Two Alumni Take Helm at GLC

The Government Law Center at Albany Law School has two familiar faces in leadership posts.

The Honorable Leslie E. Stein ’81, who retired as an Associate Judge on the New York Court of Appeals in June, joined the law school as the new Director of the Government Law Center (GLC) at Albany Law School. She started in September on a part-time basis and will move full-time in January.

Patrick Woods ’12 started as Deputy Director of the GLC in October. Woods previously worked as an Assistant Solicitor General in the Albany Office of the Appeals and Opinions Bureau of the New York State Attorney General.

“I am deeply honored to have been given the opportunity to serve Albany Law School and the public as the next Director of the Government Law Center,” said Stein. “As a graduate of Albany Law School, a long-time resident of the Capital District, a member of the New York State bar, and of the judiciary, I am keenly aware of the outstanding work that the Government Law Center has achieved in the community and beyond.”

“I am absolutely thrilled to be able to come home to Albany Law School,” Woods said. “I look forward to working with Judge Stein to build on the already stellar work of the Government Law Center.”

“Patrick was a brilliant student, has an accomplished law career, and is going to be an incredible asset to the Government Law Center,” said Albany Law School President and Dean Alicia Ouellette ’94. “We could not be more fortunate than to have two individuals as dynamic and talented as Judge Stein and Patrick leading the GLC.”

After graduating from Albany Law, Stein began her legal career as the law clerk to the Schenectady County Family Court Judges. She practiced matrimonial and family law with the Albany law firm of McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Williams, P.C. where she made partner. In 1997, she began her judicial career as an Albany City Court Judge and Acting Albany County Family Court Judge. She was elected to the New York State Supreme Court, Third Judicial District for a term commencing in January 2002. She served as the Administrative Judge of the Rensselaer County Integrated Domestic Violence Part from January 2006 until February 2008, when she was appointed a Justice of the New York State Appellate Division, Third Department. In October 2014, Judge Stein was nominated to serve as an Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals and her nomination was confirmed by the New York State Senate on February 9, 2015.

While a student at Albany Law School, Woods was Editor-in-Chief of the Albany Law Review, a Teaching Fellow for Federal Civil Procedure, an Executive Board Member of the moot court program, a student member of the Academic Standards Committee, and interned with the Albany County District Attorney’s Office, New York State Supreme Court, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. Before law school, Woods worked as a paralegal for a law firm specializing in customs and international trade law and taught for The Princeton Review.