Ali and Matt Rimkunas '21 on Connection, Community, and Love at Albany Law

Ali and Matt Rimkunas, both in the Class of 2021, met their first day of Orientation.

They spent a lot of time together in the same cohort.

Somewhere in between Property, Contracts, and Torts, they fell in love.

They married in December 2021 with some special guests in attendance. Professors Patricia Reyhan and Pat Connors and Dean Rosemary Queenan were there along with classmates and friends.

 “The relationships with professors, both professionally and personally, contributed to our success in and beyond the classroom. When you go to law school, you really do give up three years of your life,” Ali said. “Because of that though, you also learn to lean on the whole community as sort of extended family. Professor Reyhan read at our wedding, and we felt that was really important because she had been with us since the beginning of our relationship. I worked for Dean Queenan during my time at Albany Law, and Matt worked for Professor Pat Connors. We still keep in touch with all of them and would look to them when we needed any type of advice.”

While in law school, both Matt and Ali participated in the Domenick L. Gabrielli Appellate Advocacy Competition.

Matt was selected to serve as Editor in Chief of Professor Vincent Bonventre’s Center for Judicial Process. He was a research assistant to Professor Patrick Connors too.  

Ali worked as a clerk for NYSUT, the New York State Senate, and the New York State Assembly Minority Counsel’s Office.

The couple remains close with several people from their cohort as friends and professional colleagues. Currently, Ali is assistant counsel at Cordo & Company, a Government Relations focused firm, and Matt is with The Wagoner Firm, as a litigation associate.

“Going through a somewhat grueling experience like law school, you find that your circle gets smaller. I think that happens for a few reasons: one is that you are so busy but also because your classmates are the only people who can really relate to the law school experience and how taxing it can be,” she said. “Having Matt as a friend and classmate made law school a lot more manageable; we created study plans together and kept each other accountable through the 3 years as well as bar prep.”