away, we did not need to do this in-house. There is a more viable and efficient alternative leveraging the services of a legal process outsourcing firm,” says Iori. He heads the team that handles all technology and intellectual property matters for the bank’s treasury and securities services line of business. Since then, Iori has spearheaded the firm’s legal outsourcing initiative and started dozens of projects with global service providers, mostly in India, for at least half the cost of doing the work in house. “It’s not just taking work off your desk; it’s about improving the overall services you offer your internal clients,” explains Iori, who speaks regularly on the topic of legal outsourcing and sits on the subcommittee on outsourcing for the Securities Industry and Financial Association. “Lawyers need to start thinking about efficiency. We’re all doing more work with less resources, and we need to consider alternative service models that utilize all options available to us.” Outsourcing—officially known as legal process outsourcing or LPO—frees lawyers to focus on more complex and skilled work, he explains. The legal outsourcing

trend is not new, but it has become an integral part of doing business, particularly in large firms and legal departments. They are following the lead of businesses in other industries that have been moving work overseas for decades. U.S. firms are growing more comfortable with outsourcing, according to a 2012 report by Fronterion, a legal consulting company. The way legal departments support clients must evolve and that evolution should at least consider sending work to an LPO, Iori says. He estimates that at least 10 percent of a lawyer’s work could be done by outside vendors. U.S. firms also have begun to open LPO offices, usually in Ohio and Florida cities, where the cost of living is low. According to Fronterion’s report, these U.S. offices are squeezing profits from Indian firms, which currently have a grip on the global LPO market. India has a large English-speaking population and a legal system similar to the U.K. legal system, as well as the U.S. system. Iori works with well-established firms whose lawyers have passed the bar in India and are managed by U.S. lawyers. Every LPO Iori uses goes through stringent operational and financial due diligence. These companies provide services according to a detailed master agreement that ensures robust confidentiality and data security, he explains. Moreover, Indian firms are less expensive, reactive and very efficient, and have the advantage of being in a different time zone. “It’s the whole follow-the-sun scenario,” he explains. “I can send them something at 5 p.m. and it’s on my desk at 8 a.m.” Initial review of redlined agreements, confirmation of information received from

the client, trademark due diligence and contract review and redaction can be easily outsourced. Iori is quick to point out that not all work an attorney handles can be done offshore. Outsourcing can make people nervous. “One of the biggest concerns I hear is whether or not the legal outsourcing firm will do a good job,” Iori says. When legal offshore projects fail it’s because the lawyer managing the project often did not accurately detail all the requirements in concise and clear process charts and training documents. The lawyer must perform due diligence in the LPO itself—and not all LPOs are created equal, Iori explains. “It takes a lot of time to break down what you do into a portable and detailed process,” he says. Iori creates a specific legal and business process for the project and makes certain the LPO understands the process upfront. Then, he gives a small portion of the job to the LPO. After he reviews the work for accuracy, he sends the entire job. All projects have service level agreements, penalties and proper project management and governance. “I’m doing more work up front than I normally would, but in the end, the time I saved is spent on handling higher-value matters for my internal clients,” he explains. He advises lawyers who benefit from using LPOs to focus on complicated work, client interaction and gaining expertise and skills. “Never allow the usage of an LPO to give you more free time,” he says. “Use that time to constantly build your practice, professionally and personally.” SPRING 2012 • QUINNIPIAC LAW

Emily (Riordan) Lucibello â&#x20AC;&#x2122;09, left, and her law partner, Lisamaria T. Proscino, QU â&#x20AC;&#x2122;06, in their Orange office. 18

TAKING CARE OF

BUSINESS Newly designed course covers the challenges of running a law firm B Y JA N E T WA L D M A N

aw schools teach students to think like lawyers, but graduates who open their own firms usually must teach themselves how to think like business owners. Emily (Riordan) Lucibello ’09 is well aware of how important the entrepreneurial mindset is. In 2009, she started a firm with two other attorneys. After experiencing business differences, she recently dissolved that partnership to form a new practice in Orange, Conn., with Lisamaria T. Proscino QU ’06, a legal studies major and criminal justice major who graduated from Western New England University School of Law. They met several years ago when both were summer clerks at the New Haven firm of Lynch, Traube, Keefe & Errante. Lucibello thinks the No. 1 reason law firms fail is that they do not run their office like a small business selling legal services. “You are not just hanging a shingle…you need to set financial goals, market yourself, do a website and social media. We wear two hats: lawyer and business owner,” she says. Large firms of 30 or more lawyers usually have an administrative team that handles personnel issues or a CFO for financial matters. “But in small firms, you don’t

want to hand that off,” Lucibello says. Both her father and husband are CPAs who are happy to serve as sounding boards. Conveniently, they all work in the same building. A newly designed elective called Law Practice Management, offered at the School of Law for the first time last fall, makes the learning curve less steep for future law firm owners by focusing on the skills and knowledge needed to build and manage a practice. Students learn about alternative fee agreements (flat fee, hourly fee, value-based fees or a blend of each); docket control; malpractice insurance; risk management; timekeeping and billing; hiring, firing and performance reviews; and technology and equipment. Ethics, website maintenance, marketing and branding are covered as well. “Whether you open your own firm, create one with a partner, or rise to partner in a larger firm, knowledge of basic business skills is a definite advantage,” says Anthony Minchella ’96, who developed and taught the course. He is the founder and managing partner of Minchella & Associates in Middlebury, Conn. If an associate in a firm is asked to become an equity partner or shareholder, for example, he or she probably will be

