Syracuse University College of Law ClassNotes
Joel Rabine ’63, L’65
It was love at first sight for a 16-year-old Joel Rabine, when he arrived at the Syracuse University campus one late August day in 1959. His parents had driven him from their home in the Bronx. “I fell in love with the school and the city,” he says. “For me Syracuse was like a small town.” To top it off, Rabine was a football fan and 1959, of course, was the year Syracuse University boasted a 11-0 season and won the national championship.
Rabine enrolled in the 3-3 program, completing his SU undergraduate degree in three years before entering the law school. He had finished high school in three years, as well. “My father was a firm believer in, ’If you can do it, do it, get it to the next level,’” he says, and Rabine inherited the drive. “I was always in a big rush to get things done.”
Sophomore year for Rabine included a road trip with five other Phi Sigma Delta brothers to Cortland, where someone had said there were nice girls at the state school. Rabine met an aspiring teacher, Sally, and in August the couple celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary.
After graduating law school at 22, Rabine, who was in ROTC, was stationed briefly at Fort Benning, Georgia, before he began teaching law for the Army on the campus of the University of Virginia. He went on to general practice for two law firms in Manhattan. “I did trial work with some outstanding lawyers and with some terrible lawyers,” he remembers now. “It was a learning experience. I did learn to prepare very well.”
Rabine wanted to specialize in one area of law, and real estate was the natural choice. His father had been a real estate agent and even at a young age Rabine had earned his real estate license and had worked in the field over vacations.
In 1971, he went out on his own, founding Rabine and Nickelsberg. About 95 percent of his work is in real estate. Last year, Rabine was the attorney for a client who bought a package of mixed-use apartment buildings in Manhattan for $277.5 million. Physically the largest deal he handled was the sale of a complex of some 30 office buildings in Tallahassee, Florida. Real Estate law has provided the challenge and reward Rabine was seeking as far back as his days in Syracuse. “It’s the accomplishment of getting a deal done,” he says. “You do a transaction, your client is pleased, they get the results they are satisfied with.”
The Rabines are parents of three daughters. “I tried to get them all to go to Syracuse,” Rabine says. He succeeded in having their youngest daughter, Tara, attend SU, graduating in 1993. That is the same graduating class as her husband, Steve Merson, another SU graduate in the family. A longtime and loyal supporter of the College of Law, Rabine sees giving as a way to help the law school become even better, by attracting the best students. A strong law school with a great reputation benefits not just current students but alumni as well, he says.
Rabine’s Bronx office boasts framed photographs of the Carrier Dome and other SU buildings. Even his grandson’s summer camp bunk bursts with orange. “He’s got the pillows, the blankets,” Rabine says. “We’re just all very proud of our Syracuse connection.”
ClassNotes
1950
Jerome S. Boros
Jerome Boros has become general counsel and a senior vice president of Lotus Communications Corp., Los Angeles, Calif., the operator of 30 radio/television stations in the United States. Boros is a resident of Sands Point, N.Y., where he is the village justice and chair of the cable committee.
1964
John C. Rossi
John Rossi was honored on May 23, 2010, at the Cayuga community College Alumni Association Awards Brunch. Rossi maintains a private law practice in Auburn, N.Y., and has served as corporation counsel for the City of Auburn since 2007.
1966
Edward O. Burke
The Phoenix Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates has named the Hon. Edward Burke as Judge of the Year for 2009. On May 27, 2010, he received the Judicial Integrity Award from the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association at their annual meeting.
1970
John L. Stinziano
John L. (Jack) Stinziano, a partner in the Naples, Fla., office of Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP, recently received two major accolades in his legal specialty. Stinziano was named to the list of 2009 FIVE STAR Best in Client Satisfaction Wealth Managers, and was listed in the 2010 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
1971
Peter L. Hubbard
Peter Hubbard has been selected for inclusion in the 2010 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. He is with the firm of Menter, Rudin & Trivelpiece P.C., in Syracuse, N.Y.
1971
David S. Howe
David Howe, with 30 years of litigation experience, has started Howe Mediation Services LLC . The company provides mediation for civil actions in Upstate New York. Howe is a partner in Porter Nordby Howe LLP, with offices in Syracuse, N.Y.
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