Seton Hall Law FALL TWO THOUSAND AND SEVEN • VOL. 9 ISSUE 1 News for Alumni and Friends of the Seton Hall University School of Law
Calendar of Events for 2007- 08
JANUARY 3
New York Alumni Reception Madame Tussauds Wax Museum 7 - 10 p.m.
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Distinguished Guest Practitioner Series with Lester Aron, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, UMDNJ Law School 6 p.m.
MARCH OCTOBER 13
An Evening with Linda Eder Campaign Kickoff Event Hyatt Regency, Jersey City 6 – 11 p.m.
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An Evening with Judge Alan Lourie Cosponsored by the Gibbons Institute and New Jersey Intellectual Property Association Newark Club 6 p.m.
27
Admissions Open House Law School 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
NOVEMBER 2
1967 Reunion Dean Patrick E. Hobb’s home 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.
3
1977, 1987, 1992 & 1997 Reunions Law School 6:30 – 10 p.m.
14
Health Law Forum/IPLA Career Networking Law School 6 p.m.
28
Admitted Students Day Law School 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
29
Merit Scholars Reception Newark Club 12 p.m. - 2 p.m.
APRIL 12
FEBRUARY 9
Graduate Programs Open House Law School 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
25-28 Health Care Compliance Certification Program Law School
MAY 16
29
New Jersey Bar Swearing-In Ceremony Law School 6:30 p.m. Young Alumni Night The Newark Club 7 - 9:30 p.m.
Admitted Students Day Law School 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
NJSBA Atlantic City Reception TBD
JUNE 16
Alumni Golf Tournament
We’d like to hear from you. Please contact us at lawalum@shu.edu., or 973-642-8711
Table of Contents Letter from the Dean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Letter from the Alumni Council President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Law School Briefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Developing a System for the Ethical Review of Medical Research in African Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Discouraging Racial Preferences in Adoptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 A Vehicle for Social Change - The Center for Social Justice . . . . . . . . . . 19 Faculty Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 2007-08 Merck Visiting Scholars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Seton Hall Law Rising Capital Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Who’s Who in the Alumni and Development Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Mitch Baumeister: Combining a Passion for Flying with the Desire to Help Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito Addresses the Class of 2007 . . . . . . 30 Class News & Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Alumni Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Letter from
THE DEAN These are exciting times for Seton Hall Law. Building upon the success of those who have come before us, we have much to be proud of and a solid foundation Photo : William Moree
to continue enhancing the value of the Seton Hall Law degree.
Standing still has never been an option for Seton Hall Law, as evidenced by the increasing quality of our student body, the stature of our faculty, the success of our alumni, and our first-rate facility. As the competition among law schools has continued to heighten, however, the need for additional funding has become increasingly important. Tuition dollars alone no longer are enough to keep us growing. To address that need, we have launched the Seton Hall Law Rising Capital Campaign. The $25 million campaign will help us to fund new scholarships, meet the demand for new student facilities, support an outstanding faculty, and expand our endowment. The time is right for us to take this step forward. Today, Seton Hall Law is highly respected within our home state of New Jersey and around the country for the strength of our faculty scholarship and the achievements of our alumni. Our alumni are found on federal and state benches, in top law firms, and at major corporations across the nation. Our Health Law Program consistently is ranked among the top 10 in the country; we are rated among the top law schools in the nation for judicial clerkship placements; and our clinical and public interest programs are among the most highly respected in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. The past year has brought yet another slate of impressive achievements. On April 27, we held a press conference launching The Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law and the naming of the Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology, supported with $9.1 million in endowment gifts from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Schering Plough, sanofi-aventis, Johnson & Johnson, and Gibbons P.C.
“
KEEP RISING
”
SETON HALL LAW
With the formation of The Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law, Seton Hall Law will play a central role in advancing the public policy issues surrounding the development of pharmaceutical and medical device products, as we expand our ability to train lawyers and other professionals in the areas of regulatory affairs, corporate compliance, corporate governance, and ethics. As a result of a $1 million endowment from Gibbons P.C., we also will be implementing an LL.M. degree in Intellectual Property Law. In yet another major development, our Center for Social Justice has launched two new projects, The International Human Rights/Rule of Law Project and the Urban Revitalization Project, supported with funding from the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, and a new clinic, the Immigrant Workers Rights Clinic. Through these new programs, we further fulfill our commitment to social justice and the use of the law in the service of others. But we cannot stop there. Building upon our achievements, we need to ensure that Seton Hall Law is able to ascend higher, graduating lawyers who are passionate about the people and organizations they serve and advancing the debates critical to a just and fair society. My hope is that you will join us in these efforts. Together, we can share the pride, shape our future, and keep Seton Hall Law Rising!
Patrick E. Hobbs Dean and Professor of Law •
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• Seton Hall University School of Law
Letter from the
Alumni Council President Tim Donohue
I am continually amazed by the number of Seton Hall Law alumni I encounter on a daily basis. Over the years, our law school has produced an incredible number of judges for both the federal and state benches. We have alumni serving in leadership positions in virtually every major firm in New Jersey and have alumni in an additional 48 states. We have produced more than our share of dedicated public servants. We also have thousands of prominent attorneys practicing in small to mid-sized firms throughout the country. Seton Hall Law has achieved great things under the leadership of Dean Patrick E. Hobbs and Dean Ronald J. Riccio before him. Many of our alumni have stayed involved in the law school and have seen it grow and prosper. Unfortunately, many of you have not had the time to stay involved. As President of your Alumni Council, I would like to invite each one of you (and particularly those of you who have not been back to the law school since you graduated) to become involved in the success of our law school. How can you get involved? You can attend one of our many alumni events. We hold an Alumni Dinner Dance each year. This year’s dinner dance took place on April 28, and our honoree was Michel “Mitch” Baumeister ’72. Mitch is a renowned aviation lawyer who serves as Vice Chair of Seton Hall Law’s Board of Visitors. In May, Lynn Fontaine Newsome ’81 was sworn in as President of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Also in May, we recognized Fred Regenye ‘95 as the law school honoree at the University’s annual Many Are One Gala. Fred is Immediate Past President of our Alumni Council and an incredibly devoted alumnus. In June, we held our annual Alumni Golf Outing at Suburban Golf Club in Union. Over 100 enthusiastic golfers participated. Speaking of the golf outing, I would like to offer my sincere apologies to the unfortunate foursome on the 9th fairway – I really didn’t think I could slice a ball that far! Please forward the medical bills to my office. At this year’s annual Red Mass held in September at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, we conferred the Saint Thomas More Medal to United States Attorney Christopher Christie ’87. Chris has garnered accolades from the entire legal community during his distinguished tenure and continues to bring honor to Seton Hall. In November, we will hold class reunions for the classes of 1967, 1977, 1987, 1992, and 1997. We also will be hosting a New York City cocktail reception on January 3, 2008 at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. For more information, please visit our website at http://law.shu.edu or call the Alumni Office at 973-642-8711. As you can see, there are many ways for you to participate in the life of our school. I also encourage each of you to consider supporting the law school financially by making a contribution to the Annual Fund and a pledge to our Capital Campaign. In recent years, the graduating class also has started the tradition of making class gifts to the school. That is the kind of dedicated alumni support that has enabled our law school to continue its growth. On October 13, we will be holding an evening with Linda Eder at the Hyatt on the Hudson in Jersey City to launch our Capital Campaign. Your support is crucial to keeping our law school on its path toward sustained excellence. All of the alumni events are great opportunities to renew old acquaintances and to meet new friends. Please take the time from your busy schedule to get involved in the life of Seton Hall Law! You will not be disappointed.
Photo: Douglas Davies
Tim Donohue ’80 President, Seton Hall School of Law Alumni Council
Fall Two Thousand and Seven
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LAW SCHOOL BRIEFS A COLLEGE-BOUND
PATHWAY FOR URBAN YOUTH
In the words of Newark Mayor Cory Booker, NJ LEEP – a new program housed at Seton Hall School of Law – is about helping urban youth to realize the dreams of democracy.
Photo: Douglas Davies
Launched this year in partnership with Seton Hall Law, NJ LEEP – the New Jersey Law and Education Empowerment Project – is a comprehensive college-bound program to assist high school students in Newark and East Orange with gaining the skills they need to succeed academically. “NJ LEEP is about liberation and achieving democracy,”said Mayor Booker at the program’s inaugural celebration held last January at Seton Hall Law. “I’m glad that LEEP is in New Jersey, and I’m glad that it’s in Newark.” NJ LEEP assists youth from underserved neighborhoods by building their academic skills and providing them with role models. “If we want to increase diversity in the legal profession, then we need to empower more urban students with the skills they need to get there,” explained NJ LEEP Director Craig Livermore.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker applauds the launching of
NJ LEEP at Seton Hall Law for assisting
city youth with developing the skills needed to pursue a college education.
One of the distinctive characteristics of the program is its commitment to students throughout the course of their high school years. More than just a skills training program, NJ LEEP supports students in each of their four years of high school, providing them with SAT preparation, assistance in the college selection process, and preparation for the LSAT exam should they decide to attend law school. In addition to that program, Seton Hall Law’s Center for Social Justice and NJ LEEP are training Seton Hall Law students to teach community and constitutional law classes to eighth-grade students in Newark and East Orange. Both initiatives are supported with funding from the New Jersey State Bar Foundation and the charitable arm of Prudential Financial. “By launching these programs at Seton Hall Law, we help to serve the community around us, reinforce our role as a partner in urban revitalization, and fulfill our mission of exposing our students to the power and purpose of public interest work,” noted Associate Dean for Academic Advancement Kathleen Boozang, who serves as Chair of the NJ LEEP Advisory Board. To find out more about NJ LEEP and how to become involved, visit www.njleep.org.
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• Seton Hall University School of Law
A 21ST CENTURY TEACH-IN: Merging the spirit of the past with today’s technology, the Guantanamo teach-in held at Seton Hall School of Law last October allowed hundreds of thousands of students and faculty across the country to take a closer look and decide for themselves.
Photo: Douglas Davies
A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND Colonel Dwight Sullivan, Chief Defense Counsel for the Office of Military Commissions (l), and Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift, one of the lawyers for Salim Ahmed Hamdan in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, take part in a discussion on “The Military and the Commander in Chief” at the Guantanamo teach-in held at Seton Hall Law last October.
Bringing together academics, journalists, military officers, theologians, human rights activists, lawyers, and released detainees, the conference addressed two critical questions: “Should Guantanamo exist in a democracy committed to the rule of law?” and “What should be the nation’s response?” The event was organized as part of Seton Hall Law’s internationally recognized efforts to provide a reasoned analysis of the issues surrounding Guantanamo. Over the past two years, Professor Mark Denbeaux and a group of more than 30 Seton Hall Law students have issued five reports on the status of the detainees being held at Guantanamo. The day-long teach-in –“Guantanamo: How Should We Respond?”– was webcast to more than 300 law schools and colleges across the country and also made available on the Seton Hall Law Web site. Organized by Professor Denbeaux and Alan Sussman, Professor at Bard College, the conference drew numerous distinguished panelists, including:
• Rear Admiral Donald Guter (Ret.), Dean of Duquesne Law School and Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy from 2000-02; Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift, who started the Hamdan v. Rumsfeld litigation as military defense counsel; and Captain James Yee, former chaplain at Guantanamo and author of FOR GOD AND COUNTRY: FAITH AND PATRIOTISM UNDER FIRE • William H. Taft IV, former Chief Legal Adviser, U.S. State Department • Joseph Margulies, author of GUANTANAMO AND THE ABUSE OF PRESIDENTIAL POWER • Jane Mayer of The New Yorker, Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald, Adam Zagorin from Time, and Walter Pincus, who has reported on the history of coercive interrogations for the Washington Post. To access the Guantanamo Reports and teach-in materials, go to http://law.shu.edu/news/guantanamo_reports.htm.
SETON HALL LAW UNDERTAKES A SELF-STUDY The American Bar Association (ABA), in collaboration with the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), conducts site visits every seven years at every law school in the country to verify compliance with ABA/AALS standards and eligibility for reaccreditation. To prepare for this process, Dean Patrick E. Hobbs appointed a Self-Study Committee, which has worked tirelessly during the 2006-07 academic year. This dedicated group
consists of individuals from the law school’s faculty, students, alumni, and Board of Visitors, as well as New Jersey’s legal and business communities. “Since 2001, Seton Hall School of Law has made notable progress,”said Professor Sarah Waldeck, who co-chairs the Self-Study Committee with Professor Denis McLaughlin. “The Law School has continued to attract a remarkable student population and talented faculty.” The Self-Study Committee will produce its final report next year. The entire Law School community offers special thanks for the hard work of the members of the Self-Study Committee: The Honorable Michael Chagares, Christopher Christie, Michellene Davis, Sister Melanie DiPietro, Timothy Donohue, Carol Forte, Christine Chambers Gilfillan, Paul Gluckow, Professor John Jacobi, Professor Marina Lao, Peter Larson, Professor R. Erik Lilliquist, Keri Logosso, James McClammy, Professor Denis McLaughlin, Pamela Miller, Professor Lori Nessel, Denise Pinney, The Honorable Roberto Rivera-Soto, Veena Seelochan, Professor Charles Sullivan, Jeffrey Togman, and Professor Sarah Waldeck.
Fall Two Thousand and Seven
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SEN. OBAMA DRAFTS PROFESSOR MARK ALEXANDER TO DIRECT ISSUES TEAM
Howard Morton Metzenbaum.
Photo: Ana Santos
Professor Mark A. Alexander once again is front and center in the political arena; this time as Policy Director for Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
Mark A. Alexander
Professor Alexander has extensive experience serving as a policy advisor for political candidates. In 2005, he took a leave of absence from Seton Hall School of Law to serve as General Counsel for Cory Booker in the 2006 Newark mayoral campaign. He served as Issues Director for Bill Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign, and in 1998 was Issues Director for Sen. Edward Kennedy’s reelection. Prior to that, he served as Legislative Assistant to Sen.
Professor Alexander first met Sen. Obama about 10 years ago when his sister Elizabeth, who was teaching at the University of Chicago, introduced them. “She knew we had a lot in common,” he recalls. As Policy Director for Sen. Obama, Professor Alexander is responsible for analyzing issues and assisting the senator in developing his position on key national and international concerns. “I’m honored that Sen. Obama has asked me to be part of his team at this critical time for America,” said Professor Alexander. “It’s a privilege to have this opportunity to help someone who is a great leader for our country.” Professor Alexander, who has taken a leave to work with Sen. Obama, earned his J.D. from Yale University. He joined the Seton Hall Law faculty in 1996.
A FACULTY IN DEMAND Photo: William Moree
committed to pursing progressive ideas and solutions in the areas of health and health care,” said Professor Jacobi, who has taken a two-year leave to work with the governor.
