RIVERA BREAKS 120-YEAR COLOR BARRIER WITH ELECTION WIN, SEES SIGNALS FOR A NEW ERA
SMITTEN BY TROY CRIME TRIAL AS A TEEN, SISE SET SIGHTS EARLY FOR COURTROOM LIFE
In the nearly 120-year history of the Third Department, not a single person of color has ever been elected to state Supreme Court in any of the 28 counties that comprise the sprawling district. Richard Rivera, ’91, the first person of color elected to a countywide judgeship in Albany County, and the first Hispanic jurist to sit on any judicial bench in the county, aims to break the barrier. Rivera has been a judge only since January 2015, but his election broke a mold and, he hopes, signals a new era. “Change may be on the horizon with the upcoming Supreme Court elections,” Rivera said. “I do aspire to be the first, unless someone else is granted that privilege.” Rivera’s ascension to the Albany County judiciary followed a script written years ago at Albany Law, when Professor Alex Seita provided a long-term roadmap to pursuing a judgeship. He set the foundation by working as an assistant public defender/ conflict defender and assistant county attorney in Albany County—positions that brought him into contact with the local legal and political establishment. Then, Rivera spent close to five years serving as a support magistrate in Albany County Family Court, garnering the experience that qualified him for the bench. “Even though judges are not politically active, there is a certain amount of politics involved once you decide to run or seek re-election,” Rivera said. “You have to run on a party line, which means you have to reach out to the leaders of the parties and other elected officials, in order to get their endorsements.” Rivera had no Albany connection until he enrolled in Albany Law. His parents, neither of whom attended high school let alone college, came from Puerto Rico and instilled in their five children a love of learning and a goal of higher education. Rivera graduated early from high school, and enrolled in Colgate University when he was only 16. At rural Colgate, Rivera was well out of his urban element, but wisely ignored an advisor who told the 16-year-old freshman that he was out of his league and should go home and enroll in a trade school. He graduated in 1986 with a dual major in Spanish Literature and Latin American Studies and set his sights on law school.
For Richard E. Sise ’82, the “eureka!” moment came in the early 1970s, when, as a high school student, he sat in awe at what amounted to a Capital District version of a legal all-star game. It was a high-profile criminal trial in Troy. The prosecutor was then-Rensselaer County District Attorney Con. G. “Gus” Cholakis ’58. The defense attorney was Harry O. Lee ’40, already a local legend. And the judge was a highly regarded jurist named Robert J. Sise ’49, the high school student’s father. “My dad took me out of school for the better part of a week to watch this trial,” recalled Sise. “I was smitten. I knew then that I wanted to be a trial lawyer.” Forty-odd years later he is the acting presiding judge of the Court of Claims. After graduating from Siena College, Sise enrolled at the University of Miami Law School. It was Cupid who brought him home to the Albany area.
“ Change may be on the horizon with the upcoming Supreme Court elections.…I do aspire to be the first, unless someone else is granted that privilege.” At Albany Law, Rivera did not encounter any of the administrative indifference he experienced with the advisor at Colgate. Rather, he was encouraged and nurtured by professors Anthony Baldwin, the advisor to students of color, Robert Tyman, “who taught that a good lawyer is able to consider a case from every angle and uncover issues that aren’t immediately obvious,” and Seita. Rivera said the key to getting minority representation in the Third Department is two-fold: party leaders need to actively recruit persons of color, and persons of color need to become involved in local politics. “If the different parties wanted candidates, they could find us, because we are here,” Rivera said. “But to a certain extent, it could be a lack of involvement on the part of attorneys of color. It is a dual thing—party leaders aren’t looking for minority candidates, and minority lawyers are not as active in seeking out the party leaders as they should be.” —JC
“ My dad took me out of school for the better part of a week to watch this trial...I knew then that I wanted to be a trial lawyer.” “I felt right at home at Albany Law, as my brother Jack ’79 had recently graduated and my brother Tom ’81 was a third-year student” (another of his eight brothers, Joseph, graduated in 1988), Sise said “Furthermore, that girlfriend of mine, Connie Cahill ’83, was a first-year student.” Sise came under the spell of professors Peter Preiser and Norman Redlich. “Professor Preiser had such a breadth of experience, having chaired a number of different state agencies. He was very influential. Professor Redlich, my evidence teacher, delivered his twice weekly lectures in the Socratic method with a side of benign sarcasm. His teaching style prodded me to study further the rationale for the particular rules on evidence,” Sise said. After graduation, Sise again left the Albany area and became a prosecutor in the Bronx, where he served District Attorney Mario Merola in the juvenile offense, Supreme Court and homicide bureaus over a span of five years. He then practiced plaintiff’s personal injury law with Dienst & Cahn in New York City and, later, personal injury defense with Rivkin Radler Dunne and Bayh on Long Island. In 1989, Sise came home to Amsterdam, where he, brothers Jack and Tom and their father formed a family firm, where he remained as head of the litigation department until Gov. George E. Pataki appointed him to the Court of Claims in May of 2000. He was designated presiding judge four years later. He has been an Albany Law adjunct professor for the past 13 years. His law clerk, Robert J. Foley ’84, is an Albany Law grad. Judge Sise credits the school equipping him with courtroom skills, and the ability to “think like a lawyer.” “The transition of thinking like a lay person to that of a lawyer is a subtle matter,” Sise said. “It was my training at Albany Law that launched my legal career in the Bronx DA’s Office, which led to a long, successful period of private practice before returning to public service as a Judge of the Court of Claims. I am indebted to the law school and the many fine professors and adjuncts who showed me the way.” —JC
SUMMER 2015
ALBANYLAW MAGAZINE
25