Dean’s Dispatch – Alumni | May 2019

From the desk of Dean Boise

With great pride I hosted the College of Law Commencement on May 10 in the Dome. It was a joyful and inspiring ceremony attended by family, friends, faculty, alumni, and—joining me on stage—members of the local judiciary, a welcome and continuing Commencement tradition. We conferred 219 Juris Doctor degrees and 35 Masters of Laws degrees. Thirty-three J.D. students graduated with one of our 13 dual degrees, while 49 earned high honors, including five who graduated summa cum laude.

Reshma Saujani, CEO of Girls Who Code, delivered the Commencement Address. Reminding the students—rightly—that “some of our world’s greatest, boldest, brightest legal minds have sat exactly where you’re sitting here today,” Reshma used as an example her experience diversifying the computer programming industry to implore graduates to do the same in the legal profession. “We need bravery from you,” she said, “a new kind of bravery.” I also had the honor of introducing Sierra Leonean human rights lawyer and advocate Zainab Bangura, who received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from me at the University Commencement on Sunday.

Class president Brian Kim L’19 and LL.M. Senator Aili Obandja LL.M. ’19 addressed their classmates, conferring, respectively, the Res Ipsa Loquitur Award on Assistant Teaching Professor Emily Brown L’09 and the Lucet Lex Mundum Award on Teaching Professor Shannon Gardner. The beautiful singing voice of Alicia Loomis L’19 led the audience in both the National Anthem and the Alma Mater.

This celebration—which continued with a champagne reception in Dineen Hall—was an uplifting conclusion to a busy and fruitful school year. Please enjoy this photo gallery as you reflect back fondly on your own Commencement exercises.

College of Law News

Advocacy Honor Society Named for Professor Emeritus Travis H.D. Lewin

At the Advocacy Honor Society’s annual banquet on April 26, I announced that our student-run advocacy competition organization will now be known as the Travis H.D. Lewin Advocacy Honor Society. In doing so, we honor the faculty member who was instrumental in creating what was, in the early 1970s, a ground-breaking program and who oversaw years of high-profile moot court competition successes.

Professor Emeritus Lewin has made a profound impact on the history of our College and on the lives and careers of our students, especially in courtrooms nationwide. Naming the Advocacy Honor Society for him ensures that future generations of advocates are aware of its roots and of the innovation it represented when it was created.

College of Law to Hold Syracuse National Trial Competition

The College has invited applications from other law schools nationwide to compete in the Syracuse National Trial Competition (SNTC), a new invitational advocacy competition that will take place in Syracuse city courtrooms and at the College of Law, October 10-12. According to Director of Advocacy Programs Todd Berger, 12 law school teams will be selected to compete, based on the quality of a school’s advocacy program and on wide geographic diversity.

I applaud Professor Berger and Joanne VanDyke L’87 for this initiative. The College has a stellar reputation for the quality and scope of our Advocacy Program and for our student successes at the regional and national levels of major competitions. The visibility the College will garner from hosting a new national trial invitational—and the level of competition we expect will take place—present a significant opportunity for our students and for the College as a whole. More details to come!

Law Review Symposium Addresses Impacts of Online Education on Law Schools & the Legal Profession

On April 26, the College hosted a first-of-its-kind law review symposium on online education and its impact on law schools and the legal profession. “Online Learning and the Future of Legal Education” convened a diverse group of leading thinkers—including a number of current and former law school deans—to discuss best practices in online learning, to share learning models, and to explore the implications for the legal profession and access to justice more broadly.

As I described in thanking the distinguished participants, “What I learned at the Symposium validates my belief that we have arrived at a critical and exciting inflection point in the delivery of legal education. Improvements in online pedagogy and delivery give us—indeed, force us—to rethink how we do legal education and what it means to ‘do it right’!”

A Syracuse Law Review Vol. 70 special issue will feature the Symposium’s extensive scholarship.

College of Law Hosts International Property Law Conference

Professor Robin Paul Malloy hosted the successful 10th anniversary Association for Law, Property, and Society (ALPS) conference on May 16-18. The conference began on May 16 with a field trip to the Oneida Nation to discuss land-based sovereign revitalization and legal challenges. The next day, Haudenosaunee dancers welcomed attendees from across the country and globe to Dineen Hall. It was a welcome and spirited way to get the limbs moving before two full days of panels on property law, land use, estates, urban planning, land reform, housing and justice, landscape management, and many other topics.

