PROFESSOR MICHAEL J. HUTTER.

• Author: Bonuentre, Vincent Martin
• Position: Albany Law School Professor - Testimonial

I knew Michael Hutter before I knew Michael Hutter. Yogi Berra would have said it better. Some politicians would have said it worse. But my point is that I have known Albany Law School's Professor Michael J. Hutter at different times, in different contexts.

As a law clerk for New York State Court of Appeals Judges Matthew J. Jasen and then Stewart F. Hancock, Jr., I became familiar with Michael as an appellate advocate. His briefs to the Court always made the Judges' and their clerks' work so much easier. His briefs were always so clear, his analysis of the law so insightful and forthright, and his arguments so lucid and logical, that we were always pleased to see Michael's name as one of the lawyers on an appeal.

Beyond that, and in no small measure because of that, Michael was a source of pride to the Jasen chambers. He had clerked for Judge Jasen several years before me. The Judge was especially proud of him, and we clerks delighted in the reflected glory of one of our own doing so well--not only as an advocate, but as a law professor as well. Appropriately, the Jasen family gave Michael the honor of representing the law clerks with a eulogy at the Judge's funeral.

Years after my joining Michael in the family of Judge Jasen law clerks, I joined him on the faculty of Albany Law School as his junior colleague. For nearly thirty years, I have been the beneficiary of Michael's good counsel, support, and camaraderie. He has been a wise mentor and dependable friend. I owe Michael a great deal for all his assistance, encouragement, and loyalty throughout the years.

So I could not be more pleased that we dedicate this issue of the Albany Law Review to Michael. The members of the Law Review, like so many students throughout the law school over the years since 1976, have been the beneficiaries of his teaching and advising and they hold him in the highest esteem. Indeed, Michael has long been one of the students' very favorite professors, whose classes are among the most sought after in the curriculum.

As Michael's junior colleague, as well as a junior member of the Jasen law clerk family of which he is the veritable Dean, I extent my heartiest congratulations to Professor Hutter on this occasion of the Albany Law Review's tribute to him.

In this issue--the twenty-third annual edition of State Constitutional Commentary and ninth annual of New York Appeals--we continue the tradition of the Albany Law Review and Albany Law School of serving as the...