Speaking to Cointelegraph in the wake of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing charges against Binance Holdings and its founder Changpen Zhao, Professor Jack Graves illustrated that ‘The independence of Binance.US from its global unity is critical for two reasons — regulatory jurisdiction and liability in the event of a failure.’
“If you don’t keep them independent, then the U.S. regulators will go after Binance International and say we have jurisdiction because you are acting through the U.S. entity. And in fact, I think the SEC is looking at that,” said Graves.
Professor Paula Johnson was interviewed on WSYR radio to discuss the impact and effect of the Allen v. Milligan SCOTUS ruling.
“As we enter into some critical election seasons, we will want to be sure that the voting rights of all of our citizens are going to be recognized and going to be observed and that the fundamental right to vote is going to be something our country recognizes as a matter of law, of Constitutional law, and something important for all of us to recognize,” says Johnson.
Many veterans suffer from PTSD and may qualify for healthcare and compensation for their mental health conditions that resulted from their military service.
“Veterans often face barriers when applying for their benefits through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Veterans Legal Clinic strives to break down those barriers by advocating on behalf of veterans to connect them with benefits for treatment and support,” says Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic Executive Director Beth Kubala.
The Veterans Legal Clinic (VLC) at Syracuse University College of Law provides legal representation to veterans and their families seeking benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or upgrading a military discharge through the various military branches. The VLC is staffed by student attorneys in their 2L or 3L year at the College of Law, many of who are veterans themselves or who have a connection to the military and a passion for serving veterans.
“Our law school students leverage their critical thinking skills and analytical abilities to help veterans navigate a complex administrative process. We shoulder the legal process so that the veterans can focus on treatment and healing,” says Kubala.
“PTSD is an especially difficult diagnosis because it is often not recognized in veterans for many years after their service. They usually do not see it coming on while in the service because they are focused on their mission. All too often, these early symptoms of PTSD can lead to out-of-character behaviors that, in some cases, result in a veteran’s administrative discharge from service for that misconduct,” says 2L Seth Owens, a student in the VLC.
This summer, many student attorneys are assisting veterans with disability claims for PTSD.
“The government has taken steps over the past decade to expand access to VA benefits for veterans experiencing PTSD. But it’s not easy to navigate and secure these benefits, especially for veterans facing the adverse consequences of PTSD in their daily lives. Another student and I are working with a veteran who was not diagnosed with PTSD, nor had he ever heard of PTSD, until after he was discharged. We are helping him connect his undiagnosed PTSD to the circumstances surrounding his discharge, with the goal of getting him full care. I can’t imagine taking that on alone,” says VLC student 2L Natalie Bravo.
“Currently, we are working with a decorated 15-year veteran, separated under unfavorable circumstances, who is struggling to get full care for his PTSD almost 16 years after his discharge. This process has been extremely eye-opening and makes one realize how challenging the process of getting the right care can be. The benefit of hindsight is allowing us to trace the onset of his PTSD symptoms to the trauma he experienced on his last deployment before being administratively discharged,” says Owens
He continues, “As we have learned more about the effects of PTSD, it is especially important to advocate on behalf of veterans who were separated under these circumstances because it impacts their ongoing ability to receive treatment and be compensated for their service to this country. At the Veterans Legal Clinic, we have a tremendous opportunity to use the skills we are learning at the Syracuse College of Law to directly improve the lives of our veteran clients. Providing a direct application of our legal knowledge, outside resources, or simply a compassionate ear to listen to their circumstances can all be beneficial to help that veteran navigate a challenging administrative process to get the right care for their PTSD.”
The VLC serves two critical functions on the Syracuse University campus. The VLC provides legal advice to veterans and their families and provides a training opportunity to empower law school students as veteran advocates. Student attorneys at the VLC learn about veteran’s law, military law, and federal administrative law. Student attorneys manage actual veteran clients and their cases, engage in fact investigation, draft persuasive letters, and briefs to the various governmental agencies, and even have the opportunity to orally advocate for clients.
“The Clinic is administrative law in action. We are navigating statutes, regulations, and department policy to be the best advocates for our veterans. It’s great legal experience, but even more so it’s a fulfilling experience,” says Bravo.
Visit the Department of Veterans Affairs’ PTSD website for more information.
