(WAER | Oct. 16, 2020) A Syracuse University Newhouse Professor is questioning decisions by Facebook and Twitter to limit access to an article that contained unverified sources and information about Joe Biden’s son.
“Regardless of how you feel about the story, its sourcing, or even the politics behind it, it’s not a favored practice for many of us to have other people decide what we can and can’t read or view.” said Roy Gutterman, the Director of the Tully Center for Free Speech. “I’m kind of disappointed to see that this article was going to be blocked. I’m always in favor of letting consumers and citizens make judgements on their own” …
An accessible absentee ballot is crucial for blind and disabled Iowa voters, advocates say — especially in COVID-19 era
(Ames Tribune | Oct. 9, 2020) Don Wirth has been legally blind for 25 years. At 70 years old, he’s at higher risk for COVID-19, so instead of going to the polls and using an accessible voting machine, he voted absentee during the primaries. His wife filled out the paper ballot for him.
“I have great confidence that she’s going to fill it out the way I want her to,” Wirth, of Ames, said.
But Wirth knows not all blind or otherwise disabled people have a loved one they can trust to help cast their vote. And, he believes, no Iowan should be forced to surrender their privacy to exercise their constitutional right.
“Why shouldn’t we have the same access that sighted people do when there are solutions out there that are readily available?” Wirth said …
… Peter Blanck, a law professor at Syracuse University, disagrees. Blanck has written multiple books on the ADA, served on various federal disability commissions and edits the Cambridge Disability Law and Policy Series.
“Title II of the ADA requires state and local governments to provide meaningful and equal access to all the services that they provide,” Blanck said. “A reasonable accommodation would not have to be approved through the Legislature because that’s required under (federal) law” …
Martin Feinman L’83 Deploys Fellowships to Help Recruit Social Justice Lawyers
“The idea has always been to do what I can to steer students in this direction,” says Martin R. Feinman L’83, Director of Delinquency Training in the Juvenile Rights Practice at The Legal Aid Society of New York, the largest social justice law firm in the United States.
Over the years, Feinman has steered students toward a career in social justice law by funding stipends for students working in the Children’s Rights and Family Law Clinic, by encouraging The Legal Aid Society to host Syracuse interns and externs and to hire graduates, and by offering students advice and guidance, as he did at an Oct. 28, 2020, panel discussion on careers in social justice, hosted by the Office of Career Services.
Now Feinman is leveraging his generous financial contributions to promote careers in public interest with a focus on juvenile justice. Fellowships are awarded to students who secure externships or postgraduate positions providing criminal defense on behalf of indigent persons and/or legal advocacy on behalf of youth and young adults in the juvenile justice or welfare system.
Life -Saving, Difference-Making
With more than 30 years’ experience in the field—during which he has advocated for children and families, defended indigent adults, trained young attorneys, and advised policymakers—Feinman knows what he’s talking about when he says the need for social justice lawyers is enormous. “But needless to say this work isn’t for everyone and doesn’t always pay as well,” he adds.
“Students have loans to repay and might wonder whether a public interest career can meet their aspirations,” Feinman continues. “I say it can, and through this fellowship program, I want to motivate students to at least try this area of practice.”
Feinman admits that there can be barriers other than financial to a career in his field.
“This work can be intimidating and emotionally overwhelming, especially when you are the difference between an adolescent or adult client’s freedom or incarceration, or when you are representing a young child who has been neglected or abused,” says Feinman. “Then, there are the overwhelmed court calendars and stressed-out judges pressuring you.”
“But on the flip side, it’s just so extraordinarily rewarding,” Feinman asserts. “You are engaged in work that can be life-saving and difference-making.”
Tremendous Need
When he trains young attorneys, Feinman emphasizes that The Legal Aid Society lawyers often support clients unconditionally in ways that nobody else has ever done, sometimes not even family members.
“We are there to do everything we can to help the client,” Feinman explains, “and to be that kind of advocate is inspiring, motivating, and rewarding, but sometimes heartbreaking.”
