Browsing the Growth of the Law Library from Bastable Block to Dineen Hall
An artist’s impression of Bastable Block c. 1895. The College of Law and its dedicated law library are joined in the rendering by the College of Letters and the College of Missionaries.
Sources: Jeffrey A. Unaitis, The Syracuse University College of Law: A Ninety Year Commitment to Excellence, 36 Syracuse L. Rev. 895 (1985). Margery C. Connor L’84, 100 Years: Syracuse University College of Law (1995).
“Pressing Wants”
When the College of Law opened in the Bastable Block in downtown Syracuse in 1895, students had access to the Court of Appeals Library. Containing approximately 20,000 volumes, this library was located nearby in the Onondaga County Courthouse, on the comer of Clinton and West Genesee streets.
The necessity of a dedicated and well-stocked law library to the educational and research mission of the College was evident from its founding, a fact expressed by University Chancellor James Roscoe Day in his 1896 report to the Board of Trustees:
“The College of Law immediately stepped out beyond experiment, and the report of the dean will show a remarkably loyal support of our renowned legal talent of the Onondaga Bar … It will find friends in due time to endow its library and meet other pressing wants. In the meantime, by the generosity of its friends, it has access to our noble law libraries and assistance to do its work in a satisfactory manner.”
Surrounded by library volumes, members of the Syracuse Law Review staff gather, possibly in the 1950s.
A Growing Collection
The library was central to plans for growth when, in the fall of 1898, the College moved into the newly erected University Block on East Washington Street. Specially designed second- floor quarters included classrooms, office space, an assembly hall—and a library.
With space to expand its collections, in 1899, Louis Marshall, an eminent New York City lawyer and long-time friend and law partner of College of Law Dean James B. Brooks, dedicated a gift of 1,500 volumes to the memory of their mutual law partner, the Hon. William C. Ruger.
Later additions from the Marshall and Ruger collections, as well as from the Brooks Library, formed a new nucleus for the growing collection that now included full sets of the Reports of the US Supreme Court; court reports of the states of New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Connecticut; and an entire set of English Reports, said to be a “verbatim reprint” covering 1307 to 1865.
“Make It Worthy”
In 1927, Harvard Law Scool Dean Roscoe Pound released his 25-page Survey of the College of Law of the University of Syracuse and Project for Its Reorganization. Known as “The Pound Report,” it found that the College had the “foundation” of a good library, but that a $25,000 investment would be needed to “make it worthy of the school.”
Illustrating the importance of research to the modern law school, Pound noted that law teachers were now expected to do more than “simply deliver a set number of lectures each week” and that part-time teachers couldn’t be expected to also perform legal research, work that “cannot be divorced from the teaching function.”
A “Working Tool”
Modernization of the Law Library continued in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Generous appropriations made by the University helped update the treatise section and supplement statutory services and the reports of court and administrative decisions. At this time a review of the library considered it an “adequate working tool” for its students, but needs continued to grow, especially after World War II.
In June 1953—thanks to a principal gift from Syracuse lawyer and businessman Ernest I. White—groundbreaking took place for a University campus building dedicated to the College of Law. Opened in September, this was the first time in its history that the College had occupied a facility built expressly for the study of law, with the 60,000-volume Law Library as its focal point. The dedication of White Hall included the following description of the library:
“… for effective legal education, the building centers about a law library in which the William Rubin Memorial Reading Room on the second floor opens directly into four decks of library stacks … the reading room has comfortable study space for 80 students and in the stacks are window-lighted carrels providing research space for an additional 44 students.”
The Barclay Law Library was dedicated in 1985 after a successful Campaign to Build a Law Library raised $2.3 million.
Approaching Capacity
By 1974, with enrollment approaching 600 students, the original White Hall library had doubled its capacity to 120,000 volumes. Strategy for the next 10 years would be critical if the College was to maintain its growing position as a trailblazer in legal education.
In 1979 planning began in earnest—under the direction of Dean Craig Christensen and Law Library Director Thomas C. Kingsley—for a new library, along with a major renovation of White Hall.
Led by N. Earle Evans ’42, The Campaign to Build a Law Library started in 1981. By May 1983, 1,400 alumni and friends had contributed $2.3 million and ground was broken, with construction taking about 18 months. A generous gift from H. Douglas Barclay L’61, H’98 capped the campaign, and in March 1985 both the H. Douglas Barclay Law Library and the newly renovated White Hall were dedicated.
The Barclay Law Library was designed to hold 200,000 volumes, and it wasn›t long before yet another expansion was required. A 1990 survey found that the College now lacked adequate student workspace, seminar rooms, and courtrooms, so along with plans to build what became Winifred R. McNaughton Hall, the library was built out once again, taking over the fifth floor of White Hall.
Technologically Advanced
In May 2012, the College of Law broke ground on a new headquarters across Irving Avenue from White and MacNaughton halls. The new building would provide a LEED- certified, high-tech living/learning environment to deliver a 21st century legal education. The 200,000 square foot Dineen Hall— named for the family that provided the lead gift in the fundraising campaign—was opened in September 2014.
The nearly 32,000-square-foot state-of-the-art library within Dineen Hall includes 44,000 linear feet of shelving; 560,000 volumes in print and microform, including sets of books received from law firm and private family collections; advanced study spaces; 42 computers; the spacious Bernard R. and Carol K. Kossar Library Reading Room; and the Peter Herzog L’55 and Brigitte Herzog L’75 Special Collections Room. All these assets are complemented by the library’s growing online presence, which maintains 41,532 electronic titles and 49 legal topics databases.
The Peter Herzog L’55 and Brigitte Herzog L’75 Special Collections Room in the 32,000 square foot Dineen Hall Law Library.
Eye Toward the Future
The Law Library always operates with an eye toward the future. Today, the library serves not only those students and faculty located in Syracuse but also students, faculty, alumni, and other legal practitioners throughout the world.
As with all libraries, the Law Library continues to digitize and provide access to analog and print resources that are critical components of a legal education and legal research. Digital stewardship, also referred to as digital preservation, will not only preserve the library’s unique materials but also will ensure continuous access to the collection, at any time, from anywhere, physically or remotely.
For example, recordings of moot court competitions, negotiations, and presentations are an excellent resource for the students in the Advocacy Program, and they must be preserved to keep them usable. Similarly, the library archives reflect not just the history of the College, but the history of the development of American law over the past 125 years.
Searchable text greatly increases capacity and ease of use for research, for students, faculty, and the legal community at large. Thus, the library will continue to leverage technology and expertise in order to make the records that document the law’s evolution available and accessible to all.
One of the fastest growing areas of concern for local governments involves the intersection of disability law with land use planning and zoning.
Many of the legal issues for property, land use, and zoning lawyers involve interpreting rules and guidelines requiring improving the accessibility of the built environment, while other important issues relate to the defenses available to local governments and businesses when charged with complaints of discrimination based on lack of accessibility or failure to accommodate.
In this essay, Professor Robin Paul Malloy—E.I. White Chair and Distinguished Professor of Law, Kauffman Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the author of several books on disability law and land use— examines an area of law that can be complex, confusing, and underdeveloped, and sometimes the source of costly and prolonged litigation.
In practice, accessibility is an important issue confronting our cities, but under US disability laws, accessibility is balanced with numerous other interests, including property rights and the ability of local governments or private parties to pay.
In advancing accessibility in our communities, it is important to know the actual legal requirements of an action and to frame arguments in response to these requirements.
To begin with, land use planning and zoning involve a system of public and private land regulations that connect and coordinate physical places and social spaces into communal networks. These networks include the places and spaces where people work, play, shop, entertain, eat, receive health care, vote, raise their families, and otherwise live their lives as individuals and as members of communities.
Access to these networks is important because these networks shape people’s opportunities and influence their quality of life. Having a disability can often limit one’s access to these important communal networks, either as a result of physical barriers or as a result of discrimination. Therefore, it is important for planning and zoning officials to think beyond inclusive design issues at specific property locations and work for connectivity between and among the venues within which community life takes place.
The importance of addressing accessibility is highlighted when we account for the fact that 25% of Americans have a disability of some type. More specifically, when considering only disabilities that effect mobility, close to 20% of American families have a family member with a mobility impairment.
The rate of mobility impairment is significant when we are managing and coordinating land uses across the built environment. Moreover, the rate of disability and of mobility impairment increases with age, and America has an aging population. Currently 64% of the US population is 50 years and older, with 23% being 65 and older.
