Hon. James H. Dillon '76

Segment Synopsis: He was born and raised in Lackawanna, NY, and his father was an attorney who graduated from UB Law in 1951. He went to Lackawanna High School, then to Canisius, then to UB, married in 1969 and had 3 kids and 6 grandkids. His father was a lawyer and partnered with his 3 brothers, and lawyers were "background noise" in his life. He is the third oldest of 10 children; it was assumed he'd do well in school, though his family reacted to his career choice they same way they reacted to his sisters going into nursing or his brother going into insurance. He was a married father and a regent's scholarship recipient (which helped pay for his tuition) when he went into law school. James decided to go to law school March of his senior year in college--he was a history major and needed to find a job. UB was the only school he applied to because it was the only one he could afford.. He didn't think law school would be that different from what he was doing as a college student.

Keywords: Choosing UB Law School; Family

Subjects: EDUCATION; FAMILY HISTORY; UB LAW AS STUDENT

Segment Synopsis: James was part of the first class to go to school completely in the Amherst campus. The pharmacy building was the only thing besides the law school which was fully constructed. There were 320 students in his first year class.A cousin was there, along with Frank Cosgrove, and maybe a dozen Canisius alumni. Women were about a quarter of the class, and minorities slightly less than that. He doesn't remember who the dean was. His study group would end up being lifelong friends to him, and were in the same classes and worked together most of the time. There wasn't much to do on the campus--they had a successful intramural basketball team, one of his friends was a server at a restaurant and they had parties there. Goldstein (property) was demanding but instructive, Criminal Procedure with Heywood Burns (defense for the Attica defendants) was very very useful. He didn't get much out of admin law (despite the professor being good), and didn't get much of Family Law out of Professor Schwartz. He was working full-time throughout law school. He used to weld at Canisius, and tried doing that at Law School,and "beat the tables and chairs," i.e he sat on the floor for the first month. After having to be woken up a couple of times, he knew he couldn't keep both jobs and instead took a security guard job. He says he doesn't want to sound hubristic, but there were some positions he was confident he could have gotten if he asked.

Keywords: Amherst Campus; Class Composition; Classes; Employment / Jobs / Wages; Faculty / Professors; Law Professor

Subjects: UB LAW AS STUDENT; UB LAW: GENDER

Segment Synopsis: James says there is a definite need for the ability you have expressed academically in the courtroom--to be an effective advocate you must know what the law is. The difficulty of practice is that business is business in law, and you don't have a great business background when you leave law school, and he's seen people struggle because of that. There's a correlation, though, between success in law school and success in private practice. He did not have a faculty advisor, but Frank Cosgrove's brother gave him a lot of guidance. Next questions are inaudible. James was in a "fairly unique: situation because his father was practicing law, and he was working in his office in the summer. Eventually, there was a position open for city attorney, and he got that position. He never really asked the law school for job help. His dad worked in Williamsville, and James worked with him in law school and college. James is most proud of what he was able to do in family court, running one of the few juvenile drug courts and a model court for best practices and family court judges. He describes how he improved the calendar of cases. He also made cases much more personalized for each individual.

Keywords: Academic vs. Career Success; Accomplishments; Advice; Practice

Subjects: CAREER: LEGAL; EDUCATION; PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Segment Synopsis: He was in the DA's office for 9 years, worked with Judge Timothy Drury, and was one of the few people able to find things in the judge's disorganized files. He tells a funny story about trying to find certain files. Dillon then describes winning an election in 1990, and how his second campaign was much easier since he was the only candidate rather than running against 5 people. He also describes finding a place in the family and supreme courts in 2007. Dillon has enjoyed every job he's had. He really liked trying cases in the DA's office, and there are elements of family courts which are equally rewarding and frustrating. His father's law partner, Jean Burke, was close to him when he first started, and James describes his attitude towards law. Dillon recalled that when he grew up, there were lots of jobs in Buffalo, but the economy isn't as good now, and describes how economic circumstances (and the size of his first class) impacted the number of lawyers in the job market. He worked in Lackawanna for a bit, and describes what he did there.

Keywords: Career / Professional Experience; Elections; Family Court; Practice; Supreme Court

Subjects: CAREER: LEGAL; PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Segment Synopsis: Do over? Dillon says life in law school wasn't that different from college, and the main adjustment his family had to make was when he was trying felonies in 1981, it was the only time since he was married he was home in the evening, so his wife had to deal with him hogging the TV. When she was going for her Master's degree, she was luckily able to get a job teaching, which helped their financial situation. Still, the law school process itself more consuming than before. Going through the DA's courts and interacting with people on juries gave James insight into people. The approach to analyzing problems, which is mainly what the law school teaches, really helped him out professionally. James says he never really got involved with his children's career plans. His granddaughter expressed interest in going to law, but he said he would be happy with any choice she makes. He says you have to be careful about your personal integrity, since you deal with so many people who'll drag you into the difficulties they're trying to solve. It can be sometimes difficult to keep professional distance between you and your clients, especially in family law, and it is a learned skill. That said, everyone he knows who's been disbarred was on account of money. James describes the interns he's had over the years, and provides his perspectives on them. He says it's astounding how some of the intelligent people you look up to can be astoundingly rude, the people you go to school and work with astoundingly intelligent, and the people who follow you astoundingly dumb. Dillon says if he could change one thing about the law school, he would move it closer to where the courts are. He , he thinks it's like practicing medicine when you can't go into a hospital--you can't get anywhere. Real-life experience is important, and you can only get that in the courtroom. Dillon says he's spoken for the law school on a couple of occasions, but doesn't really interact with it much beyond that. He thanks the interviewer, and the interview ends.

Keywords: Career / Professional Experience; Children / Grandchildren; Choice of Law; Family; Family Court; UB Law School general

Subjects: CAREER: LEGAL; FAMILY HISTORY; PERSONAL ISSUES; PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE