Amherst man appointed to UB Council

Christopher J. O'Brien of Amherst, a principal in the law firm of O'Brien Boyd, has been appointed as a member of the University at Buffalo Council, the university's local governing council, by Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer.

O'Brien has handled a wide variety of personal injury cases, securing multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements in a wide variety of personal injury cases. He has represented people hurt in car crashes, children who have been sexually assaulted and the estates of people who were killed by drunk drivers.

A past president of the Western Region Affiliate of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, he is one of two lawyers in the state to have achieved the status of diplomat in the National College of Advocacy and is nationally known for his expertise in teaching trial technique. He regularly lectures for the American Association for Justice and for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.

O'Brien has served as a volunteer trial team coach for a number of trial teams at the UB Law School and for several years co-taught a class at the school on "The Art and Science of the Jury Trial" with Judge Thomas P. Franczyk.

He has been active in a number of community organizations, including David's Dinner for Famine Relief, Buffalo Na Fianna Gaelic Football Club, Canisius High School Alumni Association Board of Directors, the Food Shuttle of Western New York Inc. and the Parish Council of St. Christopher's Roman Catholic Church, where he currently serves as president.