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Touro Law Center Provides Safe Haven for Law Students Displaced in the Wake of Puerto Rico Storm Devastation

October 10, 2017

Dean Harry Ballan is pleased to announce that Touro Law Center will be hosting 15-20 displaced students from the University of Puerto Rico Law School this semester. The school, based in Rio Piedras, San Juan, has been shuttered by Hurricane Maria, jeopardizing the education of hundreds of law students. The students will begin at Touro Law on Monday, October 16, 2017.

Thanks to the generosity of the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, iLaw-BARBRI and others, Touro will be providing the students with eight credits of newly created courses, tuition free, as well as free housing for the semester. 

Dean Ballan said, "It is a privilege to help those who need our help. This opportunity to teach with, learn from and get to know students from the University of Puerto Rico reminds us of who we are and what our mission is. We hope that their time with us is productive and fulfilling, results in lasting and collegial friendships and is beneficial in every way." 

Betty Lugo, Esq., Puerto Rican Bar Association (PRBA) Judiciary Chair and Immediate Past President, stated, "The Puerto Rican Bar Association is pleased to have served as the liaison in bringing UPR Law School Dean Vivian Neptune Rivera and Touro Law School Dean Harry Ballan together for this historic law academia partnership. We thank Dean Neptune Rivera for entrusting her students to New York and Dean Ballan for Touro's prompt response in committing to assist the law students" 

"The PRBA Mentorship committee will ensure that the UPR law school students are embraced, mentored and assisted in this crucial time in their legal education career. We will host the students as our guests at the PRBA Scholarship Fund Gala on October 20, 2017. Thereafter, we will have a series of events and programs for the students to ensure that they succeed," stated Carmen A. Pacheco, Esq. PRBA President and Partner of Pacheco & Lugo, PLLC.

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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law 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 experience for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law is dedicated to providing hands-on learning that enables students to gain experience while offering much-needed legal services in the community.

Touro Law, which has an alumni base of more than 6,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs where students can earn a degree in 2, 3, 4 or 5 years and provides four areas of concentration. Touro Law offers several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates, including a new online LL.M. in Aging & Longevity Law. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.

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 30 campuses and locations in New York, California, Nevada, 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/.

For more info contact:
Patti Desrochers
Director of Communications
pattid@tourolaw.edu
(631) 761-7062

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