UB Law Alumni Association to Recognize Six At Annual Dinner

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Five graduates of the University at Buffalo Law School will receive Distinguished Alumni Awards for their valuable contributions to the legal profession and the community at the 37th annual UB Law Alumni Association meeting and dinner, to be held at 6 p.m. May 6 in the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.

The alumni association also will recognize a non-alumnus, U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, who will receive a special award "for outstanding service to the community."

Awards will be presented to:

• The Hon. Frank A. Sedita, Jr., '60, New York State Supreme Court judge, who will be honored "for his conscientious and diligent performance in the judiciary." A former family court judge and former chief judge of the City of Buffalo, he was named Citizen of the Year in 1993 by The Buffalo News for his work in housing court. He resides in Buffalo.

• Samuel L. Shapiro, '65, a senior partner with Kavinoky & Cook, LLP, who will be honored "for his leadership by example as a private practitioner." A specialist in corporate, banking, finance, leasing, construction and health-care law, he is past chair, co-chair and lecturer for the Practicing Law Institute's National Panels on Equipment Leasing. Immediate past president of the UB Law Alumni Association, he is president of Temple Beth Zion and a member of the board of directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo. He resides in Williamsville.

• The Hon. Patrick H. NeMoyer, '77, New York State Supreme Court judge, who will be honored "for his commitment to public service." A former Erie County attorney and U.S. attorney for the Western District of New York, he has been active in the Attorney General's Advisory Committee, U.S. Department of Justice, as well as a member of the U.S. Attorney General's Council on Crime and the Erie County Task Force on Child Support Enforcement. He resides in Orchard Park.

• Gayle L. V. Eagan, '85, a partner with Jaeckle, Fleischmann & Mugel, who will be honored "for her many contributions to the betterment of our community." Concentrating her practice in trusts and estates, elder law and adoption, she is former president of the Women's Bar

Association of the State of New York. She is president of the board of directors of Legal Services for the Elderly, Disabled and Disadvantaged of Western New York and a commissioner on the Erie County Commission on the Status of Women. She resides in Buffalo.

• Anthony J. Renaldo, '50, a senior partner with Renaldo, Myers & Palumbo, P.C., who will be honored "for his exemplary performance in business." Concentrating in land use, he has served as attorney to such local projects as student housing and The Commons at UB, the Tops Distribution Center in Lancaster, Canterbury Woods Retirement Community in Amherst and the waterfront condominiums in Erie Basin Marina. A catalyst in the revitalization of the Law Alumni Association in the 1960s, he has served as president and vice president of the group. He resides in Williamsville.

• U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, who will receive the Aaron N. Bloch Memorial Award, named for the late UB provost, "for outstanding service to the community by a non-alumnus." Elected to the New York State Assembly in 1988 and to Congress in 1998, he represents New York's 27th congressional district. He is a member of the House Rules Committee, and serves as deputy whip in House leadership. He resides in Springville.

Underwriters for the awards dinner are Manufacturers & Traders Trust Co.; Ticor Title Guarantee Insurance Co.; The Daily Record; Alan Fenster Associates; Ikon Office Solutions, Inc.; Brisbane Consulting Group, Inc.; National Fuel Gas; Pepsi-Cola Buffalo Bottling Corp.; Premier Group-Prime Wines Corp.; RMF Business Forms, Inc.; Russer Foods, and Peter M. Vito & Associates, Inc.

Also, Computer Task Group; Coronet Process Service, Inc.; Diversity Training Workplace Solutions, Inc.; Fiduciary Services, Inc.; Lawley Service Inc. Insurance; Localnet Internet Services; Frank R. Papa National Fire Adjustment Co., Inc.; Sanders Legal Publishers, and R.L. Sonnenberger Land Surveyors.