Demographic trends indicate a need for greater planning so that our communities are safe and easy to navigate by everyone, including people with disabilities and people seeking to age in place.
Key Concerns
In working to make our communities more accessible, we need to start by acknowledging three key points:
The problems of accessibility are big, and not small. People often think that disability affects only a small percentage of the population because they associate disability with the iconic image of a person in a wheelchair, and only 1% of the population uses a wheelchair. In reality, the statistics cited above on the rate of disability in America tell the true story of the needs confronting our communities.
Some property lawyers are unaware that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related legislation apply to state and local land use planning and zoning activities. Others are aware but lack clarity as to exactly what the disability laws may require of property, land use, and zoning lawyers, since they perceive such matters as the work of disability rights lawyers.
Many of the planning and zoning issues concerning the rights of people with disabilities have little to do with accessible designs. Moreover, designing accessible buildings and spaces are matters better addressed by architects and code enforcement officers than lawyers. While compliance with these codes and standards is important, the key concerns of land use and zoning lawyers go beyond compliance with design guidelines. Disability law at the intersection of land use and zoning is not just about designing doorways, bathrooms, and office space. It’s about interpreting, classifying, and applying regulatory standards and advising local governments on avoiding actions that may be found to be discriminatory.
Competing Interests
Many of the legal issues involved at the intersection of land use law and disability have to deal with mediating competing interests and rights with respect to accessibility and its cost.
From a property, land use, and zoning perspective, it is important to recognize both the requirements and limitations of our disability laws. Local governments, in particular, need good legal advice on the specific requirements of our disability laws so that they can meet their obligations to residents while defending against claims of noncompliance.
In discussing these issues, I consider three examples. All three are related to public land use and zoning activities focused on the application of Title II of the ADA. Title II applies to programs, services, and activities of state and local governments. This has been held to include all of the activities and functions of local planning and zoning officials.
To the extent that housing is involved, the Fair Housing Act (FHA) is also applicable. The FHA requires planning and zoning officials to afford people with disabilities an equal opportunity to obtain and enjoy housing in the same way as people without disabilities. In recognition of space limitations, I do not address issues arising in the context of private places of public accommodation as covered by Title III of the ADA, nor do I discuss the Rehabilitation Act or the Architectural Barriers Act.
The ADA requires “new construction” and “alterations” of existing facilities to be accessible to the maximum extent possible. The only defense to a complaint of noncompliance is, structural impracticability, which is extremely difficult to demonstrate. Nonetheless, local governments can make out a case of structural impracticability by focusing on engineering and other difficulties.
Reasonable Accomodations
As to programs, services, and activities, these must be accessible to the maximum extent possible, and the defense to a claim of lack of accessibility is a showing of an undue administrative or financial burden. This is demonstrated by financial and economic evidence and is much easier to demonstrate than is structural impracticability.
In addition, the ADA and the FHA prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities. There are three methods of demonstrating discrimination:
Disparate impact (showing, with the use of statistics, that a planning or zoning policy has a disparate impact on people with disabilities as compared to people without disabilities).
Failure to provide a reasonable accommodation or modification when requested.
Currently, most litigation involves the alleged failure to provide a reasonable accommodation or modification. Some disability rights advocates assume that persons with disabilities are entitled to an accommodation by simply demonstrating that they have a disability. Some also mistakenly believe that the person with a disability should be granted the particular accommodations/modifications being requested. This, however, is not what the law requires.
Reasonable accommodations/ modifications only need to be granted if the plaintiff can make a prima facie case with respect to three criteria that will be discussed below. If the local government planning or zoning board is able to carry the burden in countering the assertions of the plaintiff, the requested accommodation/modification may rightfully be denied.
“Disability law at the intersection of land use and zoning is not just about designing doorways, bathrooms, and office spaces. It’s about interpreting, classifying, and applying regulatory standards.”
Variance Requests
Judicial opinions have clarified the term reasonable accommodation as meaning the making of an adjustment or exception to local planning and zoning rules, policies, plans, or procedures, whereas the term reasonable modification means making an adjustment to a physical space, facility, or environment.
Below, I provide three examples of zoning matters addressing the requirement for reasonable accommodations. One of these situations involves what zoning people will recognize as an area variance, and the other two involve use variances. There is one significant difference. A variance, of either type, runs with the land (runs to future owners), whereas a reasonable accommodation/modification is personal to the person and does not run with the land.
First, let us consider an example of a typical area variance request. To begin with, a variance involves a petition for an exception from a rule, policy, plan, or procedure. In the zoning context, state and local law establishes the specific criteria to be considered in reviewing a petition for a variance.
A request for a reasonable accommodation/modification by a person protected by the ADA and FHA often starts as a petition for a standard zoning law variance. Failing to meet the requirements for a standard variance, the person then typically petitions for an exception based on the right to a reasonable accommodation/modification under federal disability law.
The accommodation claim is one of asserting that notwithstanding the inability of petitioner to meet the criteria for a variance as provided for under state and local law, the petitioner as a person with a disability is entitled to an exception to the land use requirements as a reasonable accommodation. Failure to provide a “reasonable” accommodation, when requested, is an act of discrimination in violation of federal law. The difficult legal question is one of determining what is reasonable.
So, let us assume that a city has a zoning code that provides for all structures to be set back from the front property line by at least 25 feet. The petitioner has a home that is set back 26 feet from the front property line but now petitioner seeks to add a ramp to the front of the house so that a wheelchair user can easily and safely navigate ingress and egress to the front door of the home.
The proposed ramp is to be constructed by the petitioner from two-by-fours and when completed will extend 12 feet into the required front yard setback. Since this encroachment on the setback is a violation of the code, the property owner must seek an area variance. Assume that after evaluating the requirements for an area variance under state and local zoning law, the variance petition is denied. Now, if the petitioner affirmatively requests an accommodation, the local zoning board must move forward to evaluate the petition on the criteria for a reasonable accommodation. There are three criteria for a reasonable accommodation and they include:
It must be reasonable (using a cost and benefit analysis).
It must be necessary (using a “but for” test to show that “but for” the accommodation and its ability to address the person’s disability, the person will not be able to enjoy an equal opportunity to live in this community).
It must not fundamentally alter the plan for the development and regulation of the community.
The zoning board needs to take evidence on each of these three factors and then, based on the totality of the evaluation, determine whether or not the requested accommodation is reasonable. While each case is fact specific, the requirements as to probative value of evidence as to each of the three factors must be gathered from various case opinions. A decision against the petitioner may be appealed to state or federal court. On appeal, a zoning board determination is reviewable on a rational basis standard, meaning that if the zoning board denial is rational and supported by competent evidence in the record, the accommodation can legally be denied.
Professor Robin Paul Malloy’s new book—Disability Law for Property, Land Use, and Zoning Lawyers (ABA, 2020)— explains how to navigate one of the fastest growing areas of concern for local governments: the intersection of disability law with land development, planning, and regulation. Learn more in our Faculty Books section on p54.
Alternative Ways
Thus, a local zoning or planning board must be prepared to apply state and local zoning law to a variance request and also federal disability law if the petitioner is protected by our disability laws. It is important to note that in making its determination, a planning or zoning board may consider alternative ways of accommodating the petitioner even if the petitioner has only requested one way of addressing an accommodation.
In this process, second level issues also arise and need to be addressed. For example, assume a board determines that the request for a ramp is reasonable, then the issue arises as to can they control the design of the ramp and the materials used in the construction of the ramp? In other words, can the board impose requirements that make the construction of an approved ramp twice the cost of the ramp proposed by the petitioner?
The answer is “yes,” the board can impose conditions that raise the cost to the petitioner. Beyond this, consider yet another issue that may arise. In as much as interpreting the code to allow for a reasonable accommodation does not involve a granting of a zoning variance that runs with the land, might the board require the petitioner to remove the ramp when the petitioner leaves the property? Again, the answer seems to be “yes.”
A petitioner granted an accommodation can be required to bear the cost of rehabilitation of the property when they leave, unless the rehabilitation cost is perceived as so burdensome that it would cause a person not to exercise their right to request an accommodation in the first instance.
Permitted Use
The above described analysis has been applied to petitions for ramps, decking, pathways, and even therapeutic swimming pools. Many of the cases illustrate that local planning and zoning boards are underprepared to handle even simple disability petitions, and as a consequence they end up being pursued on charges of discrimination.
