New York Law Journal, Pg. 2, Vol. 234, August 18, 2005, Thursday

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New York Law Journal

August 18, 2005 Thursday

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 2 Vol. 234

HEADLINE: OBITUARY: Melvin H. Osterman

BODY:
Melvin H. Osterman, a founding partner of Albany's Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, died suddenly on Sunday. He was 70.
Mr. Osterman graduated from Cornell University with undergraduate and law degrees, both with distinction, in only six years.
As a young lawyer, he served as law secretary to Charles D. Breitel, then an Appellate Division justice and later chief judge of the Court of Appeals.
After a period of private practice in New York City, Mr. Osterman was hired by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller as an assistant counsel, a position he held for three years.
After leaving the governor's office, Mr. Osterman drafted New York's Taylor Law, which extended to public employees the right to collective bargaining. He also drafted the law creating the Governor's Office of Employee Relations, where he worked for six years, first as a consultant and then as director.
In 1975, Mr. Osterman left government service with three colleagues to create Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, now the largest law firm in the Capital District.
Mr. Osterman remained there for the remainder of his professional career, serving as head of the firm's labor and employment law and education law practice groups.
He also taught at Cornell's Industrial and Labor Relations School, the state University of New York at Albany, and Siena College, and was the author of numerous publications in labor and education law.
Mr. Osterman is survived by his wife, Norma Meacham, and their two children, Laura and Andrew, and by his three children, Jeffrey, Edith and Lawrence, by his first wife Elaine P. Osterman.