Doyle Receives Jaeckle Award From UB Law School, UB Law Alumni Association

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- State Supreme Court Justice Vincent E. Doyle, administrative judge for the Eighth Judicial District, received the Jaeckle Award, the highest honor bestowed by the UB Law School and its Law Alumni Association, at the 25th Anniversary Alumni Convocation and 2000 Jaeckle Award Luncheon, held Nov 4 in the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.

The Jaeckle Award is given annually to an individual who has distinguished himself or herself and has made significant contributions to the UB Law School and the legal profession. It is named after its first recipient, the late Edwin F. Jaeckle, a UB alumnus who for decades was a towering figure in the legal profession and in local, state and national politics. Previous winners have included Judge Matthew J. Jasen, Manly Fleischmann, Judge John T. Curtin and Justice M. Dolores Denman.

Dean R. Nils Olsen Jr. presented the award to Doyle at the luncheon, which followed a morning-long continuing legal-education program.

Regarded by colleagues as an activist and innovator, Doyle has been administrative judge in the eight-county Western New York Eighth Judicial District for nearly six years and a member of State Supreme Court since 1979.

During his tenure as administrative judge, court calendars have been streamlined to expedite the disposition of cases, an Alternative Dispute Resolution Program has been implemented, specialized courts have been created to handle drug and domestic violence cases, and steps have been taken to improve minority representation on juries.

Doyle played a major role in persuading Erie County to approve the new Family Court Building now under construction in downtown Buffalo and to upgrade existing court facilities. He also has encouraged other jurisdictions in the judicial district to either modernize or to build new court facilities.

A 1950 graduate of Canisius High School, Doyle attended Canisius College from 1950-53 and was admitted to UB Law School during his third year of college. He graduated from the law school in 1956 and was admitted to the bar the same year.

Doyle was named Buffalo's first public defender in 1957, a position he held until 1959, when he established his own law firm. Before his election to Supreme Court, he was one of the nation's top criminal defense lawyers. His more than two decades of trial work included some of Western New York's major criminal cases.

He has been an instructor in the UB Law School since 1974.