voting on business decisions. “You make partner because you generated revenue, but as a partner with business skills, you bring added value to shareholder meetings where discussions about layoffs, realization rates and software upgrades are held. If you know what a cost-benefit analysis is, you can help decide, for example, whether iPads for all associates would be a good investment,” Minchella says. “Do you need this course to succeed? No, but it does make you more valuable,” he adds. Kara Summa, a 3L who took the course, describes it as an “incredibly practical” class. “I took it because I wanted to know how to bill properly, how to manage my time, and how to evaluate malpractice insurance policies, among other things.” After she passes the bar, Summa will join the Waterbury practice of Summa & Ryan, a boutique firm owned by her father, Joseph, and his business partner, Mary Jane Ryan. They focus on labor and employment law. While she will learn from the partners’ combined 60-plus years of experience, she in turn will share her technological knowledge. “There are a lot of ways to use technology to stay competitive, cost-wise. I’ve suggested we use computer software that can streamline the billing process by SPRING 2012 • QUINNIPIAC LAW

logging hours spent on a case,” she says. In class, she learned about other software that can keep busy lawyers organized, with alerts and alarms to keep things on track. With Minchella’s guidance, Summa and her fellow class members developed both a business and marketing plan for a hypothetical law firm. “He cautioned us to have one year’s living expenses put aside before starting,” she recalls. They also made decisions on where and how much money they would borrow, whether they would rent or buy a copy machine, and rent, buy or share office space. “It gives law students another view of being a lawyer, from the business side,” Minchella says. “We were pleased that Tony agreed to design the course and teach it for us,” says Dean Brad Saxton. “He’s been teaching Advanced Civil Procedure very effectively for us for many years, and his experiences building his own highly successful practice made him an ideal person to offer this important course for our students.” Recently, Minchella was named one of the top business and employment litigation attorneys for the second consecutive year by Connecticut Super Lawyers.

Summa says “real-world” examples from Minchella’s practice were especially helpful. “We saw his calendar. He books time to meet with staff, answer emails, and return client calls. He made us understand that if we can’t manage time well, something will be forgotten,” Summa said, noting that failure to communicate with clients is the No. 1 grievance filed. “It all comes back to time management,” she notes. Minchella’s course was among those Saxton mentioned in an article he wrote for the Connecticut Law Tribune in late November, responding to a November 2011 New York Times story that criticized law schools for emphasizing theoretical courses over those with practical applications. The Times story asserted that some law school graduates are illequipped to practice law and need too much on-the-job training. Besides Law Practice Management, Saxton pointed out that Quinnipiac, like many of its peers, offers lawyering clinics in which students represent real clients under the careful supervision of experienced faculty members. Students also get practical experience in the law school’s extensive externship program and

Anthony Minchella ’96 teaches Law Practice Management, a course that focuses on the business skills and knowledge needed to build a practice.

QUINNIPIAC LAW • SPRING 2012

in intra- and inter-school competitions in trial practice, moot court, client counseling and dispute resolution. Minchella worked for three law firms before opening his own almost nine years ago with a focus on business and employment litigation. He tells his students that marketing is something he––and they––should always be thinking about. “And I don’t mean just ads on billboards or TV, but rather a state of mind––the way you treat your clients, returning their calls promptly and seeing every relationship or engagement as a marketing opportunity,” he says. Marketing, according to Minchella, also involves having effective business cards, letterhead, an informative website (and perhaps a blog or newsletter) and attending seminars where you can get referrals. Giving or speaking at seminars is a way to represent yourself as a thought leader in the field, he notes. “Being attentive leads to word-ofmouth advertising, which can be one of the best marketing tools and start a network of goodwill that comes back to you,” Summa asserts. “Thank God I am learning this stuff now instead of struggling with it later. This class took some of my anxiety away.” Kyle O’Hearn is another 3L with a job waiting: He will take over the Norwich, Conn., firm started by his 81-year-old grandfather, Konstant Morell, who will retire after more than 40 years practicing law. “My grandfather doesn’t use a computer, and his files are still paper copies,” he says. Sometimes it takes Morell a few minutes to locate a particular document within a thick paper folder. O’Hearn will buy software for billing and document management and looks forward to using cloud storage. “You can take a deposition, scan it onto the computer, and have access to it from your smartphone or laptop, or even work from home. As our professor said, being unorganized can keep profits down.” Laurence J. Cohen ’09 audited the class, which alumni can do for a fee of $150. Among the class concepts that resonated with him was Minchella’s

advice to find a niche. “He said find an area of the law that fills a need and obviously, one that fits your background and skills, and use it to distinguish yourself from your competition.” Cohen, who completed the health law concentration, has worked part time for two law firms since graduating, both with a focus on aspects of health care law. He continues to search for a job as a full-time associate while representing several clients of his own, so the recordkeeping components of the course have come in handy. Learning to sync as partners is a skill gleaned on the job, not in the classroom. Lucibello and Proscino each brought a unique skill set to their practice. The former has experience in running a firm, including client oversight, balancing longand short-term projects, billing and marketing. Proscino has significant courtroom experience gained from clerking at New Haven Superior Court, a position that allowed her to participate in and oversee family and criminal matters while developing key relationships along the way. Lucibello & Proscino handles criminal defense, family and divorce law, personal injury and business law. When you own a small business, and particularly a law firm, there is a lot of responsibility, Lucibello notes. “As it pertains to client trust accounts, this is especially true. Any liability is ultimately imputed to us, so we feel that we must not only be ‘aware,’ but ‘in charge’ of our accounting.” Rather than entrusting the oversight of their accounts to another entity, they review all accounts internally, and at the end of the month, have their accountant take an objective look with a third set of eyes. Besides business acumen, the two partners point out other key ingredients to a successful practice. “Every decision is made by the two of us,” Proscino says. “We want to be interchangeable and seamless, two attorneys working hard for each other and the client,” she adds. Both of them recently dropped what they were doing to huddle on the floor and sort through discovery documents turned over by an

