Dear NYSASA Colleagues:

My name is Julie Shaw, and it is my privilege to serve as the President of the New York State Association of School Attorneys for the 2023 calendar year.

The New York State Association of School Attorneys is an organization dedicated exclusively to school attorneys across the state and our mission is to support school districts and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services by supporting the attorneys who represent them.

For the past few years, the Association has made great strides in defining our goals and objectives to better serve our approximately 200 members.

Under the leadership of Immediate Past President, Pilar Sokol, we just finished our first year of implementation of a new Strategic Plan that was adopted in November of 2021.

As we enter the second year of implementation of the Association’s strategic plan, we are utilizing the results of a survey sent out to Association members last spring to better serve our membership, and to enhance membership involvement.

During the 2023 calendar year, our Association is continuing to explore additional educational offerings that are of most interest to our members. We are also in the process of updating our Website so that our members are kept apprised of our offerings and resources.

Annually, the Association holds a three-day School Attorneys’ Conference at the scenic Sagamore Hotel in Lake George, New York, where we offer robust Continuing Legal Education opportunities that are tailored to the practice areas of our members. In addition, our annual School Attorneys Conference offers a unique opportunity to network with other school attorneys across the state in a collegial setting.

The Association also co-sponsors the New York State School Boards Association’s Annual Pre-Convention School Law Seminar held in October at a different location in New York State each year, where our members present on timely legal issues of importance to school attorneys, Board members, and superintendents across the state.

If you are a practicing school attorney in New York State who is not yet a member of the Association, please consider joining the Association so that you may enjoy benefits of membership. If you have any questions about the Association, please feel free to contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at (845) 486-4200.

Sincerely, 

Julie Shaw