John V. Jacobi
GOV. JON CORZINE RECRUITS PROFESSOR JOHN JACOBI A nationally respected health and civil rights law expert and scholar, Professor John V. Jacobi currently is serving as Senior Associate Counsel to Gov. Jon Corzine. As Senior Associate Counsel, Professor Jacobi is responsible for advising the governor on health law and regulatory issues affecting New Jersey and its residents, along with other policy matters. “I’m excited and honored to have been asked to work with an administration that is
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• Seton Hall University School of Law
Since 1995, Professor Jacobi has served as Associate Director of the Seton Hall School of Law Health Law & Policy Program, and since 2001 as Associate Director of the Seton Hall Institute of Law & Mental Health. Professor Jacobi, who received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, joined the Seton Hall Law faculty in 1993.
ADJUNCT FACULTY ON THE BENCH The adjunct faculty at Seton Hall School of Law clearly is among the best – one sign of which is the increasing number who are being assigned to serve in the judiciary. Late last year, Adjunct Professor James R. Zazzali was appointed to serve as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.
• Chief Judge Garrett Brown of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Judges Chagares and Brown continue to teach at the Law School. “We are fortunate to have such distinguished members of the judiciary associated with our Law School,” noted Dean Patrick E. Hobbs. “I don’t know of another institution that provides its students with a similar opportunity. All of us take great pride in the accomplishments of these individuals, as well as the abilities of the many Seton Hall Law alumni serving in the judiciary.” In addition to Judge Chagares, Seton Hall Law alumni Noel Hillman ’85, and Peter Sheridan ’77 were appointed last year to sit on the New Jersey federal bench.
James R. Zazzali
Other adjunct faculty members recently named to the bench include: • U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito • Judge Michael A.Chagares of the United States Court of Appeals,Third Circuit, a 1987 graduate of Seton Hall Law, and
Justice Zazzali, who stepped down as Chief Justice in June after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70, was credited with many successes during his term on the Supreme Court, including the appointment of the first new black assignment judge in more than a decade, Francis L.Travis in Middlesex.
THE
SETON CENTER FOR
RELIGIOUS NONPROFITS Photo: Studio 25, Inc.
Not unlike business corporations, today’s nonprofit organizations face a number of complicated issues, ranging from governance, to maintaining their tax exempt status, to financial survival. For religiously affiliated nonprofits, the issues can be even more complex. To assist church-related Participants at the inaugural conference of the Seton Center for Religiously Affiliated nonprofits with the legal, accreditation, Nonprofit Corporations. The conference on “Catholic Charities and the Diocese: Autonomy and management issues they face, Seton and Relatedness” drew representatives from 23 states. Hall School of Law has launched the Seton number of corporations affiliated with one church in the nonprofit Center for Religiously Affiliated Nonprofit Corporations. sector, up until now a center has not existed to provide independent legal The Center’s inaugural conference – “Catholic Charities and the Diocese: research on the issues that impact these organizations. Autonomy and Relatedness,” held last November – drew representatives Serving as panelists at the inaugural conference were several members from Catholic Charities and dioceses from 23 states. of the Seton Hall Law faculty: Professors Angela Carmella,Timothy Glynn, Sister Melanie DiPietro, Center Founder and Visiting Distinguished Stephen Lubben, and Charles Sullivan. Practitioner at Seton Hall Law, noted that while Catholic colleges, universities,healthcare,and social service corporations represent the largest More information on the Center can be found at http://law.shu.edu/crnpc.
JACKSON LEWIS LLP
ESTABLISHES SCHOLARSHIP Students interested in pursuing a career in employment law now have an additional source of support at Seton Hall School of Law. This year, Jackson Lewis LLP established a new scholarship to support students interested in workplace and labor law. The scholarship, part of a national scholarship program instituted by Jackson Lewis, is designed to assist students from underserved communities who are interested in the practice of employment law. One of the nation’s leading labor and employment law firms, Jackson Lewis has established scholarship programs at schools in or near cities where it has an office, including its Morristown office.
Fall Two Thousand and Seven
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DEVELOPING A SYSTEM FOR THE
Ethical Review OF MEDICAL RESEARCH IN
African Countries By Carl H. Coleman, Professor of Law and Director of the Health Law & Policy Program
“
An effective ethics review process should…ensure that sponsors commit to providing tangible benefits to study participants and the community in which the research is conducted.
”
Professor Carl Coleman teaches Health Law, Regulating Research with Human Subjects, Torts, and Federal Income Taxation. During the 2006-07 academic year, he served as Bioethics and Law Adviser at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. This article is based on a piece Professor Coleman wrote with Marie-Charlotte Bouësseau for the Bioethics Forum at http://www.bioethicsforum.org.
Medical research is increasingly being conducted in developing countries, but in many of these countries, insufficient mechanisms exist to protect the interests of prospective research participants and their communities. As the National Bioethics Advisory Commission observed in 2001, there are “legitimate reasons to question the capacity of host countries to support and conduct prior ethics review” of collaborative research, including limited resources, lack of experience and expertise, and potential conflicts of interest. Strengthening the ethics review capacity of low- and middle-income countries is therefore an important goal of international bioethics and human rights.
Ethics Review of Research
governing ethics review for clinical trials conducted
The importance of subjecting research with human
pursuant to an Investigational New Drug Application
participants to a formal process of ethical evaluation is
(IND), those regulations do not apply to foreign trials not
a cornerstone of international guidelines on research
conducted pursuant to an IND. Instead, the FDA will
with human participants.
accept data from non-IND foreign trials as long as the trial “conforms to the ethical principles contained in the
However, because current international guidelines on
Declaration of Helsinki,” which contains only vague
research involving human participants are not legally
provisions regarding ethics review of research.
binding, their enforcement depends on the requirements of national laws and policies. In the United States and
In recent years, however, many developing countries have
many other wealthy countries, ethics review is mandatory
begun to pay greater attention to developing or
for most (although not all) research involving human
strengthening ethics review structures. One reason for this
participants. In many developing countries, by contrast,
trend is that research sponsors are conducting more of
there are no laws requiring ethics review of research, or
their studies in low-income countries, both because it is
laws that exist are either insufficient or under-enforced. In
less expensive and because it has become increasingly
collaborative research, some type of ethics review may be
difficult to find a sufficient number of qualified
required by the laws of a foreign research sponsor’s
participants in the sponsors’ home countries. In addition,
country, but the coverage of these laws is not complete.
several highly publicized controversies have led to greater
For example, while the United States Food and Drug
attention to the ethical dilemmas of international
Administration
collaborative research. For example, a lawsuit is currently
(FDA)
has
extensive
regulations
Fall Two Thousand and Seven
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pending against Pfizer in connection with a Nigerian
that might lead sponsors to reconsider working with
study of Trovan, an anti-meningitis drug. The plaintiffs
the institution, if foreign research is a critical means of
have alleged that children in the control group were not
financial support for their institution. By contrast, a
given adequate medications, that parents were not told that effective treatment for meningitis was readily available outside of the study, and that documents claiming that the study had been approved by a Nigerian ethics review process were forged. To facilitate African countries’ efforts to develop and strengthen ethics review committees (ERCs), the
“
The percentage of people living in poverty is higher in Africa than in any
European Commission’s Science and Society program
other region of the world.
recently funded an initiative by 15 African countries
A child born in Africa
called Networking for Ethics on Biomedical Research in Africa (NEBRA). The goal of the NEBRA project was to
today faces a 50 percent
survey the participating countries’ existing systems for
chance of being
ethics review of research involving human participants
malnourished, and a
and to develop a strategy for building these countries’ ethics review capacities. I participated in this project
life expectancy
with colleagues from the Ethics, Trade, Human Rights
of only 47 years.
and Health Law department of the World Health Organization (WHO), which was a member of the NEBRA steering committee.
The Relevance of the American Model for African Countries In reviewing these countries’ experiences, it became clear that American-style ERCs – known as institutional review boards (IRBs) – are not necessarily the best model for African countries to use in constructing their own ERC systems. First, the structure of the American
”
centralized committee housed within a government agency may be better positioned to take strong stances and ensure that those decisions are respected. In addition, creating a single centralized committee is likely to be simpler, and less costly, than establishing separate committees at every research institution in the country.
IRB system is a poor fit for African countries. The IRB system is premised on the importance of “local” review
Second, the most critical ethical issues related to
of research (i.e., review in the institution in which the
medical research in Africa are not the type of protocol-
research will take place), as well as a separation
specific issues that IRBs are designed to address. When
between IRBs and the agencies that regulate them. In
an IRB in the United States receives a protocol, its job
many African countries, however, institutional-level
is to determine whether the proposed study complies
committees that exist independently of regulatory
with general ethical principles and regulatory
authorities may lack sufficient legitimacy to be
requirements, not to consider whether a different study,
effective. In addition, they may find it difficult to reject
perhaps addressing an entirely different problem, might
research protocols, or to insist on substantial changes
be a better use of limited human resources or offer a
• 10 • Seton Hall University School of Law
better justification for exposing participants to risk.
be inappropriate to design a consent process that
Questions about the prioritization of different types of
focuses on individuals in isolation from their families
medical research are generally left to other entities,
and communities, and the emphasis on written consent
such as funders or medical journal editors. In many
forms may need to be reconsidered. Similarly, concepts
developing countries, however, no one is considering
like privacy and confidentiality may have different
big-picture questions about the relative importance of
meanings in the African cultural context.
different types of medical research. Countries’ research “agendas” are often dictated solely by the market-
Evaluating Effectiveness
driven priorities of foreign research sponsors, rather
Whatever methods African countries develop for
than any proactive decisions by the countries
ethical review of research, it will be critical to
themselves. In this context, thinking about the
incorporate mechanisms to evaluate these methods’
prioritization of limited research resources, along with
effectiveness. For example, it is worth investigating
ensuring that research addresses the most pressing
whether ERC review actually improves research
health needs of the country’s population, is one of the
participants’ understanding of the risks and benefits of
most important ethical issues to be considered.
studies. Similarly, we should know whether ERC review actually leads to changes in protocol designs
Similarly, in the United States, IRBs are generally not
that improve the risk-benefit ratio of research, or
responsible for reviewing the terms of research funding
whether it results in greater commitments by research
arrangements. They may become interested in funding
sponsors to provide treatment to research participants
arrangements when there are concerns about conflicts
after studies are over. Without ongoing oversight of
of interest, or when funders seek to restrict researchers’
ERCs, countries may end up wasting scarce financial
freedom to publish the results of a study, but their role
and human resources on systems that do not result in
is not to ask whether the overall arrangement is a “good
any real protections for research participants or their
deal” for the institution or the larger community in
communities. In addition, without a system for
which the research will be conducted. In African
evaluating ERCs’ effectiveness, opportunities for
countries, however, an effective ethics review process
remedying correctable problems with ERCs are likely to
should ensure that sponsors commit to providing
be missed.
tangible benefits to study participants and the community in which the research is conducted. It
African countries face a staggering array of healthcare
should also include mechanisms to ensure that those
problems. The percentage of people living in poverty
commitments are actually met.
is higher in Africa than in any other region of the world. A child born in Africa today faces a 50 percent chance
Finally, while any comprehensive ethics review process
of being malnourished, and a life expectancy of only
must address certain internationally accepted ethical
47 years. Infectious diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS,
principles, such as the importance of voluntariness, the
tuberculosis, and malaria, kill millions of Africans each
way those principles are applied in the American
year. Research with human participants is an essential
regulatory system will not always work in African
part of the process of developing drugs and treatments
countries.
regulations
to address these and other problems. The challenge is
emphasize the importance of obtaining the individual
to ensure that the pursuit of scientific progress is done
informed consent of prospective research participants,
in a manner that is ethically acceptable and consistent
usually in writing. In African countries, however, it may
with African countries’ overall needs.
For
example,
American
Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 11 •
DISCOURAGING RACIAL PREFERENCES ADOPTIONS By Solangel Maldonado, Professor of Law
Photo: Douglas Davies
IN
Professor Maldonado teaches Family Law, Estates and Trusts, Torts, Race, Ethnicity, and the Law, and International and Comparative Family Law. Her scholarship focuses on the law’s regulation of children’s relationships with adults who play a parental role and also examines the role of race in family law.
This is an abridged version of an article published in UC Davis Law Review 39 (2006) 1415-1480. Note: This version corrects an editing error made on page 14 of the print publication of Seton Hall Law. For years, states’ race matching policies prevented whites
and click on “Demonstration”).
Implicit biases against
from adopting African-American children. Now that federal
African-Americans influence employment decisions, criminal
law prohibits race matching in all but extraordinary cases,
convictions, and even the perception of behavior as
one would expect to find many more white families adopting
hostile. I argue that unconscious biases might be similarly
African-American children. Yet, relatively few do, choosing
influencing Americans’ preferences for non-black children.
instead to adopt internationally despite higher financial costs, extensive delays, and dual bureaucracies.
I. RACE AND ADOPTION
Some Americans claim to adopt internationally because it is
A. RACIAL HIERARCHY
faster, easier, less costly, and less risky than adopting
Americans of all races have explicit or implicit biases
domestically. I argue that there is another reason: race.
against certain groups. However, biases against some racial
Although two-thirds of the more
minorities are greater than that
than 20,000 children Americans
against others. For example, Asian-
adopt internationally each year are
Americans are stereotyped as
not white, they are not black either. Most come from Asia and Latin America. In contrast, many of the infants available for adoption in the United States are AfricanAmerican – children who, for various historical and social reasons, the majority of white Americans have expressed little interest in adopting. In other words,although whites may be willing to adopt non-white children, many prefer that they not
“
Some Americans claim to adopt internationally because it is faster, easier, less costly, and less risky than adopting domestically. I argue that there is another reason: race.
be black.
”
foreigners, but they are also perceived as intelligent, familyoriented,
and
law
abiding.
Latinos are often stereotyped as predisposed to criminal behavior, but they are also perceived as hard workers with strong family values. In contrast, there are few positive stereotypes about AfricanAmericans. The belief that AfricanAmericans are exceptional athletes and entertainers has not altered many Americans’ perception of black men as shiftless, dangerous,
In recent years, legal scholars have shown that racial
and irresponsible fathers. Further,
preferences are frequently unconscious and deeply rooted.
while women of Asian and Latin-American descent are
Thus, most Americans are probably not aware that their
portrayed as devoted wives and mothers, African-American
preferences for non-black children might be partly based on
women are often depicted as promiscuous welfare mothers
race. Cognitive bias tests reveal, however, that most
lacking strong family values.
individuals have unconscious biases against certain groups even when they honestly believe that they do not.
The adoption market reflects this racial hierarchy. Some
Thousands of individuals have taken the Implicit Association
white Americans have stated that they are willing to adopt
Test, which measures the strength of implicit biases against
“anything but black” and many private agencies subsidize
different groups, and discovered that they have automatic
adoptions of African-American infants because there is a
and unconscious preferences for whites over blacks (readers
shortage of families seeking to adopt these children.
can test their own implicit biases at Project Implicit, go to
Agencies charge a standard fee for adoptions of “Caucasian,
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/takeatest.html
Hispanic, Asian-American, or Native-American infants, or any Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 13 •
II. BARRIERS TO TRANSRACIAL ADOPTION OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN
combination thereof,” a lower fee for
child to several agencies or families;thus,a
“biracial infants,” defined as “any race
child that was promised to one family may
combined with African-American,”and an
go to another.Second,most countries give
even lower fee – sometimes 50 percent
preference to domestic adoptions; thus,
lower – for African-American infants.
when citizens of a child’s country express
B. DEBUNKING THE MYTHS
often lose the child they were promised.
Some white families interested in
adopt
Third, countries frequently shut down or
adopting African-American children
internationally because there are few
significantly restrict their international
may have been deterred by the politics
healthy infants available in the United
programs. For example, in recent years,
of transracial adoption. In the 1970s,
States.Although demand for white infants
China, Korea, Romania, and India have
the National Association of Black Social
exceeds supply, the opposite is true with
significantly reduced the number of
Workers (NABSW) strongly opposed
regard to African-American infants.
children they place internationally or have
whites
Further, the majority of U.S. born infants
made available only those children they
children, describing these adoptions as
placed through private agencies are
consider least desirable – those with
“race and cultural genocide.” Although
healthy. In contrast, although there is
disabilities or of mixed race.
most African-Americans disagreed with
interest in a particular child, Americans Some
Americans
claim
to
adopting
African-American
the NABSW’s position, a number of
great variation depending on the country In short, there are risks associated
states enacted race matching laws
adoptees have at least one significant
with both domestic and international
requiring that preferences be given to
medical condition, ranging from chronic
adoptions. Indeed, Americans adopting
families of the same race as the child.
anemia and developmental delays to
internationally face the additional
fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and
risk of unwittingly participating in
In 1996, Congress prohibited agencies
cerebral palsy.
child trafficking schemes. In recent
receiving federal funds from race
years, there have been reports of
matching, and a 2006 study found that
child trafficking (and resulting adoption
most agencies are in compliance.
internationally because such adoptions
moratoriums)
Romania,
However, relatively few white families
cost less and the risk of disruption is lower.
Guatemala, Cambodia, Vietnam, and
express interest in adopting African-
These
As
India. Americans adopting from these
American children. There are many
noted, adoptions of African-American
countries may unknowingly bring home
reasons why. First, the NABSW and
children are often subsidized, and
a child who was stolen from his birth
many child welfare advocates (of all
thus, they generally cost a lot less than
family or sold to an adoption scout.
races) still oppose these adoptions.
international
Despite
adoptive
Despite studies concluding that the
broadly,
parents often minimize the risks
majority of African-American children
international and domestic adoptions
associated with international adoptions
adopted transracially develop a healthy
have similar rates of disruption. Despite
while
related
self-identity, some African-American
media portrayals to the contrary, few birth
to domestic adoptions. Psychologists
transracial adoptees oppose transracial
parents in the United States revoke their
have
individuals
adoptions. They claim that whites are
consent after relinquishing the child, and
unconsciously process information in
unable to adequately prepare African-
those who do rarely get their children
ways that confirm their implicit beliefs.
American children to cope with racism.
back. In addition, international adoptions
Unconscious biases against African-
Some white adoptive parents have
are often disrupted in ways that domestic
Americans may have made it easier to
similar concerns regarding their ability
adoptions are not. For example, foreign
accept these myths about international
to raise an African-American child
orphanages frequently offer the same
and domestic adoptions.
with a healthy self-image and teach
of origin, the majority of foreign born
Some
we
Americans
beliefs
define
claim
are
to
adopt
wrong.
adoptions. “disruption”
Further,
if
• 14 • Seton Hall University School of Law
these
in
Russia,
concerns,
exaggerating shown
those
that
“
III. DISCOURAGING PREFERENCES FOR NON-AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN
Despite media portrayals to the contrary,
The majority of persons seeking to
few birth parents in
adopt are white; thus, preferences for
the United States
potential adoptive families available
after relinquishing
to African-American children. Because birth mothers of African-American
the child, and those their children back.
children
significantly reduce the number of
revoke their consent
who do rarely get
non-African-American
children have fewer adoptive families
”
to
choose
from, they
must
be
less selective than birth mothers of non-African-American children. Even if African- American children end up in stable, loving homes, there is a symbolic harm associated with preferences
him or her how to deal with racial
for children of certain races. Such
prejudice. They are also concerned that
preferences
their neighbors and extended family
American children are less desirable
members might not approve.
and less valued.
These issues are present to some extent
Society’s interest in discouraging
in all transracial adoptions. Korean,
adoptive
Chinese,and Native-American transracial
children based on race requires that
signal
parents
that
African-
adopted a U.S. born child without regard to race, or where the birth country is experiencing severe turmoil. My proposal would not require parents to adopt a child they do not want. Families interested in adopting a child of a particular race could simply wait one year to adopt internationally. However, by signaling to prospective adoptive parents that racial preferences are not appropriate considerations in the adoption process, the law might decrease the likelihood that parents will allow such biases to influence them. Most Americans subscribe to an egalitarian norm and believe that racial discrimination, especially against a child, is immoral. Those same persons, however, may be unaware of their implicit racial biases. Having to reflect for 12 months on their reasons for preferring certain children, along with accurate information about international
from
choosing
adoptees have discussed the challenges
adoptive parents bear the burden of
of growing up in predominantly
showing non-race-based reasons for
white communities with parents who
preferring children of certain races. I
pretended that racism did not exist.
propose that Congress impose a one-
and domestic adoptions, might reveal hidden biases that they can then work to change. The need to reconcile their behavior with their explicit beliefs in racial
equality
might
lead
some
prospective adoptive parents to consider adopting African-American children.
Interestingly, although some Native-
year waiting period on Americans
Americans, Latinos, and Asian-Americans
seeking to adopt internationally so long
oppose whites adopting children of
as (1) there are U.S. born children who
these races, there is no shortage of
meet their non-race based criteria (e.g.,
All children need permanent homes and
white families seeking these children
age, health status, sex) available, or (2)
should be valued equally, regardless of
despite higher fees to adopt them as
the applicants rebut the presumption
race. By discouraging adoptive parents
compared to African-American children.
that their reasons for seeking to adopt
from basing decisions to adopt on racial
(The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978
internationally are race-based – for
preferences, the law can help ensure that
significantly restricts adoptions of
example, an adoptive parent shares a
all children have equal opportunities to
Native-American children by non-
familial relationship with the child
be raised in loving, forever families.
Native-American families.)
(by blood or marriage), has already
CONCLUSION
Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 15 •
ADVANCING THE
Public Policy Debate: The Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law By Denise Pinney and Kathleen Brunet Eagan
The pharmaceutical industry has brought about dramatic improvements in the treatment and prevention of disease and in the quality of life enjoyed by millions of people. Almost everyone alive today has benefited from the tremendous advances resulting from the development of drugs and devices through billions of dollars of investment. At the same time, in part because of its increased prominence, the pharmaceutical industry is facing an increasingly difficult legal environment.
• 16 • Seton Hall University School of Law
As the speed of medical, scientific, and technological innovations in the world of health care increases at breakneck rates, determining appropriate and safe applications has become an increasingly complex proposition. Lawyers, regulators, government officials, and policy makers struggle to keep pace, but time and resources are limited and often no match for the intricacy of the issues they face. With $8.1 million in endowment gifts, Seton Hall School of Law is addressing that challenge by providing the resources, scholarship, and analyses needed to advance the public policy debate on research, production, distribution, and access to safe and effective drugs and medical devices.
Center faculty include Kathleen M. Boozang, Associate Dean of Academic Advancement and Professor of Law; Carl H. Coleman, Director of the Health Law & Policy Program and Professor of Law; John V. Jacobi, Dorothea Dix Professor of Health Law & Policy, Assistant Director of the Health Law & Policy Program, and Associate Director of the Institute of Law & Mental Health; Margaret Gilhooley, Professor of Law; Frank Pasquale, Assistant Director of the Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology and Associate Professor of Law; and Kara McCarthy Perry, Faculty Researcher. Assistant Dean Denise Pinney oversees the Center’s overall operations.
With the formation of The Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law, supported with funding from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Johnson & Johnson, sanofi-aventis, and Schering-Plough Corporation, Seton Hall Law has become the only law school in the nation with an academic center specifically focused on the legal and policy issues surrounding the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. In the last several years, as new and stricter laws and regulations have been put into effect, the pharmaceutical industry has faced a growing compliance challenge. The industry has experienced unprecedented investigations resulting in fines and settlements in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The laws implicated by these settlements are myriad and affect every aspect of the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. And the implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act presents even more challenges. The industry is aggressively responding to the government’s demand that it change the way in which it conducts business, investing tremendous resources in administrative infrastructure, personnel, and training. One result has been increased responsibilities for the industry’s offices of general counsel, and a need for more legal staff devoted to compliance and regulatory affairs. In addition, the need for well-educated and trained corporate compliance officers is greater than ever. Responding to those needs and building upon Seton Hall Law’s already established strengths in health law and policy, The Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law’s primary mission is to address – through research, publications, programming, and educational instruction – the legal, ethical, and professional challenges in drug and device development. Central to accomplishing that mission is its position as an independent, neutral entity that can bring together representatives from industry, government, and academia to discuss public policy issues important to the industry, the government, and the public.
“
The Center will hold the debates that will shape our country’s approach to health care.
”
FRED HASSAN
Chairman and CEO, Schering-Plough Corporation
SHAPING THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE Speaking at the April 27 press conference announcing the new venture, Fred Hassan, Chairman and CEO of Schering-Plough Corporation, noted, “The Center will hold the debates that will shape our country’s approach to health care.” Schering-Plough has contributed $2.5 million toward a Chaired Professor in Health Care Regulation for the Center. Sanofi-aventis has provided $500,000 to initiate research, and Johnson & Johnson has provided $100,000 to support research, international compliance education, and other initiatives. BristolMyers Squibb has provided $5 million for the Harvey Washington Wiley Chaired Professorship in Corporate Governance and Business Ethics. The chaired professorship is named for Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley (1844-1930), the chief chemist for the Department of Agriculture and a proponent of the 1906 Food and Drugs Act and its subsequent enforcement. [continued on page 18] Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 17 •
[continued from page 17]
As part of a broader Health Law & Policy Program, the Center will work closely with faculty in the Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology to address such issues as intellectual property and patent law issues.
ADDRESSING LEGAL CHALLENGES IN AN AGE OF TECHNOLOGY Along with formation of The Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law, Seton Hall School of Law has gained new support to expand its programs focused on the rapidly developing area of intellectual property law.
Photo: Douglas Davies
The naming of the Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology at Seton Hall Law, supported with $1 million from Gibbons P.C., will allow Seton Hall Law to advance its J.D. and M.S.J. degrees, Patrick C. Dunican Jr. ’91, Managing Director of Gibbons P.C., at the April 27 introduce an LL.M. degree in press conference announcing the naming intellectual property law, and of the Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology supported with a $1million expand its IP law programs endowment from Gibbons P.C. outside the classroom to attorneys working in industry, on the bench, and in regulatory positions. The Institute additionally provides a platform where lawyers, judges, scientists, and government officials can discuss the legal, political, and social problems arising from scientific and technological changes. Patrick Dunican Jr. ’91, Managing Director of Gibbons P.C., explained that his law firm chose to fund the naming of the Institute because it wanted to be associated with an institution that will “continue to grow and expand.” The $1 million gift is the largest to be presented to a New Jersey law school by a New Jersey law firm. One of the country’s top 200 law firms, Gibbons P.C. is one of New Jersey’s largest law firms and among the leading firms nationwide specializing in intellectual property law.
Formation of the Center was the brainchild of Dean Patrick E. Hobbs. In 2005, Dean Hobbs began talking with leaders in the pharmaceutical industry to identify ways the Law School could best meet the needs of a changing legal environment. The response was immediate and powerful, as the pharmaceutical industry recognized the significance of establishing an independent policy center at Seton Hall Law. “Seton Hall Law is uniquely positioned to play an important part in examining some of the most critical policy and legal issues arising from the production, sale, pricing, and payment of drugs and medical devices throughout the world,” said Dean Hobbs. “With our resources and situated at the epicenter of our nation’s pharmaceutical industry, we are perfectly positioned to be the leading academic voice in this discussion.” In 2003, Seton Hall Law launched an innovative corporate compliance certification program specifically designed for representatives of the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. With the implementation of Medicare Part D, and the government’s increased prosecutorial attention on the business practices of the pharmaceutical industry, Seton Hall Law increasingly has focused its attention on the changing legal landscape of the world of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Its Health Law & Policy Program is consistently ranked among the top 10 in the nation. “Our extraordinary success in preparing and placing graduates has enabled us to become a significant resource for government, companies, and firms seeking well-trained attorneys and health professionals in health and drug law,” noted Dean Hobbs. “Along with shaping the public policy debate, this new Center will allow us to capitalize on our experience in preparing well-qualified individuals to provide for the development of safe and appropriate applications to meet the nation’s healthcare needs.”
A VEHICLE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE THE CENTER FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
Photo: Shelley Kusnetz
By Kathleen Brunet Eagan
There is a renewed interest in making a difference that has taken root among today’s college students. Similar to the Baby Boomer activists of the 1960s and ’70s, today’s students are socially conscious, value personal expression, and want to make a contribution. Large numbers are entering fields that focus on helping society and protecting the environment. And many are discovering that law is a valuable tool for bringing about change. Established in 1970, the Seton Hall School of Law Center for Social Justice (CSJ) has a long history of preparing students for careers in public interest law. Moving from the classroom into the trenches, students working with CSJ’s clinics and pro bono and
externship programs gain critical hands-on experience in civil litigation, family law, immigration and human rights, impact litigation, and juvenile justice, along with other areas. In addition to the experience they obtain,they gain the reward of being able to make an impact on a wide range of issues. Consider these examples from the past year. For Kathy Kim, Kristene Russo, and Paul Werner, it was obtaining a $700,000 settlement for a young girl whose mother was murdered after police ignored her mother’s pleas for help. For David Gardner and Pinar Ozgu, it was their work on a lawsuit challenging the withholding of transcripts that could exonerate a former Guantanamo Bay detainee.
