Paula M. Ciprich ’85

Paula Ciprich grew up in Depew, N.Y., the oldest child; she had a brother and a sister. Her mother was a medical secretary; her father was a production manager at Bell Aerospace. Her grandfather was an early graduate of the law school, Class of 1916. He was a role model for her.

She attended college in Dallas, as a math major, took the LSAT and applied to UB. She had a large class: 260 to 270, split equally by gender. She saw no difference in treatment based on gender or diversity. She has maintained her friendships since law school.

Ciprich enjoyed her practice as an in-house attorney. She spent 31 years at National Fuel Gas. Her favorite role was general practice. She liked collaborating with other people.

Her advice for young female students is to take a broad array of classes. Practice talking to business leaders and understanding their concerns. UB had an impact on her professional advancement in how it taught her to consider matters from multiple perspectives and use that to benefit clients to resolve problems.

Ciprich’s mentors were a partner at Jaeckle Fleischmann, where she interned, and David Smith, a UB Law graduate and a top executive at National Fuel. She believes there is an opportunity for women lawyers in a corporate setting. Her greatest professional achievement was working at the board level on corporate governance.

If she had a do-over, she would get a chemistry degree instead of math, with the legal degree or an MBA.

Law was the right choice for Ciprich, who liked business practice. Her legal education and practice opened her mind to diversity and problem solving. She believes it made her a better person.

Her advice for lawyers just beginning their career is to be open to other areas of practice and find a mentor.

Her fondest memory of National Fuel was the relationships she had. She can’t imagine having a better career than she’s had, and owes a great deal to the law school for that.