Thomas Buckley graduated from Fordham University (1958) and from Yale Law School (1961). Prior to joining NIELP in 1967, he was a Visiting Professor at the School of Law at Boston University Law School (1966-1967) and an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of North Dakota School of Law (1964-1966). From 1961-1964, he was an Associate at Carter, Ledyard & Milburn in NYC. Buckley joined the faculty at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1971.

The Institute was established in 1967 at Northwestern University School of Law to develop and implement an educational program for Legal Service attorneys. The goal was to go beyond serving “individual clients with individual problems,” and train lawyers as advocates to address systemic issues of poverty and “make new law on behalf of the poor,” writes Buckley. Welfare law and consumer law weren’t even taught at law schools at the time, and the training programs document the dynamic development of these areas of law at the time. Thomas Buckley served as the Deputy Director of the NIELP from 1967-1971. The director was Craig W. Christensen.