Elisabeth Haub School of Law Alumni Magazine 2017 by Pace Law School

Pace Law ALUMNI MAGAZINE/SUMMER 2017

DEAN OF PACE LAW

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

DESIGN

David Yassky

Elizabeth Rapuano Jessica Dubuss Joan Gaylord Hannah Hollingsworth April McKenzie David Rullo Anthony Palumbo

Tom Carling, Carling Design, Inc.

EDITORS

Jessica Dubuss Elizabeth Rapuano ASSISTANT DEAN OF COMMUNICATIONS

Elizabeth Rapuano DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI RELATIONS

Arianne L. Andrusco

PHOTOGRAPHY

Joan Gaylord PRINTING

Lane Press

The Pace Law Alumni Magazine is published annually under the auspices of the Dean, and is distributed free of charge to alumni and friends of Pace Law. ADDRESS CORRESPONDENCE TO:

Development and Alumni Relations 78 North Broadway White Plains, NY 10603 plsalumni@law.pace.edu

Opinions expressed on these pages do not necessarily reflect those of the magazine staff or of individuals enrolled at or employed by Pace University or of Pace University itself. Pace University admits, and will continue to admit, students of any sex, disability, race, sexual orientation, color, national and ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not, and will not, discriminate on the basis of sex, age, disability, race, sexual orientation, color, national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarships and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

Pace Law ALUMNI MAGAZINE/SUMMER 2017

Message from the Dean

OF NOTE Food and Beverage Law Clinic Launches

Pace Law Delegation Makes Waves

Immigration Justice Clinic Aids Families Pace Law Faculty Publications

Pace Law Library Supports Alumni

8 10 11

R E C E N T G R A D U AT E P R O F I L E S

• Christopher Smith ’17

• Brianna Ciuffi ’17

F A C U LT Y P R O F I L E S

• Professor David Dorfman • Professor Lissa Griffin

8 12

ALUMNI EVENTS

Law Leadership Dinner

Regional Events

Pace Alumni Admitted to U.S. Supreme Court Bar

NYC Environmental Alumni

P.L.A.N. Tax Alumni Come Back to the Classroom

15 15

CLASS NOTES ALUMNI PROFILES

• John Grudzina ’80

• Susan Brownbill-Vega ’95

• Edward “Teddy” Eynon (JD ’96, LLM ’97) 20 • Kristin Furrie ’05 In Memoriam

11 13

23 20

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

Continuing to Excel “As we begin our 41st year, we have made important and innovative changes to our curriculum and I believe our program is now better than ever.”

I WRITE TO YOU from our beautiful campus, in the late afternoon on a pictureperfect August Friday—so I am enjoying a rare moment of quiet. Soon enough it will be bustling again, which I will enjoy even more. We are welcoming a very impressive incoming class this year. Apparently our sterling graduate employment record, our improved U.S. News & World Report ranking, and our enormously talented and devoted faculty and staff are being noticed! Over the past year—our 41st!—we have made important and innovative changes to our curriculum. I believe our program is now better than ever, and I want to give you some of the highlights: • We continue to excel in preparing our students to obtain high quality legal jobs when they graduate from Pace Law. More than 90% of the Class of 2015 were employed as of the ABA reporting deadline, with 75% of them in jobs that require or prefer a JD degree. This puts us at the top of our peer group— bested only by Columbia and NYU among the New York City-area law schools. • Those employment results put us among the top 80 schools in the nation for graduate job success, according to the most recent U.S. News rankings—and as a result, our overall ranking moved up by 16 places. That’s an unusually big jump, and we are determined to keep moving higher. • With a leadership gift from alumnus Rob Sands ’84 and Constellation Brands, we launched the new Food and Beverage Law Clinic this January. The Food and Beverage Law Clinic provides opportunities for students to represent food and beverage entrepreneurs and facilitate the development of a more just and sustainable food system and economy. The first group of clients include a start-up brewery in Philadelphia, a non-profit organic farm on the east end of Long Island and a food project that connects upstate farms with communities in New York City that do not have access to fresh produce. The Clinic will continue to grow this year, adding a new fellow and increasing the number of clients it serves. • Pace Law has always been a superb training ground for students interested in criminal practice. Several hundred Pace Law graduates have served or now serve as Assistant District Attorneys—including 21 from the Class of 2017!—and

