Telecom Executive Gives up IPO Profits to Fund Securities Arbitration Clinics

White Plains, NY, May 15, 2003 - Pace Law School's Securities Arbitration Clinic will receive a $200,000 grant as a part of an agreement that resolves allegations that a leading telecommunications executive improperly received Initial Public Offering (IPO) shares. The agreement was announced yesterday by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Spitzer said that under the agreement, Phillip F. Anschutz, the former chairman of Qwest Communications International, Inc., will disgorge $4.4 million in profits on the IPO shares to charitable organizations, including six New York law schools. Pace Law School is the only recipient in Westchester County.

The settlement, Spitzer said, marks the first time an executive has given up profits linked to the controversial Wall Street practice known as "IPO spinning."

The Securities Arbitration Clinic at Pace Law School, while not involved in the Attorney General’s suit against Anschutz, provides assistance to small investors who are unable to obtain legal representation because of the small amount of their claims. Law students, under the supervision of a faculty member, represent brokerage firm customers in handling disputes with broker-dealers that must be resolved in arbitration. Typically, law firms are not willing to handle securities arbitration cases where the amount of the claim is less than $50,000. The Securities Arbitration Clinic specializes in these kinds of cases and has a cooperative arrangement that involves students from Pace’s Lubin School of Business to provide analytic skills.

"The additional funding will help the Securities Arbitration Clinic expand and enhance the assistance we provide to small investors through advocacy, research and education in investor justice," said Professor Barbara Black, co-director of the clinic.

Founded in 1976, Pace Law School is located in White Plains, 20 miles north of New York City. Part of Pace University, the school has an enrollment of nearly 700 and offers the J.D. program for full-time and part-time day and evening students. Its postgraduate program includes the LL.M. and S.J.D. degrees in Environmental Law and an LL.M. in Comparative Legal Studies. Pace has one of the nation's top-rated Environmental Law programs, which once again in 2003 was ranked #3 in the nation by U.S.News & World Report. The Clinical Education program also has been nationally ranked, and offers clinics in domestic violence prosecution, environmental law, disability rights and criminal justice in addition to securities arbitration. David S. Cohen has been Dean of the Law School since 1999. The fall 2002 entering class was selected from one of the most competitive groups of applicants the school has seen in recent years. Over the past two years applications have increased by over 70 percent. www.law.pace.edu

Pace is a comprehensive, independent university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, NY and a Hudson Valley Center at Stewart Airport in New Windsor, NY. More than 14,000 students are enrolled in undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lubin School of Business, School of Computer Science and Information Systems, School of Education, Lienhard School of Nursing and Pace Law School. www.pace.edu

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 an 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, criminal justice, and disability rights.