Feinman admits he has been “crushed” sometimes when adults he has represented have been jailed or youths sent away from home, but that he’s also had “the thrill of making arguments that have changed people’s lives. The potential for job satisfaction is tremendous.”
The need for attorneys at The Legal Aid Society is tremendous too. Feinman explains that the Juvenile Rights Practice group represents children charged as delinquents in family court as well as children whose parents are being charged with abuse and neglect.
“We represent tens of thousands of kids a year, with a team of about 200 attorneys,” he says. “An attorney might be working with 150 clients at a time. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. On the Criminal Defense side, the numbers are even greater. Then there’s The Legal Aid Society’s civil practice, the mental health side, the criminal defense side … the list goes on and on.”
“I have had the thrill of making arguments that have changed people’s lives. The potential for job satisfaction is tremendous.”
Exploring Paths to Success
How can a student discover if a social justice career is a good fit? Feinman says that the law school years are the perfect time to try different areas of practice “because once employed the more you establish yourself as one type of attorney, the greater the chance that that is what you’ll continue to do.”
“But in law school,” he observes, “there’s a great opportunity to experiment, to see what you are passionate about, and to see if something can work for you in a way you hadn’t anticipated.”
The foundation for that advice is Feinman’s own career. At one point, being a lawyer was the last thing on his mind. He started his career as a social worker, taking an M.S.W. from Syracuse University before working as a therapist and then becoming Program Director of the Adolescent Unit at Hutchings Psychiatric Center in Syracuse.
Feinman recalls interviewing with the social work director at Hutchings, who said he might want to consider law school. “At the time, that was furthest from my mind,” he says.
But a couple of years later, Feinman was enrolled at the College of Law. His advisor in the early 1980s, Professor Richard Goldsmith, soon set him on another career trajectory. “He said, you might think about being a litigator, to which I said, ‘You’re out of your mind!’”
But again Feinman kept his mind open and got involved with the College’s legendary Advocacy Program, then coordinated by Professor Emeritus Travis H.D. Lewin. He fell in love with trial work and criminal law, and his successful three-decade career combining social work, juvenile advocacy, criminal defense, and litigation ensued.
But not before he explored another route. “After a one-year federal court clerkship, I tried the private sector for one and a half years,” Feinman recalls. “I represented banks in foreclosure proceedings and building designers whose designs were flawed. They were entitled to representation, of course, but at the end of the day, I didn’t care for that work.”
Ultimately, Feinman’s advice to students is to expose themselves to the many kinds of law practice during law school. “You never know what will grab you and shake you. And like me, you might find there are unanticipated events that alter the career path you are on.”
Feinman says he hopes his new fellowships will be an incentive for students to explore his practice area, one whose rewards—in terms of changing lives, advocating for the vulnerable, and providing hope and justice—are priceless.
The city of Canandaigua and Canandaigua Lake as seen from the Ontario County Courthouse
Given his deep ties to his community, John A. “Jack” Schuppenhauer’s L’76 advice to law students should come as no surprise: “I’d say to students that the law is an honorable profession. It provides an opportunity for an attorney to help others and serve their community.”
Jack has served his community as principal of the Canandaigua, NY-based Schuppenhauer Law Firm for 43 years. He was born a few miles from the picturesque Finger Lakes town, located on the northern end of Canandaigua Lake, attending Canandaigua Academy before taking a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University and an M.P.A. from Northeastern University.
Jack returned to Central New York to study law at Syracuse. He entered the legal profession in 1977 and started his eponymous law firm in 1981. Six years ago, looking to the future, Jack took on a partner—his daughter Erika, a 2009 Syracuse University graduate with a double bachelor’s degree in political science and policy studies and a J.D. from University at Buffalo School of Law.
Now, to honor their family’s ties to Central New York, Syracuse University, and the College of Law, Jack, Betsy (his wife of 34 years), and Erika have created the Schuppenhauer Family Scholarship for College of Law students, through a bequest in their wills. “It’s our way of giving back to the University and College and to acknowledge the future it provided to us,” says Jack.
