Alumnus Jim Martorano ’74 wrote a blog post for Tap Into Yorktown about his time at Fordham Law in the 1970s.
The early 1970s was, for me, a time of dramatically shifting career directions. Abandoning my deeply held desire to teach philosophy, I embarked on a new career at Fordham Law School. This was the fall of 1971 and my objective was to some-day represent poor people.
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Graduating from Fordham in 1974, I immediately tried to land my “dream job” but was disappointed to learn that the Legal Aid Society of New York City had a hiring freeze. I ended up working in Poughkeepsie for a one-man labor law firm. A month into the job, I was asked to represent an employer who had fired an African American employee for fighting on the job. The president of the company and I arrived early but were quickly joined by the union officials, who purportedly represented the interests of the employee. Prior to the employee’s arrival, I was appalled at what can only be described as a racist discussion between the union officials and the hearing officer. It was evident to me that this employee was not about to receive a fair hearing of his grievances. I refused to participate and walked out. I was fired within 24 hours.