The program’s first cohort of law students at its launch in 2006. Kneeling: Dominika Tanianis ’06, Fan Zhang ’06 and Richard Lam ’07. Middle Row: Amanda Weir ’06, Jesse O. George ’06 and Tracey M. (Stephen) Rinaldi ’06.
Back Row: Lawrence S. Rosenthal ’07 (JD/MBA), Shawn C. Graham ’06, Michael A. Rodriguez ’06, Ryan M. Mead ’07 (JD/MBA), Edward J. Snyder II ’06, Justin M. Whittaker ’06 and Shane Kiernan ’06.
New York City Program Celebrates Twenty Years of Opportunity
At its founding, it was a grand experiment in immersive education. Now, as it marks its 20th anniversary, the New York City Program in Business and Law has become one of UB Law’s signature assets—launching countless successful careers.
Students spend a full semester in the city exploring the world of finance and business law. Founded as the New York City Program in International Finance and Law, the program has evolved to address a broad range of commercial practices. Topics from year to year might include asset management, bank regulation, commercial real estate, compliance, health care, investment banking, private equity or venture capital funds, sports law and white-collar crime.
Prof. David (Bert) Westbrook
“The key to the program is practice,” says David A. Westbrook, Louis A. Del Cotto Professor and the program’s current director. “We’ve always invited practitioners to speak about what they do. It’s an inversion of the standard law school approach—we work from actual legal practices outward toward the legal doctrines behind them. Understanding the law evolves organically out of what lawyers are trying to do for their clients, that is, in a business environment.”
Students are taught by UB Law alumni and others working in the most important legal and financial market in the world. The program’s range of practitioners keep it real, using their own work to provide practical points of entry into the vast and sometimes bewildering possibilities afforded by the city. Invariably, alumni encourage the students to reach out and email them or invite them to grab a cup of coffee—informal invitations to become valued members of professional communities. Time and again the personal contacts and informal mentoring have created pathways to job offers where a resume alone might not.
“We want to get students in a position where they are ready to launch their professional lives,” Westbrook says. “The city is always an incredible experience, and for many of them it’s also an incredible way to begin a career.”
Alumni and friends not only teach classes, mentor and hire our graduates, they provide vital financial support for the program by contributing to its endowment, with the goal of making this signature asset self-sustaining. Last year, under the leadership of Dean S. Todd Brown, the law school also began the New York City Pipeline initiative, designed to increase the school’s presence across the entire state and especially in the city. As part of that effort, the school is making the Manhattan-based program more accessible to all students by facilitating housing at 92NY (formerly the 92nd Street Y).
Join us at a 20th Anniversary Celebration for our New York City Program
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Held in conjunction with the presentation of our 2026 Edwin F. Jaeckle Award to longtime advocate and supporter of the NYC Program
David Franakiak ‘78
In addition to our volunteers at the heart of the program, the rich experience students enjoy today reflects the foundational efforts of many faculty members.
Professor Philip Halpern, one of the founding faculty members is now retired, as is the founding dean, R. Nils Olsen. Halpern launched the program with former UB Law Professor Amy Deen Westbrook (now the Norman R. Pozez Chair in Business and Transactional Law at Washburn Law). Clinical Professor Emeritus Lauren Breen and Professor Stuart Lazar have also served as directors.
Among the lives transformed by the New York City Program: Michael Rodriguez ’06 and Dominika Tanianis ’06, who spent their final law school semester in Manhattan.
It was the program’s inaugural year. Two decades later, they’re married and doing financial markets work at Purrington Moody Weil.
“If you want to do finance, you can’t just learn it from a textbook, you have to learn from a practitioner,” Rodriguez says.
“The program definitely provided a leg up for me when interviewing,” Tanianis says. “I remember learning about derivatives and being able to discuss them in an interview.”
Jaynie Doe '21
Other graduates of the program have gone on to work at leading law firms and global financial institutions, including Bank of America, Davis Polk, Fried Frank, Goldman Sachs, KKR and White & Case.
“The New York City Program was a great primer as I prepared to start my career,” says Jaynie Doe ’21, now an associate in the Dallas office of Kirkland & Ellis, where she concentrates on debt finance. “In the beginning, I had little to no insight into finance and business law practices, but through the program, both my knowledge and my professional network in the New York City area grew significantly. Thanks to the program, I was well equipped to hit the ground running.”