“It’s Easy as Can be”
As a general practice law firm, estate planning, trusts, and wills are among the services the Schuppenhauer Law Firm offer their clients. To set up their own family bequest, Erika and her parents sat down to look over their wills and decide what legacy this communityminded family wished to leave. “I wanted my will to coincide with my parents’,” says Erika. “Syracuse University was on the top of our list of organizations to bequeath to, and dad especially wanted to donate to the law school.”
The next step was for the family to contact the College of Law Advancement and External Affairs team. “They walked us through the process,” Erika continues. “It’s as easy as can be, and now our wills contain specific bequests to the University and College.”
Located along Canandaigua’s historical, picturesque Main Street—surrounded by nineteenth century brick buildings with mansard roofs and decorative cornices— Jack says his law firm “has given me a great opportunity to get to know people in my community and become involved in local organizations.” Both Jack and Erika volunteer for local charitable organizations, and Jack has served as a part time Canandaigua City Court Judge since 1996.
“Having a small practice provides you with a real identity in the community, as opposed to a large firm to which you might commute from another community,” Jack says, adding that both he and his daughter live only about a mile from their office.
“Take that Challenge”
A family law firm in a pretty Upstate lakeside town might conjure up images of times past, but Jack and Erika acknowledge that technology is evolving the way they practice. “People Google everything now,” observes Erika. “Clients are internet educated, and they shop around. They are more likely to want ’drive by’ legal advice these days.”
“The nature of the law consumer has changed, and people are more astute, and more demanding,” agrees Jack, adding that since his career started in the 1970s, government and statutory regulations also have dramatically changed the legal profession.
Although a relatively new law graduate, Erika says these technological changes appear to have accelerated since she passed the bar. Students, she says, need to pay attention to them.
“I graduated six years ago, yet even I did research in books. Everything is online now, and you have thousands of cases at your fingertips to comb through. Students definitely need to be computer savvy,” she explains, adding that she’s also had to learn how to be a businesswoman as well as how to provide general law services. “Students need to gain customer service skills and business acumen, especially for a small practice.”
“Take every opportunity to learn something new every day.”-Erika Schuppenahuer ’09
Erika admits that when she started out at the Schuppenhauer Law Firm, she had much to learn about how to practice law and help run a business. Then again, her relationship with her mentor is a pretty solid one. “I’ve been so lucky to learn under my dad and to have someone who has taken me under his wing, while being very patient!”
Given her learning curve since graduating law school, Erika’s own advice to law students shouldn’t come as a surprise either. “Take every opportunity to learn something new every day,” she says. “General practice challenges you every single day. So take that challenge and go at it. There will be bumps in the road, but you should keep going!”
The College of Law Continues Its Partnership with the J&K Wonderland Foundation and the JAF Foundation.
In 2019, the College of Law announced two new scholarship programs to enable and encourage talented law students from around the globe to pursue the advanced study of disability rights, policy, and law at Syracuse University. As a measure of their programs’ success in their first year of deployment, both the JAF Foundation and the J&K Wonderland Foundation renewed their scholarship programs for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Meet the 2020-2021 JAF Foundation Scholar
“The JAF Foundation scholarship has enabled me to expand my field of vision and deepen my knowledge in international human rights and disability law.” —Isaac Onyango
The JAF Foundation supports social welfare, conservation, and human rights programs, including academic scholarships. In the College of Law’s case, the Foundation provides scholarship support for scholars from Africa. Isaac Onyango, an LL.M. student from Kenya, received the JAF Foundation Scholarship for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Dedicating his career to advocating for persons with intellectual disabilities, Onyango works as a consultant and strategist for the Downs Syndrome Society of Kenya. There, he leads the investigation of cases involving abuse and exploitation of persons with intellectual disabilities, often traveling to rural areas to interview and collect information for reports to the local police and governing authorities.
Onyango also conducts training for members of the judiciary, prosecutors, and police officers on the rights of persons with intellectual disabilities, and he writes on domestic and international legal frameworks designed to provide and protect these rights and proposed changes and improvements to the laws.