Kara Summa, 3L, says the class prepared her to join the law firm owned by her father and his business partner this summer.

opposing counsel so they could properly respond to their client’s inquiry. And know your business partners. “Consider how you fit together. You should have similar goals, values and work ethics,” warns Lucibello. The third key, and both women laughed as they stated the same word in unison: Networking! Proscino says, “I read in law school that you are a lawyer 24/7. You are considered an officer of the court, regardless of whether you are in court or in a grocery store. People who know you are a lawyer will expect you to act like one at all times.” Remembering the honor of the profession reminds her that every encounter is a chance to network.

Both Lucibello and Proscino serve on the executive board of the New Haven Young Lawyers, a section of the New Haven County Bar Association, which has been lucrative for picking brains and getting referrals. They also frequently attend young professional networking events put on by local chambers of commerce. And they recognize the importance of networking and cultivating relationships outside of legal circles. Lucibello emphasized that they are carefully building their brand and reputation from the ground up. “We want to make this practice profitable, but we also want it to last a long time,” she says with a smile. SPRING 2012 • QUINNIPIAC LAW

Climate for

CHANGE Connecticut lawyer expands business to burgeoning BVI capital of Tortola BY JOHN PETTIT

ttorney Daniel Greenberg ’93 already had a successful commercial and international law practice in Shelton, Conn., when he took a “leap of faith” and landed on a tropical island. In September 2010, he opened a satellite office of Greenberg & Co. in Tortola, the capital island of the British Virgin Islands. “I always look to do new and different things,” Greenberg said. “It makes professional life compelling.” From his research, he knew that the entrepreneurial climate in the BVI seemed promising while conditions in the Northeast were becoming more difficult for the clients his firm serves. And Greenberg’s friend Martin Kenney, an attorney with a firm in Tortola, also influenced his decision. “When I was investigating possible places to base the new firm, he suggested opening an IP (insolvency practitioner) office in the BVI,” said Greenberg. “With his encouragement, I investigated issues such as licensing and experience credentials, residency requirements and trade licenses.” Greenberg also liked that the British Virgin Islands use the U.S. dollar as cur22

QUINNIPIAC LAW • SPRING 2012

rency, have a time zone closely matching Eastern Standard Time and are easily accessible. Although Greenberg had almost two decades of experience providing international and domestic solutions for business and individuals in the areas of commercial law, insolvency and asset protection, he found he had a lot of work ahead of him. “If an American attorney moves to another state, he or she pretty much knows what to expect once they are admitted,” said Greenberg, who is licensed in Connecticut and New York. “In the BVI, it is a completely different system. American legal credentials are worthless if you are going to hold yourself out as a licensed professional.” Greenberg had to decide if the potential business was worth the effort and cost to acquire BVI credentials. He made several trips overseas to assess the potential and meet with other professionals. He discovered that the BVI was home to 500,000 companies, with about 5,000 new businesses opening a month. Interestingly, there were only about 20 licensed insolvency practitioners to serve them, with most of them being chartered accountants as opposed to attorneys.

“A BVI practice would build on the foundation of international commercial, financial, workout and trust work that I had been doing for many years, so it seemed like a logical extension of my professional credentials and experience,” he explained. Greenberg had to first become a solicitor of England and Wales before applying to be a solicitor in the BVI, as he needed a credential that would be recognized there. In addition to being called to the Roll of Solicitors in England and Wales, Greenberg chose to apply to be a licensed insolvency practitioner. Similar to a U.S. bankruptcy trustee, an insolvency practitioner manages either workouts or liquidations for a company and resolves issues involving shareholders, depositors, investors and other disputes. An insolvency practitioner can act as a liquidator, similar to a Chapter 7 trustee in the United States, or a receiver, which is similar to handling a Chapter 11 restructuring. The licensing process took about 15 months, including what Greenberg was told would be a simple, three-day test. No such thing, said Greenberg, who has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical/marine

engineering and an MBA in addition to his law degree. “It was just like a new bar exam where the subjects are substantially different.” After he passed the test, Greenberg was required to complete a one-year apprenticeship with a licensed English solicitor. “There were no solicitors locally in Connecticut, so I had to make a bunch of trips to the BVI to work in a solicitor’s office and do the rest of the work remotely.” Still, the credentials were no guarantee that the BVI would allow him to open an office. Greenberg had to seek a trade license from the BVI government. It took five meetings, the last with the premier of the country, to obtain it. “The BVI was not normally predisposed to issuing trade licenses to foreign attorneys,” said Greenberg, who relied heavily on the argumentative skills he had honed over the years. “I was able to convince them that there were reasons to allow me to open an office, as I had a completely different set of credentials than other solicitors and insolvency practitioners.” Kenney, the managing partner of Martin Kenney & Co. Solicitors, specializes in international fraud and asset recovery. He has had an office in Tortola for more than six years. He served as Greenberg’s mentor. Today, Greenberg is one of just 20 licensed insolvency practitioners in the BVI and is the only licensed insolvency practitioner there to have U.S., U.K. and BVI legal credentials. “His background and credentials and his extensive experience in the practical aspects of operating a business and running and administering an insolvency estate are quite unique,” Kenney said. Kenney, who moved his office from Dublin, said the BVI has much to offer. “I have heard estimates that one-sixteenth of the world’s private wealth is held in BVI holding companies,” he said. “We have some of the most interesting, complex and high-value corporate, commercial and business insolvency litigation in the world come before the Commercial Division of our BVI High Court.”

