Herrmann Award honors Richard Lanzillo ‘83 In September 2018, Attorney Richard Lanzillo was named a United States Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania. “Serving as a judge is the highest calling of the law, at least for me,” he said. The appointment opened an exciting new chapter in his legal career of 30-plus years, but also required a change in his relationship with Mercyhurst. He had to resign from the Mercyhurst Board of Trustees, which he joined in 2003 and had chaired since 2016. He’s already noticed the void left by his work for his alma mater. “I miss it terribly,” he says. “I’m looking for ways to stay connected within the bounds of my ethical and professional obligations.” Rich enrolled at Mercyhurst in 1979 and his leadership skills were on display early. He quickly got involved with Mercyhurst Student Government and served two terms as MSG president. “Those roles were great learning opportunities,” he says now. He mastered everything from budgeting to working with committees. He worked to increase student involvement in the governance of Mercyhurst, and of course to help improve campus life. Today’s Spring Fest can probably trace its origins to the Spring Weekend he helped institute. He laughingly recalls some of-the-wall student events, from hospital gurney races around Zurn Hall to the time he hired a plane and dumped 1,000 numbered ping pong balls over the baseball feld for students to fnd winning numbers for big-ticket prizes. On the more serious side, he recalls helping develop a campus lecture series. His favorite speaker was Doris Kearns, who spoke on presidential politics in 1980. Thirty-six years later, the Jeferson Educational Society brought Kearns (now Doris Kearns Goodwin and a world-renowned presidential historian) back to Erie and Rich introduced her a second time. Rich was the obvious choice for the Carpe Diem Award when he graduated in 1983. Though he had laughed at frst when his history professors suggested he consider law school, he took their advice. After a year of to put some money aside, he enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. “It was very intimidating at frst,” he admits. But he soon realized he was well-equipped to succeed. “I was pleased to note how well the analytical thinking skills emphasized at Mercyhurst in general, and in the history program in particular, translated to legal reasoning and critical thinking, which are essential to the study of law.” Mercyhurst’s emphasis on writing also served him well, he says. He especially enjoyed constitutional law and contract law. Chosen to write for Pitt’s Law Review, he went on to become one of its editors. He graduated summa cum laude. Rich had met Jo-Ann Israel ’86 at Mercyhurst, but they lost track of each other after he graduated. They met again when she visited Pitt Law as a
potential student, and were engaged during his fnal year at Pitt. After working a year with a prominent Phoenix frm, Rich and Jo-Ann decided to return to Erie, which both had grown to love during their college days. One of Rich’s frst calls was to Attorney William Sennett, then the chair of Mercyhurst’s Board of Trustees and a partner at Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett. He’d admired Sennett when – as president of Mercyhurst Student Government – he had a seat on the board. He accepted the ofered position and remained with the Knox frm for more than 30 years, working primarily on complex commercial, employment and civil rights litigation. He also served as a mediator and neutral evaluator in the Court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Program. In 2003, Attorney Sennett encouraged Rich to become a Mercyhurst trustee himself. He says it was “breathtaking” to realize how much the school had grown in the 20 years since his graduation. “I was really pleased to see how Mercyhurst had reacted to changing times and developed programs that would ft students’ needs,” he says. He relished the opportunity to continue that work, and was active in many board committees during his tenure. He eventually became the vice chair and chair of the board and co- chaired the search committee that recommended President Michael Victor’s appointment. Jo-Ann ultimately decided against law school. “It’s a shame – she would have been a better lawyer than I,” Rich adds with his usual modesty. Instead, after working in career services at Mercyhurst, she pursued her teaching certifcation. She’s been teaching for more than 20 years at Asbury Elementary School near Erie. They have two daughters, Amanda and Eliza, both now pursuing Ph.D.s. Rich has been active with the Erie County Bar Association (serving as president in 2015) and with Attorneys & Kids Together, which matches Erie lawyers with disadvantaged kids. He and Jo-Ann worked together to mentor two young sisters for more than six years. They still remain in touch. Now happily settled into a comfortable ofce on the second foor of Erie’s Federal Courthouse, Rich expects to handle largely civil cases that fall under federal jurisdiction, from civil rights and constitutional claims to contracts and commercial cases, as well as preliminary criminal matters. United States Magistrate Judges are appointed by the federal District Justices following a merit selection process. “I plan on doing this job until they kick me out,” he laughs. The Honorable Richard Lanzillo and his wife, Jo-Ann Israel Lanzillo ’86, during his swearing-in as a U.S. Magistrate Judge on Sept. 24, 2018. (Photo by Curtis Waidley ’19)
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