Eric T. Schneiderman, the Attorney General-elect, has chosen University at Buffalo Law School Dean Makau W. Mutua to be on his transition committee to help recruit top legal talent to join the attorney general's staff and to provide policy recommendations.
Mutua is recognized as one of the world's most prominent authorities on human rights law and will serve on Schneiderman's Infrastructure/Technology/Regional Offices committee. Mutua is also one of 10 members that will serve on the attorney general's technology committee.
This particular committee is co-chaired by Andrew Rasiej, senior technology adviser for the Sunlight Foundation, and Laura Ross, the former chief of staff for the Office of New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams.
Schneiderman's goal is to create a team above politics and partisanship, so the transition team is made up of top legal experts from New York and throughout the nation. This team represents a wide range of professional talent across a diverse spectrum of backgrounds.
" My role on the team is to identify senior personnel to be hired by the AG-Elect and to make policy recommendations," Mutua said.
Mutua received a Doctorate of Juridical Science from Harvard Law School in 1987 and served as co-chair of the 2000 Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law. He was appointed by the Government of Kenya as Chairman of the Task Force on the Establishment of a Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission while on sabbatical from 2002 to 2003.
Currently, Mutua is a SUNY Distinguished Professor, the Floyd H. and Hilda L. Hurst Faculty Scholar, and the dean of the UB Law School. Additionally, he serves as the Director of the Human Rights Center and teaches international human rights, international business transactions, and international law.
His appointment to the Attorney General's transition team allows for Mutua to keep his post as dean of the law school.
"The work of the team takes place in Manhattan, although members of the team can also be linked by conference if they are unable to personally be there," Mutua said.
UB's law school is the only public state law school, and the fact that Mutua was selected puts the quality of the school in high standing.
"This is a feather in the cap of UB because this recognizes the importance of the law school," said Ilene Fleischmann, vice dean for alumni, public relations and communications at the law school.
Mutua acknowledges how his position will positively affect UB.
"My appointment to the AG's Transition Team is a recognition of the UB school of law and the importance that the Western New York legal community plays in the administration of justice in New York," Mutua said in an interview with the UB News Center.
Local students have recognized the law school and Western New York's impact on the political system in New York State.
"I think it says something good about the UB school of law," said Chanel Bryant, a junior legal studies major. "Schneiderman could have picked someone from [a school] like NYU, Columbia, Fordham or Cornell, but [instead] he picked Mutua from UB. I feel like that says something pretty obvious [about the quality of our school]."
Mutua is looking forward to working with the Attorney General and the impact that the committee will have on New York State in general.
"I am humbled that Schneiderman has placed such great faith in me, and I pledge to do all [that] I can to help his office uphold the rule of law," Mutua said.
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