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many more practice criminal defense law. This year, we tied all of our criminal practice courses into a focused program. We’re adding new courses in Cybercrimes and Use of Forensic Evidence, we created a special section of Trial Advocacy that uses a criminal-trial simulation, and we are connecting each student interested in criminal practice with an alumni mentor. Thanks to a generous gift from Robert Tucker ’96, we are creating the Robert Tucker Award for Prosecutorial Excellence. By honoring distinctively superb and creative prosecutors, we will help to encourage best practices and innovations—and we will also gain further recognition for Pace Law. Our goal is to establish Pace Law as THE law school for future prosecutors and defense lawyers. • We have concluded our first year as the Elisabeth Haub School of Law. As you know, cementing our partnership with the Haub family was a milestone moment in our School’s history. Our first cohort of Haub Scholars has completed their first year and we have identified the next group of highly qualified and promising environmental law students. And I am most excited that Katarina Kuh, our first Haub Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law, will joins us this fall. Professor Kuh is a noted and accomplished scholar. She comes to us from Hofstra University and is the latest addition to our already extraordinary environmental law faculty. • Our faculty continue to excel not only as teachers, but as scholars in their fields of expertise, with published articles on topics ranging from the future of environmental law and the Clean Air Act to the “necessity defense” and its role in defending those participating in acts of civil disobedience. You can read more about the work of Professor Dorfman and Professor Griffin, in particular, on pages 8 and 12. We recognize that many of these accomplishments are not possible without the support of all of you—our alumni. You are our greatest assets—the embodiment of the education you received here at Pace Law. The alumni highlighted in the following pages demonstrate the wonderful diversity of practice areas and positions that are held by our graduates. As we continue to innovate and train future legal practitioners, we look forward to working with all of you.

David Yassky Dean, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University

SUMMER 2017

OF NOTE

Food and Beverage Law Clinic Launches PACE UNIVERSITY’S Elisabeth Haub School of Law received a generous grant of $400,000 from alumnus Rob Sands ‘84, and from Constellation Brands, where Mr. Sands is CEO and President. The gift will sponsor a two-year pilot of a new Food and Beverage Law Clinic that will provide transactional legal services to farmers, community and grassroots groups, and mission-oriented food and beverage entrepreneurs. The Clinic is part of a broader collaboration between Pace Law and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to expand the capacity of the legal community to provide direct services to individuals and organizations seeking to build a more sustainable and healthy regional food system. In order to implement innovative practices, farmers, food entrepreneurs, micro brewers and distillers, and other activists must navigate a complicated legal landscape governing everything from labelling to estate planning. “Many businesses in the growing ‘farm to table’ economy start out in someone’s kitchen, backyard or even roof garden,” said David Yassky, Dean of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.

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“When these business grow, new legal issues emerge and often these entrepreneurs can’t afford the legal help they need. Our clinic will fill that gap. We are enormously grateful to our alumnus, Rob Sands, for his support and vision for this project.” “I am thrilled to be supporting this important endeavor, which is the first of its kind in this region,” said Rob Sands, CEO of Constellation Brands and an alumnus of Pace Law. “I am particularly gratified to be able to help farmers and new food and beverage businesses get the legal help they need while also supporting students from my alma mater, Pace Law.” Professor Margot Pollans, the Faculty Director of the Pace-NRDC Food Law Initiative will direct the Clinic. “We are very excited that this gift will make the clinic possible,” says Professor Pollans. “Launching the clinic was a primary goal of the Initiative from the start. We see it as a critical way for the legal community to help in the development of sustainable food economies.” “The Haub Environmental Law Program is renowned for the environmental law and advocacy education that it provides. We have now expanded our expertise and faculty in the fast-growing area of food law,” said Professor Jason J. Czarnezki, Associate Dean and Executive Director of the Program. “The creation of a food law clinic is the next and exciting step in not only training our students to be excellent lawyers, but also addressing the direct legal service needs of small farmers, craft beverage makers, local food entrepreneurs, and food justice organizations.” “This path-breaking clinic will provide much needed legal help to farmers and food revolutionaries in the region,” said Mark A Izeman, Senior Attorney and Director of the New York Program at NRDC. “It will also create a national food law model that others can replicate across the country. Together, NRDC and Pace are training a new generation of lawyers that will help rebuild our broken food systems, and cultivate stronger sustainable farming economies.” n

CHRISTOPHER SMITH has wanted to be a criminal defense attorney since he was a child. “My grandfather was homeless as a child so my life experiences and family history have taught me to love equality and fight oppression,” Chris shared during a recent conversation. “As I grew up, I noticed the flaws in our criminal justice system and, from that point on, I knew that I wanted a career in criminal law.” Chris began his pursuit of a career in criminal law during college when he majored in criminal justice and minored in history and business. After college, Chris wanted to take some time off before he applied to law school. “I wanted to be sure that law school was the best way for me to reach my goal of pursuing justice and working in the field of criminal law.” So, after graduating from college, Chris volunteered with AmeriCorps’s City Year Miami where he worked as a teacher. He also spent time with middle school students on the weekends through the City Year Miami Young Heroes Program. “Through City Year I learned how much of a positive impact one can have just by donating their time and attention. I also learned that the only difference between an ‘innercity’ high school student and a suburban high school student is an opportunity. Learning all of this before I started law school made me further appreciate every opportunity I had to pursue the law. My interest in the law was piqued at this point, so I then spent time working in a law firm as a paralegal. Ultimately, I applied to Pace.” Applying to Pace Law was a logical choice for Chris. The location of the school was one of the primary draws because Chris knew that, ultimately, he wanted to start his career in the New York area. Coupled with Pace Law’s many practical learning opportunities in the criminal law arena, it was the ideal fit. As for post-law school, Chris has already received and accepted an offer with The Bronx Defenders, an organization that, as posted on their website, “provides innovative, holistic, and client-centered criminal defense, family defense, civil legal services, social work support and advocacy to indigent people of the Bronx.” He hopes to build on the educational foundation that he established at Pace Law and grow as an attorney while pursuing his passion for criminal law. “I want to defend the most vulnerable population in my hometown. I want to make sure that everyone