Not surprisingly, as an LL.M. candidate at the College of Law, Onyango is focusing his studies on disability law and international human rights. Explains Onyango,
“The JAF Foundation scholarship is a beacon of hope to international students like myself, and it has enabled me to expand my field of vision and deepen my knowledge in international human rights and disability law, in order to defend the disabled.”
Deepening and translating knowledge into practice —that’s exactly what the Wonderland Foundation aims to promote.
The College of Law Continues Its Partnership with the J&K Wonderland Foundation and the JAF Foundation.
In 2019, the College of Law announced two new scholarship programs to enable and encourage talented law students from around the globe to pursue the advanced study of disability rights, policy, and law at Syracuse University. As a measure of their programs’ success in their first year of deployment, both the JAF Foundation and the J&K Wonderland Foundation renewed their scholarship programs for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Meet the 2020-2021 J&K Wonderland Foundation Scholars
Two students have been named this year’s J&K Wonderland Foundation Scholars: LL.M. student Kwabena Mensah, from Ghana, and J.D. student Matthew Yanez, from California.
“I fully realize how urgent the need is for me to further my studies so as to combat rampant violations of human rights and discrimination.” —Kwabena Mensah
Mensah’s multi-disciplinary background combines his legal education and passion for human rights with his experience as a broadcast journalist, to tell the stories of marginalized people and persons with disabilities in Ghana.
“By the kind courtesy of the J&K Wonderland Foundation scholarship, it is possible for me to pursue my master of laws degree. I am profoundly grateful for this timely and generous gesture amidst the global pandemic,” says Mensah. “I have benefitted from the scholarship award immensely given my desire to pursue a specialization in disability law, yet it wasn’t until I began that I fully realized how urgent the need is for me to further my studies so as to combat rampant violations of human rights and discrimination against the disabled worldwide.”
In 2016, motivated by his observations of the injustices against persons with disabilities, Mensah founded Spread Love Home & Abroad, an NGO that provides mentoring and skills-training to visually impaired persons who desire to enter the workforce. A master’s degree in law will not only open new professional opportunities for Mensah to advocate for the marginalized and vulnerable as a barrister, it will also qualify him to enter academia and teach future generations of disability and civil rights lawyers in his home country.
Mensah reports that after beginning his LL.M. studies at the College of Law, the National Council on Persons with Disabilities in Ghana invited him for a consultation on amending the Disability Law of Ghana (Act 715). He also has been made one of six steering committee members to direct a broad consultation on the preparation of a global report to the United Nations about the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
In other words, Mensah’s College of Law studies are already paying off, and they are yielding exactly the results the J&K Foundation hoped to achieve through its scholarship program—a deep impact in his field, in service of persons with disabilities.
“I intend to use the benefits of this scholarship toward a career in public service focused on the issues I care the most about.” —Matthew Yanez
Matthew Yanez, a Class of 2023 J.D. candidate, is a young disability advocate who is determined to create an inclusive and equitable world for all. Before law school, Yanez worked with several non-profit groups in the field, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the National Association of the Deaf, and Arc of the United States.
Yanez also completed a Disability Law Fellowship with the Coelho Center at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. The Coelho Center’s mission is to cultivate leadership and advance the lives of people with disabilities by, among other things, working to create a pipeline of lawyers and leaders among people with disabilities.
“My journey to law school has been a bumpy road, but my passion for disability rights has never been stronger,” says Yanez. “Thanks to the generosity of the J&K Wonderland Foundation, I’m able to focus on securing summer internships and preparing for my career in law instead of worrying about how I will pay for next semester’s tuition. For people who have never been able to see themselves as legal professionals, this scholarship gives us validation on our own self-worth.”
In addition to his J.D., Yanez will pursue a joint master of public affairs degree at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Policy. He hopes his degrees will give him the tools he needs to help dismantle and eradicate injustices that people of color, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable populations face.
