Programs and Events 2007
Ambassador Ware Met with a Group of American Lawyers and Judges Visiting Helsinki
October 4 Ambassador Marilyn Ware met with a group of American lawyers and judges visiting Helsinki to learn more about the Finnish legal system and to speak to students at the Helsinki School of Law. Two members of the group, The Honorable John Pessala, a Family Court Judge in Nassau County New York, and Robert Alan Saasto, Esq., formed the Finnish American Lawyers Association (FALA) in 2003. FALA is a group of lawyers and friends interested in Finland, who meet regularly to network and socialize. The visitors to Ambassador Ware’s residence also included lawyer Ben Sliney, the FAA Director of Operations on Sept. 11, 2001, his first day on the job. After evaluating the situation and after two planes had crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, Mr. Sliny ordered the full landing of the roughly 4,200 airplanes in the air at the time, an unprecedented judgment call which the 9/11 Commission later denoted as an important and decisive act in the chaos of that morning.