In her article at the New Labor Forum “Open for Business: The Supreme Court Curbs Federal Regulatory Power”, Professor Jenny Breen examines the recent SCOTUS decision in West Virginia v. EPA.
Professor Breen surmises, “If we aspire toward a world that is more supportive of working people, more genuinely democratic, and less beholden to the ideological views of a handful of judges, then unions and other forms of political organizing are the only way to get there.”
Goidel Law Group Internship Fund seeks applicants for the 2023-24 academic year. Graduate social work students are encouraged to apply by June 30. Link
Veterans Law Clinic students at the Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans often face a unique set of legal issues related to their service that require specialized knowledge and understanding to resolve. Those issues can become increasingly complex as veterans age, further intersecting with various aspects of physical, social, and emotional well-being. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 80% of U.S. military veterans are over the age of 55.
At Syracuse University, the College of Law and the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics have formed a partnership to help veterans, and especially aging veterans, access the legal services they need and obtain the benefits they have earned and deserve.
Staffed by attorneys from the College of Law’s Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic, law students, and graduate social work students, the Legal-Social Work Partnership program provides free, high-quality legal services for veterans, such as assistance with disability claims and discharge upgrades, benefits counseling and more. The partnership also works to educate veterans about their rights and how to navigate the legal system.
The partnership operates under the College of Law’s Office of Clinical Education, where Syracuse law students apply doctrinal law while representing clients under the supervision of faculty-mentors.
The Legal-Social Work Partnership places an emphasis on addressing the social determinants of health. By assisting veterans with housing, employment, aging and other issues, the Legal-Social Work Partnership can help reduce veteran homelessness and suicide rates and improve the lives of veterans and military families.
Elizabeth Kubala, Teaching Professor at the College of Law, is the executive director of the Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic. “The veterans we assist often have needs and challenges outside the scope of our legal representation,” she says. “Bringing a social work perspective into our legal clinic will not only result in better overall outcomes for our veteran clients but also a better understanding by the students of how to best serve veterans.”
As Syracuse law students and social work students learn how their respective disciplines interact in real-world practice settings, this program is building a stronger legal system that can address the holistic needs of clients.
Wendy Goidel ’84, Esq.
While there are law firms that employ social workers in their practices, it is still quite uncommon. Syracuse University alumna Wendy Goidel ’84, Esq., the founding and managing member of Goidel Law Group PLLC and its Estate Planning & Elder Law Center, is one of the few who is leading the way. Goidel is the founder and co-developer of Concierge Care Coordination, a holistic practice model, which merges geriatric social work with legal planning.
“While the interdisciplinary model in an elder law context is natural and essential, it should be replicated and embraced in other practice areas—such as matrimonial, family, medical malpractice, personal injury, and criminal—where legal problems are intertwined with social, medical, and emotional issues. There is no doubt that clients and their family members receive far superior services, strategies, and solutions when attorneys and social workers advocate and collaborate,” says Goidel.
Goidel established the Goidel Law Group Internship Fund to support social work graduate students interested in working at the intersection of law and social work, particularly with older adults, through the Legal-Social Work Partnership program at Syracuse University. Students will receive $5,000 stipends for their internship year while working within the Legal-Social Work Partnership.
“Collaborations between law students and social work students are essential in addressing the legal problems impacting the health and well-being of our nation’s veterans,” says Ken Marfilius, Falk College assistant dean for online and distance education and associate teaching professor in the Falk College School of Social Work. “Social work students will play a key role in connecting veterans to community resources beyond those typically addressed through legal representation, having a direct and immediate impact on veterans and their families.”
“In addition to addressing the critical needs of veterans, this project illuminates the needs of one of the fastest growing populations on our planet, and that is of aging individuals,” says Carrie Smith, chair of the Falk College School of Social Work. “Collaborative work among an increasing number of experts at the intersection of law and social work will be essential in addressing the myriad needs and concerns of this population.
“We are very appreciative of the pioneering work being led by Wendy Goidel in addressing these aims,” she adds.
Through the Goidel Law Group Internship Fund, two social work graduate students at Syracuse University will be selected annually for the Goidel Law Group Internship Fund. Students do not need to be enrolled in Syracuse University’s J.D./master of social work dual degree program to be selected. Interested students must apply online by June 30, 2023, for the 2023-24 academic year.