THE CENTER FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE FACULTY – (pictured clockwise from bottom center row are: Baher Azmy, Meetali Jain, Linda Fisher, Claudette St. Romain, Michael Barbosa, Scott Michelman, Kevin Kelly, Phillip Ross, Lori Nessel, Jon Romberg, Shavar Jeffries, and Jenny-Brooke Condon. Not pictured: Bassina Farenblum and Bryan Lonegan
And for Holly Blanchard and William Tellado, it was helping to draft a lawsuit calling on the Newark public schools to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act. With the help of $150,000 in funding from the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, CSJ now has launched two special projects to provide students with an even wider expanse of opportunities: The International Human Rights/Rule of Law Project and the Urban Revitalization Project. CSJ’s goal is to evolve from a traditional legal service model to a multi-tiered public service center – a center that both can broaden its ability to tackle social issues and provide students with a more comprehensive experience. Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 19 •
“We want to be able to provide students with more expansive opportunities so they can build their resumes and gain key positions in the competitive world of public interest,” explains CSJ Director Professor Lori Nessel. “And we want to open up those opportunities to even larger numbers of students from the first to final year.” EXPANDING THE OPPORTUNITIES Nearly 200 students participate each year in CSJ’s pro bono and clinical programs. Traditionally, CSJ has provided first- and second-year students with the opportunity to work on pro bono cases, and third-year students with the ability to work on clinic cases for a semester. As part of the formation of the two new programs, CSJ has increased its pro bono opportunities, developed new internship opportunities, and expanded its caseload so more students can take advantage of its practical learning opportunities. Also newly developed is the Center for Social Justice Scholar Program, which awards scholarships to two students per year. Under that program, the scholars are provided with hands-on learning opportunities throughout their three years of study, along with $10,000 each year in scholarship support.
detainees at Guantanamo,the rule of law in Haiti, and the representation and protection of victims of human trafficking, torture, and other human rights abuses. With the addition of a new practitioner in residence, Bassina Farenblum,and a new Immigrant Workers Rights Clinic headed by Professor Bryan Lonegan, the project also is working with community organizations to address human rights issues affecting immigrants in New Jersey.
THE URBAN REVITALIZATION PROJECT The Urban Revitalization Project, meanwhile, is committed to developing and implementing advocacy strategies and litigation to combat the inadequacies of urban housing and education. The project expands upon the work of Professors Linda Fisher and Shavar Jeffries in the areas of predatory lending, fair housing, and educational reform. Assisting with those efforts is Michael Barbosa, another new fellow at CSJ. Located in Newark, CSJ is well positioned to assist with Adding to the addressing the effects of the educational inequities that exist significance of the public in the state’s urban areas, the high cost of real estate in New Jersey, and the links that need to interest experience for be established between the two to bring about change. Seton Hall Law By addressing those problems locally, CSJ also can provide a students is what Professor model other urban areas can follow, notes Professor Fisher.
The new projects build upon CSJ’s existing strengths and its core commitment to social Nessel justice and the alleviation of poverty. As umbrella programs, RELENTLESS LAWYERING likes to call both also provide a format for Adding to the significance of the incorporating other law school public interest experience for initiatives, such as the Haiti Rule Seton Hall Law students is what “relentless lawyering.” of Law Project and study abroad Professor Nessel likes to call programs in Cairo and Zanzibar, “relentless lawyering.” Part of into the public interest what makes CSJ unique are experience. In addition, CSJ will be establishing the clinics’ focus on both impact litigation and direct collaborative partnerships with national and services, the clinics’ ability to pursue social justice issues international organizations and developing placement beyond a single case, and the engaged scholarship opportunities for Seton Hall Law students across the undertaken by CSJ faculty. nation and around the world. In recent years, CSJ faculty members have produced a number of important scholarly works, including: THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS/ RULE OF LAW PROJECT The International Human Rights/Rule of Law Project expands upon CSJ’s international human rights litigation and scholarship, while also focusing on policy and advocacy. The goals of the project are to advance international human rights and the rule of law through domestic litigation, human rights complaint work, and collaborative efforts with national and international human rights organizations. The project builds upon the work of Professor Nessel and Professor Baher Azmy in bringing attention to the issues surrounding the • 20 • Seton Hall University School of Law
• “Unshackling the Thirteen Amendment: Modern Day Slavery and a Reconstructed Civil Rights Agenda” (Fordham Law Review, 2002) by Professor Azmy, based on his work on international human trafficking issues. • “Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms: Autonomy, the Common Good, and the Courts (Yale Law & Policy Review,2000) by Professor Fisher,arguing for a theory and practice of social changes that incorporate law reform litigation.
• “The Structural Inadequacy of Public Schools for Stigmatized Minorities: The Need for Institutional Remedies” (Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly, Fall 2006) by Professor Jeffries, based on the findings of his work addressing educational inequities in urban areas. • “‘Willful Blindness’to Gender-Based Violence Abroad: United States Implementation of Article 3 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture” (Minnesota Law Review, 2004) by Professor Nessel, arguing for a broader interpretation of the Torture Convention to encompass gender-based torture. The basic strategy behind the two new projects,like most of the work at CSJ, “is to draw the connections between
theory and practice and to use each to inform the other,” says Professor Fisher, who stepped down as CSJ director last year to focus on building the Urban Revitalization Project. By participating in CSJ’s practical learning opportunities, students learn how to merge the theory of law with the skills they will need as attorneys, such as how to interview clients, draft legal documents, and handle themselves in court. A natural evolution in Seton Hall Law’s ongoing commitment to public service, the new projects also are a key component, says Professor Nessel, for allowing more students “to fulfill their dream of bringing about positive social change.”
Photo: William Moree
A PUBLIC INTEREST PASSION
LORI NESSEL
A respected international human rights scholar and litigator, Professor Lori Nessel, Director of Seton Hall School of Law’s Center for Social Justice, did not plan on being a lawyer. In fact, she purposely avoided the field of law for many years. “For me it was not a public interest law passion, but a passion for public interest work,” she explains. Raised in Manhattan, Professor Nessel credits her mother, a social worker, with instilling that passion. “She had my brothers and me working in soup kitchens handing out food on Thanksgiving. And I was eight when I was handing out buttons for McGovern,” recalls Professor Nessel. During her college years in the mid 1980s, civil wars were raging throughout Central America. She
earned her degree in Latin American Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and got involved with the Sanctuary Movement helping refugees seeking a safe haven in the United States. She also spent a year in Nicaragua studying the impact of war on children who were fleeing El Salvador.
Interest Law Fellowship to represent migrant farm workers in upstate New York. Next, she worked on employment discrimination and police brutality cases at a New York civil rights firm. In 1995, she joined Seton Hall Law where she developed the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic. In 2006, she assumed the position of CSJ Director.
“At a certain point, I felt a need for an advanced degree, but I was not interested in law. I was working with refugees and the poor and was afraid it would be too heartbreaking to lose all those cases on their behalf,” says Professor Nessel.
While she has worked on a number of landmark cases, one she views as particularly significant involved a Congolese woman in the United States who had been detained and was facing imminent deportation. The case ended up being one of the first to recognize domestic violence as torture, and after appeal to the Third Circuit, the Clinic was able to secure political asylum for the woman.
Then she heard about the City University School of Law at Queens College, which at the time was still relatively new. “Its motto,” Professor Nessel says, “is ‘Law in the service of human needs.’” She applied, but still believing she would not become a lawyer. Her plan was to use her law degree to become an executive director at a social service organization. But things changed. “I developed a love for the law as I began to discover you could use the law to create social change,” she says. Following law school, she was awarded a Skadden Arps Public
While the deportation case, as many others that CSJ has undertaken, was precedent setting, there is a deeper satisfaction, says Professor Nessel, that comes from working in public interest. “Even if a case is not precedent setting, the impact for clients often is a matter of life and death,” she says. “Being able to get them protection and a whole new chance at life, that is the most satisfying aspect.” Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 21 •
FACULT Y H I G H L I G H T S N E W FA C U LT Y
FA C U LT Y B O O K S
DAVID FEIGE
HOWARD M. ERICHSON
B.A., University of Chicago J.D., University of Wisconsin Law School
INSIDE CIVIL PROCEDURE: WHAT MATTERS AND WHY
Professor David Feige, former Bronx public defender and author of the highly acclaimed book INDEFENSIBLE: ONE LAWYER’S
JOURNEY INTO THE INFERNO OF AMERICAN JUSTICE, has joined the faculty of Seton Hall School of Law as Professor of Law and Director of Advocacy Programs. As Director of Advocacy Programs, Professor Feige is helping Seton Hall Law students to gain practice-oriented experience in three key areas: advocacy, alternative dispute resolution, and transactional law. A nationally known lecturer on trial skills and eyewitness identification issues, Professor Feige previously served as trial chief of The Bronx Defenders, where he supervised other public defenders and carried a caseload of homicides and serious felonies. In 2004, he was awarded a Soros Media Justice Fellowship. As a part of that fellowship, he wrote INDEFENSIBLE (Little, Brown & Co, 2006), an autobiographical account of his experiences as a public defender.
Publisher: Aspen (forthcoming) A pioneering textbook INSIDE CIVIL PROCEDURE: AND WHY guides students through civil procedure with a unique blend of graphics, case studies, and other pedagogical features. The book explains not only the legal doctrine, but also strategic considerations, policy concerns, and interconnections to help students gain a comprehensive understanding of the importance of procedural rules.
WHAT MATTERS
MASS TORT LITIGATION MANUAL Publisher: Lexis-Nexis Matthew Bender Professor Erichson served as co-reporter for the MASS TORT LITIGATION MANUAL, a project undertaken by the Complex Litigation Committee of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Culled from interviews with and contributions from dozens of experienced mass tort lawyers and judges, the 265-page book offers guidance on practice and procedure in mass product liability cases.Topics include aggregation, pretrial proceedings, discovery, settlement, trial, and bankruptcy.
DENIS F. MCLAUGHLIN DAVID OPDERBECK B.A., Gorden College J.D., Seton Hall University LL.M., New York University Professor David Opderbeck joins the Seton Hall School of Law faculty from Baruch College, City University of New York, where he was an Assistant Professor in the Law Department of the Zicklin School of Business. Prior to joining the Baruch College faculty, Professor Opderbeck was a Faculty Fellow at Seton Hall Law, where he also served as Assistant Director of the Law School's Institute of Law, Science & Technology. Before embarking on his academic career, he was a partner in the Intellectual Property / Information Technology Law practice group at McCarter & English, LLP, where he practiced for 13 years, representing clients in a variety of industries, including pharmaceuticals, information technology, manufacturing, and financial services. Professor Opderbeck's scholarship focuses on the law, norms, economics, and ethics of information, including intellectual property and other aspects of information regulation.His work has been published in the Vanderbilt Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, Berkeley Technology Law Journal, and other top journals. • 22 • Seton Hall University School of Law
CIVIL PROCEDURE: CASES, TEXT, NOTES, AND PROBLEMS Publisher: Carolina Academic Press With: Larry Teply and Ralph Whitten, Creighton University An innovative new textbook, CIVIL PROCEDURE: CASES, TEXT, NOTES, AND PROBLEMS integrates both the basic and more complex issues of federal and state civil procedure in a user-friendly format.
MICHAEL J. ZIMMER THE GLOBAL WORKPLACE: INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE EMPLOYMENT LAW –
CASES AND MATERIALS Publisher: Cambridge University Press With: Roger Blanpain, University of Tiburg, The Netherlands, and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium; Susan Bisom-Rapp, Thomas Jefferson School of Law; William R. Corbett, Louisiana State University Law Center; and Hilary K. Josephs, Syracuse University College of Law. The first comprehensive law school casebook on international and comparative employment law, THE GLOBAL WORKPLACE covers the national workplace laws of nine countries and examines labor and employment law regulation by the International Labor Organization and, under NAFTA, the European Union and Corporate Codes of Conduct.
FA C U LT Y F E L L O W S H I P S BERNARD FREAMON RECEIVES GILDER LEHRMAN FELLOWSHIP FOR MODERN DAY SLAVERY RESEARCH Professor Bernard Freamon has received a Slavery, Abolition, and Resistance Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Gilder Lehrman Center at Yale University for the fall semester. The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition is dedicated to the investigation and dissemination of knowledge concerning all aspects of chattel slavery and its destruction.
LORI NESSEL RECEIVES FULBRIGHT FOR IMMIGRATION POLICY STUDY IN SPAIN Professor Lori Nessel has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar for the 2007-08 academic year. She is serving as a visiting researcher at the Migration Institute at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain. Her research includes a comparative study of immigration policy, with particular emphasis on Spain's policies towards African (sub-Saharan) arrivals by sea compared to United States’ immigration policies for Haitian boat people. While there, she also is building relationships with nongovernmental organizations and clinical programs that represent asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking to expand transnational collaborations for the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic at Seton Hall School of Law upon her return. Professor Nessel’s research is specifically timely given the current debates over comprehensive immigration reform in the United States and Spain’s recent experience with a national amnesty program. Her project also is well-timed to coincide with the Law School’s ongoing expansion in the area of international human rights law.
MARINA LAO RECEIVES FULBRIGHT FOR COMPARATIVE LAW RESEARCH IN GERMANY Professor Marina Lao has received a Fulbright Award for the 2007-08 academic year to lecture and conduct research in Germany. Professor Lao is teaching a course on United States Antitrust Law at the University of Munich in its graduate program on European and International Economic Law (LL.M. Eur.). She also is working on a comparative study of the United States’ and European Union’s (EU) approaches to monopolization law at the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law. Professor Lao’s lecturing and research projects in these areas are particularly important in today’s global world where antitrust enforcement can have significant international impact, and the antitrust/competition law decisions in one country can affect business practices far beyond its own borders. Because the U.S. and the EU have the most developed antitrust/competition laws in the world, it is critical for American and European businesses, and the lawyers who represent them, to understand the relevant laws of the other jurisdiction.
TRACY KAYE NAMED MAX PLANCK RESEARCH SCHOLAR FOR COMPARATIVE TAX LAW STUDY Professor Tracy Kaye was awarded a Max Planck Grant this past summer to conduct comparative tax law research at the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law in Munich, Germany. While there, she worked on a comparative tax study of the United States’ and European Union’s approaches to economic development incentives. Professor Kaye’s research provided the information needed to complete an effective comparison of the United States’ and European Union’s approaches for providing subsidies for the promotion of certain public policies. Her research focused on the procedures that have been put in place by each of the respective “federal” systems to allow challenges to tax incentives that might obstruct the efficient functioning of the common market and examined the implications of the choices that have been made.
Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 23 •
SETON HALL LAW FACULTY ONLINE AND CONNECTED
A tool for building communities, sharing ideas, and shaping opinions, blogs no longer remain relegated to the backroom of a small group of Web users. In fact, in recent years Web logs have been exploding in numbers. In 2002, there were about 100,000 blogs; now a new blog is created every second, according to the blog search engine Technorati. Contributing to the growth and strength of these online communities are several Seton Hall School of Law faculty members writing on a wide range of legal topics.