As a second example, consider a request for a use variance. This is a request to use a property for a use that is not otherwise permitted under the zoning code. Assume a city has designated a downtown zoning district for commercial redevelopment and has identified a variety of commercial and business uses as permitted within this zone. A not-for-profit agency identifies a building within this zone in which it would like to open a clinic to provide services to people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. The clients of this clinic are protected under the ADA.
On application for a permit to open a clinic, the agency is denied on the grounds that such a clinic is not a permitted use in the redevelopment zone but would be appropriate in another zone. The agency then seeks a reasonable accommodation to permit the use within the zone, notwithstanding the provisions of the code and their inability to meet the criteria for a use variance under state and local zoning law.
The planning and zoning board must then be prepared to evaluate the petition for a permit on the basis of the three criteria for a reasonable accommodation. The cases are clear that such challenges can be made and litigated (imposing time and costs) and less clear on when and if the use accommodations are required.
Service Animals
Third and finally, consider another use accommodation request. In a single-family residential zone with home lots of one to one-and-a-half acres, only domestic pets are permitted. Farm animals are specifically excluded. One property owner generates complaints because she has recently purchased a miniature horse as a service animal for her young daughter. Her daughter has difficulty with her balance and with walking. The miniature horse has been trained to walk with the young girl so that she can lean on the horse for stability and balance. Working with the horse, she is able to walk in her backyard and obtain much needed exercise. Neighbors complain to the city about the presence of the horse and all that goes with housing a horse on a one-acre residential urban lot.
In this situation, a miniature horse—just like a service dog—is specifically covered by the ADA as a service animal. If the miniature horse is trained to provide the assistance, is controllable by the owner, and poses no danger to others, it will be permitted to be on the property.
For this case, the local planning and zoning board will need to make findings as to the qualification of the miniature horse in terms of training, being under the control of the owner, and posing no harm to others. Part of the posing no harm determination will include looking at the steps taken to ensure sanitary conditions on the property.
If the service animal criteria are met, the property owner will be entitled to maintain the miniature horse on the property under both the ADA and FHA.
“Local planning and zoning officials need to be knowledgeable about our federal disability laws and account for them in their practices.”
Effective Representation
As this essay illustrates, local planning and zoning officials need to be knowledgeable about our federal disability laws and account for them in their practices. Adjusting for accommodations can be disruptive to the process of planning, but it is sometimes necessary to ensure the protection of the rights of people with disabilities.
There are, of course, many more issues than these involved at the intersection of land use law and disability. For example, lawyers need to determine who is a protected person under each of the various disability laws, and they must assess standing, particularly in situations of third-party standing in bringing a lawsuit on behalf of clients who may be protected persons under these acts.
Lawyers must also classify and define such concepts as:
New construction
Alterations
Programs, services, and activities of state and local government
Facilities
Reasonable accommodations/modifications
Accessible to the maximum extent possible
Structural impracticability
Readily achievable
Undue administrative and financial burden
In addition, special rules apply to historic buildings and historic preservation districts, and additional regulations apply to places of public accommodation and to private land restrictions operating in such settings as residential subdivisions and condominiums.
My research, writing, and teaching cover each of these areas at the intersection of land use law and disability, and I believe strongly that the ability to handle these issues is essential to the future practice of property and land use law.
At the College of Law, I educate property development and land use students to navigate disability law. The next step for legal education is to build out the capacity for educating and training all future property, land use, and zoning lawyers, so that as a profession we can effectively represent local governments and the people protected by our disability laws.
“Our new identity recognizes the essential interdisciplinary nature of contemporary security challenges,” said the Hon. James E. Baker in November 2019, announcing a new identity for the College of Law’s national security institute, which he directs.
“As the Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law (SPL), we continue our mission to conduct leading-edge policy and law research and analysis across disciplines and to educate and inspire the next generation of security thought leaders and practitioners.”
Founded as the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism in 2003 by Professor Emeritus William C. Banks, the Institute has become a national leader in the teaching and analysis of a spectrum of security topics, including homeland security, the law of armed conflict, violent extremism, postconflict reconstruction, disaster response, the rule of law, veterans’ affairs, diversity in the intelligence community, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and emerging technologies.
The Institute’s new identity reflects the breadth of its activities, and it acknowledges the Institute’s longstanding flexibility in addressing novel security challenges—both within the United States and around the world—through multidisciplinary research, teaching, public service, and policy analysis.
“A prime mover in national security policy and law, the Institute for Security Policy and Law is poised for the future,” says Dean Boise. “I am particularly excited about SPL’s expansion into emerging technologies, the private practice of security, and diversity in the intelligence community. These changes are transforming the workplaces our students are entering. By staying abreast of these trends, the Institute will remain a premier training ground for future practitioners.”
SPL continues to offer three groundbreaking, interdisciplinary certificates of advanced study: Security Studies, National Security and Counterterrorism Law, and Postconflict Reconstruction. More than 700 students have earned SPL certificates since 2003. Alumni work across national and international security sectors, including for US and foreign governments, international humanitarian organizations, intelligence agencies, think tanks, NGOs, and they serve in all five branches of the US military.
Engaging Security: SLP’s Year in Review
Summer 2019
SPL Deputy Director Robert B. Murrett presides over a kickoff meeting for the SyracuseUniversity Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence (ICCAE). SPL led an effort that resulted in the University being designated an ICCAE, a highly competitive, congressionally mandated program that is funded by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence and that partners with universities to diversify the US intelligence workforce.
SPL students pose on a tour of historical sites during their graduate study abroad program in Israel and Palestine. Through SPL’s long- running Program on Security in the Middle East, graduate and law students experience firsthand the dynamic and enduring security challenges facing the region. Study abroad fellowships are funded by Gerald B. Cramer ’52, H’10 and Carol Becker ’76.
Fall 2019
In September 2019, Professor Emeritus William C. Banks spoke on the Institute for Counter-Terrorism World Summit panel “When Conflicts End and How: ISIS as a Case Study.” The panel—the inaugural meeting of “The End of War Project”—was offered in memory of longtime SPL supporter Gerald B. Cramer ’52, H’10. Banks offered a remembrance of Cramer’s life and career.
SPL Distinguished Fellow Avril Haines, former Deputy National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama and Deputy Director of the CIA, spoke at Dineen Hall on October 8. She discussed the structure of national security law and policy in federal government and her experience as both a recipient and provider of national security legal advice.
In October 2019, SPL Director the Hon. James E. Baker was named a National Academy of Public Administration Fellow. NAPA is a congressionally chartered academy providing expert advice to government leaders. Induction is considered one of the leading honors for public administration scholars.
The inaugural Carol Becker Lecture was held at Syracuse University’s Lubin House in New York City on October 20. In front of a packed audience, award-winning journalist George Packer and Judge Baker discussed “American Leadership in the 21st Century.” Dean Boise, University Trustee Christine Larsen G’84, and Carol Becker ’76 were among the special guests.
During an October 22 visit to Dineen Hall, SPL Distinguished Fellow Steve Bunnell, former General Counsel of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), discussed careers in national security and the US government’s approach to cybersecurity, which he helped to oversee at DHS.
University benefactor Andrew T. Berlin ’83 (center) joined an Andrew Berlin Family National Security Research Fund Scholars Workshop in Dineen Hall on October 26. Subjects workshopped included nuclear deterrence, autocratization in Turkey, postconflict Sierra Leone, and the history of refugee crises.
In November, SPL announced a $500,000 research partnership with the Center for Security and Emerging Technology to assist CSET in investigating the legal, policy, and security impacts of emerging technology.
During SPL’s second annual Veterans Day Celebration, 100-year- old World War II veteran Stan Stanley thrilled the audience with his tale of being rescued from a crashed bomber by the Dutch Resistance. Afterward, Judge Baker presented Stanley with a US flag recently flown over the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Also honoring advocacy group Clear Path for Veterans, the celebration was organized by SPL, the National Security Student Association, and the Veterans Issues, Support Initiative, and Outreach Network (VISION).
Spring 2020
The Hon. John E. Sparks, US Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, was a guest of honor in February 2020. Judge Sparks related his experiences as a marine, Deputy Legal Advisor in the National Security Council, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Agriculture, and military judge. The talk was co- sponsored by the Black Law Students Association.
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko was a guest in Professor Tom Odell’s Rule of Law in Postconflict Reconstruction class on March 10. Sopko, Odell, and Professor Cora True-Frost L’01 explored lessons learned in reconstruction, fighting corruption, and peacebuilding in Afghanistan since 2001. Sopko’s visit was part of the David F. Everett Postconflict Reconstruction Speaker Series.
