About
Craig J. Bruno Serving as Volunteer Staff Attorney in Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Rights Clinic
September 12, 2016Touro Law Center is pleased to announce that Crag J. Bruno, Esq. is serving as a volunteer staff attorney in the Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Rights Clinic.
Dean Harry Ballan stated, “We are thrilled that Mr. Bruno is lending his time and expertise not only to the clients we serve but to our students as well. The Veterans clinic has become a well-known resource in the community and is a preferred clinic among students who earn hands-on experience while making a positive difference for veterans and servicemembers and we are grateful to have Mr. Bruno join our team.”
In his role as staff attorney, Craig J. Bruno is focusing on helping homeless, sheltered and at-risk veterans remove barriers to their reintegration into the community, particularly in the area of discharge upgrades for many combat veterans who have received less than fully honorable discharges as the result of conduct related to undiagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He also hopes to share his 30+ years of legal experience to help Touro Law students prepare for real world practice.
Formerly, he was the founding partner and principal of Bruno, Gerbino & Soriano, LLP, a Melville, Long Island-based firm with more than forty attorneys, where he was a managing and trial attorney for all areas of defense litigation. He acted as litigation and advisory counsel for several national corporations, and handled litigation matters for numerous insurance companies and self-insured entities. Mr. Bruno’s practice also concentrated on investigation of fraudulent personal injury claims.
He is admitted to the New York State Bar and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and is a member of the New York State and American Bar Associations.
Clinics are an integral part of the educational process at Touro Law. Available to full-time students in their second year and part-time students in their third year, and required as a condition of graduation, clinics provide students with an opportunity to represent actual clients with real legal problems and to work with experienced attorney-professors. Under the close supervision of faculty, clinic students advise clients and appear on their behalf in court or at administrative hearings.
The Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Rights Clinic honors the sacrifices of the men and women who have worn the uniforms of our nation’s armed forces. The services the clinic provides are particularly needed in Suffolk County, which has one of the largest concentrations of veterans anywhere in the country, and is the site of a major VA Hospital, the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Clinic students provide free legal assistance to veterans and their families, visit veterans homeless shelters, participate in stand-downs, and present programs advising veterans on their legal rights.
Typical matters handled include landlord-tenant/eviction, debt relief/collection, bankruptcy, mortgage foreclosure, driver’s license restoration, child support modification, unemployment insurance, warrants and fines, income tax, benefits, applications and appeals, and discharge upgrades.
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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art law school is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, which has a student body of approximately 650 and an alumni base of more than 6,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.
Touro Law’s newly implemented Portals to Practice is a cutting-edge, experiential learning program that reconceives and restructures the law school experience. Portals to Practice expands the scope and quality of legal education by focusing on the development of legal professionals, from pre-law through post-graduation.
About the Touro College and University System
Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 18,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has 29 branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem and Moscow. New York Medical College; Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus; Touro University Worldwide and its Touro College Los Angeles division; as well as Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Ill. are separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/news/.
Patti Desrochers
Director of Communications
pattid@tourolaw.edu
(631) 761-7062