GAIA BERNSTEIN Law and Technology Theory – “Exploring and Rationalizing the Regulation of Technology, from the Double Helix to the World Wide Web” http://techtheory.blogspot.com/ Professor Gaia Bernstein started this blog with Professor Frank Pasquale, also of Seton Hall School of Law, and Jim Chen, Associate Dean,University of Minnesota Law School,to provide a forum where legal scholars can share their ideas on how the law should react to technological change and also present their papers for comment. One set of papers is to be published this year in the Minnesota Science Law and Technology Journal.
THOMAS HEALY Dorf on Law – “Where You’ll Find Musing by Mike (Dorf) and His Friends” http://michaeldorf.org/ Professor Thomas Healy is a regular contributor to this blog on public law started by Columbia Law Professor Michael Dorf. Professor Healy’s contributions have covered such topics as partisan gerrymandering, school integration, capital punishment, and presidential signing statements.
SHAVAR D. JEFFRIES Blackprof.com – “Race, Culture, and Society” http://www.blackprof.com HOWARD M. ERICHSON Mass Tort Litigation Blog – A Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/mass_tort_litigation Professor Howard Erichson co-writes this blog with Byron Stier, Professor, Southwestern Law School. The blog provides resources, news, and analyses on mass tort litigation such as asbestos, fen-phen, and tobacco. Some recent topics addressed by Professor Erichson include Vioxx lawsuits, the American Law Institute’s draft Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation, and the mass tort case concerning the health risks of Zyprexa, an anti-psychotic drug.
DAVID FEIGE Indefensible – The Intermittent Musing of a Pedantic Public Defender… http://davidfeige.blogspot.com/ Professor David Feige began blogging nearly three years ago after leaving his job as trial chief at The Bronx Defenders to work on his book INDEFENSIBLE: ONE LAWYER’S JOURNEY INTO THE INFERNO OF AMERICAN JUSTICE. Initially, the blog largely focused on the world of the public defender. Since completion of the book,the blog has expanded to include a wide range of legal and social topics, including a recent posting on prison health.
Professor Shavar Jeffries is a regular contributor to this blog, one of the premier online communities for commentary on issues of race, culture, and society. In recent postings, Professor Jeffries has covered such issues as whether racial advancement should be measured based on the breakthroughs of uniquely talented pioneers, the pragmatics of affirmative action, and the structural inadequacy of public schools for stigmatized minorities.
FRANK PASQUALE Concurring Opinions – “The Law, the Universe, and Everything” http://www.concurringopinions.com/ Professor Frank Pasquale is a co-author of this blog,one of the most widely read generalist law professor blogs with a Google page rank of seven. Some recent topics covered by Professor Pasquale include healthcare regulation, digital rights management,and methodology in legal scholarship. Professor Pasquale's main aim in his posts is to supplement dominant economic and doctrinal understandings of legal problems with perspectives derived from philosophy, including Catholic Social Thought, and social science. Madisonian.net: Law, Technology, Society – “A Blog about Intellectual Property Law, the Legal Implications of Technology and Social Change, and Related Things” http://madisonian.net/ Co-author of this blog, Professor Pasquale writes on a wide range of topics, including copyright controversies, artificial intelligence, and how the law has responded (or failed to respond) to innovation. He is particularly interested in new forms of commodification: the buying and selling of technologies to increase salience, competence, or appearance.
• 24 • Seton Hall University School of Law
2007-08 Merck Visiting Scholars Since 1994, Merck & Co. has generously supported the Seton Hall School of Law Health Law & Policy Program’s Visiting Scholar series. Merck’s support of health law in New Jersey has allowed Seton Hall Law to bring outstanding health law scholars to its students and the wider legal community. During the 2007-08 academic year, Seton Hall Law welcomes Professors Kevin Outterson and Susan M. Wolf.
KEVIN OUTTERSON Professor of Law Boston University School of Law Merck Visiting Scholar, Fall 2007 Professor Kevin Outterson is among the newest members of the faculty at Boston University School of Law. He formerly taught at West Virginia University College of Law, concentrating his scholarship and teaching on pharmaceutical law, business planning, and globalization. His recent articles have focused on counterfeit drugs, pharmaceutical innovation and access, antibiotic resistance, global public health, and international pharmaceutical pricing and regulation. He was appointed by former Gov. Robert E. Wise Jr. to the West Virginia Pharmaceutical Cost Management Council in 2004, and is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association’s FDA Task Force. Prior to joining West Virginia University, Professor Outterson taught at Anglia Law School, Anglia Polytechnic University, in Cambridge, England. He was a Rotary Scholar at the University of Reading, England, then received his B.S. at Northwestern University, his J.D. at Northwestern University School of Law, and his LL.M. at the University of Cambridge, England.
SUSAN M. WOLF McKnight Presidential Professor of Law, Medicine & Public Policy; the Faegre & Benson Professor of Law; Director, Joint Degree Program in Law, Health & the Life Sciences; Chair, Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences University of Minnesota Law School Merck Visiting Scholar, Spring 2008 Professor Susan M. Wolf’s scholarship and teaching focus on health law, law and science, and bioethics. She writes extensively on assisted reproduction, death and dying, women's health care, the organization of healthcare delivery, and other topics in health law and science. Some of her recent articles include “Doctor and Patient: An Unfinished Revolution,” Yale Journal of Health Law, Policy & Ethics; “Assessing Physician Compliance with the Rules for Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide,” Archives of Internal Medicine; and “Clinical, Ethical and Legal Issues in Using Preimplantation Genetic Diagnostics to Create a Stem Cell Donor,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota, Professor Wolf clerked for Judge Leonard B. Sand of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and practiced with the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. She has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, the American Journal of Bioethics and the Journal of Urban Health, and currently is Executive Editor of the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology. Professor Wolf received her A.B. degree, summa cum laude, from Princeton University and her J.D. from Yale Law School. Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 25 •
SETON HALL LAW RISING Dear Fellow Alumni,
Photo: Shelley Kusnetz
Seton Hall School of Law is poised to take the next step in its ascendancy. In its sixth decade of service, Seton Hall Law is considered to be among the best law schools in the United States and is ready to rise to new challenges. In education – as in practice or business – standing still is not an option. We all have to grow in order to succeed. As alumni of Seton Hall Law, it’s time to build on our momentum. Seton Hall has: • The experience to build on its recent successes • The youth and agility to meet new challenges • A faculty at the cutting edge of important legal trends Seton Hall Law Rising Capital Campaign Co-Chairs Joseph P. LaSala ’72 (l) • Students who are preparing for whatever the 21st and Patrick C. Dunican Jr. ’91 century demands • A legal community that has embraced this vibrant institution regionally and nationally. The Seton Hall Law Rising Campaign will prepare the Law School to meet its financial priorities. These priorities are grounded in our core values and strengths. We will be raising at least $25 million during the Campaign to support strategic investments in our students and faculty. This Campaign will secure the Law School’s future, ensure its vitality, reinforce its reputation for innovation, and assure that Seton Hall remains a premier destination for legal education in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Join us as Seton Hall Law rises to the next level. SETON HALL LAW RISING CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIRS,
• 26 • Seton Hall University School of Law
Joseph P. LaSala, Esq.
Patrick C. Dunican, Jr., Esq
Class of 1972
Class of 1991
WHO’S WHO IN THE ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE VICKI FLEISCHER
LORI THIMMEL
Assistant Dean, Alumni and Development B.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison J.D., Notre Dame Law School
Director of Alumni Relations
A seasoned law school development professional, Vicki Fleischer has almost a decade of alumni and development experience and brings with her the understanding of what is needed to oversee a successful campaign from start to finish. In her role as Assistant Dean, she supervises the Alumni and Development staff, assists the Seton Hall School of Law’s Board of Visitors, serves as a liaison to the Law School’s contacts within the pharmaceutical industry, and conducts principle and major gift work.She has been instrumental in preparing for the public phase of the Seton Hall Law Rising Campaign.
Lori Thimmel brings decades of experience in event planning, which has proven to be helpful as Seton Hall School of Law increases its alumni outreach. In addition to organizing all alumni and Campaign events, she assists with the alumni Web site and serves, along with the Director of Development, as the office’s liaison to the Alumni Council. Lori aims to ensure that Seton Hall Law’s alumni activities are entertaining and provide valuable networking opportunities for alumni.
CARRIE WRIGHT SHANNON MARCOTTE Major Gift Officer B.A., University of Massachusetts, Amherst J.D., Seton Hall Law School An alumna herself, Shannon Marcotte is an experienced alumni and development professional. She has served in leadership positions with the Alumni and Development Office for six years. She was instrumental in the campaign planning process and worked with Dean Patrick E. Hobbs to form the Law School’s inaugural Board of Visitors. She has a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge and is responsible for the major gift work critical to the success of the Seton Hall Law Rising Campaign.
Law School Development Officer B.A., Ithaca College As someone fairly new to the development field, Carrie Wright brings much energy to the Alumni and Development Office. She is responsible for two of Seton Hall School of Law’s newest programs: Graduation Class Gift and Reunion Giving. Carrie also assists with internal prospect research, the Web site, and the supervision of student workers.
DANIELLE SWICK BRIAN NEWMAN Major Gift Officer B.S., Mercy College As the newest addition to the Alumni and Development Office, Brian Newman has made the transition to development after a successful career in management and sales for LexisNexis. Brian is responsible for identifying, cultivating, and stewarding major gift prospects throughout the duration of the campaign. In addition, Brian is charged with handling special projects to support Seton Hall School of Law’s alumni and development outreach efforts.
LISA CARGILL Director of Development B.A., State University of New York College at Buffalo J.D., Albany Law School Lisa Cargill, who has several years of development experience, oversees the Annual Fund, which provides essential financial support to Seton Hall School of Law. She administers the Law Firm Representative program, student telephone outreach efforts, direct mail campaigns, and many of our scholarships. A liaison to our Alumni Council, Lisa also helps to facilitate alumni volunteer efforts to assist other departments in the Law School, including Admissions, Student Services, and Career Services.
Secretary, Alumni and Development B.A., The College of New Jersey Danielle Swick assists with event planning, the Annual Fund, reunions, and alumni relations, as well as recognizing the personal and professional achievements of Seton Hall School of Law alumni. Danielle is likely the first point of contact for alumni and friends.
KRISTINA DZWONCZYK Secretary, Alumni and Development B.A., Seton Hall University M.A., University of Connecticut Kristina Dzwonczyk assists Seton Hall School of Law’s major gift fundraisers and is responsible for the Law School’s gift processing and acknowledgment process. She is involved with all campaign and board related activities and also plays a critical role in the external communications of the office.
Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 27 •
2007 Distinguished Graduate
Mitch Baumeister Combining a Passion for Flying with the Desire to Help Others By Kathleen Brunet Eagan
Michel F.“Mitch” Baumeister ’72 with his 1943 Stearman.
Ask Michel F. “Mitch” Baumeister ’72 how he managed to combine a passion for flying with an interest in the law to become one of the nation’s most highly respected aviation trial attorneys, and he’ll point to the people in his life. Growing up in a four-story walkup in the Bronx in the late 1950s, his opportunities were limited. What he received instead were a spirit of resourcefulness and a desire to help the “little guy.” “My mom was a hero to me, an incredible woman who struggled under extraordinarily difficult circumstances to raise a strong, loving family,” he says. “She was a stay-at-home mom who made sure the one pair of shoes you owned had soles on them, your pants had patches on them, and she knew how to cut that occasional ‘chuck’ steak five ways to feed her family.” He and his sister also were taught that as part of the family, they shared a responsibility for caring for their brother George, who was born profoundly retarded. “Some of my earliest memories are of walking my brother to the schoolyard, and the kids would tease him and be very cruel,” recalls Mr. Baumeister. “It showed me early on that people who are less able to defend themselves need someone to help them fight life’s battles.” The recipient of Seton Hall School of Law’s 2007 Distinguished Graduate Award, he has fought that battle for many over the course of his career. He has represented clients from nearly every commercial airline disaster since 1980. Prior to that, he conducted several high visibility investigations and trials as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan and as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Following that, he handled various types of plaintiffs’ cases, but concentrated his practice primarily on aviation matters. • 28 • Seton Hall University School of Law
Over the past several decades, he has worked on behalf of injured passengers, crew and the families of those killed in aviation disasters ranging from the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, to TWA Flight 800, to Swissair Flight 111, to the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, including United Airlines Flight 93. Currently, he is representing two families of victims from the Comair Flight 5191 tragedy in Kentucky last year.
A JOURNEY OF LEARNING His journey from a four-story walk-up to a nationally renowned trial attorney, however, was neither direct nor planned. In the 1960s when drugs began infiltrating the city, his parents decided to move the family to Rockaway, New Jersey. “We had our own home with a backyard, and all of a sudden life was very different,” recalls Mr. Baumeister. “I began to realize Mitch Baumeister could do things.” Included among those things was learning how to fly. Discovering the Morristown Municipal Airport as a teenager, he started mowing lawns to pay for lessons. Then as a college student at Fairleigh Dickinson, in Madison, he met Bob Shields, the director of athletics and lacrosse coach. “Bob took me under his wing and encouraged me to join a new team on campus - lacrosse. He constantly reinforced the idea that with hard work, discipline, and dedication, I could develop into a good player and a leader,” says Mr. Baumeister. And develop he did. In his senior year, he was elected team captain and the team won its first divisional championship. He was voted MVP and athlete-of-the-year, and he was distinguished by the U.S. Lacrosse Association as the 1966 National Scoring Leader with a single-season total of 79 points.
HELPING TO REBUILD LIVES After graduation, it was Vietnam. “In 1966, they were just starting to build up the American presence overseas. My family consisted of firemen and cops, and if your country says it needs
The Alumni Dinner Dance: A Time to Celebrate, Renew Friendships, and Connect Again
TIME TO CATCH UP Michel “Mitch” F. Baumeister ’72 (center) catches up with some friends during the Alumni Dinner Dance reception.
ALUMNI LEADERS Fred Regenye ’95 (l) Immediate Past President of the Alumni Council, and Tim Donohue ’80, President, pose for a photograph.
A PROUD WIFE Lynn Baumeister, wife of Michel “Mitch” F. Baumeister ’72 listens to her husband’s acceptance speech upon being named the 2007 Distinguished Graduate.
Photos: Shelley Kusnetz
FAMILY TIME Michel “Mitch” F. Baumeister ’72 (r) shares some family time with his wife, Lynn, and son Jared.
