Hon. John M. Curran '84

Segment Synopsis: John Curran graduated from the UB Law School's class of 1984 and is presently a state Supreme Court Judge. His brother Patrick attended UB for 2 years and decided to apply while in University. He was eager to come because his brother spoke highly of UB and he was eager to come back to Buffalo. He lived with his parents for a time, a change from living alone at college. Going to UB was a great deal and a great education. Aside from his brother, he married Margaret Curran from UB's law school class of '84, who he met before taking a job in Miami and who retired after their eldest child was born. His other brothers and family members are not lawyers, though his youngest son is considering it. He hates to admit it, but Jackson's Brown "Lawyers in Love" was popular in the early 80s and might have had something to do with it. He notes that he ended up in Section 3, and his favorite memories are of the people he met and the experiences they went through together. He met one of his present close friends, Judge Peradotto, there. Four people from his class also ended up in the judiciary as well, such as Tracy Bannister and himself. Section 3 was new when he went to law school, and he remembers professors Schlegel and Lindgren teaching Contracts and Torts together without textbooks--looking back, he understands it better now, but at the time it felt foreign and his group felt like "guinea pigs." At one point. Schlegel yelled at them about proximate cause, and they replied that no-one taught it to them. Recalls liking Rootie's wings and making friends at the coffee machine. 1st year he took Constitutional Law with Professor Katz and really enjoyed it. Grew up in a Catholic school system, and was surprised by the professor's lax dress code. Another favorite professors were Professor Konefsky, who appealed to his undergraduate experience in history. John notes it's strange that he went into commercial litigation, since most of the people he worked with were in insurance. Dan Roach, Trial Technique instructor, recommended commercial litigation. Professor Spanogle, commercial paper, but never got a chance to take a great bankruptcy course from Marjory Girth. The interviewer asks him what he thinks of the campus location in Amherst. He says that when he was in law school it was great, since his parents lived in Tonawanda. He could go to the library and still be home at the evening. Now, however, he would like it better if the school was downtown, as it would be better for people who wanted work at law firms. It'd be great to have the access to law students. Every summer he takes an intern from the UB, and the kids are better students than he was, so he wishes there was more synergy between UB and the law offices downtown. The interviewer asks if John knew anyone entering law school. He mentions Mike Stoney, who was a history grad at UB. There was also his friend Sharon Wick, who went to Ireland with John and his wife after law school. He knew early on he wanted to be a trial lawyer, so he got involved in Moot Court. He got to know his partner during the Desmond competition: when they competed against each other, Leonard Gulino said they'd do well if they teamed up. They competed in NYC and won, and were able to go to the ABA National Convention where he was named 2nd top oralist in the country. He also got the Connolly award in trial technique. Favorite teacher was Professor Spanogle. He had the most influence through the courses he taught and encouraging him to go into a commercial field.

Keywords: Amherst Campus; Children / Grandchildren; Choosing UB Law School; Classes; Family; Judiciary; Law Professor; Location; Moot Court; Spouse; Trial Practice; Value of Education

Subjects: FAMILY HISTORY; UB LAW AS STUDENT

Segment Synopsis: The interviewer asks if he had a mentor. He says not really, though he did get to know Alan Carrel because Alan knew his wife was "the nicest person in the universe." His greatest advantage was working at Hurwitz and Fine, where Shelley Hurwitz and Dan Cohen took him under their wing. He remembers being taught to "be himself" rather than an automatons. Next summer he learned from Don Kelley. He notes his mentors were more work-oriented than academic. It was a balanced curriculum where you could get hands-on experience and historical and theoretical knowledge. Even today as a judge, while he doesn't do historical analysis he does try to place his decisions in historical and theoretical context, which makes it easier to understand. UB taught him that people accept the law more if you make it better understood. He was dating at the time and has been offered a job at a Miami firm his senior year. However, he had to study for the Florida bar. His wife to be, Margy, was studying for the NY bar, so it was a little unsettling to be doing something no-one else did. He went to Orlando and took the bar, his wife passed it in NY, and they decided to get married that Christmas. They actually passed each other in the air, as she flew down to Tampa to take the bar there. The hiring partner of the Miami firm was going to Cornell to interview people there, but was flying to Buffalo on the way and asked UB to interview students. John was one of the UB students he interviewed, who hired him along with 2 other UB students. 3 out of 10 people were from UB, and none from Cornell ended up getting hired. He worked at Brown & Kelly his second summer. He also got an offer from his brother's firm, Damon and Morey, along with Brown. John was in Florida for 3 years, then came back to Buffalo at Albert McGuire, since Dick Sullivan knew his wife. It was great training. He came back to Buffalo for family reasons--his older brothers and his wife's siblings live in Buffalo.
You're a "fish out of water" over there, but UB made him unique, since most of the graduates he worked with in Miami were from University of Florida. He tells an anecdote about a friend of his who was also in Miami to illustrate how out of towners came to the city as well. John was at Mcguire from 1987 to 2000, when they merged with Phillips Lytle, which was unnerving. Mcguire was a great place, because within 3 years Dick Sullivan and others left, allowing him to become a partner. Eventually everyone made more money than they did before. The merge with Phillips also was a good experience as he became good friends with some of his former competitors. However, he always thought it would be more rewarding professionally to be on the bench. He also thinks many others would like to be on the bench as well: Researching, writing, and trying to be a good judge. He has honestly never had a legal job he didn't like, even at Miami under an abusive boss (who liked him anyways).

