Greetings from Ave Maria School of Law! It is my privilege to welcome you to this inaugural issue of Good Counsel. This publication will be our primary means of spreading the word about all the news at Ave Maria School of Law. We desire the broadest possible distribution, so please do not hesitate to forward it to your friends, or to let us know of people who might be interested.
There is much to report about Our Lady’s Law School. This month, our new Chaplain begins his service here. We are blessed beyond words to have Father David Pignato joining us. To mention just a few of his long list of accomplishments, Father Pignato attended seminary at the North American College in Rome, is a graduate of Harvard Law School, and most recently has served as a pastor and as the Vicar for Priests in the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts. Fr. Pignato’s title at Ave Maria Law is Chaplain, Associate Dean of Mission, and Visiting Associate Professor of Law. Please write to welcome Father or, even better, drop by and meet him in person.
That is not all the news! This has been a busy and successful school year. Ave Maria School of Law was recognized by the Cardinal Newman Society as the only genuinely Catholic law school in the country. This recognition required us to demonstrate that we live up to the ideals for Catholic educational institutions as defined by the Church. Sadly, too few Catholic schools take seriously the Church’s wisdom and long experience regarding education. We do, and we are honored to be recognized for doing so.
We also jumped approximately 20 spots in the US News & World Report rankings of American law schools, the fourth-highest jump among the 200 American law schools. This is a testament to the hard work of our faculty, staff, and students to ensure excellence in training the next generation of lawyers. Our outcomes, including bar passage rates and job placement, are the fruits of this dedication. For example, Ave Maria School of Law was one of the best schools in the country last year in our placement of students after graduation.
These are just a few morsels to give you a flavor of what we are doing, and the exciting results we have achieved. We believe it is noble work. Most importantly, we remain steadfast to our mission of training lawyers in light of the truths taught by the Catholic Church. In so doing, we live up to our motto of Fides et Ratio – faith and reason – which St. John Paul II beautifully called the “two wings” by which the human spirit rises to the knowledge of the truth, including the truth about ourselves.
This mission is the Ave Maria Law “difference.” I look forward to chronicling in future issues how we go about accomplishing it!
John M. Czarnetzky
Chief Executive Officer and Dean
Ave Maria School of Law announces
three new tenured professorships.
Patrick Gillen
Professor Gillen is currently working on a mission course offered to all students who attend Ave Maria School of Law, Moral Foundations of Law, a signature course designed to help students understand the inevitable intersection of law and moral values and to provide them with background knowledge and conceptual framework needed to think well about this vitally important issue. He is also advising pro-life groups about how to further their mission in the face of state laws that seek to undermine their ability to promote and protect life. In connection with that pro bono work, he is researching the speech/conduct distinction that pro-abortion legislators often rely upon when seeking to thwart pro-life groups.
Professor Gillen is grateful for the support of his colleagues and Dean Czarnetzky’s decision to confer this honor on him because he regards working at Ave Maria as a great privilege. At Ave Maria he has a chance to pass on the best of what has been thought and said about law with the hope that Ave Maria graduates will, in time, reform the law as they seek to serve their clients well.
Bruce Connolly
On May 9, 2024, Professor Bruce Connolly joined the tenure track faculty as an Assistant Professor of Law. He is excited about this new opportunity and grateful for the support of the administration, faculty, staff, and students during this transition.
Professor Connolly is entering his sixth academic year at Ave Maria Law and his third year directing the Coach Rod Smith Business Law Institute. He looks forward to welcoming the new cohort of Smith Fellows as well as their projects and initiatives for the coming year. This semester, he is teaching Business Organizations and Federal Criminal Law & Practice and preparing two law review articles focusing on business law and criminal law.
Professor Connolly is deeply committed to the Law School’s mission, and he and his family are blessed to be a part of the Ave Maria Law community.
Tony Kolenc
Tony is preparing for the third year of the Veterans and Servicemembers Law Clinic (VSLC), which starts up again in Fall 2024. His clinic has several ongoing cases, including an active federal lawsuit against the U.S. Space Force on behalf of a military reservist, and two cases ready for filing in Florida state courts on behalf of disabled veterans. His next law review project will focus on the pro-life issues involving the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment.
Professor Kolenc said, “I waited over a decade teaching in legal academia before getting the opportunity to come to Ave Maria School of Law. The school’s mission is incredibly important to the future of legal education, and I am honored to be a part of it.”