PINNING THE CORSAGE Christina Dunican (center), pins a corsage on her husband Patrick Dunican ’91 as Joanne Hobbs offers encouragement.
A KISS AND A DANCE John Bruno ’72 and his wife, Donna, enjoy a spin together on the dance floor.
you, there were no questions asked. You did what’s required - it’s that simple.” The war, however, left him “feeling betrayed by the leaders of my government.” His answer was to enroll in law school. “I thought maybe I could help to change things. Maybe I could do that by becoming a lawyer.” Rutgers refused to accept his application because he had missed its spring deadline. So he tried Seton Hall Law. Again, he was told he had missed the deadline, but was directed to Associate Dean Robert Diab. “I told him my story, that I had been overseas and that if I didn’t get into law school I didn’t know where I’d wind up,” says Mr. Baumeister. “He listened with a smile on his face, and told me to speak with Dean (John) Loftus.” Dean Loftus told him to take the LSAT and he was enrolled that fall. It was that willingness to consider his circumstances and be flexible that has made him such a strong supporter of Seton Hall Law. “They gave me a chance to have a career that has been both rewarding and fulfilling,” he says. Since graduating with his law degree, he has taught as an adjunct professor for almost 20 years, currently is serving as Vice Chair of the Board of Visitors, and has helped in various fundraising activities. Recently, he and his wife, Lynn, also chose Seton Hall Law to honor their son Matthew who died unexpectedly from a heart condition in 2005. He was only 19. The renovated cafeteria with its bright, welcoming design was their gift to the students of Seton Hall Law in memory of Matthew. After their sons Jared, now 25, and Matthew were born, Mr. Baumeister says, he and his wife made it a priority to put their family first. Although he offered to be the stay-at-home parent because “Lynn is the better lawyer,” they decided that he would pursue his interest in the law. Lee S. Kreindler, the preeminent aviation attorney in the nation, gave him that opportunity. At Kreindler & Kreindler, Mr. Kreindler, along with Milt Sincoff, guided his development as an attorney and as a person, he says. He ultimately became a partner in 1980. One of the things he also learned early on from Mr. Sincoff, he says, was to be home for dinner, to attend his children’s extracurricular activities, even if it meant having to work late at night while everyone was sleeping, and to take family vacations.
THE CHIEF JUSTICE Chief Justice James Zazzali poses with his wife, Eileen, and daughter Mara ’98.
Building on the lessons he learned at the Kreindler firm, he decided in 1988 to launch his own firm, Baumeister & Samuels, P.C. with his partner Thea Capone. “I wanted to form a small, boutique firm that focused on the clients,” says Mr. Baumeister. “My clients were and are people who in an instant have had their lives destroyed and are facing an uncertain future, struggling to keep their families together and rebuild their lives. I wanted my firm to be a business last and to focus on our clients and aviation safety first.” While that concern about his clients has helped to draw him back into his professional world following the death of Matthew, it is his son Jared, Mr. Baumeister says, who has provided the support to even make that possible. “Tragically on May 11, 2005, our world disintegrated when Matthew died suddenly,” he says. “Each day, Lynn and I struggle to continue on. It is incomprehensible that our smiling, loving son is not here enjoying his life - the pain and emptiness of not being able to hold and protect him is indescribable. Slowly, and with great support and patience, our wonderful son Jared has kept us connected and engaged in life. He has been our lifeline.” He notes that family and friends also have been waiting for a chance to help, “being incredibly supportive, but that it is just slow and painful to re-engage.” Hearing about the Comair crash in Kentucky, he says, “I was so incensed about this needless tragedy that when two of the families asked me to get involved, I felt I had to help. Both families lost their beautiful children.” Although he considers himself fortunate to have built a career where he can help others to reclaim their lives, he stresses that he did not do it alone. “Lynn is an extraordinarily smart and loving woman, and an incredible mother and wife - someone I fell in love with at first sight almost 34 years ago. Without her, nothing in my life or my sons’ lives would be possible.”
Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 29 •
“
Respecting What is Essential and Permanent
…for the rules that matter most are the rules that cannot be bent.
”
Justice Samuel A. Alito
Photo: Douglas Davies
Associate Justice SAMUEL A. ALITO Addresses the Class of 2007
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• 30 • Seton Hall University School of Law
4
Exchanging his U.S. Supreme Court robes for a Seton Hall School of Law cap and gown, Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito urged the Class of 2007 at its May 25th commencement ceremony to identify those things that are “essential and permanent” and to abide by them. It is a process, he noted, that the country’s founders worked through as they crafted the Constitution, and a process that provides a solid compass for living a life of integrity. “Don’t confuse the things that are merely important with the things that are essential and permanent… for the rules that matter most are the rules that cannot be bent,” said Justice Alito.“If we don’t have fixed and clear principles, we can easily go astray.” His appearance during the commencement exercises represented a warm welcome back to Seton Hall Law, where he taught for several years as an adjunct faculty member. The keynote speaker at the commencement ceremony held at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, he met with several standing ovations, cheers, and resounding applause during his time with the graduates.
“Because of my connection to Seton Hall Law School,”he told the Class of 2007, “I know what an excellent legal education you have received.” He further urged the graduates to reject religious intolerance, noting that Seton Hall’s namesake, Elizabeth Ann Seton, was a stanch supporter of religious freedom. “I hope that all of you... will be on guard against the revival of the old and very dangerous lie that there are people of certain religions who are not fit to hold office or not fit to hold citizenship in the United States because they cannot be counted upon to exercise independent judgment and to be true Americans,” said Justice Alito. In her introduction of Justice Alito, U.S. Appeals Court Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, his friend and colleague for nearly 30 years, described Justice Alito as the Bruce Springsteen of the legal profession. “Like the Boss,” she said, “Justice Alito has been received in this state with fervor and affection.” In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of law, Seton Hall bestowed an honorary Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa degree upon Justice Alito. Justice Alito was nominated as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court by President George W. Bush and was sworn in on January 31, 2006. He previously served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In 1999 and 2000, he taught Constitutional Law at Seton Hall Law, and in 2003 and 2004 he taught a course on Terrorism and Civil Liberties that he developed following the events of September 11, 2001.
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Seton Hall Law bestowed 355 J.D., 26 M.S.J., and two LL.M. degrees during its 2007 commencement. 1. GETTING READY Mireille Bahri (r) and her mother, Kathleen, help Allen Alfano with his graduation attire. 2. LAW SCHOOL FRIENDS (l-r) Judy Pak, Maura Caroselli, Philippe Dehaene, and Lauren Yassine, who all took part in the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic their last semester, pose for a group photo. 3. LINING UP The Class of 2007 lines up on the ramps to position themselves for the procession to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
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4. A HARD-EARNED DEGREE Colleen Ayers proudly displays her J.D. degree.
6. MAKING YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE Anthony Rapa shares his pride with his fellow graduates noting that “for anyone with a degree from this law school, you have a ponderous chance to make your dreams come true.” 7. ALL SMILES Lillie Nkenchor is all smiles with degree in hand as she gets ready to leave the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. 7
Photos: Douglas Davies
5. A MUSICAL INTERLUDE “The Restatements,” a Seton Hall Law student band with Professor Howard Erichson on drums, takes center stage at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center during the 2007 commencement exercises.
Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 31 •
Class
News
&Notes 1960 The Honorable Gerald C. Escala ’64, of Demarest, has contributed courtroom stories to the recently published book NEW JERSEY ESTATE LITIGATION. The Honorable John A. Conte ’67, of Hackensack, has stepped down from the Bergen County Superior Court bench after 15 years. Judge Conte will serve as a part-time adviser in his son’s (John A. Conte Jr. ’84) law firm. Henry J. Walsh ’69, of Bridgewater, has become Counsel at the law firm Ventantonio & Wildenhain PC. 1970 Jeffery L.McCormick ’75,of Longmeadow,MA,has been appointed a member of the Board of Bar Overseers of Massachusetts. Richard H. Steen ’75, of Lawrenceville, has been named Second Vice President of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Robert J. Brennan ’76, of Morristown, has been appointed to the Superior Court bench in Morris County. Paulette Brown, ’76, of Plainfield, has become the first firm-wide Chief Diversity Officer at Edwards & Angell. Brown recently received a Trailblazer Award from the state chapter of the NAACP and a Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Bar Association;she also has been nominated for a three-year term on the ABA’s Board of Governors. Maury Cartine ’76, of Montville, has accepted the position of Partner-InCharge of the Tax Department at Marcum & Kliegman. Peter G.Sheridan ’77, of Trenton,has been appointed to the Federal Judge bench. Ronald L. Chapman ’78, of North Carolina,has been appointed as a judge in the 26th Prosecutorial District Court in Mecklenburg County. • 32 • Seton Hall University School of Law
1980 Lynn Fontaine Newsome ’81 has been named President of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Shelia Gaddis ’81, of Rochester, NY, has joined Hiscock & Barclay as of counsel. James A. Kosch ’81, of Allendale, has been elected Chair of the Toxic Tort & Environmental Law Committee of the ABA’s TIPS Section. James E. Trabilsy ’81, of Watchung, has been named a “Super Lawyer” in Law & Politics magazine and Shareholder at the firm Wilentz, Goldman, & Spitzer P.A. Joseph A. Gallo ’82, of Middletown, served on the Editorial Advisory Board for T. Evan Schaeffer’s newest book, DEPOSITION CHECKLISTS
AND
STRATEGIES, published in December 2006. Lawrence N. Lavigne ’82, of Bridgewater, has been certified as a civil trial attorney by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Margaret Leggett Tarver ’82, of Willingboro, has been re-appointed as a trustee of the New Jersey Bar Foundation. Eric J. Marcy ’82, of Long Valley, has been named a “Super Lawyer” in Law & Politics magazine. John F. McKeon ’83, Partner at Hardin, Kundla, McKeon & Poletto, PC, in Springfield, a New Jersey Assemblyman, and Mayor of West Orange, was an honoree at the Community Health Law Project’s 19th Annual Ann Klein Advocate Awards Dinner in October 2006. The Honorable John McKeon was recognized for making “extraordinary contributions to improving the lives of people with disabilities.” Ellen O’Connell ’83, of Somerville, has been re-elected First Vice President of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. She has practiced
Photo: Michele Austin
Theodore J. Wells Jr. Visits Seton Hall Law Calvin Souder (l), Vice President of the Black Law Student Association (BLSA), presents Theodore J. Wells Jr., defense counsel for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, with the BLSA Distinguished Practitioner Award at its annual banquet in April. Also attending the event was Mr. Well’s wife, Nina Mitchell Wells, New Jersey Secretary of State, who served as the keynote speaker.
law in New Jersey for 23 years concentrating her practice
2006, sworn into office on June 26, 2006, and sits in
in corporate executives and employers in labor and
Camden. Richard M. Marano ’85, of Oxford, CT, has
employment cases. Bonnie Frost ’84, of Bernardsville,
been elected President of the Housatonic Council, Boy
has been appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court as
Scouts of America. Pamela T. Miller ’85, of Hackensack,
a member of the Disciplinary Review Board. Last year, she
has received the 2007 Corporate Trailblazers Award from
was named one of the top 100 lawyers and one of the top
the Association of Black Women Lawyers. Charles M.
50 female lawyers in the state by Law & Politics magazine.
Naselsky ’85, of Philadelphia, PA, has joined Blank Rome
She also is former chair of the Family Law Section of the
LLP as Partner in the Firm’s Real Estate Group. Marianne
New Jersey State Bar Association and currently Secretary
J. Gilmartin ’86, of Moscow, PA, was elected President of
of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. John
Dress for Success Lackawanna. Julio C. Morejon ’86, of
J. Henschel ’84, of Warren Township,has been appointed
Union City, has been sworn in as Municipal Court Judge
as a trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation.
of West New York. Amy Zylman Shimalla ’86, of
Adrienne C. Rogove ’84, of Somerset, was appointed
Somerset, has been appointed as a trustee of the New
Vice Chair of the Business and Commercial Litigation
Jersey State Bar Foundation. She is a partner in the
Committee for the New Jersey State Bar Association. The
Warren law firm of Copeland, Shimalla & Wechsler, sits on
committee assists the business bar by working with the
the Early Settlement Panel in Somerset County, and is a
courts to ensure the needs of business clients are being
member of the Somerset County Bar Association’s Family
met. Liza M. Walsh ’84, of Caldwell, was named one
Law Committee. Paul C. Dritsas ’87, of Colts Neck, has
of New Jersey’s Best 50 Women in Business for 2006.
been named Partner at McCarter & English, LLP. Edward
Robert F.Walsh ’84 has been admitted to partnership at
T. Kole ’87, of Freehold, has been named a “Super
White and Williams, LLP in Philadelphia, PA. John P.
Lawyer” in Law & Politics magazine. Michael J. Marone
Belardo ’85, of Basking Ridge, has been appointed
’87, of Morristown, and his firm McElroy, Deutsch,
Associate Legal Counsel to the New Jersey State League
Mulvaney, & Carpenter have been inducted into one of
of Municipalities as well as Township Attorney for
the premier legal associations in America, the American
Bedminster Township. Noel Hillman ’85, of Great Falls,
College of Trial Lawyers. Judith J. Sullivan ’87, of
VA, was confirmed by the United States Senate, by a vote
Oakland, has been appointed President of the
of 98-0 on June 8,2006,to serve as a United States District
Transatlantic Business Council, a nonprofit trade
Court Judge for the District of New Jersey. He was
organization. Robert A. Bianchi ’88, of Morris Plains, has
nominated by President George W. Bush on January 25,
been made a prosecutor in Morris County. Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 33 •
Photo: Michele Austin
Photo: Douglas Davies
All for a Good Cause Dean Patrick E. Hobbs was among the stars at this year’s annual Pie-in-The Face fundraiser to support the Public Interest Network Fellowship Fund and the Law School’s loan forgiveness program. Here his wife, Joanne, gets ready to help him after landing a pie squarely in his face.
A Warm and Welcoming Place Through a generous donation from Michel F.“Mitch” Baumeister ’72 and his wife, Lynn, Seton Hall Law students now have a bright new cafeteria, named in memory of their son Matthew.
Paul F. Cullum III ’89, of Williamsburg, VA, has
selected for inclusion in the Business Litigation section of
co-authored the book NEW JERSEY ESTATE LITIGATION. He
New Jersey Super Lawyers 2007, as well as named Second
serves as Counsel in Gibbons P.C.’s Business &
Vice President of the Somerset County Bar Association.
Commercial Litigation Department,and has considerable
Ellen W. Lambert ’91 is Director of Corporate Relations
experience in trust and estate litigation, insurance
and Contributions at Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Nutley.
coverage, and environmental litigation. Tommie Ann
Vincenzo Paparo ’91, of Ramsey, has co-authored an
Gibney ’89, of Medford, has been named President-Elect
article entitled “Lending to Private Equity Funds” which
of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America - New
appeared in The Secured Lender. Meredith Kaplan
Jersey. Jeffrey S. Goldstein ’89, of Fair Lawn, has been
Stoma ’91, of Essex Fells, was named one of New Jersey’s
named Partner at Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP.