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in April 2020, Judge Baker appeared on CNBC’s Markets in Turmoil to discuss the Defense Production Act and the powers it gives to the president to ameliorate a public health crisis.
In his new book—The Centaur’s Dilemma: National Security Law for the Coming AI Revolution, published by Brookings in June 2020—Judge Baker addresses how national security law should be applied to the emerging field of artificial intelligence. Learn more in the Faculty Books section on p54.
The team of 3Ls Alex Eaton and Tyler Jefferies, arguing for the defense, won the 43rd Annual Lionel O. Grossman Trial Competition held virtually on March 25, 2021. Jeffries also won Best Advocate. The prosecution team of 2Ls Will Hendon and Nate Kelder were the other finalists for this Travis H.D. Lewin Advocacy Honor Society (AHS) intramural competition, held virtually for the first time in its history.
The Hon. Glenn T. Suddaby L’85, US District Court Judge for the Northern District of New York, was the presiding judge for the final round. The Hon. Rodney Thompson L’93 and the Hon. Bernadette Roman-Clark L’89 joined Judge Suddaby on the bench.
The teams argued the case of District of Orangeville v. Logan Dunn. “This was a double homicide charge where two little girls were killed in a house fire, believed to be started by the defendant, the girl’s adopted father who never wanted children,” explains 3L Joseph Tantillo, AHS Executive Director. “The defense prevailed in proving the innocence of their client, in particular by an excellent cross-examination of the prosecution’s expert witness, which demonstrated the flaws in her fire investigation techniques.”
Tantillo continues, “Trial is the most difficult type of advocacy to perform over Zoom, and our competitors did a wonderful job. The final was one of the best we’ve seen in years, and the judges echoed that sentiment. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to everyone who made the competition a great success.”
Praising the student advocates at the end of the competition, Judge Suddaby said, “I’ve been doing this a long time, since law school. I’ve judged a lot of moot court competitions; the four of you are four of the best I’ve ever seen. Those were the two best opening statements in a moot court competition since I’ve been doing this … I’m just so impressed with all of you; you have a great future ahead of you.”
Michelle Rafenomanjato LL.M.’19 is Building Her IP Career on Her Syracuse Training—And Missing the Snow!
It’s a long, long way from Madagascar to Syracuse, NY, but intellectual property lawyer Noro Michelle Rafenomanjato LL.M. ’19 is living proof—both in her cosmopolitan education and her burgeoning internationally focused career— that in a global economy, distance is just another number.
Since graduating from Syracuse—where she pursued a master of laws degree as a Fulbright scholar—Michelle has been appointed Director of the Intellectual Property (IP) Department of Madagascar Conseil International (MCI). A Malagasy law firm founded in 1999, MCI advises international clients on legal and tax strategies when doing business in the French-speaking island nation.
“The work I perform is diverse: clearance searches, drafting and filing applications, IP due diligence, and legal advice on trademarks, designs, and patents,” explains Rafenomanjato, who also holds a master’s in public international law from Versailles University, France, and a Ph.D. in international law from Zhongnan University, China. “I also attend international conferences, the most recent one being the January 2020 Innovation & IP Forum and Awards in Paris.”
In addition to being in charge of the IP department, Rafenomanjato works with the rest of her team on business law-related issues— such as arbitration and contracts—and, given her language skills, on cases involving English- speaking clients.
How has your training at the College of Law helped you in your position at MCI?
My training has helped me deepen my knowledge of IP law, and it complements the legal training I did in France and China.
First, my courses—in legal writing, contracts, international business transactions, and business associations—provided me with a solid legal background in business law and legal English. As a lawyer working with international law firms and English-speaking clients, I now feel more confident communicating in English, both orally and in writing.
I also took IP and trademark courses with professors ShubhaGosh and Howard Leib. I truly appreciate Professor Ghosh’s cross-cutting approach and his close-to-real-life assignments. Plus, I benefitted from Professor Leib’s out-of- the-box thinking and practical tips from his 35 years of experience as a trademark attorney. Apart from the courses, conferences with IP practitioners organized by the Oce of Career Services and the Intellectual Property Law Society were a unique opportunity to meet like-minded people and build a network of IP experts. This comes in handy as my firm’s IP department wants to increase collaborations.
My courses—in legal writing, contracts, international business transactions, and business associations—provided me with a solid legal background in business law and legal English.
How would you compare US and Malagasy law?
One difference lies in our respective legal systems. The United States is a common law country with a federal system, whereas Madagascar is a civil law country with a unitary system. Thus, the US has 51 legal systems—the federal system and the legal systems of 50 states—whereas Madagascar only has one legal system. Plus, unlike the US, Madagascar has courts that handle public law-related cases and courts that handle private law-related cases. Despite those differences, there are common legal concepts that are encountered in both legal systems: privity of contract, force majeure, and due process, to name a few.
What is your fondest memory of studying at the College of Law?
My fondest memory was an event called the United Nations of Food. Inspired by an eponymous website, the event was initiated by Aili Obandja LL.M.’19, our class senator, and organized by LL.M. students. Each student brought typical foods from his or her country. I brought rice, greens stew, beef strips (kitoza) and peanut sauce (rougail). Our senator made a flag for each country, which made each student beam with pride. Professors and J.D. students also attended. It was an original way to celebrate our differences, share our uniqueness, and allow people to discover new cultures.
What do you miss most about Central New York?
Although this may sound cliché, I miss the snow. Since we do not have snow in Madagascar, it was always mesmerizing to watch it fall and to admire the already breathtaking campus covered with a white blanket. Living in a snow globe for six months was an unforgettable experience. I also miss Christmas in Skaneateles, NY—a snowy village, with people dressing as characters from A Christmas Carol.
What advice do you have for a foreign lawyer who wishes to study the law in the United States?
Studying in a language different from yours, in a country with a culture different from yours, or in a country with a legal system that is different from yours can be quite daunting and perhaps disorienting at times. Preparation is key. The more prepared you are, the better. Before you leave, gather as much information as you can about academic and non-academic expectations and requirements.
Once you are in the United States, build and rely upon a strong support network, including administrative and teaching staff, classmates, and associations. I counted on Assistant Dean of International Programs Andrew Horsfall L’10 and International Programs Academic Coordinator Kate Shannon, my family and friends, my classmates, the Fulbright family, Orange Orators members, the Success Saturday team, MCI colleagues, as well as the US Embassy in Madagascar. This support network made Syracuse and the US feel like home, and I must acknowledge that those people played a tremendous role in helping me adjust, succeed, and grow as a professional.
BRIAN BAUERSFELD L’04 BRINGS JUSTICE TO THE NYS CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM
According to Brian N. Bauersfeld L’04, there is rarely anything routine about his job at the Auburn Correctional Facility in Auburn, NY. “Every day you might happen upon a new obstacle, and just when you think you’ve seen it all, you can get a shock!”
Bauersfeld is one of a new generation of lawyers working inside the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision as a commissioner’s hearing ocer. His task is to ensure that prisoner discipline is performed professionally and justly.
“Hearing officers preside over disciplinary hearings of inmates who have violated the prison’s internal rules,” says Bauersfeld, explaining that inmates must abide by a rule book they receive when they enter the prison.
Although prison officials from various departments may preside over a disciplinary hearing—a deputy superintendent, say, or an education supervisor—in the early 1980s, New York State pledged to hire more trained lawyers to act as hearing officers in order to bring more expertise to the work.
As an experienced attorney, Bauersfeld conducts some of the more difficult cases, and not just at Auburn. “Occasionally, I go on the road to Sing Sing, Attica, Clinton, and Great Meadow.”
Typically, a prisoner accused of violating rules will be issued a misbehavior report. “That acts as a charging report,” explains Bauersfeld. “Then, in the hearing, I act as prosecutor, defense advocate, and judge. I must remain fair and impartial, holding inmates accountable yet keeping their limited due process rights intact.”
Infractions Bauersfeld encounters can be as simple as a refusal to follow orders “all the way up to assaults on an officer and even one inmate beating another to death,” he says. “Over the years, I’ve seen it all. Nothing is ever routine, and every day is dierent.”
On the other hand, explains Bauersfeld, there are strict rules against taking casework beyond the facility’s walls, so his is an 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. job. “That helps me recharge my batteries.”
How did Bauersfeld’s legal training qualify him to be a hearing officer? “I pretty much checked every box when it came to preparing for this career, doing defense, appellate, and prosecutorial work,” he says. “Given my career trajectory, I encourage students to embrace law school for everything it can oer. Pigeon-holing yourself can be a disservice.”