Yanez continues, “I intend to use the benefits of this scholarship toward a career in public service focused on the issues I care the most about. By not having to worry about student loans, I can invest my full attention towards a future of advocacy for equitable and inclusive public policies. My goal is to one day work with the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice. With the help of this scholarship, I am one step closer to realizing that goal.”
In addition to your financial gifts, loyal and engaged Orange alumni help their alma mater in many other ways—from hiring graduates and hosting externs, to guest lecturing and teaching, to coaching and judging advocacy teams.
Every way you contribute makes a difference for our students, not least in the personal professional bonds that are formed among generations of Orange lawyers.
Here we offer a few vignettes about how alums have been offering their time and talent in the past year, and why they do it.
HIRING INTERNS
Welcome to the Future
Pearl Rimon L’14
Pearl Rimon L’14 says she has a “legal job of the future.” That description might be a little tongue-in-cheek, but consider this: her employer—San Francisco-based Rocket Lawyer, a cloud legal service for which Rimon is a Senior Legal Researcher—actually has seen significant growth in business during the coronavirus pandemic. “When everything goes online, that’s when we shine,” says Rimon.
The pandemic also changed Rocket Lawyer’s hiring practices, and Rimon was in a position to look beyond the Bay Area for a summer intern, the best candidate who could assist Rimon remotely, from any location. She reached out to Interim Director of Career Services Sam Kasmarek and together they tapped 3L Dominique Kelly for the job. “Dominique has been great and is staying on through December,” says Rimon, adding that Kelly helps her with the task of ensuring that Rocket Lawyer’s more than 1,000 legal templates are both legally sound and optimized for their clients.
3L Dominique Kelly
One project the pair is currently working on is a new campaign for small business owners, self-employed individuals, and others looking for tax advice. “I would have loved to have done this kind of internship when I was a 3L,” admits Rimon, “because it would have combined my passion for technology and the law.”
In addition to your financial gifts, loyal and engaged Orange alumni help their alma mater in many other ways—from hiring graduates and hosting externs, to guest lecturing and teaching, to coaching and judging advocacy teams.
Every way you contribute makes a difference for our students, not least in the personal professional bonds that are formed among generations of Orange lawyers.
Here we offer a few vignettes about how alums have been offering their time and talent in the past year, and why they do it.
OFFERING CAREER ADVICE
The Optimism and the Energy
There’s an energy about the students that I love,” says Kristen Smith L’05. “It reminds me of what was exciting about law school—the optimism and the energy. It’s good to be around.”
That’s just one of the reasons why Smith, Corporation Counsel for the City of Syracuse, likes to help out with College of Law Orientation. In fall 2020, she was asked to join the student/alumni roundtable and break-out sessions to introduce the incoming class of JDinteractive students to Orange Nation.
“This was my second time helping out at JDi Orientation,” says Smith. “In 2019 it was in Dineen Hall, but this time it was via Zoom. In addition to an open forum, I discussed law school and legal careers. I was very impressed with the technology.”
The students, recalls Smith, asked questions about study habits, how externships work for students with full time jobs, and whether or not an online program graduate will be able to find employment.
Addressing this last question, Smith reminded students that there isn’t much data on employment for online program graduates, “but as long as they have a strong academic record and do well, employers will look at their credentials. Besides, now that law schools are online due to the coronavirus pandemic, a fully online law degree will be less unusual.”
Not only does Smith enjoy the energy and optimism of the matriculating students, she also likes staying connected to her alma mater. “I think that graduates have to stay connected for the sake of the classes that come after us,” she observes. “It’s an important thing to do for an institution we care about.”
In addition to your financial gifts, loyal and engaged Orange alumni help their alma mater in many other ways—from hiring graduates and hosting externs, to guest lecturing and teaching, to coaching and judging advocacy teams.
Every way you contribute makes a difference for our students, not least in the personal professional bonds that are formed among generations of Orange lawyers.
Here we offer a few vignettes about how alums have been offering their time and talent in the past year, and why they do it.