Best 50 Women in Business for 2006. Thomas F. Doherty
Dorothy A. Harbeck ’89, of Rumson, has been
’92, Morristown, has been named Partner at McCarter
appointed to the Elizabeth Immigration Court bench.
&
Jeffrey J. McWeeney ’89, of Brick, has been appointed
of Boonton, has been elected Counsel at Riker Danzig
English,
LLP.
James
M. Maggio
Jr. ’92,
as a trustee for the New Jersey State Bar Foundation.
Scherer Hyland & Perretti, LLP. John J. Ratkowitz ’94, of Livingston, has been named Partner at Starr, Gern,
1990 Frances P. Allegra ’90, of Miami, FL, has been selected by the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida as a 2007 inductee to the Juvenile Court Wall of Honor. Roberta E. Berger ’90, of Phoenix, AZ, has joined Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. in the Phoenix Law Department as Senior Counsel. Timothy D. Lyons '90, of Middletown, has been designated by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a certified civil trial attorney. David P.Pepe ’90, of Caldwell, has been named a “Super Lawyer” in Law & Politics magazine. Sheila E. Calello ’91 has been named Partner at McCarter & English, LLP. Patrick C. Dunican Jr. ’91, of Suffern,NY,has been appointed as a trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation.Steven A.Karg ’91 has been • 34 • Seton Hall University School of Law
Davidson, & Rubin, P.C. Sharon L. Weiner ’94, of Morristown, has joined Scarinci & Hollenbeck, LLC as Counsel in its Environmental & Land Use Law Group. Continuing her practice in the areas of land use, environmental, public entity, and public utility law, she is a resident of the firm’s Lyndhurst office.She also serves as Special Tax Appeal Counsel for the Town of Morristown,is a governmental affairs agent with the State of New Jersey, serves as President of the Women’s Political Caucus’ of New Jersey and as Chair of its Political Resource Committee, and is a member of the Editorial Board of New Jersey Lawyer newspaper. Thomas C. Conniff ’95, of Chatham, joined C.R. Bard, Inc. as Assistant General Counsel and will be handling various
Photo: Kathleen Brunet Eagan
Photo: Shelley Kusnetz
NJSBA’s Newest President Lynn Fontaine Newsome ’81 was installed as President of the New Jersey State Bar Association at its annual meeting in May. Partner at Donahue, Hagan, Klein, Newsome & O’Donnell, PC, in Morristown, Ms. Newsome specializes in family law. Also installed at the NJSBA’s annual meeting was Richard H. Steen ‘75 as Second Vice President. His firm, Richard J. Steen, LLC, is located in Princeton.
Moot Court Successes Seton Hall Law students Vanessa Campagna ’07 (l) and Krista Gundersen ’07 pose with their first-place trophy from the Capital Law School’s National Adoption Law Moot Court Competition. Along with them, 29 other Interscholastic Moot Court Board members competed in 11 competitions throughout the 2006-07 academic year, earning 21 awards on behalf of Seton Hall School of Law. Jodi Anne Hudson ’96 directs the Moot Court Board.
commercial matters. Michele Meyer-Shipp ’95, of
Officer for the Bank of America. Richard A. Garza ’97 has
Princeton, has received the 2007 Corporate Trailblazers
been promoted to Director of Legal & Business Affairs of
Award from the Association of Black Women Lawyers.
BMI’s Performing Rights group. Alison G. Greenberg ’97
Cathleen T. Butler D’Orsi ’96, of Scotch Plains, has co-
has been named Partner at McCarter & English,LLP. Mark
authored the book NEW JERSEY ESTATE LITIGATION. She works
Manigan ’97 has been named to NJBiz’s 2006 “Forty
at the law firm,Gibbons P.C.in Newark. Louis A.Chiafullo
Under 40” list. The list recognizes New Jersey
’96 has been named Partner at McCarter & English, LLP.
entrepreneurs who share a commitment to business
Thomas M. Crino ’96, of South Plainfield, has been
growth, professional excellence, and the community.
named the new Equity Partner at the law firm
Terri Soaries ’97, of Somerset, received the 2007
Ventantonio & Wildenhain. James B. Johnston ’96, of
Corporate Trailblazers Award from the Association of
Union, was promoted to Lieutenant of Prosecutor’s
Black Women Lawyers. Angelo Stio III ’97, of Princeton,
Detectives at the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office in
has been named Partner at Pepper Hamilton LLP.
Newark. Along with his promotion, he also completed
Paula M. Winters-Tziavragos ’97 has been named
his 20th year in law enforcement. Jeralyn L. Lawrence
Partner at Cotton Wollan & Greengrass. Melissa
’96 has been selected for inclusion in the Family Law
MacLeod ’98, of Haddonfield, has been named Partner
section of New Jersey Super Lawyers 2007. Amy S.
at Klehr, Harrison, Harvey, Branzburg, & Ellers LLP.
(Cleghorn) Park ’96 has been elected Partner at
Kara McCarthy Perry ’98 is a faculty researcher for
Skadden Arps. Sunitha Ramamurthy ’96 is the new
The Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law at Seton Hall
Director of Eisai Corporation. She previously worked as
Law School. She came to the Law School from sanofi-
Director of Compliance at Newark Beth Israel Medical
aventis where she was senior corporate counsel. Jason
Center. Linda A. Spagnola ’96, of Cranford, is the new
W. Rinsky ’98, of East Hanover, has joined DRS
Editor-in-Chief of the American Association for Paralegal
Technologies, Inc. as Senior Vice President of Corporate
Education and has published a textbook entitled
Taxation. Donna T. Tamayne ’98 completed divorce
CONTRACT LAW FOR PARALEGALS: LEGAL PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICAL
mediation training and now serves as review attorney
APPLICATIONS. Scott M. Baach ’97, of Basking Ridge, has
or mediator for matrimonial and family related matters.
been selected for inclusion in the Business/Corporate
Dina M. Vanides ’98, of Englewood, has been named
section of New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2007.
Partner at Greenbaum Rowe and also appointed
Andrew T. DiMauro ’97, of Chicopee, MA, has accepted
to the Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments
the position as Vice President and Estate Settlement
Committee for the Essex County Bar Association. Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 35 •
Photos: Douglas Davies
The 2007 Public Interest Network Auction
Sister Rosemary McSorley
Katharine S. Hayden
Anthony Thomas
A popular Seton Hall Law event, the annual Public Interest Network Auction raises funds to support students interested in pursuing a career in public interest. This year’s auction honored (l-r) Sister Rosemary McSorley ’91, Director of Cornelian Community Counselors, with a Lifetime Achievement Award; The Honorable Katharine S. Hayden ’75, of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, with the Richard J. Hughes Award; and K. Anthony Thomas ’95, Assistant Federal Public Defender, with the Excellence in Advocacy Award.
Laura L. Van Tassel, ’98 completed divorce mediation
Community Award. He also is the Corporate Counsel for
training and now serves as review attorney or mediator
Vonage, Inc. Susan Aufiero ’01, of Hoboken, has co-
for matrimonial and family related matters. Janet Castro
authored an article with Vincenzo Paparo ’91 entitled
Castellano ’99, of Maywood, has joined Bristol-Myers
“Preparation: The Key to Enhancing Distressed Debt
Squibb Company as Associate Counsel concentrating in
Recovery Opportunities,” and co-authored an article
Labor and Employment. Lani M. Dornfeld ’99, a
entitled “Lending to Private Equity Funds” which
graduate of the Health Law & Policy Program, has been
appeared in The Secured Lender. Matthew P. Bennett
named Counsel in WolfBlock’s Health Law practice group
’01, of Rockaway, has joined Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
in Roseland. Daniel A. Hagan ’99, of Washington, D.C.,
as an associate. Brian J. Pollock ’01 has joined the firm
has joined White & Case LLP as Counsel in its Energy,
Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla, P.C. as an associate. Michael
Infrastructure, and Project Finance Practice. Michele
C. Zisa ’01, of Bethesda, MD, has been named Partner of
Renee Nance ’99 has joined Polaris Management
Quagliano & Seeger, P.C. Lauren (Makar) Haley ’02 has
Partners in New York City as a compliance specialist and
joined the healthcare practice of Mintz, Levin, Cohn,
senior consultant. William S. Peck ’99, of Manalapan, has
Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. as an associate. Lindsay P.
joined Esquire Litigation Solutions of Woodbridge,
Kern ’02 has joined the firm Wolf, Block, Schorr &
concentrating in litigation. Gina M. Pontoriero ’99, of
Solis-Cohen, LLP as an associate. Michael J. Ovsievsky
Watchung, is a senior associate at Greenbaum, Rowe,
’02 has joined the firm Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen,
Smith & Davis LLP. Gary J. Ruckelshaus ’99, of Princeton,
LLP as an associate. Anna (Kasimis) Patounakis ’02, a
has been named Partner at Reed Smith. Theresa L.
graduate of the Health Law & Policy Program, is Senior
Widmann ’99, of Stone Ridge, NY, has joined Esquire of
Staff Attorney at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical
New York, NY, concentrating in trial consulting.
School in New Brunswick. Sean Cotton ’03 has been named an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
2000 Iskender H. Catto ’00, of Paterson, has been elected Partner at Kirkland and Ellis LLP. Sanjay P. Ibrahim ’00, of Belle Mead, has accepted an in house counsel position with JPMorgan Chase. Andrew C. White ’00, of Hillsborough, was honored by the New Jersey State Bar Association with the Young Lawyer’s 2006 Service to the • 36 • Seton Hall University School of Law
LLP, in New York City. Peter M. Perkowski Jr. ’03 of West Orange, has become an associate at Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti, LLP. Bryan P. Schroeder ’03, of Hamilton, has joined Wolf, Block, Schorr & SolisCohen, LLP, as an associate in its Cherry Hill office. He previously worked as an associate at Saiber, Schlesinger, Satz & Goldstein, LLC, in Newark.
Photo: Douglas Davies
Access to Health Care as a Human Right Paul Farmer, medical anthropologist, physician, and founding director of Partners in Health, spoke at Seton Hall School of Law in February on the need to protect the social and economic rights of the world’s poor. The recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius award,” he also is the subject of Tracy Kidder’s MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS: THE QUEST OF DR. PAUL FARMER, A MAN WHO WOULD CURE THE WORLD.
Candice E. Chesson ’04, of New York, NY, has been hired
Carol Ann Armenti ’06, a graduate of the Health Law &
as an associate at Hodgson Russ, LLP in the Business
Policy Program, provided testimony to the House of
Litigation Practice Group. Ernest Anemone ’05, of Red
Representatives Public Health Committee in Austin,TX in
Bank, has been named President of the Legal Services
February regarding Gov. Rick Perry’s Executive Order
Union. Thomas R. Basta ’05 has joined DiFrancesco,
requring the immunization of young women from the
Bateman, Coley, Yospin, Kunzman, Davis & Lehrer, P.C. as
cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV). Margot
an associate. Joshua H. Beinhaker ’05 has joined
Eves ’06, a graduate of the Health Law & Policy Program,
DiFrancesco, Bateman, Coley, Yospin, Kunzman, Davis &
is a fellow in Bioethics at the Cleveland Clinic in
Lehrer, P.C. as an associate. William E. Donohue ’05, of
conjunction with a program at Case Western Reserve
Fairfax, VA, a graduate of the Health Law & Policy
University and two area hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio.
Program, recently was commissioned as a lieutenant in
Leanne Fosbre, M.S.J. ’06, a graduate of the Health Law
the U.S. Coast Guard and appointed a judge advocate.
& Policy Program, has been appointed to the Institutional
in
Review Board at Saint Barnabas Medical Center. Allana
Washington D.C. in the Office of General Law. A. Paul
(Holub) Nason ’06, a graduate of the Health Law & Policy
Genato ’05, of Staten Island, NY, has joined the
Program, completed a one-year clerkship with the
firm McCarter & English as an associate. Jaime Pego ’05,
Honorable Donald G. Collester Jr. and is a new associate
a graduate of the Health Law & Policy Program, joined
at Gibbons P.C. Newark. Cornelius Sailer, M.S.J. ’06, a
the healthcare group, forensic practice, of KPMG’s New
graduate of the Health Law & Policy Program, joined
Lieutenant
Donohue
is
currently
stationed
York City office. Michael D. Shapland ’05, a graduate of
sanofi-aventis as Head of Life Cycle Management and
the Health Law & Policy Program,is an associate at Dewey
Base Business. He was formerly the Director of Women’s
Ballantine LLP, New York City. Casey Silvia ’05, of Boston,
Health at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.
MA, has been appointed Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County. Christine D. Socha ’05 has joined the law firm of Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus as an associate. Laura E. Staiger ’05 has joined DiFrancesco, Bateman, Coley, Yospin, Kunzman, Davis & Lehrer, P.C. as an associate. Maria Venezia, M.S.J. ’05, a graduate of the Health Law & Policy Program, is Associate Director, Program Finance, Medical Operations, at Novartis.
IN MEMORIAM: Daniel A. Degnan ’54 Harvey M. Sklaw ’63 Philip H. Shore ’68 Raymond F. Meisenbacher ’73 James M. Burke ’77 Henry F. Collins ’78 Barbara Coles Bolella ’79 Amy Grossman ’92 Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 37 •
Photo:Terry Royal, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
Photo: Douglas Davies
Thank You Mr. Heyman! Through a generous $250,000 donation from Samuel J. Heyman, Assistant Attorney General under Robert Kennedy, Seton Hall School of Law students and alumni have been provided with critical financial support to pursue careers in government service. Pictured here Mr. Heyman (l) and Dean Patrick E. Hobbs announce the launching of the Heyman Fellowship Program, offering one-time grants of $10,000 and loan-repayment assistance to students and graduates working in federal public service.
Admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar In January, a number of Seton Hall Law graduates and members of the Board of Visitors had the special distinction of being sworn into the U.S. Supreme Court. Pictured here are: (l-r): Lori Thimmel, Director of Alumni Relations; Louis Andreozzi ’84 (Board of Visitors); Glenn Williams ’93 (Board of Visitors); Peter Larson ’74 (Board of Visitors); Clay Constantinou ’81 (Board of Visitors); Armando Bonilla ’92; Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito; Joseph Accardo ’96; Dean Patrick E. Hobbs; Randal Turner (husband to Kimberly Hunter Turner); Brian Behrmann (husband to Laura Genovese); Kimberly Hunter Turner ’90; Laura Genovese ’00; Vicki Fleischer, Assistant Dean of Alumni & Development; Barbara Schiavone (wife of Joseph Schiavone); and Joseph Schiavone (Board of Visitors).
