Continuing Legal Education (CLE)
If you have an idea for a CLE or if you have been thinking about organizing a speaker series or panel, contact Continuing Legal Education Committee Co-Chairs:
Upcoming GRAWA CLEs
A CLE sponsored by the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office in conjunction with
the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys
Practice in the Fourth Department: the New Rules and
the Way the Court Works
Mark W. Bennett, Clerk of the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department
Rob Brucato, Esq., Senior Appellate Counsel, Counsel Press
Date: Friday, November 9, 2018 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Watts Conference Center-Large Conference Room 47 S. Fitzhugh Street, Rochester, New York
The four Judicial Departments of the Appellate Division were long self-governing, each with its own practice rules. However, with the adoption of statewide Rules of Practice effective September 17, 2018, practice in the Appellate Division has become more uniform. Mark Bennett and Rob Brucato will discuss the changes to practice in the Fourth Department wrought by the new rules, and provide an overview of the Court’s decision-making process.
CLE CREDIT: 2.0 professional practice credits –This CLE is only being offered to members of GRAWA, the Monroe County Public Defender's Office and Monroe County Conflict Defender's Office- appropriate for both newly admitted and experienced attorneys
COST: FREE ~ Pre-registration is required by Wednesday, November 7, 2018 (Space is limited)
Mark W. Bennett has served as the Clerk of the Court for the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department in Rochester since September 28, 2017. Mark, a native of Morristown, New York, at the north end of the Thousand Islands, is a graduate of St. Lawrence University, where he spent his senior year abroad as an exchange student in Soviet Moscow. Mark received his law degree from Georgetown University, from which he also received a masters degree in international affairs. Early in his career, Mark worked as an associate in the antitrust practice group in both the Washington, DC and New York offices of Rogers & Wells (which later merged with, and was renamed, Clifford Chance), and then practiced commercial litigation in the Rochester office of Nixon Peabody. Mark joined the Fourth Department in 2003 as a two- year “pool” court attorney, from there rising to Deputy Chief Appellate Court Attorney, confidential clerk to the Honorable Stephen K. Lindley, and finally Chief Appellate Court Attorney before his appointment as Clerk of the Court.
Outside of work, Mark serves on the Board of Directors of “A Magical Journey Thru Stages,” a youth theater organization serving Rochester and surrounding counties. Mark, a member of the New York State and Monroe County Bar Associations, has previously served the MCBA on its Board of Trustees and Executive Committee, and has also chaired the Lawyers for Learning Committee, served as Dean of the Academy of Law, and served on the Ethics and Nominating Committees. Mark, who was named an “Up and Coming Attorney” by The Daily Record in 2006, lives in Brighton, New York with his wife, Dr. Barbara Lowe, and his two children, Brendon and Carol.
Rob Brucato opened Counsel Press’s Buffalo Office in 1992 and has managed it continuously since then. During his more than 25 year career, he has been personally involved with several thousand appeals, primarily to the N.Y.S. Appellate Courts and the U.S.C.A for the Second Circuit. Prior to joining Counsel Press, Mr. Brucato worked for a short time with the U.S. Small Business Administration and was also in private practice. Mr. Brucato is a member of the Board of Directors of the MedLaw Cancer Partnership of Western New York.
Mr. Brucato is actively involved with multiple legal organizations and associations in the Upstate NY region. He has presented CLEs on appellate topics to the Bar Association of Erie County, the Monroe County Bar Association, the Western New York Chapter of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY), the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys (GRAWA), SUNY Buffalo Law School Law Alumni GOLD Group, the Western New York Paralegal Association and the Paralegal Association of Rochester. Mr. Brucato is a member of the Bar Association of Erie County, the Monroe County Bar Association, the WNY Chapter of WBASNY and GRAWA.
This continuing legal education course has been approved in accordance with the requirements of the Continuing Legal Education Board for a maximum of 2.0 credit hours applied toward the professional practice requirement.
