Former ABA chair of federal judiciary committee named SU College of Law Commencement speaker

Former ABA chair of federal judiciary committee named SU College of Law Commencement speakerApril 22, 2008Jaclyn D. Grossojgrosso@law.syr.edu

Stephen L. Tober ’71, L’74, will deliver the 2008 Commencement address to graduates of Syracuse University College of Law on Sunday, May 18, at 1 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. Tober is a graduate of SU College of Law and received a bachelor’s degree in history from SU’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Tober served as the 2005-06 chair of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. As chair, Tober coordinated reviews of all federal judicial nominees and testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the U.S. Supreme Court nominations of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. The importance of the assessment of such nominees by the Standing Committee is a critical protection of the independence of the federal judiciary.

In August 2008, Tober begins a three-year term on the American Bar Association’s board of governors.

Tober practices law in New Hampshire and has been active in state and national bar leadership, including having served as president of both the New Hampshire Bar Association and the New Hampshire Trial Lawyers Association.

He has twice received the New Hampshire Bar Association’s President’s Distinguished Service Award; served as a member of the New Hampshire Supreme Court’s Board of Bar Examiners; and is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Layers, the American Bar Foundation and the New Hampshire Bar Foundation. He is listed in The Best Lawyers of America and has been profiled in New England Super Lawyers.