Bauersfeld was on a financial career path at first, working for Morgan Stanley after receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame. That was until a colleague suggested that the law might be a better fit for him. At Syracuse, he enjoyed courses in contracts and business law, and—after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks—he embraced national security law, becoming one of the first students to earn a Certificate of Advanced Study in National Security and Counterterrorism.
“Because of the ‘all-in-one’ nature of my current role—prosecutor, advocate, and judge—I’d have to say that everything in law school prepared me,” adds Bauersfeld. “When I write dispositions, for instance, I recall Professor Richard Risman’s legal writing course. I have to remember the importance of audience, although my audience is a prison inmate!”
Bauersfeld adds that he also must be mindful of the appeals process and make a complete record of the hearing and evidence. “So my training in criminal procedure and rules of evidence comes into play.”
After law school, he worked for McMahon & Grow in Rome, NY, practicing corporate and business law, as well as criminal defense work. Bauersfeld subsequently opened his own defense practice in Auburn and acted as an assigned counsel throughout Cayuga County. This work put him into contact—albeit across the table—with the Cayuga County District Attorney, and soon he was working inside the busy DA’s office. “I was there for almost seven years, working on every type of case—financial crimes, drug cases, and felonies—in 26 city, town, and village courts.”
A contact in Auburn encouraged Bauersfeld to apply for the commissioner’s hearing officer job, citing the state’s need for more lawyers to work within the prison system. Today, he is among 16 hearing officers across 52 facilities whose background, experience, and skills are bringing more rigor and integrity to prison discipline.
“We are invested in rehabilitating prisoners, so they must trust that the system is going to work for them,” explains Bauersfeld. “Therefore, prisoners must be treated fairly, their version of the story must be heard, the process must be impartial, and appropriate penalties must be given.”
LIKE SON, LIKE FATHER
According to Nelson Bauersfeld L’14, if he and his son Brian L’04 ever go into practice together, they’ll have to call the firm Bauersfeld & Father. That’s because, in this twist of the typical legacy story, Brian got his degree first, followed by Nelson 10 years later.
Readers who attended Syracuse between 2011 and 2014 will recall Nelson, a retired school administrator who always went to class in a shirt and tie and who helped found the Veterans Issues, Support Initiative, and Outreach Network (VISION).
In a May 2014 Syracuse Post-Standard profile, Nelson recalled that a speech by Notre Dame basketball coach Digger Phelps inspired him “to do something crazy” and “find a way to give back.” That led to his 10-year plan: get a law degree and then use it to provide pro bono assistance for veterans and others.
Nelson received his law degree—Brian hooded his father at graduation—but what about the rest of the plan?
“Since graduating, my wife, Barbara, and I moved to The Villages, a retirement community in central Florida,” says Nelson. There—in addition to typical retirement activities such as playing cards, golfing, and traveling—Nelson helps community members with their legal needs. “I do wills and trusts, advocate for people who believed they have been scammed, help military veterans secure benefits, and represent them in appeals.”
Nelson says his goal was to never make a dollar practicing law— “and I’ve succeeded!” he exclaims. “I’m very satisfied, except when paying of my student loans, but I am paying them off and enjoying my time.”
Says Brian of his father: “He’s living the dream—I’m absolutely proud of him. He’s still the smartest man I know.”
That pride is mutual, says Nelson, although it’s not without a hint of friendly family competition. “My goal at law school was to get a slightly higher GPA than Brian’s, yet he tells me he can’t remember his GPA!”
The Onondaga County courtroom was packed. Standing room only. Voices cracked. Tears flowed. The justices of the appellate division were about to hand down a decision that would make history. As Presiding Justice Gerald Whalen, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, proclaimed: “We are going to right that wrong in the only way we can.”
“That wrong” involved the first African American graduate of Syracuse University’s College of Law. William Herbert Johnson L’1903 excelled in his studies. He passed his bar exam, but he was denied admission to the New York State Bar. “The challenge facing him was the character and !tness part of the bar admission process,” explains Dean Boise. “Admission to the bar required references, and white lawyers were unwilling to sign a statement confirming the good character and fitness of black graduates.”
Hearing the judges speak of such blatant racism and injustice was “overwhelming” for William Johnson’s grandson Tom Johnson, who, together with his brothers Calvin and Donald and cousin Dorothy Jefferson, had submitted affidavits to the court in support of their grandfather’s posthumous admission to the bar. “During his lifetime, lawyers in the community sought his legal opinion on cases,” says Tom Johnson. “If he was good enough to assist them with their cases, why didn’t they have the intestinal fortitude to write those character references he needed to practice?”
Tom Johnson, Don Johnson and Calvin Johnson, grandsons of William Herbert Johnson L’1903, with College of Law Professor Paula Johnson (no relation) at the Onondaga County Courthouse following the ceremony in which William Johnson was admitted posthumously to the New York State Bar.
According to Paula C. Johnson (no relation), Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Cold Case Justice Initiative, William Johnson expressed his disappointment to his family. Professor Johnson writes in a 2005 article in the Syracuse Law Review: “William Johnson once remarked to his grandson Calvin, ‘I may not be able to do this now, but there are others who are going to do these types of things.’”
Those “others” were indeed instrumental in “righting the wrong” more than a century later. Black alumni of the College of Law, members of The Syracuse Black Law Alumni Collective (Syracuse BLAC), petitioned the court for the posthumous admission. The New York Court of Appeals granted the application. “The ceremony held in Onondaga County Court (on Oct. 18) was a historical display of community unity and commitment to justice,” says Felicia Collins Ocumarez L’98, G’98, co-founder of Syracuse BLAC. “We are committed to the Syracuse community and contributing to a positive narrative of hope and new beginnings.”
Though denied admission to the bar more than a century ago, Johnson found ways to use his legal acumen to help others. Though his official job was as a mail room clerk for the New York Fire Insurance Rating Organization, an underwriting firm, he remained active in legal circles, doing research for some of his white classmates. He offered legal guidance informally to many who sought his counsel, was active in the Syracuse community advocating for fair treatment of black residents in housing and financial matters, and helped clear the way for African Americans to be employed in law enforcement and firefighting.
William Johnson persevered. By his death in 1965, at age 90, he was a Syracuse legend who fought to right wrongs in the town he loved. Despite its history of anti-slavery activism and as a stop on the Underground Railroad, Syracuse was not a city where blacks could easily break through into the professional ranks. They worked mostly in manual labor or service industries. Johnson was born in Syracuse in 1875, went to Boston University, served in the Spanish- American War of 1898, and returned home to Syracuse to marry Katherine Simmons. When he got a job working as a clerk in a law firm, his passion for the law was ignited.
Syracuse nurtures a similar passion in Professor Johnson, whose writings and advocacy helped keep the William Johnson story alive. “I do this work as a matter of legal theory,” she explains. “But it is also about uncovering the important history that is here in Syracuse. Harriet Tubman lived her final days nearby in Auburn. Abolitionists did their work here. The suragist movement found a home not far from here in Seneca Falls. There’s a rich history that we must not forget. William Johnson is part of that history as a trailblazer.”
Professor Johnson points to examples of the living legacy left by the trailblazer. The minority bar association of Central New York was named the William Herbert Johnson Bar Association in his honor. The Syracuse University Black Law Students Association (BLSA) presents the William H. Johnson Legacy Award to a distinguished alumnus during Law Alumni Weekend at the Alumni of Color Reception. The College of Law provides to a woman of color in the graduating class an award for outstanding achievement, jointly named for William Johnson and Bessie Seeley L’1903, a suffragist and the only woman in a class of 64 men.
“There’s a rich history that we must not forget. William Johnson is part of that history as a trailblazer.”Professor Paula C. Johnson
Kristian Walker is the graduate who received the 2019 Seeley-Johnson Award. “His perseverance built a foundation for many African American students to pursue their dreams of law school. And the injustice he faced taught us that mastering law school courses is only part of the battle,” Walker says. “He taught us that it is what we do with the knowledge we gained after we leave the halls of the college that creates change.I think honoring William Herbert Johnson will shed light on his very important story and be a step in the right direction of rectifying injustices. I also hope it brings awareness to the fact that it took 116 years to right this wrong, yet in 2019 racial injustices are still very prevalent.”
