White Plains, NY, March 30, 2004 — Pace University has appointed Stephen J. Friedman, one of the nation’s leading corporate, securities, and mergers and acquisitions lawyers and an active leader in the nonprofit world, as Dean of its law school, effective July 1, 2004.

Friedman comes to Pace after serving for the past eleven years as a senior partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York, one of the nation’s preeminent international law firms. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President and General Counsel of The Equitable Companies Incorporated and its subsidiary, The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Before joining Equitable in 1988, Friedman was Executive Vice President of the E.F. Hutton Group, Inc. (1986-88) and a partner at Debevoise (1981-86 and 1965-77).

In 2003-2004, he was noted as one of the Best Lawyers in America in a guide by that name, which cited him for corporate, mergers and acquisitions, and securities law.

In the nonprofit area, Friedman is President and a Trustee of the Practicing Law Institute, which trains 35,000 lawyers per year on current legal issues, Chairman of the support foundation for the proposed new Asian University for Women in Bangladesh, Chairman Emeritus of American Ballet Theatre, and Chairman and Founder of the New York City Project of the Appleseed Foundation.

Dynamic next stage. In making the announcement, Pace President David A. Caputo, Ph.D., said "As a distinguished lawyer, public servant and business leader, Steve Friedman brings Pace the qualities that will continue our recent drive to excellence and increased national visibility. I could not be more pleased that he has agreed to serve."

Said Friedman: "I’m tremendously excited about this chance to work with a fine faculty to continue and augment the tradition of high quality legal education at Pace. Pace has laid the foundation for a dynamic next stage in the life of the law school and I embrace the opportunity to lead that process."

Service on SEC. Friedman also has a distinguished career in public service. He has served as a Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1980-81), Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Capital Markets Policy (1978-79), Special Assistant to the U.S. Maritime Administrator (1964-65) and Law Clerk to Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. of the United States Supreme Court (1963-64).

He received his A.B. magna cum laude in 1959 from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and his J.D. magna cum laude in 1962 from Harvard Law School, where he was an Editor of the Harvard Law Review and a recipient of the Sears Prize.

Friedman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has served as Chairman of the Overseas Development Council and Chairman of the Securities Regulation Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and as a member of the ABA Special Committee on Lawyers’ Political Contributions. He has served as a board member of CCL Industries Inc., Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, ConRail, The National Association of Securities Dealers, the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the United Way of New York City.

Friedman has published widely on the regulation of financial institutions and the securities markets, as well as the early role of Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. of the United States Supreme Court.

Rising applications and bar exam results. Friedman replaces David S. Cohen, who will be stepping down as Dean after completing his five-year term in June. Under Cohen’s leadership, Pace Law School has seen a 57 percent increase in applications and become significantly more selective. The school posted substantial increases in students’ GPA and LSAT scores, in scholarship aid and in bar-exam passage rates. Six outstanding full-time faculty members were hired, annual giving increased markedly, a 20,000 sq. ft, $10,000,000 new classroom building was constructed, and The New York State Judicial Institute, the nation’s first judicial training and research facility built by and for a state court system, was constructed on the Law School’s campus.

Founded in 1976, Pace Law School is a New York Law School with a suburban campus in White Plains, N.Y., 20 miles north of New York City. Part of Pace University, the school 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 and its Clinical Education program also is nationally ranked, offering clinics in domestic violence prosecution, environmental law, securities arbitration, criminal justice and disability rights. www.law.pace.edu 

Pace is a comprehensive, independent university with campuses in New York City, Pleasantville and White Plains, NY and a Hudson Valley Center at Stewart International 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