News

New Program Connects Law and Social Work Disciplines to Assist Veterans

Goidel Law Group Internship Fund seeks applicants for the 2023-24 academic year. Graduate social work students are encouraged to apply by June 30.

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.

Professor Lauryn Gouldin Discusses “Specific Suspicion” at Law and Society and Law of Policing Conferences 

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.

College of Law Adds Alumni from DLA Piper and Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP to its Board of Advisors

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 Law Review 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.

Professor Lauryn Gouldin Discusses New York State Bail Reform on WCNY’s Connect NY

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.

Professor David Driesen writes on the recent SCOTUS ruling in Sackett v. EPA

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. 

Constitutional Law Book Owned by Robert E. Dineen L’1924 Donated to the College of Law

A Constitutional Law book owned by Robert E. Dineen L’1924 (the father of Robert E. Dineen Jr. L’66, Carolyn Dineen King, and Kathryn Dineen Wriston who made the naming gift of Dineen Hall in their parent’s honor) was recently donated to the College of Law’s Library. The book was purchased from a local bookseller by Tammy Alvarez, secretary to the Hon. Theodore H. Limpert L’88 who arranged for the donation through Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic Executive Director Beth Kubala.

“What an intriguing find!” says Law Library Director Jan Fleckenstein G’84, G’86, L’11.  “In the Law Library we often showcase particular alumni, and we try to include books that would have been in the library collection when those alumni were students, but so far as I know we’ve never been able to display a book that we know was owned and used by an alumnus of that era, almost 100 years ago.”

She continues, “Many thanks to Ms. Alvarez for discovering the volume and to Judge Limpert for noticing the name and coordinating the donation with Professor Kubala.”

The book is “The General Principles of Constitutional Law in the United States of America, Third Edition” by Thomas M. Cooley LL.D. and Andrew C. McLaughlin A.M., LL.B., printed in 1898.

The inscription on the front inside cover has Dineen’s name, address, and class year.

The book is housed in the Peter Herzog L’55 and Brigitte Herzog L’75 Special Collections room.

Clockwise from top left: inscription by Robert E. Dineen L’1924; the book’s title page; the Hon. Theodore Limpert L’88, Tammy Alvarez, Law Library Director Jan Fleckenstein G’84, G’86, L’11; Judge Limpert; Fleckenstein, JudgeLimpert, and Alvarez view Judge Limpert’s class composite.

Law Library Electronic Services Librarian Robert J. Weiner Awarded Dean’s Commendation by SU Libraries

Robert J. Weiner G’99, Law Library Electronic Services Librarian, has been awarded a Dean’s Commendation by Dean of SU Libraries David Seaman.  This award recognizes Libraries employees who have gone above and beyond their normal responsibilities during the year and who have made an extraordinary and noticeable contribution to the SU Libraries. 

Nominated for his exemplary work in designing and building a completely new website for the College of Law Library during the Summer and Fall of 2022 in addition to his regular duties, Weiner created a website that meets the Law Library’s needs for ease of use and interoperability by utilizing his expertise in legal research and instruction, faculty liaison services, and electronic resources management. The new website is an effective way to deliver legal research resources to Law Library users.  

“The result of Bob’s work is that Law Library collections and services are clearly presented to Law Library users within the College of Law, across the University, and around the world,” says Law Library Director Jan Fleckenstein G’84, G’86, L’11.  “The Law Library’s new website is clean, clear, attractive, and accessible. It is easy to navigate and easy for legal researchers to use.” 

Weiner was presented with the Dean’s Commendation at an SU Libraries all-staff event on April 25.

Professor Shubha Ghosh Weighs in on Copyright Concerns in “AI-Faked Drake, The Weeknd Song Amps Music Industry’s IP Alarm”

Crandall Melvin Professor of Law and Director of the Syracuse Intellectual Property Law Institute Shubha Ghosh spoke with Bloomberg Law News for their article “AI-Faked Drake, The Weeknd Song Amps Music Industry’s IP Alarm.”

Ghosh discussed concerns related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and music copyright as the U.S. Copyright Office has not provided copyright protection to works entirely generated by AI. “In the Copyright Office’s view, it’s a bit like the photographer: Are you just pushing the button, or are you adding other inputs like framing the photo.”

Click here for the article (subscription may be required).

Jeremy Gurgis L’23 wins SU Libraries Outstanding Student Employee Award

Jeremy Gurgis, a three-year student employee at the Law Library, has been awarded a Kathy and Stanley Walters Student Employee Scholarship for his outstanding service to the SU Libraries.  This award recognizes student employees who have demonstrated dedicated service over time and significant contributions that have made a lasting impact on the SU Libraries.

Gurgis joined the Law Library during his 1L year, working at the Circulation Desk, using his expertise to help his fellow law students access the Law Library’s collections and services.  “Jeremy exemplifies the value that student employees add to Law Library services,” says Law Library Director Jan Fleckenstein G’84, G’86, L’11.  “He has always gone ‘above and beyond’ to help his fellow law students and to support the work of our Law Librarians and staff.  We are delighted to see his dedication to the Law Library and the College of Law recognized across the campus.” 

The Kathy and Stanley Walters Student Employee Scholarship Awards are generously supported by Kathy and Stanley Walters, the family of Patricia Kutner Strait, and the many donors to the SU Libraries Dean’s Fund.