has justice available to them. To me, justice in the most basic sense means the equal treatment of all regardless of their race, gender, or socioeconomic status. Justice can also mean instituting the correct punishment to the extent one is needed and not an ounce more. Sometimes, it is easier to say what justice is not. Justice is not when a mere accusation can destroy one’s future, destabilize a family, and make a person feel hopeless. “Law school, specifically Pace, helped me organize this scattered desire to help the most vulnerable members of our society into something more organized and effective.” He gives most of the credit to his time spent as a student attorney with the John Jay Legal Services Clinic as well as to his professors, especially Professors Dorfman, Gershman, Mushlin, Doernberg and Frankel. “The energy, experience and dedication of my professors was exactly what I needed to gain the tools necessary to fulfill my desire to become a criminal defense attorney. And spending an entire year with the clinic gave me the confidence to know that I can provide competent legal representation as an attorney my first year after law school.” Asked if he had any advice for current or future law students, Chris notes that you should “never forget the responsibility that comes with this blessing. And follow your heart; do what gets you going. If you are passionate about something pursue it and someone, somewhere, will recognize that and give you an opportunity.” n

SUMMER 2017

R E C E N T G R A D U AT E P R O F I L E

Christopher Smith ‘17

R E C E N T G R A D U AT E P R O F I L E

OF NOTE

Brianna Ciuffi ‘17 BRIANNA CIUFFI’S PASSION for the law has followed her since she was a little girl. “When I was younger, my parents used to call me Monty Hall because everything was always ‘let’s make a deal’ or a bargain.” She shared, “I also grew up watching my father in his career as a Bronx homicide detective, and that really sparked my interest, too. Although not a lawyer, my father’s interactions with the law through his job made me want to learn more about the profession, and specifically to focus on criminal law and obtaining a position as an assistant district attorney.” When it was time to choose a law school, Brianna reached out to various mentors and friends who had pursued the same path. “I spoke with many people who had attended Pace and everyone told me to go. I had also heard about the trial teams at Pace Law and Professor Lou Fasulo’s advocacy program and I was immediately interested. Before I applied, I knew I wanted to be a courtroom litigant, and after finding out about the prestige of the trial skills program at Pace, I was confident that it was the right choice.” Once she was at Pace, Brianna made sure to seek out opportunities and classes with the names she had heard mentioned before arriving: Professor Carol Barry, Professor Lou Fasulo and Professor Michael Mushlin. “Professor Barry has truly been a mentor to me since I told her I was interested in becoming an assistant district attorney. When I worked in the Mount Vernon branch of the Westchester County DA’s office under the student practice order, Professor Barry was there whenever I had a question about an argument I had to make in court or just needed a confidence boost. During the interview process, she was outstanding and truly helped me fine-tune my skills and knowledge of criminal procedure. Professor Fasulo has also been a critical figure in my law school journey. He has not only been a mentor, but a wonderful teacher. He has taught me how to really come into my own as an advocate, and how to move

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“I learned what it really means to be a prosecutor. It is not just about getting convictions, it is about justice.” a jury. And, Professor Mushlin was one my favorite professors—both in civil procedure and evidence. He never failed to keep me engaged and laughing. He has also given me indispensable career and professional advice.” While at Pace, Brianna also explored various practical opportunities, including trial competitions. For her first ever trial competition, Brianna was a member of a winning team. “It was the Labor and Employment Competition in New York City. No one on our team of four had participated on a trial team before and three of us had not taken the Evidence course yet. We were determined to beat the odds and win, and we did.” Brianna’s experiential learning also included an externship with Mount Vernon Criminal Court where

