In Fall 2015, then-J.D. Class President Dustin Osborne L’16 and the Class of 2016 launched the College of Law’s first-ever Class Act! campaign, buoyed by the support of College of Law Board of Advisors Member Alan Epstein L’74.
A University-wide senior class giving campaign, Class Act! encourages students to make their first-ever gift to the University a symbolic amount in honor of their class year—$20.21, for the Class of 2021. We hope these gifts will be the first of many more as our students graduate, join our alumni family, and build their careers.
Five years later, the tradition continues, and—as with other aspects of the student experience at the College of Law—it grows in innovative ways.
A Historic Class Gift, and a New Participation Record for LL.M. Students
In spring 2020, the University suspended the Class Act! Campaign, in deference to students and in recognition that they were facing unforeseen financial and personal challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By that point, led by then-3L Class President Aubre Dean L’20 and the Class Act! Giving Committee, J.D. students had achieved a 32% giving participation rate.
Monetary gifts by students to any law fund of their choosing qualify for their Class Act! participation. Usually, most students elect to designate their gifts to the Law Annual Fund or the Scholarship and Financial Aid Fund. But this year—making the best of an unusual situation— students voted to pivot their focus from a campaign of individual gifts to a class gift using funds raised collectively by the class earlier that year.
This new gift was earmarked for ’Cuse Law Cares, an emergency fund for College of Law students adversely impacted by the pandemic. For their part, the LL.M. Class of 2020, led by Betania Allo LL.M.’20, had already achieved a record breaking individual Class Act! giving participation rate of 97%.
All these achievements have been recognized on the Class Act Giving Wall in the Travis H.D. Lewin Advocacy Commons in Dineen Hall. We are grateful for the generosity and philanthropic leadership of both the J.D. and LL.M. classes.
Class of 2021: A Tradition Reimagined
As of November 2020, the Class of 2021’s campaign is already well underway. The class voted to expand the scope of its campaign by adding new options for giving: donations of basic needs items to Hendricks Chapel and/or donations of casebooks to the Law Library for use by future law students, along with the traditional monetary gift.
The class will recognize these new giving options along with the traditional philanthropic gifts in its Class Act! participation rates. This is new territory for Class Act!, driven by students’ desire to leave a unique and meaningful legacy.
Best wishes to the Class of 2021 for a successful campaign!
Felicia Collins Ocumarez L’98, G’98—who received the 2020 Black Law Students Association (BLSA) Legacy Award at the Alumni of Color Award Ceremony during Law Alumni Weekend (LAW)—has generously spearheaded an effort to establish a new scholarship to expand diversity at the College of Law.
This scholarship initiative honors William Herbert Johnson L’1903. Johnson was the first African American to graduate from the College of Law. With a steady call for action during LAW, College of Law alumni and friends have reached their first fundraising target of $150,000.
“I thank Felicia Collins Ocumarez for her extraordinary leadership and generosity in spearheading this scholarship at the College of Law. This is a transformative investment in diversity and equity whose benefits will ripple out into the legal profession and society at large,” says Dean Craig M. Boise.
Syracuse University Trustee and College of Law Board of Advisors Member Vincent Cohen Jr. L’95 says, “I am proud of the role my father, Vincent Cohen L’60, played in the diversification of ‘Big Law’ back in the early 1970s and I continue to build on his belief that the legal profession needs to reflect the people it serves,” says Cohen Jr. “With this new scholarship, the College of Law is set to further expand the diversity in the profession by attracting the best and brightest aspiring Black attorneys. I am proud to be a part of this urgent equal access to justice movement.”
“Felicia Collins Ocumarez is the epitome of a trailblazer who advocates for the Black community and does so with tenacity and excellence. I am grateful for her support of the Black Law Student Association,” says 2L Mazaher Kaila, President of the Black Law Student Association.
To support this scholarship, contact Assistant Dean for Advancement and External Affairs Sophie Dagenais at 315.560.2530 or sdagenai@law.syr.edu.
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.”
Starting with the Class of 2023, students in Syracuse University College of Law’s residential J.D. program will have the option of spending their third year entirely off-campus while still taking courses from College of Law faculty. Specifically, students in good standing will have the option to enroll in the “Third Year Away” program, which will allow them to satisfy their remaining requirements for graduation by completing a supervised externship in a legal practice setting and by taking up to 12 credits of interactive online courses.
“Syracuse prides itself on a robust and innovative curriculum,” says College of Law Dean Craig M. Boise. “The College is now adding a new option for incoming students that will enhance our ability to provide them with both the doctrinal knowledge and the practical and professional skills necessary for the 21st-century legal profession.”
The Third Year Away Program builds on the College’s established Externship Program, which features placements and accompanying seminars in London, New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Washington, DC—with plans to add more locations throughout the United States and beyond. The Externship Program leverages the College’s global alumni network to offer semester-long placements accompanied by faculty-led, substantive seminars focused on building professional skills.
The new option also capitalizes on the College of Law’s JDinteractive (JDi) program, the nation’s first ABA-accredited, fully interactive, online J.D. program. As part of the JDi program, the College of Law already offers an array of online courses in addition to intensive residential courses. Each online course consists of live class sessions and self-paced class sessions taught by the College of Law’s faculty. The JDi infrastructure, which allows the College to teach and support JDi students around the world, will allow the College’s residential J.D. students enrolled in the Third Year Away Program to participate in the academic, intellectual, and social life of the College when off-campus.
“Increasingly, our J.D. students gain valuable skills and professional experience by working as externs in judicial settings, law firms, corporate legal departments, government agencies, and non-profits,” adds Dean Boise. “By allowing students to participate in externships across the nation, while still taking doctrinal classes with our faculty through online courses, we are providing them the opportunity to learn both the substance and the skills they need for success. With Third Year Away, we are truly breaking new ground in legal education.”
“Third Year Away capitalizes on two of the College of Law’s strengths: our first-rate online classes and our far-reaching Externship Program,” says David M. Levy Professor of Law and Faculty Director of Online Education Nina Kohn. “While other law schools are contemplating ways to add remote learning options that increase flexibility for their upper-class students, with JDi fully underway, Syracuse already has the infrastructure, the courses, and the faculty expertise to make it happen. Moreover, Third Year Away allows students to get a jump start on their careers by combining their doctrinal coursework with field placements in the communities they seek to work in post-graduation, affording them greater opportunity to develop and strengthen professional networks that can help accelerate their job opportunities.”
Prospective students who wish to learn more about Third Year Away should contact the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid by phone at 315.443.1962 or by email. All other inquiries should be directed to Director of Communications and Media Relations Rob Conrad at 315.443.9536.
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!”
