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Albany Law School

When the new President and Dean Thomas F. Guernsey came on four years ago, he was determined to raise the quality of the Albany Law School experience, as well as raise the national profile of the oldest independent law school in the nation.

To do this he reduced the class size, subsequently sacrificing $4.5 million a year in tuition revenue. Reducing the student-faculty ratio to 14:1, he positioned the school to begin recruiting world-class professors while attracting top students.

Fast forward three years later to 2007. The school has 730 students rather than 950. The bar passage rate for first-time test-takers is the highest its been in 11 years, surpassing the average for all first-time test-takers in New York state by almost 10 percent. And more alumni gave more money last year than ever before in the school's history.

Further, two nationally known professors holding endowed chairs at other universities came on board in the past two years.

This year the school received a $1 million gift for the Law Clinic & Justice Center, given by the widow of an alumna to honor her late husband. The endowment fund will solidify a health law clinic program to represent low-income clients with cancer or other chronic medical conditions, and provide training on legal rights for clients, advocates, health care staff, physicians, and law and medical students.

≴When a family honors their loved one by responding to a program with this kind of generosity, I know we're pursuing the right path,≵ said Dean Guernsey.

For the past several months the school received a boost in national media coverage when the former governor of Iowa, Tom Vilsack, an Albany Law graduate, announced his plan to run for president. As the first formal Democrat in the race, he drew a lot of attention, which subsequently turned media eyes to the school.

Further, both candidates for the N.Y. state attorney general’s race were alumni -- Andrew Cuomo and former Westchester County district attorney Jeanine Pirro. Cuomo won the contest and is now the state’s attorney general.

Government Law

As the only law school in the capital of New York State and within a 100-mile radius, the school has a strong government law program, and the first Government Law Center in the nation. Along with the attorney general, the school has numerous alumni in government, like Michael Garcia, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York, Kristine Hamann, Inspector General, Astric Glynn, Transportation Commissioner, two senators and five assembly members, 75 lawyers in the attorney general’s office, and 50 in the Supreme Court Appellate Division, to name just a few of the 900-plus New York attorneys.

Along with a former U.S president – William McKinley – and two Supreme Court Justices – David Brewer and Robert Jackson -- other notable alumni include Richard D. Parsons, Chairman and CEO, Time Warner, Inc. , David Beier, Senior Vice President of Global Government Affairs, Amgen, Frank L. Fernandez, Former Executive Vice President & General Counsel, The Home Depot Inc., Wai B. Zee , Chief Counsel, Asia Pacific Division of Levi Strauss & Co., and Dale Skivington, Chief Privacy Officer, Eastman Kodak Company.

IP Law

The school recently announced its new Master of Science in Legal Studies with a Concentration in Tech Tranfer, to begin fall 2007, believed to be the only one of its kind in the nation. Albany Law partnered with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for this degree, where it will offer graduate level business classes to go with legal classes like patents, contracts, ADR, etc.

The school’s IP law program supplements its Science and Technology Center. The Center conducts research, writing, and educational outreach on legal and policy issues that impact technology development and commercialization. A student-driven Science and Technology Journal, begun in 1990, is dedicated to the development of the law as it relates to the sciences and the increasing effect of technology upon society. It’s ranked 5 overall and 4 most cited student-edited non-refereed Science and Technology Journal in the nation.www.albanylawjournal.org.

The Law Clinic

The school’s Law Clinic and Justice Center might be its best known entity. Along with its newest Securities Arbitration Clinic, where faculty-supported students represent low-income or other underserved investors who have been victimized by investment brokers, it runs five other clinics. These all provide students opportunities to work alongside committed clinical faculty and practicing attorneys to assist low-income clients with real legal issues relating to health law, HIV/AIDS, disabilities, domestic violence, disputes with the Internal Revenue Service, and securities arbitration matters.

Knowledge Empowers

For practicing attorneys, the school also offers the advanced LL.M. degree for both domestic and international law school graduates. With 55 full-time faculty and 54 part-time faculty, the campus is intimate and supportive.

The faculty is dedicated and accessible and students have access to New York's highest court, federal courts and the state legislature, as well as a thriving tech-based economy. The open-campus policy always welcomes prospective students, family and bar members to visit www.albanylaw.edu