Sailing opportunities and gorgeous beaches are also a draw, “and the weather ain’t bad,” Kenney said. Greenberg, too, has a sunny outlook regarding Tortola. He must be a full-time resident of the BVI to maintain his license. He lives in an apartment in Tortola about 10 months per year but makes frequent trips home to visit his wife of 36 years, Marilyn, an adjunct computer science professor at Sacred Heart University. Before he expanded to Tortola, about 60 percent of his business in Connecticut had some international component. “Now, about 85 percent of the business we do is international. We have clients in 15

countries. Many times we act for other law firms or a firm will hire us to provide some kind of advice or perspective.” He finds the work intellectually challenging, especially because there is no typical day. Although earning the credentials was a lengthy process, Greenberg says it was worth it. In early March, he was appointed voluntary liquidator of a BVI holding company financing multinational development projects in Eastern Europe and Russia. “The matter is expected to be litigated in at least two to four jurisdictions, and there could be $125-$200 million at stake,” he said, adding that his leap of faith is paying off.

Daniel Greenberg ’93 expanded his Connecticut law firm to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. SPRING 2012 • QUINNIPIAC LAW

Legal Union Alumni form medical malpractice team at Carter Mario law firm By Elizabeth Ganga

here was a certain symmetry to it. Gerard McEnery ’83 and Dr. Robert Messey ’94 handled medical malpractice and complex litigation at their own North Haven firm. Carter Mario Injury Lawyers handled personal injury cases that often could be wrapped up without filing a lawsuit. In addition, McEnery and Messey had been receiving malpractice and complex litigation referrals from Mario for years. So when Mario, well known for his Get Carter! ads, wanted to build up his litigation department last fall, he knew whom to call. McEnery, Messey and a third partner, Gayle Sullivan, folded into Carter Mario last December. “It’s an exciting challenge because Carter Mario’s firm is unbelievably successful at what they do,” McEnery said. The trio forms the backbone of Carter Mario’s medical malpractice team, bringing together Mario’s specialty in settling cases with their focus on preparing cases for trial. “There really is no other firm in the state that’s tried to do this,” McEnery said. So far, the marriage is coming together seamlessly. Mario’s support and commitment to facilitating their success has eased the transition, McEnery said. The difference in style hasn’t been a problem either. Any qualms about joining an “advertising firm,” McEnery said, were allayed by years of dropping by Mario’s offices on referrals, where they saw the clients’ satisfaction firsthand. “I had to decide it was my hang-up and my hesitancy and recognize what he’s doing here is really good,” said McEnery, who lives in Fairfield and works in Carter Mario’s Milford, North Haven and New Britain offices. Carter Mario also employs five other Quinnipiac School of Law alumni: Dana Beyer ’89, Andy Bottinick ’93, Luretha McClendon ’02, Michelle Morrell ’02 and Carla Williams ’05. Messey, who worked as a surgeon before earning his law degree, set some rules when he joined the former firm of Sinoway & McEnery in 1996. He wouldn’t sue anyone he knew; he would only accept legitimate cases for which he could find an

Photo by Robert Lisak expert; and even if a medical mistake had been made, he could still turn down a case if it did not feel right. “We continue that,” said Messey, who lives in Milford. “We try to get the best experts we can. We try to get the right opinion.” Messey’s background in medicine comes in handy every day in evaluating the legitimacy of cases that come through the door. He knows how to speak the language of the experts and he also can be a sort of in-house expert. Just before talking with Quinnipiac Law, McEnery had met with Messey to go through radiology screens in preparation for a trip to Boston, where McEnery would conduct interviews. Messey graduated from Hahnemann University Medical School, now Drexel University College of Medicine, in 1984 and became a staff surgeon at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport. When he decided to go to law school, he worked the overnight shift at the medical center and attended law classes at night a few miles down the road at what was then the University of Bridgeport Law School. “Working in Bridgeport at night, a large part of what I saw was trauma,” Messey said. Though he stopped practicing medicine in 1997, he maintains his license and reads medical journals to keep up with standards of care. While malpractice was a logical fit for Messey, McEnery fell into it after finding a job on Long Island with a firm representing Columbia Presbyterian and New York Hospital. In 1986, he worked his way back to Connecticut and in the mid-1990s founded Sinoway & McEnery, eventually building a statewide reputation. For at least 10 years, both Messey and McEnery have shared their experience at Quinnipiac. McEnery teaches Advanced Torts-Medical Malpractice Litigation in the spring and Messey teaches Law and Medicine in the fall. They also fund a scholarship at the school and sponsor several alumni receptions each year around the state. With all they have to teach, Carter Mario is giving them something to learn. “It’s impressive,” Messey said. “A lot of it focuses on client services, making the client feel comfortable, and letting them know how important they are, making them feel welcome.”

“It’s an exciting challenge because Carter Mario’s firm is unbelievably successful at what they do.” —Gerard McEnery ’83

From left: Gerard McEnery ’83, Carter Mario and Robert Messey ’94.

SPRING 2012 • QUINNIPIAC LAW

QULAW•ALUMNI —1981— LAWRENCE W. BERLINER opened his own law practice, the Law Office of Lawrence W. Berliner in Westport, CT, which offers representation in the areas of special education, disability law and the civil rights of individuals with disabilities. His concentrations are special education law and disability law for children and young adults (elementary to age 21) on the federal and state level. He lives in Guilford, CT. ROBERT N. REYNOLDS was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at Nichols College on Sept. 30, 2011. He was a fouryear letter winner and center for the ice hockey team, and ranks seventh in assists and ninth in points among the Bison

Connecticut Superior Court. He is an assistant corporation counsel for the City of Stamford. He formerly was an associate with Friedman, Mellitz & Newman in Fairfield, CT, and an associate with Zeldes, Needle & Cooper in Bridgeport, CT.