she worked as a student attorney under the student practice order and participated in real hearings. “I will never forget one instance where my boss told me I would be doing a suppression hearing. And not just that, but that I should do my direct examination from memory. I was petrified, but I did it and gave my summation. Later on, I found out I won. It was an amazing feeling.” After graduation, Brianna is realizing her dream of working as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. She interned in the Bronx DA’s Office during the summer before her 2L year at Pace Law. “I learned what it really means to be a prosecutor. It is not just about getting convictions, it is about justice. Justice can have so many meanings. To me, justice stands for the ability to defend and protect a community and its members. It entails being able to stand up for something much bigger than yourself or something that you personally believe in. Most importantly, it is about doing the right thing, no matter how hard that may be. Justice is not just about obtaining a conviction. Justice may mean making the very difficult decision to dismiss a case. Through the lens of an assistant district attorney, justice means standing up for people who cannot stand up for themselves, and speaking up for those who cannot speak up for themselves.” When asked who or what has helped Brianna most during her time at Pace Law, she answered without hesitation: “My family—they are my world. My mother and my father are my biggest fans in life. They have supported me throughout my life in everything I did. My Aunt Michelle, and both my grandparents have also played a critical role in my successes. I’m so lucky to have grown up in the family that I grew up in, to have five people who are constantly pushing me to do my best, and to have five best friends. There is nothing I could ever do to repay them for all the love and encouragement I have received throughout my law school experience and my life.” Brianna looks forward to making her school proud and her family proud, and importantly, to representing the Bronx community. n

Pace Law Delegation Makes Waves AT THE International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) 2016 World Conservation Congress in Honolulu, Hawaii, a delegation from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, including faculty, alumni, staff, and students, joined thousands of other world leaders in environmental law to take part in workshops, events, and votes on critical sustainability and conservation issues. The delegation debated and voted on motions concerning controversial conservation and sustainable development issues in the Member’s Assembly, IUCN’s highest decisionmaking body. Pace Law faculty led several critical discussions and events. In partnership with the William S. Richardson School of Law at University of Hawaii, Pace Law held an international environmental law moot court focused on intergenerational climate justice and the international law response to the global climate crisis. The work of the Pace Law delegation and all those who attended the IUCN World Conservation Congress will influence the IUCN’s work plan for the next four years. n

SUMMER 2017

OF NOTE Immigration Justice Clinic Aids Families IN THE SPRING OF 2016, six law school students, along with Professors Vanessa Merton, Tom McDonnell and Vikki Rogers, and Miguel SanchezRobles from Pace Law’s Immigration Justice Clinic, traveled to Dilley, Texas to volunteer with the CARA Pro Bono Project and provide volunteer representation to women seeking asylum in the United States. Dilley, the site of the largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, holds people awaiting disposition of their immigration or refugee claims. Our students and faculty worked on the ground to assist these women and their families, people who have travelled to the U.S. to escape persecution, torture and other life-threating situations. Over the course of one week, the group handled 170 intakes, prepared 148 women for interviews, and had nearly 150 meetings with their new clients. Due to their extraordinary efforts, more than 90 women and their families were released from detention. The students’ work in Dilley represents some of the best of Pace Law. Their work demonstrates what it truly means to be a lawyer - helping to tell a client’s story, to advocate for their rights and to counsel them through legal procedures and processes. Their efforts will continue to have an extraordinary impact on the hundreds of women and families that they helped. n

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Professor David Dorfman ASK PROFESSOR DAVID DORFMAN about the most important case of his career as a practicing attorney and he’ll start by describing a hamburger. “I can still picture him eating it, how juicy it was, how much he enjoyed it,” Professor Dorfman said while sitting in his office on the third floor of Preston. He had bought the hamburger for his client. It was the first thing the man had wanted after he was acquitted of a crime that would have sent him away for the rest of his life; the first thing he wanted after he walked out of Rikers where he had sat for a year and a half awaiting his trial. Professor Dorfman had served as his Legal Aid attorney. “He had been a loser his whole life,” Professor Dorfman explained. “He never expected to be acquitted. But he had turned his life around and, reading through the file, I was convinced he was innocent.” The case illustrates the difference that one person can make when they are an effective lawyer—the biggest lesson that Professor Dorfman tries to impart to his Pace Law students. It reveals what a lawyer can contribute by stepping into another person’s shoes— someone whose life choices may be very different from your own—and caring enough to use your legal training to bring about an outcome that will change their client’s life. “There is nothing like representing somebody just about to fall off the edge into oblivion and you are able to keep that from happening,” he reflected. “You don’t win all the time when doing major defense cases, but a trial like that—how more useful could I be?” It is this passion and commitment that Professor Dorfman works to instill in his students. After almost seven years at Legal Aid, he switched over to teaching when a friend told him about an opening at NYU Law School, a non-tenure track position in their First Year Lawyering program. After two years, he was encouraged by his mentor at NYU, Professor Anthony