Professor Malloy conceived of ALPS, and he—along with professors Christian Day and Terry Turnipseed—chartered the organization in 2009. ALPS is uniquely diverse and global in its reach and in the property law topics it addresses. Indeed, 91 property law scholars participated from across the US, plus 29 from Europe, 11 from Canada, nine from South Africa, seven from Australia, four from Mexico, and two each from Nigeria and Asia. College of Law scholars Robert Ashford, Jennifer Breen, Chris Day, Doron Dorfman, Robin Malloy, and Mary Szto were among the participants.

Please enjoy this photo gallery of the conference.

Alumni News

College of Law Community Members Among Pro Bono Champions

Congratulations to all 2019 Pro Bono Champions of the Volunteer Lawyers Project of Onondaga County, including (pictured, L to R) Colleen Gibbons L’17, 2L Joana Coloma, 2L Adam Martin, and BreAnna Avery L’17. The honorees were celebrated at an April 25 Volunteer Appreciation Event at the CNY Philanthropy Center in Syracuse, NY.

Student News

NTC Team Reaches Elite Eight, Wins Tiffany Cup

This year’s National Trial Competition (NTC) finals were held in San Antonio, TX, on March 27-31. Having won its regional round, the College of Law NTC team advanced with 29 other teams to the national finals, where it reached the quarterfinals.

Furthermore, the team of Dennis Scanlon L’19 and rising 3L Adam Leydig won the prestigious Tiffany Cup. Established in 1974, the Tiffany Cup was created by the Trial Lawyers Section of the New York State Bar Association. It is awarded to the New York State law school whose team has the highest cumulative point total at the NTC.

The cup will be on display in Dineen Hall for one year. Additionally, the College of Law collects a check for $7,500 and a plaque listing 2019 NTC Team members and coaches. The NTC finals team was coached by Joanne Van Dyke L’87, Jeff Leibo L’03, Justin St. Louis L’17, and Professor Emeritus Travis H.D. Lewin.

Reaching the Pinnacle

It was my pleasure to open the 2019 Pinnacle Awards ceremony in the Melanie Gray Ceremonial Courtroom on May 9. The name “Pinnacle Awards” is apt. They celebrate students who exemplify the spirit of the College through dedication and service, and they award work that has contributed to the life of the College and our community, as well as scholarship that explores how the law impacts all of us. Please enjoy this photo gallery of the event.

Trial Practice Class Continues Its Collaboration with Cayuga County Sheriff’s Department

The third annual collaboration between Adjunct Professor Lee Michaels’ L’67 trial practice section and the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Department continued an important trend of law enforcement participation in the College of Law’s Advocacy Program. In Spring 2019, four final trials for the students took place, each with a member of the Sheriff’s Department as a guest witness.

This long-term collaboration is mutually beneficial as officers hone their testimony skills during the mock trials, while students get essential courtroom practice. In addition to the guest witnesses, the trials welcomed four guest judges, including David Thurston L’04, a former student of Michaels, and Joanne VanDyke L’87, longtime coach and mentor to the College’s intercollegiate trial teams.

Students Present Current Issues in Zoning to Regional Planning and Zoning Officials

In partnership with the Town of DeWitt, NY, the College sponsored a four-hour continuing zoning education program in April 2019 for planning and zoning officials from Onondaga and Madison counties. Professor Robin Paul Malloy delivered the program along with four Advanced Zoning Law students: Chris Baiamonte L’19, Maria Zumpano L’19, and 2Ls John Dowling and Zach Sonallah.

The 60 people in attendance—including DeWitt Zoning Board Attorney Donald Doerr L’88 and real estate developer Marc Malfitano L’78—learned about current issues in zoning related to Article 78 appeals, accessory uses, non-conforming uses, issues related to the legalization of marijuana, and land use law and disability.

Molly D’Agostino L’19 Wins First Place in the NYBPC Tech and Entertainment Section

Molly D’Agostino L’19 won first place and a $10,000 prize in the Technology and Entertainment Section of the New York Business Plan Competition (NYBPC). D’Agostino’s business—Our Song Co.—writes custom songs and offers media services for couples and weddings. Speaking to how her legal studies have contributed to her business venture, D’Agostino says, “The most valuable thing law school has contributed to my business is my experience with the Innovation Law Center. I knew I had a unique idea, and I wanted to learn how to protect it. What I discovered through ILC helped me craft my strategy.”

