UB Law Alumni to Honor 6 at Annual Dinner

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Five graduates of the University at Buffalo Law School and one non-alumnus will be honored for their valuable contributions to the legal profession, community and university at the 45th annual UB Law Alumni Association meeting and dinner to be held at 6 p.m. May 3 in the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.

"We are fortunate at UB to have such remarkable alumni and friends. This is an exceptionally worthy group of recipients. Their leadership and accomplishments have contributed enormously to our Law School, community and legal profession," said UB Law School Dean Nils Olsen.

The dinner also will mark the end of the Law Alumni Association's membership drive for 2007-08. Alumni who have not renewed or joined the association for this year are requested to send their $50 dues payment to the Law School's Alumni Office, 312 O'Brian Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260.

Distinguished Alumni Awards will be presented to the Hon. Thomas Van Strydonck, Margaret W. Wong, Alan S. Carrel and William E. Mathias II. Frederick G. Attea will receive an outstanding service award.

For more information on the dinner, or to make reservations, call UB Law Alumni office at 645-2107 or email law-alumni@buffalo.edu.

Van Strydonck, a graduate of the UB Law class of 1973, is Administrative Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Seventh Judicial District. He is being honored for his conscientious and diligent performance in the judiciary.

After law school, Van Strydonck joined the Monroe County District Attorney's office where he served until 1979. He then joined the firm of Sullivan, Gough, Skipworth, Summers and Smith, where he practiced for twenty years until his election to the Supreme Court in 1998. In June of 2000 he was appointed by Chief Judge Judith Kaye to serve as the Administrative Judge for the Seventh Judicial District. As a volunteer, he has served on the board and as president of the Volunteer Legal Services Corporation, the Monroe County Bar Association, the Pretrial Release Corporation and the Monroe County Bar Foundation. He was a board member of the Veterans Outreach Center and a founding board member of the Adam Walsh Child Resource Center -- now known as the Rochester office of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Wong, a graduate of the UB Law class of 1976, is managing Partner of Margaret W. Wong & Associates Co., L.P.A. She is being honored for her leadership by example as a private practitioner.

In more than 30 years of practice, Wong has built a firm that is internationally renowned for immigration and nationality law, with offices in Cleveland, Columbus, New York City and Detroit. She has helped employers obtain work permits for their executives and has assisted thousands of people in coming to the United States to become permanent residents, advance their educations, work, and pursue opportunities. Wong is the current co-chair of the Immigration Law Committee for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and chair of the Cleveland Bar Association's Immigration Law Section. She has won numerous honors and awards, including the Margaret Ireland Award from the Cleveland Women's City Club and the Creative Philanthropy Award from the Women's Community Foundation. She has received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.

Carrel, a graduate of the UB law class of 1967, is vice dean of the University at Buffalo Law School. He is being honored for his commitment to public service.

Prior to his tenure at UB Law, Carrel practiced as a litigator in the law firm of Rosen, Yasinow, Roberts, Rich and Carrel. The first non-faculty member to become an associate dean and the first to become a vice dean, Carrel has over the course of his career headed the offices of alumni relations, career services, development, publications and public relations in the Law School and was actively involved in admissions and student services. He has served on the board of directors of the New York State Continuing Legal Education Program, the American Association of Law Schools Advancement Section, Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, the Volunteer Lawyer's Project and as chair of the Women's Bar Association, Western New York Chapter Long Range Planning Committee, among others.

Lipsitz, a graduate of the UB Law class of 1943, is of counsel at Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria LLP. He will be honored for his many contributions to the betterment of our community.

During 53 years of practice in the labor field, Lipsitz has represented dozens of local and international labor unions, in a large number of different areas, such as arbitration, National Labor Relations board appearances, equal employment opportunity, commission proceedings, Public Employment Relations Board and other administrative agencies. Counsel to the Coalition for Economic Justice from 1995 to the present, he is currently its president. He has received numerous awards and honors including those of the New York Civil Liberties Union, the American Arbitration Association, and the Liftetime Achievement Award from the Buffalo AFL-CIO Council.

Mathias, a graduate of the UB Law class of 1971, is managing partner in Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman, LLP. He will be honored for his exemplary performance in business.

Mathias concentrates his practice in the areas of business and corporate law and financial transactions. He has been involved in a number of merger and acquisition transactions and has worked with private investors and venture capital and investment banking firms. He represents both commercial lenders and borrowers in structuring and closing secured loan transactions and work-outs. He has participated in several complex public-private sector financing transactions including the Buffalo Hyatt Regency and the HSBC Arena projects. He is counsel to the Board of Directors of Independent Health Association, Inc., serves on the Board of Trustees of Nichols School and serves as a member of the University at Buffalo Dean's Advisory Council, among others.

Attea is a partner with Phillips Lytle LLP. He will be honored for honored for outstanding service to the university, to the legal profession and to the community by a non-alumnus.

Attea is engaged in securities and corporate practice with emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and securities law compliance. Listed in The Best Lawyers in America®, he holds a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. A founding member of the University at Buffalo Law School Dean's Advisory Council, he serves on the boards of directors for Calspan-University at Buffalo Research Center, Kavinoky Theatre and the World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara.