UB Law Students Honored at Commencement

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Forty-five graduates of the Law School received awards during the law school's 1999 commencement ceremony.

The award winners:

• Elizabeth Ann Reiter of Buffalo received The Max Koren Award, which honors the senior judged by the faculty to be the most outstanding member of the graduating class. This award is supported by a gift from the late M. Robert Koren, son of Max Koren, one-time chair of the UB Council and a 1944 UB law-school graduate. Reiter also received the Carlos C. Alden Award as the senior making the greatest contribution to the Buffalo Law Review.

• Gerald Bamberger of Rochester received The John N. Bennett Achievement Award for the member of the graduating class who, according to the faculty and the dean, has exemplified the highest standards of the profession by virtue of scholastic achievement, leadership and dedication to the ideals of the law school. Baumberger also was a joint recipient, along with Melissa Renee Brown of Amherst, of The Judge William J. Regan Award. The Regan Award is presented to the member of the graduating class who has demonstrated the greatest proficiency in estates and surrogate's law, and who is motivated by a strong concern for public service and public welfare.

• Kinda Serafi of Rye received The Dale S. Margulis Award recognizing the member of the graduating class who contributed the most to the law school and the community. Serafi also received The Law Faculty Award recognizing graduating students who have made outstanding contributions to the law school community. In addition, she was elected to The Order of Barristers, a national oralist society whose members include students who have shown dedication and who have excelled in the art of oral advocacy and service to the Moot Court board.

• Joseph B. Laino of Clarence Center and Roseanne J. Shaw of Buffalo jointly received The Charles Dautch Award as the graduating senior who demonstrated the greatest proficiency in courses, examinations and independent research in the law of real property.

• Christopher Louis Facobs of Buffalo received The Adolf Homburger Law Alumni Association Award as the graduating senior whose academic achievements in civil procedure and whose compassion for people best exemplifies the qualities that Adolf Homburger, a UB law school faculty member from 1960-77, sought to instill in his students.

• Marc William Brown of Williamsville received The Judge Matthew J. Jasen Appellate Practice Award for course work and Moot Court-competition participation that showed outstanding achievement in appellate advocacy. Brown also received The Law Faculty Award and was elected to The Order of Barristers. In addition, he received the UB Law Alumni Association's GOLD Group Award for the graduating law student who has demonstrated outstanding leadership skills in advancing the mission of the law school and enhancing its reputation for excellence in legal education.

• Timothy Patrick Noonan of Buffalo received The David Kochery Award as the graduating senior who has taken an active part in the student community through service and involvement in one or more student organizations, and who has performed exceptionally well in courses in civil procedure and remedies. Noonan also received The Robert J. Connelly Trial Technique Award recognizing students who have the best performance records in the course in trial technique.

• Mimi May May Wong of Brooklyn received the Laidlaw Law Alumni Association Award, which is given to the students who, according to the faculty, have demonstrated the most outstanding performance in the area of commercial law. Wong also received the American Bankruptcy Institute Medal for Excellence in Bankruptcy for demonstrating excellence in the study of bankruptcy law.

• Ahern Brooke Astudillo of Williamsville received the Kenneth A. Gomez Memorial Award, presented to the law student who contributed most to the goals of equality and justice for all minorities. Astudillo also received The Law Faculty Award and was elected to The Order of Barristers.

• Katherine E. Cauley of Tonawanda received The Birzon Prize in Clinical Legal Studies, recognizing her excellence in the clinical and trial advocacy program. Cauley also was presented The Moot Evidence Award for the best performance in the area of evidence.

• Robert J. Gutowski of Wappingers Falls received the Justice Philip Halpern Award, which is given to a graduating senior for excellence in writing for the Buffalo Law Review.

• Tennessee Dickenson of Bolivar received the Lavender Gavel Award recognizing outstanding efforts and accomplishments in the pursuit of lesbian and gay visibility, dignity and civil rights. Dickenson also received a Law Faculty Award.

• Neil Frood of York and George D. Marron of Rochester jointly received The Prentice-Hall Award for outstanding academic performance in the area of taxation. They also received The Law Faculty Award.

• Kimberly Forte of Williamsville and Mia Marie McFarlane of Eggertsville jointly received The Maurice Frey Award recognizing the member of the graduating class whose academic performance in the area of family law is most exceptional. They also received The Law Faculty Award. In addition, Forte received The Robert J. Connelly Trial Technique Award.

• Kimberly Alina Balthaser of Buffalo received The New York State Bar Association/Law Student Bar Association Achievement Award recognizing activities conducted through the state, national or local bar associations that constitute a positive contribution to the aims of the legal profession.

• Paige Leslie Rizzo Mecca of Buffalo received The Ethics Award recognizing either the "best written article, essay or other exposition on the subject of legal professional responsibility or legal ethics" or "a substantial action or activity in furtherance of legal professional responsibility or legal ethics."

Other members of the graduating class receiving The Law Faculty Award for outstanding contributions to the law school community were:

• Patricia Marie Costanzo of Elma

• Theresa Marie Cusimano of Washington, D.C.

• Ryan Elizabeth Harden of North Tonawanda

• Stacy Renee Sandusky of Grand Island

• David John Hoffman of Hamburg

• Rochelle D. Jackson of Buffalo

• Joane Si Ian Wong of Ridgewood

Students elected to The Order of Barristers, a national oralists honors society whose members include students who have shown dedication and who have excelled in the art of oral advocacy and service to the Moot Court board, include:

• Darleen V. Gawron of West Seneca

• Kathleen Jane Martin of Buffalo

• Brendan James Reagan of Addison

• Jeffrey Francis Reina of North Tonawanda

• Patrick James Roth of Addison

• Molly Ann Sleiman of Amherst

• Nancy Beth Saunders of Corinth. Saunders also received The Robert J. Connelly Trial Technique Award.

Other students who received The Robert J. Connelly Trial Technique Awards recognizing the best performance record in the course in trial technique were:

• Enrique Benitez, II of Howard Beach

• Michael S. Cerrone of Orchard Park

• Andrew David Fanizzi of Bridgeport

• Leonor Feliz of New York City

• Olivier Gibbons of Rochester

• Michael Joseph Lovecchio of Liverpool

• Rebecca Ann Monck of Staten Island

• Charles Edward Moynihan of Farmington

• Patrick George Stafford of West Seneca

• Kristin Kathleen Stein of Rochester

• Kathryn Jennifer Yerge of Buffalo