—1986— MAUREEN MCCABE MURPHY of Middletown, CT, was nominated by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to serve as a judge on the Connecticut Superior Court. She is a partner with Murphy, Murphy & Nugent in New Haven. She formerly was an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law and an associate with Greenfield & Murphy.

James X. Sattely ’92 was promoted from deputy county counsel to county counsel for Bergen County. all-time leaders. He is president of Shake-Away Inc., which manufacturers organic animal repellent. He lives in Hamden with his wife, Cate. They have four children.

—1983— GERARD MCENERY joined Carter Mario Injury Lawyers as a member of the firm’s newly expanded complex litigation and medical malpractice unit. He is also an adjunct professor of law at Quinnipiac. He lives in Fairfield, CT, with his wife, Sheila.

—1985— KENNETH B. POVODATOR of Fairfield, CT, was nominated by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to serve as a judge on the 26

QUINNIPIAC LAW • SPRING 2012

—1987— THOMAS P. PARRINO is principal and cofounder of Nusbaum & Parrino. He recently was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 in the field of family law. He has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2006. He has been practicing family law for nearly 25 years, handling some of the most intricate and high-asset family law litigation in the state. He lives in New Canaan, CT.

—1992— JOSEPH KUBIC of Stratford, CT, was unanimously chosen as chairman of the Town Council. A fourth-generation resident of Stratford, he has served six

prior years on the Town Council. Joseph is an attorney with Harlow, Adams & Friedman in Milford, CT. JAMES X. SATTELY was promoted from deputy county counsel to county counsel for Bergen County. He has served in the Bergen County Counsel’s office since 1999 under county executives in both parties. He lives in Oradell, NJ. MICHAEL SPADACCINI of Austin, TX, has opened a marketing agency that helps lawyers market their practices online.

—1994— M. ERIK CLARK is a managing partner at Borowitz & Clark in West Covina, CA. He is also an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School. He lives in Los Angeles and has two children, Devon and Michael Erik. ROBERT MESSEY, MD, joined Carter Mario Injury Lawyers as a member of the firm’s newly expanded complex litigation and medical malpractice unit. He is also a licensed physician and an adjunct professor of law at Quinnipiac. He lives in Milford, CT, with his wife, Lisa Duhl ’92. MICHAEL RIZZO is the owner of the Law Office of Michael E. Rizzo and has been married to Laurie (Sortino) Rizzo QU ’84 since 1988. They have two sons, Stephen Michael and Alec Joseph.

—1996— KYLE BARNETT was re-elected to the Esopus Town Board in the November election. He was appointed in 2010 and later won election to the seat. He is also a lawyer in private practice in Poughkeepsie, NY, where he lives with his wife, Sara.

Joey Lee Miranda ’98 She guides clients in green initiatives By Natalie Missakian hen Joey Lee Miranda ’98 tells people she practices environmental and energy law, they sometimes seem disappointed that she doesn’t work for an activist organization or take on big corporations. As a partner in Robinson & Cole’s environmental and utilities practice group, Miranda represents traditional energy corporations and renewable energy companies, helping them navigate changing regulations and comply with new and existing laws. “I went into law school thinking that someday I’d work for Greenpeace, but I love what I do now,” she says. Miranda regularly appears before state regulatory agencies and helps with permits and site approvals for renewable and traditional energy projects. She also counsels companies on opportunities to earn income from renewable energy and helps them access federal, state and local funding sources. Clients range from nuclear power plant owners to clean energy firms like Danbury-based FuelCell Energy. Her view of corporations has evolved since the days when public outrage over the Exxon Valdez oil spill steered her toward environmental law. “I realized there are few, if any, companies who willfully do things to harm the environment. Now it’s really about trying to find ways to comply that still allow companies to be competitive,” she says. One of Miranda’s influences was attorney Leslie Carothers, former vice president of Environment, Health and Safety for United Technologies Corp. She convinced that company that it could reap competitive advantages by “going green.” Miranda cited as an example a New Haven printing company that installed a wind turbine to power its operations. “They got a lot of good press because they were using renewable energy.” Miranda came to practice law after stints in other fields. She earned a bachelor’s in business administration/marketing from Hofstra University, then worked in marketing and human resources, including a contract assignment with what is now Bayer Pharmaceuticals, while she pursued an MBA at UConn. Realizing how much she enjoyed learning, she enrolled in law school, working days and attending Quinnipiac at night. She finished her MBA during her summers. While at Quinnipiac, Miranda landed a summer internship in Robinson & Cole’s Stamford office, working with the late Stuart Deans, one of the state’s premier environmental lawyers. After graduation, she joined the firm’s Hartford office, where her focus switched from environmental litigation to energy. She works mostly with “competitive” energy providers, so-called merchant generators that entered the electricity market in Connecticut after deregulation forced traditional utility

companies to sell their generating plants. She also works with retail suppliers that sell power directly to consumers. Based on her extensive work with these companies, the American Bar Association asked her to edit the book, “Capturing the Power of Electric Restructuring,” which it published in 2009. The book examines legal and policy issues in electricity law. As an industry leader, she also speaks on panels about energy topics. Her most memorable cases were in the early 2000s, when she worked on deals for two separate clients to purchase nuclear power plants in New England. “There were interesting casts of characters involved in opposing the sale of those assets,” says Miranda, who represented the buyers before the Department of Public Utility Control. “There was one person against the deal who would literally bring a skeleton and sit it in the front row every hearing day,” she recalls. She says “the crossroads of energy and the environment” is a burgeoning field that has grown in popularity under the Obama administration as the nation looks to reduce its dependence on foreign oil. Colleges and law schools are responding, she says, by offering programs tailored to the field. Aside from practicing law, Miranda loves traveling. In October, the East Hartford, Conn., resident visited South Africa and Victoria Falls. Past destinations include the Galapagos Islands, Australia and Italy. SPRING 2012 • QUINNIPIAC LAW