“The fact is that the legal profession remains one of the least diverse of all professions today,” notes Dean Boise. “We have many more African American students pursuing a law degree, and the number of black associates at law firms has certainly increased. But we are not well- represented at the partner levels of law firms and in leadership roles. I am hoping that by bringing greater awareness to what happened to one of our graduates in 1903, we are shining a spotlight on a problem still facing the graduates of today.”
In the days following William Herbert Johnson’s posthumous admission to the bar, his grandsons reflected on what had become far more than a family campaign to give their grandfather the validation he so deserved.
“I was talking with my brother Don and he told me, ‘Tom, do you realize that we were a part of history being made?’” Tom Johnson says.
Their grandfather had, indeed, blazed a trail for others. His descendants, with the support of so many others, had made that trail easier to follow.
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novelist Elizabeth Strout L’82 Examines Law School’s Influence on Her Writing Career.
By her own admission, Elizabeth Strout did not do well in her legal writing class.
“I received a C+, and my teacher was never able to communicate to me what I was doing wrong. I found the conflict between legal writing and creative writing tremendously difficult, although I could never figure out why.”
That first-year setback was not an impediment to Strout’s law school or her writing career. Dropping out after her first year, she eventually returned to law school and graduated cum laude in 1982, “which still tickles me,” she says.
Something Furtive
Throughout law school, Strout pursued her creative writing passion, hanging out with the students from the University’s famous M.F.A. program and writing “furtively” in between her assignments. “There was always something furtive about my writing,” Strout explains. “The furtiveness kept me writing under wraps, which was good. It meant the pressure kept building.”
In fact the pressure built and built until Strout began publishing her short stories and eventually her first novel Amy and Isabelle (1998), which was adapted into an “Oprah Winfrey Presents” movie starring Elisabeth Shue.
Amy and Isabelle was the beginning of Strout’s career as an acclaimed novelist, a career which to date includes seven works of fiction; a Pulitzer Prize for Olive Kitteridge (2008), and its adaptation into an Emmy Award-winning mini-series starring Frances McDormand; a Story Prize for Anything Is Possible (2017); and an Oprah’s Book Club pick for her latest novel, Olive, Again (2019).
“Going to Syracuse changed my life. For many years, I did not realize the extent of this truth.” Elizabeth Strout L’82
Taking A Chance
Like the eponymous character of Olive Kitteridge, Strout is a native of Maine. Born in Portland, she grew up in small towns in Maine and New Hampshire. As an adolescent, she wrote avidly in notebooks and received her degree in English from Bates College in 1977. Two years later, she arrived in Syracuse.
“When I went to law school, I knew I wanted to be a fiction writer, but no one at that point was interested in my writing,” recalls Strout. “So I thought, I have a social conscience. I will be a lawyer during the day and write at night.” Strout admits—with some modesty—that her application was perhaps not the strongest Syracuse reviewed that year. “But I am grateful to Syracuse for taking a chance on me.”
Strout also admits that her lawyer-by-day/writer-by-night idea was a little “ill conceived.” Nevertheless, she says, “going to Syracuse changed my life. For many years, I did not realize the extent of this truth, but time has gone by and many different dusts have settled, and I see how much the law school helped shape me as a person and a writer of fiction.”
Learning at Syracuse, continues Strout, “taught me to think differently. It helped strip me of that excessive emotion which I have always felt, an emotion that is necessary for a fiction writer but not one that should be brought to the page in all its sloppiness.”
Strout says she noticed herself thinking differently even after her first semester. “When I went home for break, I realized that friends and family—people who were intelligent—were somehow not thinking that well. They were thinking with emotions and not with solid thoughts.”
Eager to Do It
After graduation, Strout worked for a Syracuse legal services office. “I think I was not a good lawyer,” Strout admits. “I was in charge of the Developmentally Disabled Unit. I remember one client who fell asleep on a bench while an administrative law judge told me I had good legs, and then found against my client.”
Always the observant writer, Strout preferred doing office intakes. “I was eager to do it. It involved listening to people who had come in with any number of problems. My job was to figure out whether their problems were legal or not, and often they were not. Their stories were so meaningful to me! They spoke of not being able to pay their bills, having their electricity turned off, and things of that nature.”
Syracuse became close to Strout’s heart for another reason: her daughter was born in the city. “I met my first husband in Syracuse and had my daughter. But I was let go from my legal services job after about six months because of cuts, and then my husband, daughter, and I moved to New York City, where he had a clerkship.”
At that point—graduate degree in hand and some short stories published—Strout began teaching English at Manhattan Community College. Her class had a legal flavor: “The department chair allowed me to teach my composition class around the concept of criminal law.”
“I learned how to negotiate in law school, and I love that class.” Elizabeth Strout L’82
Many, Many Things
Strout taught at Manhattan for 13 years, leaving this vocation once she published her first novel, Amy and Isabelle, an “expansive and inventive” story of a teenage daughter’s alienation from a distant mother. The novel—which introduces readers to the fictional town of Shirley Falls—was a finalist for the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award. “After that, I wrote full time,” says Strout. “If I had not gone to Syracuse, I would never have ended up in New York City, and if I had not ended up there, I would never have been able to write as I have about New England. I needed that distance from it; the two cultures are stunningly different.”
Continues Strout, “There were times when I thought, ‘What was that all about?’ Meaning my short legal career. But it was about many, many things—mostly, it was about learning to think differently and the exposure it gave me to many different kinds of people.”
Although she does not write procedurals, Strout notes that her legal training has been useful for her novel writing, especially The Burgess Boys (2013), a story of two brothers from Shirley Falls: Jim, a corporate lawyer, and Bob, a legal aid attorney. “When I wrote The Burgess Boys, the legal aspects of the case the plot hinges on were clear to me only because I had gone to law school,” says Strout. “I was tremendously relieved when I realized how the case would unfold because it meant I could concentrate on understanding the Burgess family and the Somali community, both of which are crucial to the story.”
There’s one more advantage that a lawyer-turned-writer can count on: advocating for oneself when it comes to contracts. Strout explains: “When I was approached about movie rights for Olive Kitteridge, I took the contract to a fancy entertainment lawyer, thinking someone like that should look it over.”
Strout continues, “I paid him a great deal of money, and he had no objections. But after reading it, I realized I did. I didn’t want the stage rights to be deferred for five years, which the contract stipulated—so all by myself, I negotiated that with the other party.”
“I learned how to negotiate in law school, and I loved that class,” says Strout. “What I remembered so clearly from it was this, ‘Know your bottom line and stick with it!’
The profile of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Elizabeth Strout L’82 began with a central question that moved Strout to think about how her law school training influenced her writing career: To what extent does a background in law and legal writing help an author find success writing fiction?
We posed the same question to three other alumni who have found success both as lawyers and writers. Like Strout, the question led to deep reflection— not surprising, given their love of the written word.
Ronald Goldfarb L’56
For Ronald Goldfarb, the law represents his education, while he describes writing as his “passion.” “I never consider them distinct skills,” he says. “They are a natural combination, so when asked what I do, I answer in a trifecta: lawyer, author, literary agent.”
Goldfarb says his writing career began in earnest at the College of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review. It further developed at Yale Law School, where he collaborated with a criminal law professor on an article about contempt for a British journal. “That led to my master’s and doctorate thesis on ‘The Contempt Power.’ At New York University Law School, a Hays Fellowship allowed me to complete that manuscript, which Columbia University Press published while I was working at the Department of Justice.”
“Writing about law became an integral part of what I have done ever since, and still do,” explains Goldfarb. He wrote on legal subjects for The New Republic, and one cover story on bail reform led to a book offer from Harper & Row. More books on legal topics of national significance followed: Crime and Publicity: The Impact of News on the Administration of Justice (1967), written with The Washington Post Managing Editor Alfred Friendly; After Conviction: A Review of the American Correction System (Simon & Schuster, 1973), about prison reform; and Jails: The Ultimate Ghetto (Doubleday, 1975).
At the same time, Goldfarb’s career as a literary agent blossomed. “I was seen as a lawyer who knew about book contracts and publishing, so writer clients came to me. I also became counsel to the Washington Independent Writers (representing more than 2,000 freelance writers) and the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, the national organization for teachers of writing.”
Goldfarb turned teacher himself with Clear Understandings: A Guide to Legal Writing (1982), a project sponsored by the Association of State Trial Judges. He returned to legal subjects with Migrant Farm Workers: A Caste of Despair (Iowa State, 1981), written as a result of his two-year court appointment by a federal court to oversee the reform of migrant farmworker laws; In Confidence: When to Protect Secrecy and When to Require Disclosure (Yale, 2009); and After Snowden: Privacy, Secrecy, and Security in the Information Age (St. Martin’s, 2015).