Levi Barnes, M.S.J. ’07, a graduate of the Health Law &
BIRTHS:
Policy Program, has been appointed as an ethics advisor
Wayne F. Simmons Jr. ’96 and his wife announce the
at Merck & Co. and will work in both the Whitehouse
birth of their third child, Darby Flynn, on August 23, 2006.
Station and Rahway campuses. Kinksuk Bhattacharya
Brett Anders ’97 and wife,Joanna,announce the birth of
’07, a graduate of the Health Law & Policy Program, is an
their daughter Kaitlyn Taylor on April 21, 2007. Andrew T.
associate at Bendit Weinstock, West Orange. Ami Doshi
Dimauro ’97 and his wife announce the birth of their
’07, a graduate of the Health Law & Policy Program, is a
daughter Adrienne Giana “GiGi” on November 2, 2005.
new associate at Frommer, Lawrence & Haug. Alfred W.
Shannon Kasley ’97 and wife, Amy, announce the birth
Evans Jr., M.S.J. ’07, a graduate of the Health Law &
of their second daughter, Emerson Elizabeth, on May 4,
Policy Program, is an adjunct instructor for the Division of
2007. Jeffrey M. Sponder ’97 and wife, Ann Marie,
Academic Affairs at Elizabeth City State University, N.C.,
welcomed a baby girl, Samantha Lyn, on November 5,
teaching a new online course on health law and
2006. Melanie Cradle Simms ’98 and her husband
regulatory compliance for pharmacy students. Jason J.
announce the birth of their daughter Sydney Morgan on
Faler, M.S.J. ’07, a graduate of the Health Law & Policy
October 6, 2006. Rosemary Gencarelli Vinitsky ’98 and
Program, is a project consultant in the Strategy &
her husband announce the birth of Jack Angelo Jr. on
Business Development Division at Oregon-based Salem
November 15, 2006. Thomas C. Humbert Jr. ’98 and
Hospital/Regional Health Services. He also recently
wife, Kathleen Kalaher, announce the birth of their first
formed a charitable nonprofit organization — the
child, Elise Kalaher, on July 3, 2005. Kevin and Lisa Walsh
Checkpoint One Foundation — to assist Iraqi and Afghan
’98 announce the birth of their daughter Miriam Seton
nationals who have served as interpreters with the U.S.
on January 17, 2006. Brian A. Fiorello ’99 and his wife
Armed forces and their families. Nupa Patel ’07, a
announce the birth of their son Anthony on January 17,
graduate of the Health Law & Policy Program, is Director
2006. Jeanne P. Lukasavage ’99 and her husband
of Compliance at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Tara
announce the birth of their son Jack Anthony on March
Swenson ’07, a graduate of the Health Law & Policy
12, 2006. Jack joins older sister Gwendolyn, now 2.
Program and recipient of Seton Hall Law School’s 2007
Donna V. (Vigor) Payesko ’99 and husband, Rob,
Health Law Award for high academic performance, is an
announce the birth of their daughter Anna. William S.
associate at Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo,
Peck ’99 and his wife announce the birth of their son
PC,Washington, D.C.
Alexander William on August 19, 2006. Alexander joins
• 38 • Seton Hall University School of Law
Photo: Douglas Davies
Photo: Michele Austin
An Evening Out (l-r) Erica Hernandez-Deluna, Anneris Hernadez, and Kenesha Brathwaite attend the 15th Annual Black Law Student Association’s Cocktail Reception at the Newark Club. This year, BLSA honored Theodore J. Wells, defense attorney for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, with its Distinguished Practitioner Award. (See photo page 33.)
A Graduation Gift for Seton Hall Law (l-r) Upneet Teji, Student Bar Association President, Anthony Rapa, Christopher Clark, and Associate Dean John Kip Cornwell attend the Class of 2007 Graduation Gift Luncheon. A relatively new tradition at Seton Hall School of Law, each year’s graduating class now presents a gift for the students who follow them. The Class of 2007 purchased a closed-circuit TV system to help keep the law school community informed of events and activities at Seton Hall Law.
older sister Abigail, now 3. Cherilyn Guido Carlson ’00,
Paul M. da Costa ’03, and wife, Stefanie Carwright ’03,
her husband, and their two-year-old son Luke announce
announce the birth of their daughter Ava Elizabeth on
the birth of their twins Lindsey Rose and Logan Richard
May 16, 2006. Conway Lee ’05, wife, Michelle, and son
on June 1, 2006. Rupal Dalal ’00 and her husband
Trevor announce the birth of Evangeline Grace on
Sonny, announce the birth of their daughter Asha
November 24, 2006.
on October 9, 2005. Lillian Livoti-Burke ’00 and
MARRIAGES: W. Andrew Clayton ’87 to Jessica Lavely. Michael S. Simon ’95 to Allegra Toback. Bryan P. Schroeder ’03 to Jacqueline Ann Labik Robert Marasco ’03 to Allyson Villano ’05 Martin Foncello ’05 to Nicole Dyer ’04 Christine M. Lupinski ’05 to Jack N. Frost ’05
husband, Robert, announce the birth of their daughter Marisa Lauren on March 23,2006. Carla (Palumno) Dorsi ’01 and husband, Matthew Dorsi ’01, announce the birth of their son Luke Alexander on May 8, 2007. Lauren (Makar) Haley ’02, and husband, Patrick, announce the birth of their first son, Caleb Patrick, on July 30, 2006.
IN APPRECIATION The Seton Hall School of Law community would like to recognize the contributions of several alumni, professors, and friends who recently passed away. Barbara Coles Bolella ’79, a respected member of the Seton Hall Law community, passed away March 10, 2007. A specialist in family law, she served as a supervising attorney in Seton Hall Law’s Family Law Clinic before retiring in 1990. Daniel A. Degnan ’54, an instrumental figure in the growth of Seton Hall Law, passed away March 17, 2007. After graduating from Seton Hall Law as a member of the first graduating class, he practiced law in Newark for several years before entering the Society of Jesus in 1958. He served as Dean of Seton Hall Law from 1978 until 1983 and remained a member of the faculty until 1990. Paul R. Flynn, a dedicated alumnus of Seton Hall University and former development officer at Seton Hall Law, passed away June 18, 2007. Born in the Bronx, he moved to Newark in 1994 to assist city residents. Among his many public service
contributions, he helped to raise awareness about lead poisoning and organize Kids in Business and Volunteer Advantage. Alexander J. Menza, former Superior Court Judge, State Senator, and Adjunct Professor at Seton Hall Law, passed away March 5, 2007. Judge Menza was credited by many for being a “voice of the voiceless” as he defended the rights of the disabled, retarded, and poor. He also was a strong supporter of Seton Hall Law and a regular contributor to the annual Public Interest Network auction. Harvey M. Sklaw ’63, former Associate Dean and Professor Emeritus, passed away June 16, 2007. After earning his law degree from Seton Hall Law, Professor Sklaw taught at the law school from 1965 until his retirement in 2001, and served as Associate Dean from 1977-78. A memorial law scholarship has been created by his family and friends. Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 39 •
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
A LAWYER’S RESPONSIBILITY By Jamie L. Schron ‘07
Even as a high school student, Marcus O. Hicks ’03, Founder and President of YouthCollege Inc. and Policy Advisor to Gov. Jon Corzine, knew he wanted to study law. While growing up in Richmond, Virginia, he was a member of the debate team and student government. “I enjoyed speaking on behalf of those without a voice,” he says. “My mom was very supportive and always emphasized the importance of education.” It apparently is a message he took to heart. Not only did he pursue a quality education, he has helped to provide that opportunity for others. In 2003, he founded YouthCollege Inc., www.youthcollege.org, a thriving nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of at-risk youth. And in 2004, at the age of 25, he joined the governor’s office to advise on issues ranging from ethics to steroid abuse. As an undergraduate at the College of William & Mary, he was elected as the first African-American student body president. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in government and political science, the Virginia native set his sights north when it came time to attend law school. “I had heard of Seton Hall School of Law and the opportunities available to its graduates. On a visit to my cousin’s house in New Jersey, I made the decision to apply,” recalls Mr. Hicks. During his time at Seton Hall Law, he participated in the Housing and Homelessness Clinic and served as editor of the Legislative Journal. Always looking to explore, he also chose to study abroad in Italy before finishing law school. “Taking the opportunity to go somewhere different and experience another culture is one of the best things I have ever done,” he says.
BUILDING FOUNDATIONS Mr. Hicks explains that he was inspired to start YouthCollege Inc. as part of a national leadership seminar in Chicago. Once at Seton Hall Law, he and fellow law students Darlene Ramos, France Casseus, Kristina Trauger, and Zoila Casanova started YouthCollege “because there weren’t many organizations catering to the pre-professional development of at-risk middle school students.” YouthCollege helps young people to understand that the actions they take now are important for developing successful professional careers by involving them in workshops, career fairs, and even etiquette lessons. “These are the things I wish someone would have taught me,” says Mr. Hicks. The program initially targeted middle school students in New Jersey, but since has branched out to colleges and universities. Mr. Hicks’ hope is that YouthCollege will continue to grow and become available across the nation. Looking back, he recalls his original plan was to become a prosecutor. He interned at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. and the Legal Aid Society in New York. Those
• 40 • Seton Hall University School of Law
experiences, however, he says, helped him to realize that he could make an impact on society in other ways, too. “I wanted to serve the public in some capacity, but I didn’t necessarily want to be a prosecutor anymore. I wanted to find a way I could reconcile my passion for government and law,” he says.
A PERFECT COMBINATION Subsequent to clerking for the Honorable Joseph Isabella, he began his legal career in state government in the governor’s office. “Honestly, I found the job on an employment listing Web site. There was a post seeking a young attorney with a background in criminal justice and an interest in politics who didn’t mind commuting to Trenton everyday. I sent my resume and a few interviews later, I was working at the governor’s office as policy advisor to former Gov. Richard Codey.” Having continued in that position under Gov. Corzine, Mr. Hicks explains that “being in the governor’s office is a unique experience because you have the opportunity to make a positive impact at the highest level of government.” Possessing a strong commitment for government service, Mr. Hicks says he may even run for political office himself one day. “There’s such a tremendous responsibility for those us of who have the privilege of serving in government. You have a chance to affect people’s daily lives – quickly,” he explains. In one of his first projects as Policy Advisor, he worked with Seton Hall Law Professor Paula Franzese and former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Daniel O’Hern on improving ethics laws in New Jersey. Together, they produced a set of recommendations that the governor signed and implemented – which Mr. Hicks describes as a “tremendous achievement.” More recently, he helped develop a program to prevent steroid use among high school students. “We recognized that steroid abuse was a growing problem throughout the country and wanted to stop it before it worsened in New Jersey. I spearheaded a task force and drafted a report on the issue for the governor,” he explains. As a result, New Jersey was the first state to mandate steroid testing for high school athletes. As he views it, part of an attorney’s responsibility is to give back and serve others. “Being a lawyer means providing a service for other people – whether paying client, pro bono, or government service,” he says. “It is important to remember that we all have a responsibility to utilize our talents for the betterment of society.”
Jamie Schron ’07 received her B.A. in communications from Rowan University. As a student at Seton Hall School of Law, she participated in the Juvenile Justice Clinic and served as a Research Assistant for the Office of Communications.
Seton Hall University School of Law Board of Visitors 2006-07 CHAIR
Michael R. DeCotiis ’91
Michael J. Quigley III ’80
William B. McGuire ’58
Patrick C. Dunican Jr. ’91
Ronald J. Riccio ’71
Kathryn P. Duva ’01
Robert G. Rose ’74
VICE CHAIR
Carol L. Forte ’84
Timothy G. Rothwell ’76
Michel F. Baumeister ’72
Reverend Nicholas S. Gengaro
Joseph J. Schiavone
John C. Gibbons ’72
John J. Sumas ’00
Bernard M. Hartnett ’55
Frank J. Vecchione ’64
MEMBERS Louis J. Andreozzi ’84
The Honorable Katharine S. Hayden ’75
James B. Ventantonio ’64
Frank A. Bellis Jr. ’82
Alfred F. Jablonski ’66
Karol Corbin Walker ’86 Glenn Williams ’93
Angelo R. Bianchi ’58
Vivian Sanks King ’85
Reverend Monsignor Patrick E. Brown
Alfred C. Koeppe ’75
Maury Cartine ’76
Peter N. Larson ’74
EX OFFICIO MEMBERS
Christopher J. Christie ’87
Joseph P. LaSala ’72
Patrick E. Hobbs, J.D., LL.M.
Terence G. Connor ’67
Alfred J. Luciani ’70
Kathleen M. Boozang, J.D., LL.M.
Ambassador Clay Constantinou ’81
Kevin H. Marino ’84
John Kip Cornwell, J.D., LL.M.
Michael Critchley ’72
Daniel J. McCarthy ’87
Timothy M. Donohue ’84
Diane J. D’Agostino ’75
Thomas M. Nee ’73
R. Erik Lillquist, J.D.
Joseph M. DeCotiis ’94
James C. Orr ’64
Charles A. Sullivan, LL.B.
William J. Palatucci ’89
Vicki B. Fleischer, J.D.
Seton Hall University School of Law Alumni Council 2007-09 PRESIDENT
Paul A. Carbon ’95
Cissy M. Rebich ’95
Timothy M. Donohue ’84
John F. Chiaia ’93
Frederic J. Regenye ’95
Frank De Angelis ’96
Elaine Rocha ’98
PRESIDENT-ELECT
James F. Flanagan ’72
Diane Ruccia ’94
Jodi Hudson ’96
Martin J. Foncello ’05
Darren Rydberg ’99
Deborah A. Gabry ’89
Jonathan Samon ’04
Laura Genovese ’00
Erin Scanga ’05
SECRETARY Mara Zazzali Hogan ’98
Brandon C. Gruner ’05
Shoshana Schiff ’98
James B. Johnson ’96
Thomas P. Scrivo ’89
MEMBERS
Sandra L. Lascari ’90
John L. Shahdanian II ’97
Christopher D. Adams ’98
Robert G. Marasco ’03
Terri R. Soaries ’97
Victor A. Afanador ’98
Melissa P. Marschner ’99
Remi L. Spencer ’02
Brett M. Anders ’97
John Michael McDonnell ’90
Meredith K. Stoma ’91
Karen M. Baker ’97
Karen Walsh Pappas ’94
Charles J. Uliano ’74
Robert Bianchi ’88
Jacqueline C. Pirone ’94
Kevin G. Walsh ’98
David V. Calviello ’96
Gina M. Pontoriero ’99
Fall Two Thousand and Seven
• 41 •
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