Amsterdam, to apply for a tenure track position at Pace Law teaching criminal law and writing. He has now been at Pace Law for 22 years, teaching primarily criminal law and procedure. In the late 1990s, he and Professor Lissa Griffin developed a simulations based course “Interviewing, Counseling and Negotiating,” but he says his favorite thing by far is teaching the Criminal Justice Clinic. Working with a small group of students and “getting in deep with cases,” he helps them develop into lawyers as they represent clients from the Bronx County Criminal Court. “Learning by doing is really the best way to learn.” Professor Dorfman’s commitment to his teaching and to the law is all the more notable when he shares that he never really set out to be a teacher or a lawyer. As a teenager, he had intended to be a writer—a novelist or a poet, perhaps. Absorbed in the work of Saul Bellow and Herman Melville, he studied literature and philosophy at Queens College before receiving a

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F A C U LT Y P R O F I L E

“Learning by doing is really the best way to learn.”

fellowship to pursue graduate work at the University of Chicago. “This was the late 70s, early 80s, a politically charged time in Chicago.” He immersed himself in the political scene, working on Harold Washington’s mayoral campaign and protesting a visit by Robert McNamara that achieved its goal of blocking the former Defense Secretary’s access to campus to receive an award. “This all reminded me of where a large part of my heart is.” By this time, he had completed all the coursework for his PhD but the dissertation just wasn’t calling to him. Taking some time off, he painted houses including one owned by a law professor who suggested law school might be a better fit so he applied to ChicagoKent College of Law. Looking back, he admits it all seems rather inevitable. His parents, Professor Dorfman says, were “political radicals.” His father had been a black-listed writer during the McCarthy era. He had grown up in a diverse community in New York City, in a home that he described as filled with books but not much else. Law school simply focused his life-long political interests. Becoming “a people’s lawyer” seemed obvious. Teaching at Pace Law seems obvious, too. He notes how the Pace motto, “Opportunitas,” cuts to the heart of his work. Whether defending a client who is facing his last chance or helping a law student who is the first in the family to attend college or law school, Professor Dorfman uses the law to help improve our society. “When I teach, I try to get students to think about how the law affects every day people. I see our students make connections with clients who have had very different life experiences, who have made very different life choices from their own. Yet they come to see how everyone is worth the investment of time and energy to help them get through the toughest time they may ever have in their life. “When our students achieve this, it is transformational. I watch them come out as different people. It is their achievement but I bask in the reflected glory. It is so gratifying.” n

OF NOTE Pace Law Faculty Publications (2016) Ben-Asher, Noa

articles

Bennett L. Gershman, The Prosecutor’s Duty of Silence, 79 Alb. L. Rev. (2016).

Ben-Asher, Noa, The Two Laws of Sex Stereotyping, 57 B.C. L. Rev. 1187 (2016). Cassuto, David N. articles

David N. Cassuto, Don’t Be Cruel (Anymore): A Look at the Animal Cruelty Regimes of the United States and Brazil with A Call for A New Animal Welfare Agency, 43 B.C. Envtl. Aff. L. Rev. 1 (2016) (with Cayleigh Eckhardt). Coplan, Karl S. articles

Karl S. Coplan, Fossil Fuels Abolition: Legal and Social Issues, 41 Colum. J. Envtl. L. 223 (2016). book chapters

Karl S. Coplan, Citizen Enforcement, in Decision Making in Environmental Law, Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law (Leroy Paddock, Robert L. Glicksman, Nicholas S. Bryner, eds. 2016). Crawford, Bridget J. books

Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Opinions of the United States Supreme Court (Bridget J. Crawford et al. eds., 2016).

Green, Shelby D. articles

Shelby D. Green, Global Challenges and Local Solutions: The Role of Municipalities in the Fight Against Climate Change, Fordham Envtl. L.J. (2016). Shelby D. Green, Zoning Neighborhoods for Resilience: Drivers, Tools and Impacts, Fordham Envtl. L.J. (2016).

Alexander K.A. Greenawalt, Foreign Assistance Complicity, 54 Colum. J. Transnat’l L. 531 (2016). Griffin, Lissa

Bridget J. Crawford, The Supreme Court’s Estate Planning Jurisprudence, 42 ACTEC L.J. 1 (2016).

Gross, Jill I. book chapters

Jill I. Gross, Negotiating in the Shadow of Forced Arbitration, in The Negotiator’s Fieldbook (2d ed. 2016).

Czarnezki, Jason J.

Jill I. Gross, Arbitration Case Law Update, in Securities Arbitration 2016 (Practising Law Institute).

articles

Jason J. Czarnezki, The Neo-Liberal Turn in Environmental Regulation, 2016 Utah L. Rev. 1 (2016) (with Katherine Fiedler).

Jill I. Gross, The Customer’s Non-Waivable Right to Choose Arbitration in the Securities Industry, 10 Brook. J. Corp. Fin. & Com. L. 383 (2016).

books

Bennett L. Gershman, Prosecutorial Misconduct (2016/2017 ed.).

