For the second consecutive year, Hofstra Law Dean Nora V. Demleitner has been named one of Long Island’s Top 50 Most Influential Women in Business by The Long Island Business News.

The award, sponsored by Hofstra University, LISTnet, the law office of Jaspan Schlesinger LLP, Bank of America, Verizon and The Crest Hollow Country Club, recognizes the contributions of female professionals on the region's economy and communities. The honorees will be recognized at a gala on Thursday, May 14, 2009 at The Crest Hollow Country Club.

“Nora Demleitner is an excellent law professor, prolific legal scholar and innovative leader of Hofstra Law School, which continues to grow its national reputation,” said Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz. “I join the Long Island Business News in recognizing her many accomplishments.”

“I applaud The Long Island Business News for honoring women making an impact in their communities,” said Dean Demleitner. “I share this award with the Hofstra Law faculty, staff, alumni and students who inspire me every day.”

“The culture Dean Demleitner has created is amazing,” said December 2008 Hofstra Law graduate Barbara Dillon. “She is engaged with students and clearly committed to the success of the law school.”

Professor Curtis Pew was quoted in the following National Law Journal article.

FINRA faces blitz of claims
Arbitration cases jump due to unrest.
By Marcia Coyle
National Law Journal
March 30, 2009

EXCERPT:
Accused of lax oversight in the wake of recent financial frauds, FINRA, the largest nongovernmental regulator of securities firms, is now facing an explosion of arbitration claims stemming from troubles in the capital markets.

Moving some of those claims into the FINRA arbitration process are about a dozen law school securities arbitration clinics across the country, which, say their directors, are fielding numerous requests for help, often from elderly investors.

"It's really gone crazy in the last month," said Professor Curtis Pew, director of the clinic at Hofstra University School of Law. "We literally are getting a call a day, and from all over the country. Our funding limits us to people who are linked to our area at the time the claim arose or who are here presently. I just wish I had more money."

Assistant Dean for Career Services Michael J. Ende was quoted in the following Long Island Business News article.

Law school graduates find few seats at area firms
by Michael H. Samuels
Long Island Business News
March 27, 2009

EXCERPT:
Ende said Hofstra holds a series of programs that put alumni and upcoming and recent graduates together, such as a speed networking event, career fairs and a monthly “Discover Your Passion” series hosted by alumni to tell grads how to maintain the passion they have in their practice areas and how to make an impact in the legal, business and social communities.

He added that Hofstra also holds a series of program starting with first-year orientation to boost students’ professional development. The program teaches the students how to build a professional image, from the proper way to communicate via e-mail, to social networking and mock interviews.

“All of it is geared toward getting students and alumni out there, getting them known and in front of the right people,” Ende said. “We are not just trying to get people connected. We want to better prepare them for the job search.

Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law Jeremy J. Sarkin's article titled "An Evaluation of the South African Amnesty Process" was cited in "Truth and Reconciliation: Did the TRC Deliver," Audrey Chapman and Hugo van der Merwe, eds., University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008 and published in Hofstra University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 09-12.

ABSTRACT from SSRN:
This book chapter looks at the South African amnesty process (as opposed to the role of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission broadly). It examines some of the issues that characterized the work of the amnesty committee, from both a process and substantive point of view. It is based on an analysis of the amnesty committee's decisions supplemented by decisions of the various courts that have reviewed the work of the TRC, and the amnesty committee, so as to understand the way the process worked, the interpretation given to the laws, and the manner in which various other factors affected the work of the amnesty committee. It examines the reasons why 7116 individuals applied for amnesty, and why only 1167 of those were granted. Issues also examined include the impact of the investigations unit on the amnesty process, the speed and focus of amnesty hearings, the quality and absence of legal representation, the role of precedence, and the role of victims at the hearing and their role depending on whether they supported or opposed amnesty. The chapter also examines how the committee applied the amnesty law, including its application of the laws regarding full disclosure, political objective, and how the proportionality principle was applied by the amnesty committee.

Professor of Law Alafair Burke was interviewed by Channel 12 News on March 27 regarding the arrest of Leonardo Valdez-Cruz on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend. The victim had previously reported multiple incidents of violence by the defendant, but prosecutors did not pursue charges because the victim was not willing to testify. Professor Burke discussed ways in which prosecutors can prove domestic violence cases without victim testimony, but also discussed the difficulty with such prosecutions.