Recently, Goldfarb has turned to fiction—as the pseudonymous R.L. Sommer—with Courtship (2015) and Recusal (2020). “My two novels—a third is in the works for next year—come at a perfect time in my life,” Goldfarb observes. “Nonfiction writing is work; fiction is fun. It can be done wherever I sit with a pen and a pad.”
Through writing fiction, Goldfarb says he has learned how autobiographical a novel can be. “It’s a conclusion I denied until I re-read my novels and realized that while they were not about me, only I could have written them. What I write evolved from my life in law.”
“Recusal blew out of Zeus’ forehead,“ Goldfarb continues. “I was watching the Kavanaugh hearings, sat down, and wrote it in about a month. While writing, I imagined its sequel—TheGender War—which will be published in 2021.”
When writing Recusal, Goldfarb says he “wrote and edited endlessly, following my imagination.” His advice to young lawyers thinking of writing themselves is to “learn the basics so they come naturally to everything you write. Never mimic a writer you admire. And between heart and gut and brain, follow your heart and gut.”
Jodé Millman L’79
Asked about the connection between legal writing and creative writing, legal writing expert Professor Ian Gallacher observes that while the law prizes logical thinking, “good legal writing also relies heavily on narrative skill. There’s even a branch of legal writing scholarship called legal storytelling, which studies how narrative theory can be applied to the documents lawyers write so as to improve their communication.”
That’s an idea that Jodé Millman subscribes to. “I have been an attorney for many decades,” she says. “During that time, I realized that whether it was a divorce, personal injury, or contested will case, it was not only important to be an advocate for my clients, it was equally important to be a storyteller.”
For Millman, storytelling is an extraordinary tool because it contains the power of persuasion. “As champion of my client’s story, it was my job to weave a tale that would convince the court or my adversary that my client was in the right,” she says. “A successful writer understands the power of storytelling and can transcend from legal writing into the creative realm.”
Millman is the author of legal thriller The Midnight Call (2019), praised as a “must-read” by USA Today. “It was my first attempt at crime fiction, and honestly, I didn’t have a clue how to do it,” she admits. The craft of legal writing and creative writing sometimes clashed for Millman—“legal writing is objective, while fiction writing is deeply subjective”—but nevertheless she found that her legal training provided four essential tools for novel writing: discipline, vocabulary, plotting, and research.
“Unfortunately, attorneys are not trained to be brief,” she adds. “Overwriting can be a difficult habit to break. In fiction writing, less is more. As poet Allen Ginsberg wrote, writers must ‘kill their darlings.’”
Millman says her writing life began in earnest when she became semi-retired. With her children in high school and her family relocated to Ann Arbor, MI, she decided she wasn’t interested in practicing law in a new jurisdiction. Instead, she took a master’s in English literature from Eastern Michigan University, continued a project of her father’s—the “Seats” theater guides—and began teaching part time at the University of Detroit Mercy Law School.
“I’ve been fortunate to begin a new career at a stage in life when I’m in control of my time, most of the time!” she says.
Like other Syracuse law authors, Millman says her legal training is useful when it comes to the contractual side of the writer’s life. “While it’s best not to represent yourself, having the ability to draft and understand contracts has been priceless in negotiating my various agreements for fiction and nonfiction projects,” she says. “Most publishing agreements are drafted in favor of the publisher. Caveat Emptor. In fact, based upon my suggestions, my fiction publisher—Immortal Works—incorporated my contract changes into their standard contract.”
“The law and literature are demanding disciplines” Millman adds. “They require a resource that is limited to us: our time.” That limitation was evident when Millman first attempted a creative writing project—a middle grade children’s novel—while she was in practice and raising her children. “I felt like I was stealing hours to write by staying up late and rising early to put my creative time in. That novel remains unpublished, but maybe someday I’ll return to it.”
Tim Green L’94
Called the “Renaissance Man of Sports,” Tim Green graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University with a degree in English in 1986 and from the College of Law cum laude in 1994. A legendary member of the Orange football team from 1982 to 1985, Green enjoyed success in the National Football League before becoming a football commentator, an accomplished attorney at Barclay Damon, a legal commentator for NPR, a TV host, and a best-selling author. Green’s diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile in November 2018.
After writing more than a dozen best-selling books for adults, Green began a series of novels for young readers set in a world of sports. Football Genius reached The New York Times best-seller list of children’s chapter books. Then, in 2017, Green and baseball legend Derek Jeter teamed up to write the Baseball Genius series. Green has traveled the United States speaking at schools, inspiring thousands of kids to discover the joys of reading. Passionate about children becoming kinder people and being more understanding of other people through the act of reading, he has used his speaking fees to buy books for children, schools, and libraries that can’t otherwise afford them.
Green cites Professor Emeritus Travis H.D. Lewin as a major influence on both his legal and writing career. “Professor Lewin taught me evidence,” says Green. “He gave me confidence to write about courtroom drama, so I began writing a series of legal thrillers—instead of sports thrillers—and my book sales went from the tens of thousands to the millions. Thanks, Professor Lewin!”
Green’s expertise in contracts also has had a positive effect on his writing career: “My legal training has helped my writing, especially with my ability to read complex contracts and understand the terms, which I am then able to discuss with my agent.”
“I have been fortunate that my legal career has been as a rainmaker,” continues Green. “This has afforded me the flexibility during workdays to carve out time for writing.” Green says that through his books he has been able to build strong relationships—“really, friendships”—with clients. “Whether it’s suspense novels for them, or middle grade sports novels for their kids, my writing has paid for itself 10 times over.”
As for the influence of legal writing on his creative writing, Green is adamant that it’s had a compelling, positive effect. He uses, appropriately, a sports metaphor to describe the relationship: “Legal writing requires discipline and accuracy. It’s like weightlifting for football: the exercise enhances your performance.
From Sparring in the Courtroom to Sparring in the Ring— How John V. Elmore L’84 Divides His Time
John Elmore L’84 works in Buffalo as a managing attorney, practicing personal injury law at the Law Offices of John V. Elmore. Outside work, his hours are split between volunteering as a mentor, presiding over special committees, and traveling throughout Western New York in roles as a certified USA Boxing referee and police academy instructor.
He’s even the go-to guy for Spectrum News Buffalo on legal commentary.
“I consider myself to be busy,” Elmore says, “but at 63, I’m now at a point in life that I don’t do anything I don’t want to do. If I’m doing it, it’s because I enjoy it and I love it.”
Navigating a Path
At least twice a week Elmore can be found in a boxing gym on the city’s East Side. Some Friday mornings, he flies to New York City in his role as Chair of New York State’s Fourth Department Judicial Screening Committee. Appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, he helps to interview, screen, and vet New York State Supreme Court judge appointees.
Elmore always wanted to be a lawyer, but he didn’t feel he had the confidence or understanding of how to apply to law school. Instead he joined the state police with a plan to apply later.
Elmore says he is eternally grateful for help from Thomas Maroney L’63, a College of Law professor who was on leave and running the state attorney general’s Syracuse Regional Office while Elmore was a New York State trooper. That chance meeting next led to an introduction to Paul Richardson, the first African American lawyer Elmore ever met. Their guidance, he says, was instrumental in navigating his path to the law.
Once a student, Elmore says he was laser-focused on his studies because he gave up a career to be there. He most enjoyed Professor Emeritus Travis H.D. Lewin’s advanced trial practice class that he credits for preparing him for his career as a litigator.
“When I was interviewing at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, I met with Professor Lewin beforehand,” Elmore recalls. “One of the questions he prepared me for was, ‘If you’re a prosecutor and your main witness in a homicide dies, do you have an obligation to tell the defense attorney even though you’re confident you have the right person?’ The answer was Brady v. Maryland, a US Supreme Court case that established the prosecution must turn over all exculpatory evidence that might exonerate the defendant to the defense.” He continues, “I answered the question very, very well, made it to a second interview, and was hired.”
Give 100%
After leaving law school, Elmore spent three years in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which he says was great courtroom experience. “It offered incredible training on criminal procedure law, how to try a case, plea-bargaining, and search and seizure law.
However, Elmore says he prefers Upstate living, so his next job was in the Attorney General’s Office in the Environmental Crimes Unit in Western New York, where he investigated illegal storage and disposal of hazardous waste. He remained there a couple of years. This work, he says, strengthened his investigative skills, but he missed the fast pace of the courtroom.
Moving on to private practice in criminal defense, Elmore tried the only death penalty case in Western New York, which resulted in a life without parole for Jonathan Parker, who shot and killed one police officer and wounded another. “As a criminal defense attorney, that is where all my skills as a police officer, prosecutor, and defense attorney came together,” he says of the case. “I had to give 100% to keep him off death row.”
A judge pushed Elmore to take the case but warned him it would be life-changing. “But I felt like I had to take it,” he says. “You’re placed on this Earth with a purpose. Being a lawyer is a privilege, so sometimes we have to take on unpopular cases because that’s what makes our system work.”
After more than two decades of handling very serious criminal cases, Elmore now focuses his practice on representing individuals who have been seriously injured in accidents caused by the negligence of others. “Ironically my law partner, Steve Boyd, was a news reporter who covered the Jonathan Parker death penalty trial,” says Elmore, adding Boyd enrolled in law school after the trial.
“Being a lawyer is a privilege, so sometimes we have to take on unpopular cases because that’s what makes our system work.”John Elmore
Staying Focused
No matter his case, Elmore says he feels he is fighting for each client’s life. “If it’s a criminal case,” he notes, “there are so many collateral consequences.” He says that you are not only fighting to prevent a person from being placed into a cage, but as a defense attorney, you are there to help that person change his or her life.
Helping to change lives is what Elmore does in his off-hours, too. When coaching 32 kids at the Bomb Squad Academy Center, his focus is to toughen them up and provide discipline, but he observes, it’s also to give life lessons. Bringing his skills as an amateur boxer, he helps run the program as a way to mentor local youth. Elmore started boxing at age 13. By 16—the youngest age to compete—he made the semifinals of the Golden Gloves in the welterweight division, where he knocked out a 27-year-old to take the title.
“Boxing gave me just a little bit of toughness, confidence, and maybe swagger,” he says of his training. “And those have helped me in all aspects of my life.”
As far as his own mentors, Elmore says Maroney and Richardson are high on that list for their help in navigating his path to law school. But at the very top is his father Herbert Elmore, the first African American firefighter in his hometown of Olean, NY. Herbert never attended college, but he knew the importance of education.
His father’s advice that most resonated with Elmore: “It’s better to get an education and use your brain than work hard and use your back.
Sports Agent Kevin Belbey L’16 Is the Vision Behind Boeheim’s Army—The Orange’s “Other Team”
Kevin Belbey ’13, G’16, L’16, Vice President of Sports Broadcasting with The Montag Group, might have more orange clothing in his wardrobe than Jim Boeheim ’66, G’73, the storied men’s basketball coach.
That’s because Belbey created the fan- favorite team Boeheim’s Army that competes in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a single-elimination, winner-take-all competition with a $2 million payout broadcast each summer on ESPN. Summer 2020 will be the sixth year Belbey has served as the general manager for Syracuse’s alumni team that he launched while a second-year law student.
Too Good to Be True
First approached by TBT organizers before the tournament’s inaugural year, Belbey says the offer “sounded too good to be true.” It wasn’t until he watched the first games on ESPNU in 2014 that he took the organizers seriously. After witnessing The Fighting Irish win the $500,000 championship title, Belbey thought to himself, “If this is something Notre Dame can do, this is something SU should do for sure.”
Belbey was an excellent fit to pull together a Syracuse team because of the connections he made as an undergraduate at Syracuse while serving as the Head Manager for the Men’s Basketball Team. “While the tournament is open to anyone who wants to organize a team, the guys who created it thought that to have the greatest exposure and broad appeal, they needed to have teams with built-in fan bases,” he says. Thus, for the organizers, collaborations with individuals having strong ties to alumni players were key.
With the tournament’s prize money doubled in 2015, Belbey recruited his first two players: Eric Devendorf ’09 and Hakim Warrick ’05, both highly respected by former and current players and fans. “Having them on board made my job easier to recruit the rest of the team,” he says.
The Best Fans
Since Notre Dame’s initial win, a team called Overseas Elite has dominated TBT, winning five consecutive titles as the prize money grew over the years. Still, Belbey says he feels SU’s alumni teams have the strongest chemistry and greatest fan base.
Belbey says he uses social media to create interest and attract fan votes, finishing with almost 1,000 more fan votes than any other team last year, which just happened to be the first year tournament games were played in Syracuse. The fan base in TBT is important because top fans—those whose dedication is shown by garnering votes in support of their team—receive a cut. Fans must register online, and the top 1,000 supporters of the winning team share $200,000.
“Last summer, with the tournament coming to Syracuse, it was a real testament to what we’ve built and the demand our fans have for this tourney,” he says. “We have the best fans in the entire tournament.” 2019 was also the first time the team’s namesake watched from the stands. “That was awesome and a little nerve-wracking,” Belbey says of Boeheim’s presence. “I think he gets a real kick out of it, and it’s really special for him to see all these guys he’s brought into the program coming back to Syracuse and wanting to play with each other for no guaranteed money.”
Everybody on Their Toes
TBT is like an NCAA tournament with 64 teams competing in games held over two weekends. To make it to the prize pot, teams must win six games. In summer 2020, three games are planned for Syracuse, from July 31 through Aug. 2, at the SRC Arena on the Onondaga Community College campus. The championship games will be held the following weekend elsewhere.
To make TBT games as friendly to fans and as exciting as possible, some rules have been adjusted. A shorter game clock is used, for instance, and then there’s the “Elam Ending”—at the four-minute mark in the fourth quarter, the game clock shuts off and a target score is set by adding eight points to the leading team’s score. The Elam Ending format was recently used in the 2020 NBA All-Star game for the first time.
“Last summer, with the tournament coming to Syracuse, it was a real testament for what we’ve built and the demand fans have for this tourney. We have the best fans in the entire tournament.”
“So instead of playing to zero on a timer, you’re playing to a target score, and the first team to that score wins,” Belbey explained. “This makes games more exciting for fans because you don’t have to sit through foul shots. Also, every game ends on a game- winning shot. It just changes the whole energy of the game and puts everybody on their toes”.
Never Regret It
In addition to his J.D. from the College of Law, Belbey received his bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and his Master’s Degree in New Media Management from Newhouse. As a senior at SU, he knew he wanted to go into the business side of sports and media and thought law school might be a good fit. It was ESPN announcer Jay Bilas who convinced him.
Belbey met Bilas during a Syracuse basketball game. Bilas, who works as an attorney when he’s not on air with ESPN, advised Belbey to attend law school without hesitation. “He told me I’d never regret it a day in my life, even if I never end up practicing,” Belbey recalled. He said, “The skills I would learn will help me think critically, take me to a whole other level, and help separate myself.”
Once he heard Bilas advice, Belbey’s decision was made. Belbey now works as a sports agent, representing broadcasting clients from national networks to local markets, including play-by-play announcers, analysts, radio hosts, writers, and reporters.
Now, Belbey says his law degree helps in his current role and in running the tournament. “Once, I was trying to convince a player to play for us and he wasn’t sure. But we really needed a center, and this guy was about 7 feet tall and 245 pounds. He was going to be a big difference-maker for us,” Belbey shared. “He ended up committing to us and told The Post-Standard later – ‘yeah, Kevin pulled some of that lawyer stuff on me in negotiations.’ So it worked out great.”
That Next Step
Boeheim’s Army isn’t Belbey’s only service to his alma mater. He currently serves on several Syracuse boards including the Syracuse University Law Alumni Association,
The Newhouse 44, and the Generation Orange Leadership Council. “I believe, once we graduate, we are connected to the school forever,” Belbey says. “We can continue to improve on our own degree by investing back into the school and its students who come after us.”
In 2019, Syracuse University honored Belbey during the Orange Central weekend with a Generation Orange Alumni Award for his continued University involvement in support of Boeheim’s Army, students, and the community.
While Boeheim’s Army hasn’t won the big money yet, Belbey says he finds camaraderie each year in reuniting with alumni players and visiting Syracuse. The team spends a week in Syracuse to run a clinic, sign autographs for fans during special appearances, and partner with the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation. “They supported us from the beginning, so we want to give back that support,” says Belbey, noting that last year, members of Boeheim’s Army helped raise close to $20,000 for the Foundation.
“TBT is like Orange Central but with $2 million on the line,” observes Belbey. “This summer, I’m looking forward to us taking that next step. We want to win the championship and take home the prize money!”
