Frank G. Raichle Pre-Law Center Highlights 2019-2020
College Mock Trial Team Wins Awards
The college’s Mock Trial team competed in the American Mock Trial Association 2020 Great Lakes Regional Tournament held at Buffalo State College February 8-9, 2020. The seven team members did well in the four rounds of competition, and two members of the Canisius team, freshman Alfonso Castillo and junior Rianna Iorillo (pictured below with team coach attorney Wil Lorenz ’09) received top All-Region Witness and Attorney awards, respectively. This was the second year in a row that Iorillo, the student coordinator of the Mock Trial team, won the Top Attorney Award at the Great Lakes Regional.
International Law Expert Delivers the 34th Raichle Law Lecture
Harold H. Koh, Sterling Professor of International Law and former dean of the Yale Law School appeared at Canisius on Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 7:15 p.m. in the Grupp Fireside Lounge to deliver the 34th lecture in the Frank G. Raichle Lecture Series on Law in American Society. Koh, one of the country’s leading experts in public and private international law, national security law and human rights, served as the Legal Adviser to the State Department during the Obama administration, spoke on “The Trump Administration and International Law.” Past speakers in the Raichle lecture series have included Supreme Court Chief Justices Rehnquist and Roberts, Associate Justices White, Scalia, O’Connor and Ginsburg, and many leading professors and public officials including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch and New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. The 35th lecture, featuring Georgetown University Law Professor Randy Barnett, which was scheduled to have been held on March 25, 2020 has been postponed to 2021 due to the Corona virus.
3+3 Accelerated Program with U.B. Law School
Canisius University undergraduate students interested in a legal career now have the opportunity to apply to the University at Buffalo School of Law one year early through a new 3+3 Accelerated BA/BS Plus JD program. Available to first-year students beginning in fall 2020, the new program will enable students from a variety of majors to complete their undergraduate education and law degree in less time (and at less cost) than the traditional seven years required.
Canisius students continue to receive law school scholarships. Members of the Class of 2019 who were awarded significant scholarships include Political Science and Urban Studies major Mario Caito at William & Mary Law School, Biology major Allyson Corigliano, at George Washington University Law School, and Journalism and Sports Management major Canio Marasco at the University at Buffalo Law School.
Pre-Law Scholarships Awarded to Eight Students
Eight Canisius students were awarded partial pre-law scholarships for the 2019-20 academic year. The pre-law scholarship program began in 1982 with the creation of the Raichle scholarships, endowed by prominent attorney Frank G. Raichle, a member of the college’s Board of Trustees and benefactor of the pre-law program. Additional pre-law scholarships, which are awarded on a competitive basis to outstanding junior and senior pre-law students, have been endowed in memory of Canisius alumni who became prominent judges such as Hon. Michael F. Dillon (’50), who served as Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court. This year’s scholarships were conferred on the student recipients at a dinner in September which their parents and members of the Desmond Society of alumni lawyers also attended.
Commencement Awards to Outstanding Pre-Law Graduates
The Albert R. Mugel Award is presented at commencement by the Raichle Pre-Law Center to a senior intending to pursue a career in law and whose achievements, individual character, and dedication to the welfare of the community best exemplify the career and ideals of Albert R. Mugel, a former trustee and benefactor of the Raichle Center. The Mugel Award was bestowed on two members of the class of 2019: Natassia Tuhovak, who is attending Lewis & Clerk Law School in Portland, Oregon, and Mario Caito, who is attending William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Annual Phi Alpha Delta Trip to Washington, D.C.
Members of the Desmond pre-law chapter of the national law fraternity Phi Alpha Delta went on the 29th annual Washington, D.C. excursion on April 7-9, 2019 the highlights of which included visting the Supreme Court and meeting with one of Justice Thomas’s law clerks, touring FBI headquarters hosted by a Canisius alumnus FBI agent, touring Congress, and meeting with Canisius alumni working for the FBI, the Department of Justice, members of Congress and DC law firms. This year’s trip, which was to have included a White House tour and trip to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, was postponed due to the COVID shutdown.
Constitution Day Events
The college’s annual observance of Constitution Day is held on September 19, and sponsored by the Raichle Pre-Law Center. The 2018 observance featured a forum on the topic “The Nomination and Confirmation Process for Supreme Court Justices”. The discussion was led by Buffalo State College Political Science Professor and Canisius alumnus (’91) Peter Yacobucci, PhD and Raichle Pre-Law Center Director Robert Klump (’79). Attorney and Adjunct Professor Stacey Moar (04) moderated the event, which included a lively discussion of the controversy surrounding the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. The 2019 observance consisted of a Jeopardy-style quiz event on the Constitution and its amendments.
Law School "Soup to Nuts" Session
On November 7, 2019, over thirty Canisius students attended the annual Law School “Soup to Nuts” event at which Raichle Center Director Robert Klump and former Director Prof. Peter Galie conducted a comprehensive review of preparing for law school, the law school application process, the legal job market and how to enhance your chances for success in getting a job after graduation from law school.
Law-Related Internships
The Raichle Pre-Law Center, with the help of the college’s Desmond Society of alumni attorneys and judges, endeavors to place law school bound students in summer internship with law firms, government law offices such as the U.S. Attorney’s and the Buffalo Corporation Counsel, and corporate law departments.