Welcome to Our New Chaplain
Fr. David Pignato is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, MA, and until accepting his new role at Ave Maria Law, served as the Pastor of St. Ann Parish in Raynham, MA, and as the Vicar for Priests of the Diocese of Fall River. Fr. Pignato’s first day at Ave Maria Law was on July 1, 2024.
He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross (1992) and Harvard Law School (1995). Following law school, Fr. Pignato practiced law for a short time at the Boston firm of Goodwin Procter, before entering the seminary and attending the Pontifical North American College in Rome. While in Rome, Fr. Pignato earned both the S.T.B. and S.T.L. degrees from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelicum.
Ordained for Fall River in 2001, Fr. Pignato first served at St. Julie Billiart Parish while also working as Chaplain at Bishop Stang High School, both in Dartmouth, MA. Fr. Pignato then served as personal secretary to the Most Reverend George W. Coleman, Bishop of Fall River. In 2008, Fr. Pignato returned to Rome to pursue doctoral studies and received the S.T.D. degree from the Angelicum in 2010, writing his dissertation on the topic of Church-state relations.
From 2010-2020, Fr. Pignato served as a member of the faculty at Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton, MA, where he taught courses in systematic theology, including Fundamental Theology, Christology, and Ecclesiology, and also courses in Faith and Reason, Church and State, Church History and American Constitutional Law.
Fr. Pignato’s title at Ave Maria Law is Chaplain, Associate Dean of Mission, and Visiting Associate Professor of Law. In addition to serving as the Chaplain for Ave Law, Fr. Pignato will also teach courses at the law school.
Ave Maria School of Law wishes to thank His Excellency Bishop Edgar da Cunha, S.D.V., bishop of the Diocese of Fall River, MA, for allowing Fr. Pignato to be released from his duties in Fall River to come to Ave Maria Law. We also thank the parishioners of St. Ann for sending us their pastor. Finally, we thank His Excellency Bishop Frank Dewane, our bishop and member of the Board of Governors, for assisting us with bringing Fr. Pignato to our law school.
Welcome Father Pignato!
Published!
Ave Law is blessed with world-class faculty members who provide our students with an excellent legal education steeped in the Catholic intellectual tradition; however, did you know we also have faculty members who author fiction in their spare time?
Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law, Eugene Milhizer, has published his second novel, Rough Justice. A sequel to his first successful and well-reviewed novel, Searching for Lilly. Rough Justice is a courtroom drama, set in 1980s Washington D.C. It is the story of a young Army JAG attorney defending another attorney and former opponent charged with premeditated murder and attempted murder. The narrative is presented in a fully authentic style, to include excerpts from trial transcripts, a crime scene diagram, and an autopsy report. It has been well-reviewed, especially by legal practitioners, law professors, and law students. For more information about Rough Justice and Professor Milhizer’s other books, book tour information, and to purchase, visit: www.ermilhizer.com.
Murder at Penwood Manor, by Professor Tony Kolenc, Associate Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Veterans and Servicemembers Law Clinic, won First Place in the Teens category in the Association of Catholic Publishers Excellence in Publishing Awards 2024 and was included in the Aleteia 2024 Summer Book List: Books for Teens In this thrilling installment of the award-winning series, The Harwood Mysteries. For more information about Murder at Penwood Manor, Professor Kolenc’s other books, and more
Unveiling the Tools of Judicial Interpretation: A Perspective from the Veterans Memorial Law Library
As the Director of the Veterans Memorial Law Library, I am often reminded of the pivotal role our institution plays in equipping future lawyers with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the complexities of the legal system. One of the most critical aspects of legal education is understanding the various doctrines, canons, and interpretive tools that judges use to interpret and apply the law. These principles are not merely academic abstractions; they are the foundation of judicial decision-making in the United States, and a good understanding of them is essential for anyone aspiring to practice law.
Faith-Based Challenges Facing Law Schools with Religious Affiliations
Professor Bruce Connolly will be the moderator of “Faith-Based Challenges Facing Law Schools with Religious Affiliations” during the SEALS 2024 Conference held July 21-27 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl.
The discussion group, including Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, Professor Kevin Govern and Professor Tony Kolenc, focuses on the challenges of maintaining a religious identity at faith-based law schools, whether Christian, Jewish, or Islamic. It addresses difficulties recruiting a student body consistent with the law school’s religious identity and mission, which may be counter-cultural.