McDonnell, Thomas Michael articles

Thomas Michael McDonnell, The Egyptian Coup, the United States, and a Call to Strengthen the Rule of Law and Diplomacy Rather Than Military Counter-Terrorism, 41 N.C. J. Int’l L. 325 (2016).

articles

Lissa Griffin, Forensic Evidence and the Court of Appeal for England and Wales, 4 British J. of Amer. Legal Studies 619 (2016).

Gershman, Bennett L.

John Humbach, Whose Monet?: An Introduction to the American Legal System (2d ed. Aspen, 2016).

Greenawalt, Alexander K.A.

Bridget J. Crawford, Valuation, Values, Norms: Proposals for Estate and Gift Tax Reform, 57 B.C. L. Rev. 979 (2016).

Jason J. Czarnezki & Katherine Fiedler, The Neoliberal Turn in Environmental Regulation, 2016 Utah L. Rev. 1 (2016).

books

Mushlin, Michael

articles

Bridget J. Crawford, A Tribute to Wendy Gerzog, 150 Tax Notes 157 (2016).

Humbach, John

Shelby D. Green, Recapturing Water for Sustainability Through Redefinitions of Navigability and Ownership, https://property.jotwell.com/recapturing-waterfor-sustainability-through-redefinitions-ofnavigability-and-ownership/ (2016).

articles

Bridget J. Crawford, On Perpetuities, Paradigms, and a Creative Life in the Law, 152 Tax Notes 289 (2016).

Bennett L. Gershman, In Memory of Monroe Freedman: The Hardest Question for A Prosecutor, 44 Hofstra L. Rev. 1093 (2016).

Jill I. Gross, FINRA Dispute Resolution Task Force Releases Its Final Report, 34-2 Alternatives 19 (Feb. 2016).

books

Michael Mushlin, 2016/2017 Supplement to RIGHTS OF PRISONERS (4th ed. West, 2016). Newman, Marie Stefanini Marie Stefanini Newman, Memorial: John J. McNeill (1949-2016), 108 Law Lib. J. 499 (2016) (withVicky Gannon). Nolon, John R. articles

John R. Nolon, Enhancing the Urban Environment Through Green Infrastructure, 46 Envtl. L. Rep. 10071 (2016). John R. Nolon, The History of Zoning Law in New York State, New York Zoning Law and Practice Report (2016). John R. Nolon, Zoning’s Centennial: A Complete Account of the Evolution of Zoning into a Robust System of Land Use Law—1916-2016 (Part III) Zoning and Planning Law Report, Dec. 2016, Thomson Reuters. John R. Nolon, Zoning’s Centennial: A Complete Account of the Evolution of Zoning into a Robust System of Land Use Law—1916-2016 (Part II) Zoning and Planning Law Report, Nov. 2016, Thomson Reuters.

Jill I. Gross, The Historical Basis of Securities Arbitration as an Investor Protection Mechanism, 2016 J. Disp. Resol. 171 (2016).

John R. Nolon, Zoning’s Centennial: A Complete Account of the Evolution of Zoning into a Robust System of Land Use Law—1916-2016 (Part I) Zoning and Planning Law Report, Oct. 2016, Thomson Reuters.

Jill I. Gross, FINRA Issues Regulatory Notice on Customers’ and Employees’ Right To Choose Securities Arbitration, 34-8 Alternatives 1 (Sept. 2016).

John R. Nolon, Zoning’s Centennial (1916-2016) – The Evolution of Land Use Law in New York; New York Zoning Law and Practice Report, Sept/Oct 2016, Thomson Reuters.

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Ottinger, Richard L. books

UN Environment Guide for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Laws (Richard L. Ottinger, organizer, co-author, and editor-in-chief, et al. eds., 2016). Pollans, Margot articles

Margot Pollans, Drinking Water Protection and Agricultural Exceptionalism, 77 Ohio St. L.J. (2016). Rábago, Karl articles

Richard Perez, Karl Rábago, Mike Trahan, Lyle Rawlings, Ben Norris, Tom Hoff, Morgan Putnam & Marc Perez, Achieving Very High PV Penetration: The Need for an Effective Electricity Remuneration Framework and a Central Role for Grid Operators, 96 Energy Pol. 27 (2016). Robinson, Nicholas books

Pace Law Library Supports Alumni THE PACE LAW LIBRARY offers support to Pace Law alumni throughout their professional careers with access to the Pace Law Library and access to any Pace University campus with computer and library privileges. Alumni privileges include: • Access to the Library catalog

Kheng-Lian Koh, Nicholas Robinson and Lin Heng Lye, ASEAN Environmental Legal Integration: Sustainable Goals (Cambridge University Press, April 2016).