QULAW•ALUMNI MEGHAN (BOLDVAY) SULLIVAN is managing partner of Sullivan Hayes & Quinn in Springfield, MA. She was named the “Best Lawyers’ Springfield, MA, Labor Law-Management Lawyer of the Year” for 2012. Meghan also has been included in the “Rising Star” list among Massachusetts attorneys four times by Boston Magazine and also named a “Rising Star in New England.” She was featured as a “Woman to Watch” and recognized as one of the “40 under 40” by Business West. She lives in Holyoke, MA.

—1997— RAJ R. MAHALE is a partner at Kelley Drye & Warren in the Stamford, CT, office. He represents U.S. and foreign

entities on cross-border transactions such as mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, venture capital and private equity. He lives in New Canaan, CT. JOHNNY RASBERRY is a partner at the law firm of Richter & Rasberry in Memphis, TN, where he lives. After more than a decade with an office in downtown Memphis, the firm has relocated to Clark Tower. ROBERT WEBER recently opened the Law Office of R.J. Weber III in Wallingford, CT, where he lives. The firm focuses on litigation practice and offers a wide range of other legal services to local clients. He formerly was a partner at Cella, Flanagan & Weber in North Haven, CT.

JOIN US FOR THESE EVENTS April 21 — 3rd Annual Sleeping Giant 5K Run/Walk Challenge, 9 a.m., to benefit the Wounded Warriors Project. Sponsors: QUSL chapter of Burns Inn of Phi Delta Phi International Legal Fraternity; the Veterans Advocacy Group; the Sports and Entertainment Law Society; and the QUSL Federalist Society. Details: www.sleepinggiant5k.com.

GLENN RYBACKI has returned to Robinson & Cole in the public finance practice group. He most recently was with Shipman & Goodwin, where he spent five years as counsel in the public finance group. He lives in Hamden. MATTHEW D. SHWOM is a partner at the firm of Lewis Johs Avallone Aviles in Melville, NY. He was promoted from senior counsel and will continue his litigation practice, concentrating on commercial and personal injury matters. JENNIFER (CROTEAU) ZETTERGREN was elected to the board of directors of CATIC, New England’s largest domestic and only bar-related title insurance underwriter. A principal at Dzialo, Pickett & Allen, she practices in the areas of commercial and residential real estate and estate planning. She lives in Durham, CT.

—1999—

May 13 — School of Law Commencement, 3 p.m., TD Bank Sports Center, York Hill Campus. Commencement speaker: Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Lubbie Harper Jr.

STEVEN M. YUDKIN of Woodbridge, CT, has joined the firm of Reynolds & Rowella in Fairfield, CT, as a tax manager. He will provide tax consulting, planning, structuring and audit representation for businesses in manufacturing, real estate and financial services.

May 21 — President’s Cup Golf Tournament hosted by President John L. Lahey & Bill ’71 and Barbara ’71 Weldon, The Ridge at Back Brook, Ringoes, N.J.*

—2000—

May 12 — School of Law Graduation Awards, 2 p.m., Burt Kahn Court.

June 2 — Tax Law Reunion, School of Law Center, time TBA. Hosted by Professors Mary Ferrari, Toni Robinson and Dean Brad Saxton.

July 16 — Alumni Golf Championship hosted by the Quinnipiac Alumni Association, 10:30 a.m., Brooklawn Country Club, Algonquin Road, Fairfield, Conn.* *Register online at www.quinnipiac.edu/events.xml

—1998—

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PAMELA (COSTA) LEVIN CAMERON has joined the law firm of Moore, O’Brien, Jacques & Yelenak in Cheshire, CT. Her focus is on plaintiffs’ personal injury law, including wrongful death and medical malpractice. Her husband, George Cameron, has opened a solo condominium law practice representing both associations and unit owners. He has

a home office in Farmington, CT, where the couple lives.

D E A R L AW A L U M N I BRENDAN HAROLD wed Kelly Sammon on May 28, 2011. Brendan recently started the Harold Law Firm focusing on criminal defense in Fairfax, VA. The couple lives in Vienna, VA. CLEM NAPLES is counsel at Latham & Watkins in New York. He is an intellectual property litigator with a focus on patent infringement and trade secret actions. He lives in Westport, CT.

