By ANNEMARIE FRANCZYK

In an adversarial situation, it might be known as Town v. Gown.

But the relationship between the University at Buffalo Law School and Western New York has broken down the ivy walls that can separate academics from most everyone else.

As a result, professors and students are working on projects as diverse as lining up millions in funding for a housing development and appealing Medicare coverage denials.

It's a traditional obligation for lawyers to engage in pro bono legal work. As a profession, says law professor Nils Olsen, lawyers are expected to share their expertise with the community. That professional obligation dovetails with UB's core strengths of civic engagement and public services, he adds.

"It's important that the university play a significant role in the community," he says. "Not every law school has as strong a commitment as this one has had over the years."

Olsen, former dean of the law school and current chair of the Buffalo control board, is a former director of UB Law's clinical education program, which is perhaps the most pronounced outreach by the school. It allows students to apply the theory learned in the classroom to practical situations in eight specialty practice areas. About 100 second- and third-year students and their professors take on complicated issues on behalf of clients from the community.

Through his involvement with the environment clinic, Olsen represented citizens groups and municipalities in disputes ranging from proposed development of hazardous-waste incinerators in Niagara County to assisting in the drafting of land-used planning legislation. He helped draft an agreement that led to a 15-year ban on applications for hazardous-waste incinerators.

In the 24 years professor George Hezel has run the affordable housing clinic, he and the students have been engaged in transactional law. It involves the sale and development of commercial or residential buildings, mergers and initial stock options. They've leveraged $213 million worth of development funding and contributed to the rehabbing or building of 2,106 units.

They can't get this kind of education in the classroom, he says. Students meet an array of professional bankers, investors, architects, engineers, government officials - all in the interest of moving an affordable housing project to conclusion. Hezel says.

"You know what's nice? You can actually kick the wheels," he says. "It's not a concept you're developing. The students are engaged in a situation that becomes fruitful, and in the process they're learning."

Their current project is the 60-unit St. Martin Village on Dodge Street in Buffalo. The $16.25 million project is expected to open in June.

The former 19th century orphanage had been transferred to the Community Action Organization of Erie County for development. The nonprofit group went to Hezel's clinic for guidance on where to begin developing the 4.5-acre, 10-building site.

The law students proposed a plan, determined how much it would take and where to get the money for the plan, which included removal of asbestos, lead and other hazardous materials, as well as the demolition of seven buildings.

"Every dime we're able to leverage on tax credit is less money we have to pay on a mortgage," Hare says.

Because of the involvement of the law school, the organization's mortgage is just $2 million, he says.

Another of the clinics is Elder Law, which has been headed by professor Tony Szczygiel since 1983 when he founded it. Its work is narrowly focused on long-term-care service cases, which he selects for their complexity from the overall caseload filed with Legal Services for the Elderly, Disabled or Disadvantaged. The nonprofit provides free civil legal services on a range of issues affecting people age 60 and older.

"For the students, it gives them a good, sound learning experience. They take from the classroom and see how it works out with real-life clients," Szczygiel says. "It puts them in a different position to actually get to experience what it's like to work as a lawyer and the challenges that presents."

UB Law's reach also touches area schools. One is a collaboration with the Minority Bar Association of Western New York. Last year, it presented the Goldilocks on Trial program to schoolchildren at Martin Luther King Multicultural Institute, Public School 39 and Bennett High School. The image of minority lawyers stuck with those in Bennett's magnet law program.

"My kids still talk about it," says Stuart Bulan, a teacher in the Bennett program. "Some of the law school students look like my kids. They serve as role models.

Annemarie Franczyk is a frequent contributor to Buffalo Law Journal.