Dean Carlarne, Several Alumni Named to City & State Law Power 100 List

Albany Law School is pleased to announce that President and Dean Cinnamon Carlarne has been named to City & State’s 2025 Law Power 100. The annual list looks to identify key and influential legal figures in New York State. This recognition further illustrates the significance and importance of Albany Law across the legal landscape and recognizes Dean Carlarne as a leader in legal and higher education.

Dean Carlarne is a leading international expert in environmental and climate change law. Her scholarship focuses on the evolution of domestic and international environmental governance, particularly in relation to climate change law. Carlarne has been a prominent thought leader in environmental law, authoring numerous scholarly articles and books, including a comparative analysis of climate change law and policy published by Oxford University Press. Before Albany, Carlarne was the associate dean for The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

Dean Carlarne proudly joins six Albany Law alumni, and an honorary degree recipient in this years recognition.  The list includes  Evan H. Krinick Esq. ’85, Managing Partner, Rivkin Radler, Craig S. Wittlin Esq. ’92, Managing Partner, Harter Secrest & Emery LLP, Jason Ross Lilien Esq. ’95 Co-Chair, Nonprofits & Tax-Exempt Organizations, Loeb & Loeb LLP, Kevin M. Lang Esq. ’91, Adam T. Conway Esq. ’09, Amanda De Vito Trinsey ’11, and Roberta Kaplan ’23H, who received an honorary degree in 2023. 

Evan H. Krinick Esq. ’85, Managing Partner, Rivkin Radler

In over a dozen years as the managing partner for Rivkin Radler, Krinick has steered the firm’s growth from three offices and 140 attorneys to six offices and 240 attorneys throughout the metropolitan area, and he has established himself as a top attorney on Long Island. Krinick has also served as outside counsel to the Long Island Power Authority since 1993, working on such major issues as the Shoreham nuclear plant’s decommissioning, the Long Island Lighting Co. acquisition and the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

Craig S. Wittlin Esq. ’92, Managing Partner, Harter Secrest & Emery LLP

Wittlin was elected to his fourth three-year term as the managing partner of Harter Secrest & Emery LLP, a prominent law firm based in Rochester, in January. Wittlin maintains an active corporate law and transactional practice. He was the lead transactional counsel to The Golub Corp. in their merger with Tops supermarkets in 2022. Wittlin has also provided pro bono assistance to asylum-seekers in New York.

Jason Ross Lilien Esq. ’95 Co-Chair, Nonprofits & Tax-Exempt Organizations, Loeb & Loeb LLP

Lilien is a leading expert in New York nonprofit law. The former chief of the state Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, he now co-chairs the Nonprofits & Tax-Exempt Organizations Practice at Loeb & Loeb LLP, advising a wide array of nonprofit entities on corporate governance, regulatory compliance and charitable fundraising. As Charities Bureau chief, he oversaw more than 100,000 nonprofits, negotiated resolutions to complex and high-profile estate disputes related to charities and was a key author of the Nonprofit Revitalization Act of 2013, the most significant reform of state nonprofit law in decades.

Sean M. Doolan, Esq. ’87

Doolan serves as President at Hinman Straub. He specializes in government relations and with more than 30 years of experience, has become a go-to resource for complex cases. He is the firm's key strategist and is known by clients, state and local lawmakers for his deep expertise in the health sector and for his knowledge of policy, regulatory matters and ever-changing state and federal requirements. He is also known for expertly and discreetly negotiating transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and financing.

Kevin M. Lang Esq. ’91, Adam T. Conway Esq. ’09, and Amanda De Vito Trinsey Esq. ’11

Couch White has a formidable team in Adam Conway, Kevin Lang and Amanda De Vito Trinsey. De Vito Trinsey and Lang co-chair the firm’s Energy Practice group, representing clients with matters before federal and state regulatory agencies and handling issues around energy, utility rates, and regulatory compliance. The partners have all represented New York City, while De Vito Trinsey also serves as general counsel to the New York State Reliability Council and advises large industrial, commercial and institutional energy consumers. Lang’s clients also include SUNY and prominent owners and developers of renewable resources, transmission and energy storage. Conway chairs Couch White’s Renewable Energy Transactions Practice Group. He recently secured regulatory approval for the Bluestone Gathering Lateral Pipeline, which is a new natural gas pipeline in Broome County. He represented New York City in seeking a permit to build a hydroelectric plant in upstate New York and worked with city officials on efforts to get building owners to convert from oil heat to natural gas.

Roberta Ann Kaplan Esq. ’23H Founding Partner, Kaplan Martin

Roberta Kaplan’s high-profile victories include $89 million in jury verdicts against President Donald Trump in the sex abuse and defamation case of writer E. Jean Carroll, and a landmark $26 million verdict against perpetrators of the Charlottesville, Virginia, neo-Nazi violence. Kaplan, whom one legal research firm described as “a modern-day legal giant,” is a founding partner in the firm of Kaplan Martin, with decades of experience in commercial, higher education and civil rights cases. Most recently, Kaplan helped the Metropolitan Transportation Authority defeat 10 separate challenges to New York’s congestion pricing program.
Kaplan was given an honorary Albany Law School degree at the 2023 Commencement ceremony.