• On-campus access to widely used New York practice materials in print including McKinney’s and the NYCRR

book chapters

• Ability to utilize a public access version of Lexis, including Shepard’s

Nicholas A. Robinson, The UN SDGs & Environmental Law: Cooperative Remedies for Addressing Natural Disaster Risk, in D. Fisher and J. Peel, ed., chapter 5 in The Role of International Environmental Law in Disaster Risk Reduction (Brill Nijhoff, 2016). articles

Nicholas A. Robinson, Re-Conceptualizing Sustainability: The Anthropocene Agenda, RM Journal, Proceedings of the Resources Management Law Association, RMLA, of New Zealand (2016).

• On-campus access to subscription databases including HeinOnline • Access to guides to legal research developed by our reference librarians • Access to our guide to free and low-cost resources which includes information on internet legal research as well as some low cost alternatives to Westlaw and Lexis, including Fastcase and Smart Litigator • Access to Microsoft Office

Rogers, Audrey

• Access to the internet

book chapters

• Access to paid services including printing and photocopying

Audrey Rogers, The Dignitary Harm of Child Pornography, in Refining Child Pornography Law: Crime, Language, and Social Consequences (Carissa Byrne Hessick, ed., University of Michigan Press, 2016). Simon, Michelle S. book chapters

Michelle S. Simon, Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District, 524 U.S. 274 (1998), in Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Opinions of the United States Supreme Court (Bridget J. Crawford et al. eds., 2016).

• Access to records and briefs for NYS Court of Appeals, 1956-date • Access to reference services by librarians, most of whom have both JD and MLS degrees. Note: Alumni seeking access to the Law Library who don’t have an alumni ID card are initially issued a patron information card to access materials including reserve items from the circulation desk. Your permanent ID card will be issued in exchange for your patron information card. Please contact the ID office on the first floor of Aloysia Hall (914) 422-4032 to confirm their current hours. Please visit http://law.pace.edu/library for additional information. #AlumniAccess @pacelawlibrary n

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F A C U LT Y P R O F I L E

OF NOTE Professor Lissa Griffin So, you have been at Pace since 1985—was that the plan? I have been here 32 years. Growing up, I always wanted to be a teacher. I first practiced law, and that was very exciting but I guess the old desire to teach was still there. So in some ways it was the plan. I was and am always happy to be teaching. Of course, no one ever expects to stay somewhere 32 years, but it just happened. Each year is different, each year is interesting and exciting. And so, time goes by. Teaching resonates for me. What about teaching resonates with you? Teaching is very challenging, but it’s also a lot of fun. It’s really special to have the responsibility of helping someone learn something you think is important and it requires you to really focus on the students and put yourself in their shoes. What’s been great for me is that I teach several different courses in several different formats—it never gets dull. Can you speak about any challenges you encountered once you became a lawyer? You know, I didn’t go to law school, but once I passed the bar and was admitted, I was a lawyer like anyone else. I really didn’t have a peer group so I didn’t know if I knew what everyone else knew. Going into court was a challenge, because going to court in any context requires a lot of confidence. So I worked hard, pushed through my insecurity and tried to learn from watching and talking to more experienced attorneys. I learned quickly that you have to resist any inclination to hide from new learning experiences because that is the worst thing you can do. You have to talk to people, you watch and you listen, you seek advice and eventually you build your confidence. What made you start the Criminal Justice Institute? The faculty’s strategic planning committee recognized the real heavyweights we have in criminal law and recommended that all of our expertise be

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brought together. Together with two other faculty members who have since left Pace, I helped to do that. We hold several symposia each year and we work closely with the Criminal Justice Society, a student organization at Pace. We also have a frequently updated blog where we try to post at least twice a week. We provide analysis and comparative writing; we give perspective and background on cases and issues. There are scholars involved, policymakers, practitioners, students, faculty, and alumni. The Institute is the forum that brings all of these communities together to discuss criminal justice and advance justice. What is special about Pace and the faculty at Pace? I have been here a really long time. And, a lot of people have. I really treasure that. I really treasure the community. So many of the faculty are former practitioners. We know that being a lawyer is very hard work and we can appreciate what it takes to be a practicing lawyer. It is challenging. As former practitioners, we know what we are preparing people for and it is so valuable to have that experience. On the other hand, those who have not practiced bring a whole different set of skills from academic standpoints that are absolutely necessary. You need both former practitioners and solely academics to get a full rounded legal education. Pace has that. n

ALUMNI EVENTS Law Leadership Dinner Peter Goodman ‘86, principal at the law firm McKool Smith, and Chris Carnicelli ‘93, chairman and CEO of Generali Global Assistance North America, were honored at the 21st Annual Law Leadership Awards Dinner which was held on March 3, 2016 at the Westchester Country Club in Rye, NY. Also honored at the Dinner was Professor Emily Waldman as the 2016 recipient of the Richard Ottinger Faculty Achievement Award.