Keywords: Bar Admissions and Exams; Judiciary; Law Firms; Mentors; Practice; Practitioners and Faculty

Subjects: CAREER: LEGAL; PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Segment Synopsis: The interviewer asks if he would do anything differently if he could. He responds by saying the "perfect" situation would have been to get to the bench about ten years later than he did. Truthfully, though, those kinds of opportunities only come once in a lifetime, so he just had to take them when he saw them. He honestly believes few in Buffalo had a rewarding career like his, so realistically, he wouldn't change a thing. He looks at young lawyers and thinks its hard, since clients are difficult to satisfy (especially in an age of instant communications), but it's still fun and rewarding. He tells young lawyers to stick with it--first years may be rough, but you're fortunate to be part of it. He first thought, when he was very young, that only the very best lawyers could possibly become judges. When he realized the opportunity was there for those who worked for it, he thought about going to the bench in the late 1990s. He told his wife that if it didn't work out in 5 years, he'd go on to something else, since his family had no political experience. He still ran for village trustee and ended up losing by just 15 votes. Dick Sullivan told him he'd have to choose between being a lawyer and a politician. He then got elected as the first Democrat on the town board, then as the first Democratic judge. It was tough being a politician and a father, and he is grateful for his wife's support. He was ready to move on after 5 years, but the opportunity came in 2003 and he came to the bench a year later. He has has had a "ton" of fun cases. The most recent was the lawsuit from ECMC against Kaleida, where they wanted to shut down the global vascular institute. They were able to work together with the parties to find a satisfactory solution for everyone. On the town bench he was on the infamous "giddyup" case, where a fellow judge had a heart attack the second day of the trial who told him he needed to handle it on short notice. This was where he got his "claim to fame." There was also another involving a young man re-sentenced to spend every Bills game sitting in the court conference room. There was also an item pricing case he took as a local lawyer, where he helped negotiate a scanner accuracy bill to save wholesalers like Tops from putting stickers on everything. Thankful to have been exposed to "lions" and "lionesses" of the bar. His wife is leery of the prospect, since she knows how challenging and demanding the law is. His oldest son will probably be a teacher, the next would be a Latin or Greek teacher, but his youngest likes talking about caucuses and primaries and likes talking about economics, so John jokes the youngest is his "last hope." He admits he doesn't act as a mentor to as many students as he should. He's had great interns because he's fortunate enough to have a wonderful staff, and he praises his clerk and secretary. Because of that team he's done a good job of interacting with interns. He hopes they've had a good experience and wants to do more of it, especially since he'll be an "empty nester" soon. He teaches Constitutional Law at Canisius College. He just got an award for being a 5 year adjunct professor. He loves the interaction with the students. He's been approached by UB, like a bridge course, but it's too time consuming at the moment. He's also involved with electronic discovery. Advice law students is to work hard. The law is a good career if you want money, but it's a reflection of how hard you work and it's also important to actually like the law. Thus, you should work hard not just for financial reward but also to impact society positively and stoke your love of law. He says "he doesn't go without having fun," and notes he had a good time in college and law school and did well in both. He ends the interview by saying he's honored to have been asked these questions and appreciates the opportunity.

Keywords: Canisius College; Children / Grandchildren; Elections / Political History; Greatest Achievement; Judiciary; Law Students; Practice; Relationship with UB Law; Significant Cases; Teaching Law

Subjects: CAREER: LEGAL; LAW; PERSONAL ISSUES; PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE; TEACHING