—2001— VINCENT MAURO JR., QU ’96 of New Haven, was sworn in as a member of the five-person board of fire commissioners. He also serves as counsel to the Senate Democrats in Hartford, and he previously served on the board of aldermen. DIANNA SCHENKEL of Plymouth, CT, was reelected as town councilwoman representing the 2nd district on the Plymouth Town Council. She is a lifelong Plymouth resident and works as a trademark specialist at UTC Fire & Security Corp. in Farmington, CT.

appy Spring! Although this year’s winter was a little gentler on us here in New England, it’s always nice to experience those first few days of spring. If nothing else, it gives us all a good excuse to sneak a quick break from work and take a deep breath. If you’re reading this issue of Quinnipiac Law and haven’t had your first sunny-day brief escape, please make it a point to get out there! Winter weather may have gone on hiatus this year, but the Alumni Association certainly did not. The busy year has included March’s third annual alumni reception at the Public Interest Law Project (PILP) Auction, as well as the recent Fairfield County annual reception. These events, as well as the fall events in Hartford and New Haven, continue to grow in popularity every year and are a fantastic way to reconnect with old friends and network with new ones. Members of the Alumni Association have been hard at work brainstorming about additional ways to strengthen our connections to one another, to the School of Law and to the legal community. We plan to announce some exciting new endeavors in the coming year. I hope to see you at an upcoming event! Sincerely, Amy E. (Drega) Markim ’08, amarkim@haslaw.com President, Executive Board Quinnipiac University School of Law Alumni Association

—2002— DARCY S. MCALISTER, along with two former partners, opened the new firm, Carta McAlister & Moore Counselors at Law. The firm provides service in the areas of civil litigation, employment law, fiduciary disputes, family law matters, residential real estate, and trusts and estates.

and is a co-chair of its New England Regional Committee. Sullivan also has been listed as a Rising Star in Connecticut Super Lawyers in the area of business litigation since 2010. She lives in Fairfield, CT.

MELISSA SULLIVAN is a partner at Robinson & Cole in Stamford, CT. Her litigation experience focuses primarily on large-loss property subrogation, products liability defense and commercial litigation. She is an active member of the National Association of Subrogation Professionals, and serves as property track co-chair of its national conference. She also sits on the editorial board of its national publication, Subrogator,

LORINDA CHURCH joined The Spy Place Franchising, headquartered in Fort Wayne, IN, as general counsel. She formerly was a member of the legal department at Doctors Associates, the franchisor for the Subway franchising system, where she was involved in the dispute resolution group.

—2004—

T. SCOTT COWPERTHWAIT was elected president of the board of directors of the

BOSTON CHAPTER FORMING Christopher J. Novak ’06 and Daniel J. Weaver ’06 are looking for Boston-area alumni who would like to form a Greater Boston chapter of the Quinnipiac School of Law Alumni Association. They plan to assemble a leadership team consisting of a president and chairpersons for specific areas of interest, including career development, legal scholarship and admissions efforts. Activities will range from coordinating “briefcase breakfasts” with Greater Boston QUSL alumni speakers and “faculty on the road” presentations to networking happy hours. To join or attend events, please contact novak.christopherj@gmail.com.

SPRING 2012 • QUINNIPIAC LAW

QULAW•ALUMNI Connecticut chapter of InfraGard, a national program created by the FBI, dedicated to information sharing and analysis. InfraGard CT focuses on communications between Connecticut-based organizations and local, state and federal government concerning critical infrastructure, homeland security and cyber security issues. He is an associate with Pullman & Comley in Bridgeport, CT. CHRISTOPHER DESOCIO is an associate at the firm of Ricci Fava, with offices in Woodland Park and Newark, NJ. He focuses on criminal defense and civil litigation, representing individuals in municipal, superior and federal court. He lives in North Bergen, NJ.

medical science fields. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship, which focused on the molecular and physiological origins of cystic fibrosis. He is also an inventor of several patents relating to biological therapeutics. He lives in Cheshire, CT.

2008 KATHRYN FRANKEL married Aaron Shafer on Sept. 25, 2011, in Bedford, NY. She is a project manager in Middletown, CT, at the Women’s Institute for Housing and Economic Development, an organization based in Boston that develops housing for individuals and families with low incomes. The couple lives in West Hartford, CT.

2005

2009

MARK BILAK recently entered into partnership with Michael Murphy and Dan Homiller to form Murphy, Bilak & Homiller, an intellectual property law firm located in Cary, NC, with a focus on patent law. He lives in Fuquay-Varina, NC.

KEVIN CASINI joined the New Haven firm of Palumbo & DeLaura. The firm specializes in commercial litigation and is located in Wooster Square, where he lives.

MICHELLE A. MALONE, JD/MBA ’05, is an associate at Cacace, Tusch & Santagata in Stamford, CT. Her concentration is family law. Before joining the firm, she practiced family law in Fairfield County and served as an assistant district attorney within the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, NY. She lives in Trumbull, CT. BRYAN D. ZERHUSEN is a partner at McCarter & English in Hartford. He works in the intellectual property/ information technology group, and has experience in all aspects of patent preparation, strategic portfolio management, due diligence investigations, licensing, litigation support and counseling in several 30

QUINNIPIAC LAW • SPRING 2012

KEVIN DAKEN is a divorce attorney with the law firm of Siegel, Reilly & Conlon, a boutique matrimonial firm based in Stamford, CT. While at Quinnipiac he earned the James R. DeFonce Memorial Scholarship Award for his advocacy on behalf of the disabled and the Award for Excellence in Clinical Work for his work at the School of Law Legal Clinic. He lives in Cheshire, CT, with his wife, Marcie. EMILY (RIORDAN) LUCIBELLO of West Haven, CT, opened her own law practice with LISAMARIA PROSCINO QU ’06 in Orange, CT. Lisamaria is a graduate of Western New England Law School. JOSEPH R. ROSSETTI has joined the law firm of Moore, O’Brien, Jacques & Yelenak, a plaintiff ’s personal injury firm

in Cheshire, CT. Joe also coaches the QUSL mock trial team.

2010 ALYSSA V. SHERRIFF joined the Southbury law firm of Brody Wilkinson as an associate. She will be practicing in the areas of estate planning and trust and estate administration. She lives in Weston, CT.

2011 DANIEL ERWIN of Hamden took third place in the American Judges Association’s annual law student essay competition. His essay was titled “Hear My Words That I Might Teach You: The Rights to Silence and Counsel Down at the Schoolyard.” The essay advocated that children should receive a Miranda warning and have a parent present before being questioned by police on school grounds—a position adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case from North Carolina, Daniel’s home state. SILVIA KNOX-DELAMAR was promoted to director of compliance/chief of staff at Atlanta University Center Consortium in Atlanta. It is the largest and oldest consortium of historically black colleges and universities in the nation. She lives in Conyers, GA.

In Memoriam Mark Carron ’86 Diana (McShea) Kleefeld ’04 Richard Michaud ’95

Let your fellow alumni know where you’re working and what you’ve been up to. Submit your class note at www.quinnipiac.edu/qulawnet.xml

MAKING CONNECTIONS

Alumni and faculty participated in a variety of events over the last few months. 1. From left, Joe Ametrano ’97 with his son, Sam, and David Hergan with his son, Leo, at an alumni reception before the men’s ice hockey game against Harvard University on Feb. 3. 2. At the ice hockey reception, from left: Denee Page, assistant director of law school admissions; Elise Wilkinson, 2L; Qesar Veliu, 2L; and Joan Metzler, director of law school admissions.

3. From left, Michael Reilly '10 with Michael Petela '09 at an October alumni reception at the Hartford Club. 4. At the February Barrister’s Ball, from left: Jacqueline Sharp, 1L; Julie Anne Broder, 3L; Sara Richwine, 3L; and Sarah Keller, 2L. The annual ball took place at the Trumbull Marriott in Trumbull, CT. 5. Enjoying the alumni reception and bar passage party in November at the Union League Cafe in New Haven, from left: Christian Philemon ’08, Gregory Muccilli ’08, Bradford Buchta ’04, Allison DePaola ’08 and Tracy (Morelli) Persico ’08.

6. Carol Treat, Jon Purmont and Lynne Farrell ’00 mingle at the Union League Cafe. 7. Also at the Barrister’s Ball from left: Marc Herman, 1L; Farah Benslimane, 1L; Ali Herman; Joseph Riter, 1L, and Professor Jeffrey Cooper.

3 5

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IN•CLOSING Appalachian hike fuels epiphany about law school Rebecca Schlenker, author of this article, is a first-year law student.

had a decision to make about law school and decided to think while taking a walk. A long walk, in fact. When I was 18, my older brother, Jarrod, and I decided that we were going to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. We had gone on many family backpacking trips growing up, but nothing close to this. The term thru-hiker refers to a person who hikes the Appalachian Trail from start to finish within a year. The 2,181-mile trail winds through 14 states up the East Coast and stretches from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. Every year, some 2,000 people attempt to complete an Appalachian Trail thru-hike. Only about 10 percent succeed. I planned the trip with my brother while completing my undergraduate degree in environmental policy at the College of William & Mary, collecting all the gear required for the epic undertaking. I even graduated a semester early so we would have time to complete our thru-hike before we both went off to begin our first year in law school, Jarrod at Catholic University Law School and me at a school yet to be chosen. I am interested in environmental law. This long-anticipated adventure began March 21, 2011. I have always been tough and determined, but nothing ever has and hopefully ever will test my ability to persevere despite obstacles like this ambitious trek. You know things cannot get much worse when you stumble into a three-sided, lean-to shelter packed with other borderline hypothermic hikers who smell after hiking 20 miles in 37-degree rain and sleet, only to sleep with the mice in a 2-foot-high space 32

QUINNIPIAC LAW • SPRING 2012

Rebecca Schlenker and her brother, Jarrod, at Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

because your hands are too numb to assemble your tent. One of the biggest things I gained from this experience is that you can always find a silver lining. On days like this one, I used to find myself saying over and over, “I will get through this day; I will be safe when it is over, and tomorrow will be a better day.” When people ask what got us through, two major things come to mind. The first was an unwavering determination to accomplish our goal. The second was our relationships and connections to other people––fellow hikers, people we met in towns, and especially our family and each other. This adventure restored my faith in people. When you are sitting on the side of the road, 10 miles from the nearest town with nothing but your own two feet to get you there, you are completely dependent on the kindness and hospitality of strangers. One particularly memorable encounter was

in Gatlinburg, Tenn. A couple we had met earlier on the trail not only picked us up and drove us to the grocery store and bought us an incredible southern dinner, but also allowed us to stay in their beautiful home, take a hot shower and do our laundry. On the trail, hikers call people like this “trail angels,” and they truly are. One cold and snowy night in my tent while writing my daily journal entry, the answer I was seeking came to me. I called out to my brother, “I’m going to Quinnipiac Law.” Not only was I able to share this important life decision with my brother, but also a campsite full of my unclean, unshaven, thruhiking companions. From all around, I heard shouts of “congratulations” from the smattering of tents, my thru-hiking family. With this incredible physical challenge behind us, we are enjoying the mental challenge of our first year in law school.

GOING FORWARD Our students have experienced an incredible year of learning, externships and global community service. At Commencement, 152 will begin new chapters in their legal lives. As the end of our fiscal year approaches on June 30, please consider a gift to support the School of Law, the students we educate and the faculty that prepares them. Contact Colleen Entenman, director of development and alumni relations, at colleen.entenman@quinnipiac.edu or give online at www.quinnipiac.edu/give.xml.

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Congratulations

ON PASSING THE BAR Dean Brad Saxton, center, in New Haven at a Union League Cafe reception with some of the recent graduates who passed the bar .