User:Johnjgillis/AlfredZappala

Alfred Zappala (born June 26, 1950) is an American lawyer, jurist, and philanthropist. He is of Sicilian-American heritage, and is a citizen of both the United States and Italy. He typically spends half of each year living in the US, and the other half in Sicily.

Zappala founded The Sicilian Project in 2011, an IRS 501(c)(3) registered charity that teaches formal English language proficiency for Sicilians. The program emphasizes improving each student's oral and written bilingual communications skills for improving their employment chances in a changing global economy. (add cites, including http://www.timesofsicily.com/the-sicilian-project-american-style/ and Alexandra Pecci's May 20, 2012 article http://www.eagletribune.com/lifestyle/x1968164484/Bringing-Sicily-back-to-the-Merrimack-Valley)

He is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and in Italy, and has practiced law for over 20 years. In addition to his private law practice, Zappala is an expert bar examination tutor, lecturer, and professor. He has helped over 8000 attorneys pass the bar exam in Massachusetts. His bar preparation materials include The Multistate Digest, a concise collection of black letter law and examples for the Multistate portion of the bar exam, a requirement in most US jurisdictions. (TODO: add links to materials & blog)

Zappala began his law career in the 1980s at the now defunct (defunct law school name). Using his skills as a businessman, he and a group of fellow students left the (defunct law school name), and as students, founded the current Massachusetts School of Law in Andover, MA. (cite the Hagan book "Against the Tide" here)

Alfred is a frequent contributor to the Times of Sicily, a blog that presents news, culture, and entertainment to an English audience. His contributions include discussions of the history of organized crime in Sicily in Is There a Mafia In Sicily? and personal anecdotes of Taormina, in Stranger in a Strange Land.