Introduction

On June 10, 2024, the University of Idaho (“U of I”) College of Law appointed a new dean. We join them in welcoming Aviva Abramovsky to the role.

Dean Abramovsky is a noted expert in the fields of insurance law, commercial law, regulation of financial entities and legal ethics. She joins U of I directly from the University of Buffalo School of Law. She will be the 22^nd permanent dean in the role.

The University of Idaho, home of the Vandals, is Idaho’s land-grant, national research university. The College of Law was established in 1909[i] with its residential law school campus in Moscow, and its second campus is in Boise, with approximately 400 students between both campuses.[ii] About 35 percent of attorneys admitted to the Idaho State Bar have graduated from the University of Idaho College of Law.[iii]

The University of Idaho College of Law is currently the only law school located in Idaho, and the Idaho State Bar looks forward to continuing our collaboration with the leaders of this beloved institution.

Background and Education

Dean Aviva Abramovsky was raised in and around New York City. She notes that both her parents, and especially her father—an immigrant and eventual law professor—are significant role models for her life and career. Dean Abramovsky says that she “loves the law because it is the backbone of our democratic civilization” and truly loves teaching and inspiring the next generation of lawyers to love it too.[iv]

Dean Abramovsky graduated from Cornell University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in industrial and labor relations. She then earned her juris doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Career

Dean Abramovsky joins U of I from the University of Buffalo School of Law, where she most recently served as the William J. Magavern Faculty Scholar and before that, was dean of the school from 2017 to 2023.[v] She is also a member of the American Law Institute.

During her tenure as dean at the University of Buffalo School of Law, the law school’s clinical legal education program expanded to include a new Criminal Justice Advocacy Clinic, a Community Engagement Clinic, and the revival of the school’s Innocence and Justice Project.[vi]

Before her time at the University of Buffalo School of Law, Dean Abramovsky was the Kaufman Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and an associate dean at Syracuse University College of Law. During this time, she led the school’s internationalization efforts.[vii] She also spent one year as a visiting professor at Florida State University College of Law, following the start of her career in private practice.

Notable Achievements and Contributions to the Legal Field

Dean Abramovsky has been an active member in the legal education community throughout her career. She has served on multiple committees and sections for the Association of American Law Schools, the American Bar Association (“ABA”), and the American Law Institute.[viii] She was also a member of the ABA’s Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary, Academic Reading Group for the evaluation of Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Samual A. Alito, Jr., preceding to their respective appointments as Associate Justices of the United States Supreme Court.[ix]

Dean Abramovsky has received many awards and honors throughout her career, including the Professor David D. Siegel Award in January 2020, for outstanding academic contribution to New York Law, among many others.[x] She is also the author of “Uniform Commercial Code, West’s McKinney’s Forms for New York,” the definitive set on the New York Commercial Code. She has also authored numerous other book chapters and articles in the fields of insurance and commercial law.[xi]

She notes some notable moments from her career, especially “every single commencement ceremony and seeing all the new attorneys walk across the stage”.[xii] She has been pleased with her drive to create more access to legal education and create new programs to give people the information and training they need to be better equipped in the legal field. She also notes that she, like every dean, takes takes pride in the faculty and accomplishments of the students.

Conclusion

Dean Abramovksy sees the great potential at U of I for legal education in the state. Just as she shared with me her passion for gardening and using plants to make the world a more beautiful place, so she also feels the responsibility and mission on her hands to make our state a better place in training new attorneys and inspiring people to pursue a legal career. Dean Abramovsky closes by saying, “Great states have great law schools” [xiii] and though there are certainly challenges facing law schools, there are also a wealth of opportunities for U of I. She believes the law school is prepared to meet them all.

Carissa A. Carns currently works in the Communications Department at the Idaho State Bar. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a double bachelor’s in history and English, and spends too much of her time trying to craft the perfect pour-over.

Endnotes:

[i] University of Idaho College of Law | The Law School Admission Council, https://www.lsac.org/choosing-law-school/find-law-school/jd-programs/idaho (last visited Sep 10, 2024).

[ii] Admissions – College of Law – University of Idaho, https://www.uidaho.edu/law/admissions (last visited Sep 10, 2024).

[iii] Idaho State Bar Membership Data (Accessed September 8, 2024). Note: The Bar’s database system has most, but not all law school information in the electronic database, where this data was accessed.

[iv] Telephone Interview with Aviva Abramovsky, Dean, University of Idaho College of Law (September 11, 2024).

[v] Aviva Abramovsky Named Dean of U of I College of Law, https://www.uidaho.edu/news/news-articles/news-releases/2024/050324-abramovsky (last visited Sep 10, 2024).

[vi] Id.

[vii] Aviva Abramovsky | College of Law | University of Idaho, https://www.uidaho.edu/law/people/staff/aviva-abramovsky (last visited Sep 10, 2024).

[viii] Id.

[ix] Id.

[x] Other awards include: Outstanding Women in Law Award (Lamplighter), Eighth Judicial District’s Women in the Courts/Gender Racial Fairness Committee (May 2019); Female Trailblazer in Erie County, Buffalo Rising (March 2022); Power Women, Buffalo Business First (July 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022; Power List for Law, Western New York Daily Record (April 2021); Legal Elite Leader, Buffalo Law Journal/Business First (September 2018, 2019, 2020); and Power 250, Buffalo Business First (March 2019).

[xi] Other publications of Aviva Abramovsky’s include: MCKINNEY’S CONSOLIDATED LAWS OF NEW YORK ANNOTATED (updated annually) (2016-Present); Editor, LSN Insurance Law, Legislation, & Policy eJornal (with R. Malloy) (2007-Present); Editor, LSN Housing & Community Law eJournal (with R. Malloy) (2023-Present); Editor, Volume 4: Specific Types of Liability Insurance (Chs. 24-40), NEW APPLEMAN ON INSURANCE LAW LIBRARY EDITION by Mathew Bender (2010- present); Contributing Editor, NEW APPLEMAN INSURANCE LAW NEW YORK, SECOND EDITION, by Mathew Bender (2008- present); Editorial Board of the National Ministry of Public Prosecutorial Ethics Council, Journal of Brazil (2016-2018); Board of Editors, Insurance Titles Group, Mathew Bender (Lexis) (2010-2015); Editor and Academic Advisor, Connecticut Insurance Law Journal (2010-2011); Reviewer for Connecticut Insurance Law Journal, American Business Law Journal, Mathew Bender, West, Springer, Lexis, among others; and BILA Book Prize 2013, Research Handbook on International Insurance and Regulation (Chapter Author)

[xii] Telephone Interview with Aviva Abramovsky, Dean, University of Idaho College of Law (September 11, 2024).

[xiii] Id.