WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Pace Law School will honor John P. Cahill,
Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation, and Lucille Fontana, partner at the law firm of Clark,
Gagliardi & Miller, during the sixth annual Alumni Leadership
Awards Dinner at 6 p.m., November 16 at the Rye Town Hilton. The
honorees will receive the Distinguished Service Award for their
commitment and dedication to Pace Law School, the community and the
legal profession. For more information or for reservations, call David
Montanye at (914) 422-4072. (Photographs are available
electronically via e-mail.)
John P. Cahill was nominated by Governor George Pataki to the
position of Commissioner of the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (DEC) in 1996, and was unanimously
confirmed by the State Senate. As Commissioner, he oversees an agency
of 3,900 employees dedicated to the protection and enhancement of the
state’s natural resources.
He joined the DEC in 1995, when the Governor asked him to serve as
general counsel. In that capacity, Cahill advised the commissioner on
legal issues and oversaw the Divisions of Legal Affairs and
Environmental Enforcement and the department’s regional attorneys.
Cahill was appointed by Governor Pataki in 1995 to serve as vice
chairman for the NYS Emergency Financial Control Board for the City of
Yonkers. Prior to joining DEC, Cahill was a partner in the New York
City law firm of Plunkett & Jaffee, P.C., where his practice
focused on environmental and municipal issues.
Cahill earned both his J.D. and LL.M. in Environmental Law from
Pace Law School, and he graduated from Fordham with a B.A. in
Economics.
Lucille Fontana is a partner at the law firm of Clark, Gagliardi
& Miller, one of the oldest personal injury firms in New York
State. She is a highly respected attorney, known for her skill as a
trial lawyer and her professional and civic involvement.
Fontana serves on the prestigious Advisory Committee on Civil
Practice, State of New York, and is a Life Fellow of the American Bar
Foundation and a Fellow of the New York State Bar Foundation. She has
held numerous bar leadership positions, including president of the
Westchester County Bar Institute, vice president of the Westchester
Women’s Bar Association Foundation, and co-chair of the Ethics
Committee of the Westchester County Bar Association and chair of the
Tort Reparations Committee of the New York State Bar Association. She
is a panel attorney for Westchester Legal Services and a member of the
Mediation Panel, Southern District of New York. In addition, Fontana
is a member of the Pace Law School Board of Visitors and volunteers
her expertise to the moots, clinics, and as a Pace CCLE panelist and
presenter. She is a frequent CLE lecturer for the New York State Trial
Lawyers’ Institute and the bar associations.
Fontana graduated magna cum laude from Pace Law School in
1981, earned an M.S.W. from Fordham University in 1970, and a B.A.
from Wheeling College.
Founded in 1976, Pace Law School is located in White Plains, N.Y.,
20 miles north of New York City. The School offers the J.D. program
for full-time, and part-time day and evening students. Its
post-graduate program includes the LL.M. and S.J.D. degrees in
environmental Law and the LL.M. in Comparative Legal Studies. Pace has
one of the nation’s top-rated environmental law programs and its
Clinical Education Program also is nationally ranked, offering clinics
in domestic violence prosecution, securities arbitration,
environmental litigation, appellate advocacy and disability law.
