Judge Pigott, the third of eight children, grew up on a farm near Rochester, N.Y. In addition to farming, his father was an autoworker and his mother was a telephone operator. He went to Le Moyne College in Syracuse before applying to UB Law “because it was the best bargain in law schools in the country.” He was drafted after attending for six weeks. When he returned from Vietnam, he was on the GI Bill and the law school waived his tuition.  

Dean Makau Mutua offered opening remarks. Thomas Black ’79, chair of the Dean’s Advisory Council, spoke about the faculty and their service. James Magavern '59 and Hon. Leslie Foschio '65, served as masters of ceremony.  

Lauren Rachlin graduated from Harvard Law School in 1951. His father, Harry A. Rachlin, graduated from UB Law in 1926. Lauren Rachlin was concerned after his father passed that a generation of great lawyers, who served as the bridge between the turn of the century and the midcentury, were lost. Names such as Dean Carlos Alden, Guy Moore (who prosecuted President McKinley’s assassin), Walter and Bill Mahoney (brilliant brothers on opposite sides of the political fence) and Harold Boreanaz (a great criminal defense attorney) could be forgotten. He saw the need for an oral history project and became an advocate and supporter, to memorialize a great law school and the legal tradition of Western New York.

Professor Reis taught at UB law school under approximately 12 deans. The most significant was the one he met first, Dean Jacob D. Hyman. Reis was only 24 years old when he met Dean Hyman in Chicago. Reis remembers him as a thoughtful and kind gentleman. Later, when Reis saw that UB was interviewing, his recollection of Hyman was the primary reason he was attracted to applying for a faculty position in Buffalo.

Judge Rodwin grew up in New Jersey and then moved to Connecticut. She attended Douglas College in New Jersey, the women’s college of Rutgers University, an affordable state school. Her parents were educators and emphasized the importance of education and community service to her and her two sisters. Her mother, a college professor, served as a professional role model for Judge Rodwin.

Rosenbaum was a business student at the University of Toledo, Ohio, planning to become an accountant, as his family business was growing. Halfway through his second year, he realized that accounting wasn’t for him and he switched to finance. He was unsure of his future when a close friend mentioned the LSAT exam. He did well on the LSAT, which piqued his interest in becoming a lawyer.

Trini Ross grew up in Buffalo with two siblings. She attended Hutchinson-Central Technical High School for engineering; SUNY Fredonia for her undergraduate degree; Rutgers University in Newark, N.J., for a master’s in criminal justice; and UB School of Law.

Laurence Rubin grew up in a Jewish household in the ’60s and ’70s. His brother was seven years older. The family lived in the Bronx and Queens before moving to Forest Hills, N.Y. He attended college at SUNY New Paltz. Politically active, and with a strong public service ethic instilled by his mother, Rubin sued the Ulster County Board of Elections when he was prevented from registering New Paltz students to vote. That lawsuit inspired him to apply to law school. “I was accepted at UB, met a local girl, and 45 years later I am still in Buffalo.”

Born in Philadelphia, Judge Rufe studied political science at Adelphi University, from which she graduated in 1970. Attending UB law school was “happenstance,” she said. She was young, married, teaching high school and had just had a baby when her husband was transferred to Buffalo. Neither of them knew anything about Buffalo, but she agreed to move if she could pursue her longtime dream of going to law school. She had read Nancy Drew, watched Perry Mason, and knew she wanted to pursue a career in the law.

When Judge Russell was a high school student, the Buffalo Community Action Organization took him on a college tour to visit historically Black colleges. When Russell visited Atlanta, he decided to attend Morehouse College. He then attended Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C. He chose to pursue a law career because “it is an honorable profession” and he wanted to help people. His family has always supported his choice and motivated him to do well.

Judge Stephanie Saunders, a Buffalo native, attended public schools and graduated from Kensington High School before earning her degree from Syracuse University. After college, she worked various jobs in Washington before returning to Buffalo after her son was born..

Born in Niagara Falls, N.Y., Bill Savino was raised as an only child after two younger brothers died in infancy. He always wanted to be a musician and played the bass guitar. However, his father steered him toward law school, a more practical and lucrative career option. An excellent student, he graduated from the University of Rochester at 19. He selected UB Law over more elite schools to stay local and keep his band going.

John Henry Schlegel, born in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1942, navigated a life shaped by intellectual curiosity, physical challenges, and a persistent drive to redefine legal education. Raised in Chicago’s diverse Albany Park neighborhood, Schlegel's childhood was marked by illness, including a mysterious ailment and severe asthma, which curtailed physical activity but fostered a deep love for reading and television.

David Schopp grew up in Williamsville, where his father was an ophthalmologist and his mother a nurse. After graduating from the Nichols School, he attended the University of Rochester and finished at UB with an English degree before entering UB School of Law. It was his own decision to become a lawyer. Though admitted to several law schools, he chose UB as it was significantly more affordable than the others. He commuted to the North Campus.

Richard D. Schwartz (nicknamed “Red” for his red hair) was born in Newark, N.J., but began his academic journey at Yale University, where he earned his BA and PhD in sociology (1952). His early work was influenced by pioneering sociologist Kimball Young and anthropologist George Peter Murdoch, shaping his interdisciplinary approach. His dissertation on Israeli communities led to a seminal 1963 paper in the Yale Law Journal, marking an early contribution to interdisciplinary legal studies. He taught at Yale Law School, navigating the evolving landscape of “sociological jurisprudence.”

Robert Schwenkel was born in Silver Creek, N.Y., a small town south of Buffalo, into a working-class family. He has one sibling, an older brother. His father was a World War II veteran. Schwenkel was the first in his family to graduate from college. He went to the University at Buffalo, where he majored in history. After graduating in 1984, he worked for five years in a variety of jobs, including the Erie County Department of Social Services, before deciding to go to law school. While he saw trial lawyers on television, he had no idea how lawyers practiced. He chose UB School of Law because he was paying for his education and it made the most sense economically.

Justice Sconiers grew up in New York City. She spent two years at Howard University in Washington, D.C., before finishing at Long Island University in Brooklyn, where she majored in political science. She moved to Buffalo in 1970 to start law school. She said she “loves Buffalo now and made a good choice to come.”

Judge Scott began his legal career as an assistant county attorney with the Erie County Law Department and later joined the Buffalo Law Department as an assistant corporation counsel. He then served as the first African-American assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York.

Karen Andolina Scott is the youngest of three sisters. Her father worked as an Erie County probation officer but had always wanted to be a lawyer. Both parents were college graduates. Her mother was a homemaker. After graduating from SUNY Geneseo in 2001, she worked out of town for several years before she applied to law school.

Tom Segalla’s father was killed in World War II. He lived in a trailer park with his mother, who remarried and moved to western Connecticut. He grew up with four stepsiblings: two younger brothers and two younger sisters. He went to the University of Miami for his undergraduate degree, as it offered him a full academic scholarship. His BA was in business administration/industrial relations. In 1967 he married Mary Lou Privateer of Buffalo. They moved to Buffalo so she could be closer to her family.