Faculty & Department News

Peter Blanck Joins Policy & Governance Panel at Autonomous Systems Policy Symposium

Burton Blatt Institute Chairman Peter Blanck joined colleagues from across Syracuse University at “Autonomous Systems and their Policy, Law, and Governance Implications,” a one-day symposium on May 6. The Symposium—along with Blanck’s panel on Policy and Governance of Autonomous Systems—is part of a new, cross-campus initiative by the University to explore technology, policy, legal, and social implications of autonomous systems.

Professor Tara Helfman Appointed White House Associate Counsel

Professor Tara Helfman has been appointed White House Associate Counsel to the President. An Associate Professor of Law, Helfman teaches contracts, constitutional law, the law of the sea, and international law. Before this appointment, she served as a Senior Counsel at the US Department of Justice, beginning in July 2017.

How You Can Make a Difference

If you have already made your annual gift to the College of Law, I am deeply grateful. A gift to the Annual Fund is an immediate and impactful way to support and expand our successful academic, research, and programmatic initiatives. Moreover, a gift made before June 30 will help our planning as we prepare to welcome the incoming Class of 2022!

Help Support Our Recent Graduates!

Help ease the stress and long hours of bar prep by participating in the annual Bar Prep Care Package Program. Participating is as easy as visiting the program’s Amazon Wish List, adding items to your cart, and checking out. Purchases are sent directly to Associate Director of Student Affairs for Academic and Bar Support Courtney Abbott Hill L’09. Items will be assembled into packages and distributed throughout the summer to our graduates preparing for the bar exam.

Thank you to Syracuse University Law Alumni Association President Amy Vanderlyke Dygert L’06 for spearheading this initiative in support of recent law graduates studying hard for the bar!

Plus, when you welcome our newest alumni peers to the SULAA family by using Amazon Smile, you can simultaneously purchase care package items and donate a small percentage of your purchase to the charity of your choice.

For Your Calendar

Law Alumni Weekend: A Weekend You Don’t Want to Miss!

Sept. 19-21, 2019

Make your travel plans now and take advantage of our special hotel rates.

PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Syracuse Law Honors Award ceremony and cocktail reception.
• Annual State of the College Address.
• Annual Celebration of Alumni of Color.
• Student and Alumni Reception.
• CLE session on ethics, with the Hon. James E. Baker, Director, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism.
• Lunch with the Judiciary, with the Hon. Glenn T. Suddaby L’85, US District Judge, Northern District of New York.
• Supreme Court Preview, with Jess Bravin, The Wall Street Journal SCOTUS Correspondent (CLE credits).
• Saturday Breakfast, with author Jodé Millman L’79 (Jodé will be reading from, discussing, and signing copies of her new thriller, The Midnight Call).
• Orange vs. Western Michigan football game. Tickets for alums are just $20: contact Connor Siskovic at or 315.443.6363. Plus, tailgate before the game!

Upcoming Alumni Receptions

• Syracuse Alumni Reception
  June 6; 6 p.m. | Otro Cinco, 206 S. Warren St., Syracuse NY 13202
• Raleigh Alumni Reception
  June 18; 5:30 p.m. | Rey’s Restaurant, 1130 Buck Jones Rd., Raleigh, NC 27606
• Buffalo Alumni Reception
  June 24; 5:30 p.m. | Home of William Mattar L’89 and Kathleen Mattar (for more information, contact Kristen Duggleby).
• DC Alumni Reception
  July 24; 6 p.m. | City Tap House Penn Quarter, 901 9th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001

To register for events, contact Director of Alumni Relations Kristen Duggleby at  or 315.443.9532.

Alumni Events

Catching Up in Rochester

What an excellent turnout for our Rochester, NY, Alumni Reception on May 14! Around 60 alums caught up with former classmates, friends, and me and my staff at The Country Club of Rochester. I shared thoughts about our recent academic and programmatic innovations and invited our near neighbors back to Syracuse in September for Law Alumni Weekend.

In fact, so successful was our get-together that a prospective student in attendance made her commitment decision there and then. It just goes to show how influential alumni can be to our recruitment efforts! Thank you, Rochester-area alums and especially Joseph Casion L’99 and Kathia Casion L’98 for being our gracious hosts.

For More Information

Questions? Please contact Sophie Dagenais, Assistant Dean for Advancement and External Affairs, at or 315.443.4536, or Kristen Duggleby, Director of Alumni Relations at or 315.443.1964.

Contact us at 315.443.1964 or to send us your news. Remember, you can also update your contact information on ’Cuse Community.

I’ll keep you updated on our news in future editions of the Dean’s Dispatch, and for those of you who use social media, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram for timely updates and photographs.

You also can connect with me on my own LinkedIn account.