HIRING CLERKS
The Great Experience
Erin Lafayette L’13 (left) is a prime example of why it’s a great idea for students and graduates to keep in touch with the Office of Career Services. She happened to inquire about openings at just the right time in late 2013 when alumnus the Hon. Robert D. Mariani L’76, US District Judge of the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, was looking to hire new clerks.
“I was living in California when I contacted Career Services and learned that Judge Mariani had lost a clerk,” recalls Lafayette. “So I sent in my résumé and was called in for an interview. That was in January 2014. I started two weeks later.”
Lafayette says that Judge Mariani had been on the bench in Scranton, PA, for two years at that point and decided to turn to his alma mater for law clerk candidates. “He also hired Matt Clemente L’14. Matt was hired before me, but I was the first to start. After six months of being a term clerk, it became a permanent job.”
Since Clemente and Lafayette, Judge Mariani has hired Dana Nevins L’16, Carly Rolfe L’20 (pictured, at right), and Kathrine Brisson L’20. “Judge Mariani likes to hire Syracuse graduates because of the great experience he had at the law school and because of what he got out of his education,” explains Lafayette. “Syracuse professors taught him what he needs to know, he tells me.”
Lafayette says that the variety of cases—civil rights, personal injury, constitutional matters, and first and fourth amendment issues—is part of what makes her work so satisfying.
As any clerk knows, that broad docket means plenty of research, reading, and drafting so the court runs smoothly and the judge has the information needed to pass orders and opinions.
“My advice to students looking for a clerkship is focus on your writing skills,” she observes. “You must be able to write clearly, processing information and cases so you can synthesize what you learn and get to the point.”
In addition to your financial gifts, loyal and engaged Orange alumni help their alma mater in many other ways—from hiring graduates and hosting externs, to guest lecturing and teaching, to coaching and judging advocacy teams.
Every way you contribute makes a difference for our students, not least in the personal professional bonds that are formed among generations of Orange lawyers.
Here we offer a few vignettes about how alums have been offering their time and talent in the past year, and why they do it.
JUDGING ADVOCACY COMPETITIONS
This Is a New Era
Joanne Van Dyke L’87
By all reckoning, the second annual Syracuse National Trial Competition—held online Oct. 16 to 18, 2020—went extremely smoothly.
That’s down to the organizational skills of Director of Advocacy Programs Todd Berger, long-time coach Joanne Van Dyke L’87, and Advocacy Program students; technology that enabled online argument and scoring; and scores of volunteer alumni who help to fill an awe-inspiring 150 judge and evaluator spots.
To fill that many positions, Van Dyke turned to Advocacy Program veterans. “We had alum evaluators from California, Florida, Texas, and Georgia—from all over the country,” explains Van Dyke, acknowledging the silver lining that virtual competition affords. “The fact we were able to bring back former students as judges and evaluators was huge. It was great to see them and their enthusiasm.”
Van Dyke adds that she received many emails and thank you cards after the tournament. “Former students said judging SNTC made them feel as though they were back in law school!”
Kaylin Grey L’06
One of those enthusiastic alums was Kaylin Grey L’06. “The tournament was really well run, and I had a blast,” Grey says. “I judged three rounds, and I couldn’t get enough!”
Now a partner in the Miami office of MG+M, Grey coached Syracuse trial teams when she lived in Rochester after graduation, and she was hoping to return to Syracuse to help judge SNTC in-person. “I missed coaching trial teams, so I’m grateful I could get involved this way,” she says. “I was able to reconnect with people I hadn’t seen in a long time.”
According to Van Dyke, engaging the Advocacy Program virtually has inspired some SNTC judges to get even more involved with the Advocacy Program, coaching teams and judging other competitions remotely.
“I will continue to help out,” says Grey. In fact, since SNTC she has coached Syracuse Tournament of Champions and National Civil Trial Competition teams.
Collaboration software isn’t just revolutionizing advocacy tourneys, adds Grey. “I’ve told the young advocates that online is the new thing. Recently, I’ve been doing virtual depositions and evidentiary hearings—this is a new era.”