The discussion group addresses fundraising challenges and difficulties developing a curriculum and teaching in ways that are consistent with the school’s religious identity and mission. It further addresses ideas regarding accommodating student organizations that have views divergent from the mission and managing and supervising clinics and co-curricular programs to ensure they are consistent with the mission.
Finally, the discussion group addresses challenges that professors from religiously-affiliated schools face when speaking at non-religiously-affiliated institutions.
The Coach Rod Smith Business Law Institute is gearing up for the 2024-2025 academic year. Professor Connolly and BLI Fellows will attend the Florida Bar Business Law Section 2024 Labor Day Retreat, which takes place in Naples this year. In addition, BLI representatives will participate in the South Florida Association of Corporate Counsel Annual CLE Conference in Hollywood, Florida, in September 2024.
Announcing the Rodney L. Smith Business Law Institute Fellow for the Class of 2026
Congratulations to our New Fellows!
Cecilia Berutti
Benjamin Dellacono
Robert Eichelberger
Caroline Funk
Megan Howard
Garrett Knasel
Brandon Labrie
Vincent Martino
Miller Whitten
John Wright
Quinten Zak
The Office of Professional Development wants to remind you that we are more than just resume editors!
We provide job postings, cover letter review, overview of legal jobs in geographic areas around the country and of course, resume review. For our students we offer presentations and interview processes to hone your skills. We are also your biggest cheerleaders! We don’t just work with Ave Maria Law students—we work with our alumni too.
We are excited to introduce our new institutional branding at Ave Maria School of Law! As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance our identity and presence, we have developed a refreshed visual and thematic approach that embodies our law school’s values, mission, and spirit. You will notice these changes popping up across campus, in our communications, and throughout our digital platforms.
Our new branding features subtle updates that reflect the excellence and integrity of Ave Law. These elements are thoughtfully designed to foster a stronger sense of community and pride among students, faculty, alumni, and supporters.
This initiative is more than just a visual update; it is a commitment to our future.
By presenting a unified and contemporary image, we enhance our ability to connect with prospective students, partners, and the broader legal community. It is a bold step that underscores our dedication to leading in Catholic legal education and positively impacting the world while maintaining a firm understanding of our role as stewards of our resources.
Thank you to Lisa Johnston for creating new religious artwork for Ave Law that will be displayed as this process continues. Thank you to Eric Wills and Jose Ramirez for their hard work in making these updates occur. Thank you to everyone who has expressed their delight in the new look and feel of the Administration Building. There’s more to come!
STUDENT AFFAIRS CALENDAR
New Student Orientation: August 14 – 16
1L Community Service Project with Meals of Hope: Thursday, August 15th. Meet at 8:30am at St. Thomas More Commons Ave Law Class of 2027 will be packaging meals here on campus to help local families. Our goal is to pack 50,000 meals for those in need!
Incoming Student Networking Event with Alumni and Current Students: Sunday, August 18th – watch your email for details!
Fall Classes begin: August 19
Student Organization & Involvement Fair: Friday, August 30, 12:30pm – 2:30pm on the Cancro Courts
Patriot Week: September 9 – 13
Monday: Patriot Week Kick-off with breakfast in the library
Tuesday: JAG Day – Lunch Panel and one-on-one interviews
Wednesday: 9/11 Speakers Panel
Thursday: Lunch presentation by Home Base
Friday: Activities TBD
Susan B. Anthony Golf Outing: Saturday, October 12
LAWR III REMINDER
LAWR III is holding its Electronic Research for Litigation class on Tuesday, September 3, in the Library classroom from 12:15 to 1:15 pm. All LAWR III students are required to attend.
Prayer for Students
Taking the Bar Exam in July
Creator of all things,
true Source of light and wisdom,
lofty origin of all being,
graciously let a ray of Your brilliance
penetrate into the darkness of my understanding
and take from me the double darkness
in which I have been born,
an obscurity of both sin and ignorance.
Give me a sharp sense of understanding,
a retentive memory,
and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally.
Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations,
and the ability to express myself with thoroughness and charm.
Michigan Alumni gathered to reconnect and reminisce on our Alma Mater’s rich Michigan roots while celebrating our next chapter in Naples at the First Annual MI Alumni Luncheon hosted by the Office of Alumni Relations. Near or far, Our Mother is ALWAYS calling us Home.
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