Kevin Law '87
President and CEO
Long Island Power Authority (LIPA)
In the fourth quarter of 2007, Kevin Law ’87 was appointed
President and CEO of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), the
2nd largest public utility in the country serving over 1.1 million
customers. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Law served as a
LIPA Trustee and Chairman of its Board. With a commitment to
public service, Mr. Law previously served as Chief Deputy County
Executive and General Counsel for Suffolk County, New York, which
is the ninth largest county in the country with a population of
almost 1.5 million people.
Prior to his tenure in Suffolk County, Mr. Law was the Managing
Partner of the Long Island office of Nixon Peabody LLP, a national
law firm with over six hundred attorneys. Before joining
Nixon Peabody, Mr. Law was the Director of Real Estate for the
Suffolk County Department of Law, administering the County’s Pine
Barrens, Open Space and Farmland Preservation and Acquisition
Programs. Earlier in his career, Mr. Law was the Assistant Suffolk
County Executive for Planning, Housing and Environmental Affairs,
overseeing the County Executive’s environmental initiatives and
affordable housing programs.
Reflecting on his time at the Law School, Mr. Law noted that, "The
late 80's were a very exciting time to be on campus. Two St.
John's Law graduates were serving as state Governors (California
and New York), Ronald Reagan visited the Law School and Chris
Mullen was leading the St. John’s basketball team to the Final
Four." Mr. Law has fond memories of being a law
student. Professor Fagan made it a point to challenge the
student in class whose last name was “Law.” Mr. Law was
always prepared for Professor Fagan's class knowing that he would
be called upon first. Time spent in Professors Alexander,
Gagen and Weinberg's classes were equally memorable.
Thinking about how far he has come in the twenty years since
graduating from St. John's, Mr. Law’s advice to new graduates is,
"Be excited about the future. Don't fixate on negative
situations or circumstances. You are leaving this institution
with tremendous skills and knowledge - this degree will open doors
for you to walk through."
"I use my St. John's Law degree daily. Every day, I apply the
problem solving skills learned at alma mater. With
fuel costs increasing 75% since the end of last year, today's
energy company must embrace a new paradigm of how to keep energy
driving the economy. Leveraging patent technology, public -
private partnerships, integrating alternative fuels with
conventional fuels and strong customer service, my desire is to
make LIPA the best run state agency in NYS and the best run utility
in the nation."
Married and the father of two boys, Mr. Law still finds time to
serve on the boards of the Long Island Housing Partnership and the
Advanced Energy Research Technology Center. In addition, he
previously served as a Trustee to the Long Island Chapter of the
Nature Conservancy, as a Trustee to Suffolk County Community
College, and as a member of the Board of Ethics for the Town of
Smithtown.