The activities of the State’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics and the Legislative Ethics Commission to be reviewed

The activities of the State’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics and the Legislative Ethics Commission to be reviewed

Members of a Review Commission, the JCOPE Review Commission, have been appointed. The Review Commission is to review and evaluate the activities and performance of the State’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics and the Legislative Ethics Commission.

The Review Commission's report addressing the State’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics and the Legislative Ethics Commission activities, and which is to include its recommendations with respect to strengthening the administration and enforcement of ethics laws in New York State, must be delivered to the Governor and to the Legislature on or before November 1, 2015.

The eight individuals named to the Review Commission by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Temporary President and Majority Leader of the Senate Dean G. Skelos, and Speaker of the Assembly Carl E. Heastie are:

Anthony Crowell, Dean at New York Law School and former counsel to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is an expert in state and local government law. He also previously served as Special Counsel to the Mayor and Assistant Corporation Counsel in the New York City Law Department’s Tax & Condemnation and Legal Counsel Divisions, and at the International City/County Management Association. Dean Crowell earned a law degree, cum laude, from American University and a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael S. Feldberg is a partner at Allen & Overy LLP, where he is the head of the firm’s U.S. litigation practice. He is a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and has experience litigating and trying cases in a wide variety of areas, with a special emphasis on the defense of federal criminal and regulatory cases as well as federal civil litigation. He graduated from Harvard Law School, cum laude, in 1977, and Harvard College, magna cum laude, in 1973.

Seymour James is the Attorney-in-Chief of The Legal Aid Society in New York City. Mr. James joined The Legal Aid Society in 1974 as a staff attorney and has served in various supervisory capacities. He is a member of the New York State Justice Task Force, the Committee on Character and Fitness for the Second Judicial Department, and the New York State Permanent Sentencing Commission, and was recently appointed to Mayor DeBlasio's Task Force on Behavioral Health and the Criminal Justice System. James also serves on the Executive Committee of the State Bar's Criminal Justice Section and on the State Bar's Committee on Leadership Development. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Correctional Association of New York and the New York State Defenders Association and a member of the Chief Defender Council and the Defender Policy Group of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. James earned his law degree from Boston University School of Law, and his undergraduate degree from Brown University.

Tony Jordan was elected as Washington County District Attorney in 2013. Prior to becoming district attorney he served in the New York State Assembly for three terms representing parts of Saratoga and Washington Counties. Jordan was a partner in the law firm of Jordan & Kelly LLC, and served as an Assistant District Attorney in Washington County before his time in the Assembly. He earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1995 magna cum laude, and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1986.

William LaPiana is the Rita and Joseph Solomon Professor of Wills, Trusts, as well as the Estates Director, Estate Planning, Graduate Tax Program for New York Law School, where he has taught since 1987. Prior to teaching, he also served as an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York. Dr. LaPiana is a Buffalo native who holds both a Ph.D. in History and a J.D. from Harvard, where he also received his B.A. and an M.A.

Elizabeth Moore is currently Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Con Edison. She was formerly a former partner in the firm of Nixon Peabody LLP, where she specialized in public finance, employment law, procurement policy, and government compliance and regulatory issues. Ms. Moore previously served for 12 years in the administration of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, and was Counsel to the Governor from 1991 to 1994. Moore earned a law degree from St. John’s University and a Bachelor of Science from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, where she is a member of the Board of Trustees.

Patricia Salkin, Dean at Touro Law School, is a nationally recognized scholar on land use law and zoning. She formerly served as a professor of law, as well as Associate Dean and Director of the Government Law Center of Albany Law School and as an Assistant Counsel for NYS Office of Rural Affairs. Dean Salkin is co-chair of the NYS Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. She served two terms as an appointed member of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, a Federal Advisory Committee to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Dean Salkin earned a law degree, cum laude, from Albany Law School of Union University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from the State University at Albany.

Former Senator Dale Volker represented Western New Yorkers in the State Legislature for over 35 years before retiring in 2010. Formerly a police officer, he was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 1972, and three years later, won a special election to the Senate. During his time as a Senator he served as chairman of the Energy and Codes committees, as well as the Subcommittee on Alcoholism. Senator Volker earned his law degree from the University of Buffalo and his undergraduate degree from Canisius College.