For more information about the Legal-Social Work Partnership program or the Goidel Law Group Internship Fund, please contact Elizabeth Kubala, 315. 443.8420 or egkubala@syr.edu, or Kenneth Marfilius, 315.443.5586 or kjmarfil@syr.edu.
Does the Fourth Amendment require officers conducting searches to have suspicion of a specific crime? Professor Lauryn Gouldin examines these topics in a current work in progress, “Specific Suspicion.” This project follows a related article, forthcoming in the Emory Law Journal, “Crimes of Suspicion,” that analyzes whether officers conducting street stops need reasonable suspicion of specific crimes.
Gouldin presented her research last week at the Law and Society Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and will present at the Law of Policing Conference at the University of Chicago tomorrow, Wednesday, June 7.
Syracuse University College of Law has added James L. Kelly L’99, Partner and Chair, New York Private Equity at DLA Piper, and Sandeep (Sandy) Qusba L’94, Partner and Head of the Restructuring Practice at Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP, to its Board of Advisors. Kelly and Qusba will strengthen the College’s Board with their extensive legal and leadership experiences.
“James and Sandy are highly accomplished attorneys who bring to our Board deep knowledge of the legal industry and an understanding of the skills that new attorneys need to achieve their goals,” says Dean Craig M. Boise. “I look forward to working with them. Their insights into the profession will help steer our academic programs in support of our mission.”
“On behalf of the Board, I want to welcome James and Sandy,” says College of Law Board of Advisors Chair Melanie Gray L’81. “As lawyers and leaders at two of the world’s largest and most respected law firms, James and Sandy are shining examples of the heights that Orange lawyers reach and serve as inspiration for our students.”
James Kelly
James Kelly focuses his practice on representing private equity funds in all aspects of their investment activities. He is recognized by The Legal 500 US in Private Equity Buyouts and has been recognized for numerous consecutive years by Chambers in New York M&A. Kelly graduated from Syracuse University College of Law magna cum laude where he was Lead Articles Editor for Syracuse LawReview and received the Order of the Coif. He received his B.A. from the University of Washington.
Sandeep (Sandy) Qusba
Sandeep (Sandy) Qusba focuses on restructurings, bankruptcies, acquisition of distressed companies, and bank financings. He has represented private equity sponsors, special committees of boards and portfolio companies, agent banks, steering committees, and official and ad hoc committees and creditors in some of the largest Chapter 11 proceedings and out-of-court restructurings in recent years across a wide range of sectors, among them media, real estate, healthcare, energy, automotive, manufacturing, and telecommunications.
Qusba was recently named an “Outstanding Restructuring Lawyer” by Turnarounds & Workouts and has also been inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.
Qusba received his J.D. cum laude from Syracuse University College of Law and his B.A. from Tufts University. He served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Stephen D. Gerling in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of New York.
Crandall Melvin Professor of Law Lauryn Gouldin discussed the status and future of bail reform in New York on WCNY’s Connect NY program.
In response to a question about trying to gauge, not just what is happening but why things are happening the way they are in New York State, Gouldin says “I think the biggest thing, picking up on the point about recidivism is when we talk about bail reform, I think we don’t focus enough on the fact that pretrial detention leads to recidivism. There is study after study that demonstrates that detaining people before trial is not a public safety gain overall. We have long-term negative public safety impacts from detaining people before trial. So I applaud the fact that the reforms included more data collection. I think we need to do a lot more data analysis. Trying to figure out what causes crime to go down, or what, you know, led to this example of recidivism or that is really complicated so the more data that we have, the better. But I don’t– I think it’s been very hard to sort of dig through pretty fraught political conversation and actually get to the real facts and try to analyze what is actually going on.”
She was joined on the panel by Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick L’76, First Assistant Public Defender for Monroe County and College of Law Adjunct Professor Erik Teifke, and Albany Times Union reporter Josh Solomon.
In Professor David Driesen’s post at the Center for Progressive Reform, he writes “Confronted with Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s argument that the dictionary definition of the term “adjacent” includes things that are nearby but not connected, Justice Samuel Alito invoked an increasingly used device to avoid following the plain language of statutes demanding broad regulation to meet public goals — a presumption against alteration of the status quo that existed before the passage of legislation.
