Alumni and Friends
Over the years, the College of Law has graduated many influential and successful lawyers, business professionals, and financial leaders. We are proud to count among our alumni members of the U.S. Senate and Congress, state senators and assembly members, state attorneys general, and federal and state judges. In addition, many of our alumni have moved into leadership positions in some of the world's largest law firms and into the fields of finance, real estate development, and international business affairs.
Class Notes/Highlights
Syracuse Judge Deborah H. Karalunas L'82 Named Chair of NY State Bar Association's Judicial Section
Judge Deborah H. Karalunas L'82 of Syracuse is the new chair of the 290-member Judicial Section of the New York State Bar Association.
Elected to the State Supreme Court for the Fifth Judicial District in 2002, Karalunas presides over a variety of civil cases, including personal injury, commercial, intellectual property, constitutional and environmental. In 2007, she was appointed presiding justice for the Commercial Division. She previously was a partner of Bond, Schoeneck & King.
Karalunas recently served as assistant presiding member of the Judicial Section. She also is a member of the Commercial and Federal Litigation, Torts, Insurance and Compensation Law, and Trial Lawyers sections.
She served as president of the Central New York Women’s Bar Association. She lectures frequently for state and local bar associations on law and trial practice topics. She also is a regular guest lecturer and moot court judge at Syracuse University College of Law.
Karalunas earned her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and received her law degree from Syracuse University College of Law, cum laude. She is a resident of Jamesville.
The 77,000-member New York State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. It was founded in 1876.
Cold Case Justice Initiative provides documents leading to identification of key suspect in 1964 racially motivated killing
The Cold Case Justice Initiative (CCJI) at Syracuse University College of Law can now identify a new suspect in the 1964 racially motivated killing of Frank Morris in Ferriday, La. Arthur Leonard Spencer has been named in an article written by investigative reporter Stanley Nelson, who writes for the Concordia Sentinel, Ferriday’s local newspaper. In an interview with Nelson, family members revealed that Spencer, a Rayville, La., resident, admitted that he participated with O.C. Poissot, now deceased, and others in the Dec. 10 Klan-sponsored arson that killed Morris in 1964. In addition, The New York Times reported on the discovery of new documents by SU’s Cold Case Justice Initiative and the SU Law students, which helped create a new lead for an unsolved, racially motivated murder case of 1964.
Law professors Paula C. Johnson and Janis L. McDonald, co-directors of the CCJI, met with local and federal prosecutors and advocated for justice in this case on behalf of the family. The work of CCJI law students proved critical in this investigation by locating and identifying thousands of unredacted documents from 1967 related to the case. CCJI provided these vital documents to the Concordia Sentinel and to local and federal law enforcement agencies. “The CCJI is pleased that our research provided the critical foundation for Nelson, leading to the developments reported today,” says Johnson.
A podcast series by and for the members of the Syracuse University Law Alumni Association, SULAA Speaks seeks to share the wisdom of College of Law graduates with current and future alumni.
Syracuse Law Magazine
Fall 2011
The Fall 2011 issue of Syracuse Law Magazine is now available to browse online. Click here to view (here for the mobile version).
Professional Development Programs For Viewing
NETWORKING AND JOB SEARCH STRATEGIES IN THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE
A panel discussion with members of the Syracuse University Law Alumni Association (SULAA) to assist graduates with career search strategies (4-22-2010)