SUMMER 2017

ALUMNI EVENTS Regional Events “I look forward to the next D.C. regional event,” remarked alumnus Joe Mazel (‘97). “I can’t get back to New York for events up there as often as I’d like, so these evenings are a great way to bring Pace alumni together, make everyone aware of local networking opportunities, and it is always fun to reminisce about the time we spent at Pace.” Pace Law hosted a multitude of regional events over the course of 2016. Alumni gathered, along with Dean Yassky, in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Connecticut, New York City and the Westchester County area surrounding the Law School. The regional events were held at local restaurants and at law firms where our alumni work. Several people noted that they were glad to be made aware of the Pace alumni presence in their local area.

Alumni living and working in San Francisco and Albany also put together informal gatherings of their own. In March 2016, a group of Pace Law alumni from the San Francisco Bay area reconnected. And, in July 2016, a group from the Albany area gathered for brunch along with current Pace Law students. Janice Dean (’05), who relocated to Albany, gathered the group together. “There’s a great Pace presence in Albany and it’s growing all the time,” she said.

Pace Alumni Admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar In April 2016, the Pace Law Alumni Board organized for a group of alumni to be admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar in Washington, D.C. Following the admission, a reception was held for the newly admitted alumni. The admission group included graduates who are now partners at large and midsized firms, associates, ADAs, in-house lawyers, solo practitioners, and more. The graduation years of the newly admitted were between five and 15 years out of Pace Law and they were all equally enthusiastic about their alma mater and their careers thus far.

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NYC Environmental Alumni Many Environmental Law Program alumni and faculty gathered at the NYC Skyline Lounge & Rooftop Bar.

P.L.A.N. The Pace Law Alumni Network is an independent group of Pace Law graduates dedicated to helping other alumni by creating networking opportunities. The brainchild of Mark Meeker (Dec. â&#x20AC;&#x2122;09), P.L.A.N. has been hosting quarterly networking events since 2011 and currently alternates between venues in Manhattan and White Plains.

Tax Alumni Come Back to the Classroom In early October 2016, ten Pace Law graduates returned to the classroom to speak about their careers in tax law. Nine of them are former students of Professor Bridget Crawford, having completed her federal tax class as students, and all enjoy successful taxrelated careers. The alumni discussed with current students how to connect classroom learning to real issues that tax attorneys face. They also provided the students with tax-career advice. Students and alumni alike had prepared for the special class with a set of assigned tax-related readings. Students enjoyed learning about the exciting tax-related work that our graduates are engaging in and were encouraged to learn about the vast array of ways to practice tax law.

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CLASS NOTES 1980 Philip M. Halpern while continuing to maintain a busy trial schedule, has taken a position as adjunct professor at Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. He teaches a course titled “The Anatomy of Trial Strategy: The Burden of Proof” to students in the Juris Doctor program.

1982

The Honorable Francesca E. Connolly was appointed to the Appellate Division Second Department. Karen M. Mazza was promoted from general counsel to deputy executive director at the New York City Employee Retirement System, the country’s largest municipal pension fund.

1983

Harold E. Kaplan (BBA ‘72 J D ‘83) is a board-certified health law attorney who has relocated to Asheville, N.C. where he has established Kaplan Dispute Resolution. He is an arbitrator and neutral dispute resolver for the American Arbitration Association—Health Care and Mergers and Acquisitions Panels, and for the American Health Lawyers Association—Dispute Resolution Service.

1984

Lisa Linsky was featured in the New York Law Journal as a lawyer who leads by example in public service. John J. Ryan was re-appointed as Municipal Court Judge in the Borough of Haworth and also for the Borough of Demarest Municipal courts.

Peter J. Sacripanti w as elected to Citrix Systems, Inc. board of directors. He is co-chair and partner at McDermott Will & Emery.

1985

John Grudzina ‘80

1986

We asked Hannah Hollingsworth, a May 2017 graduate, to interview John Grudzina, Esq., Executive Vice President, Chief of Staff and Administration, and General Counsel at Grey Group, an international marketing and advertising services group. John also serves on the boards of directors of the Madison Square Park Conservancy and New Alternatives for Children.

Marcia A. Jacobowitz b ecame a new partner at Jacobowitz and Gubits, LLP. She also recently received the Dorothy Kartashevich Consumer Award from the Community Health Care Association of New York State.

Julie Auster was appointed chief human resources officer of Yeshiva University. Helen P. Wilson has joined Roohan Realty in Saratoga as a real estate professional.

1987

HH: Why did you decide to go to law school? JG: My personality. I was a natural born lawyer. It was the best path to a good career. HH: Did you go straight from college or take a break before law school? JG: I took one year off between college and law school. I worked as a social worker in New York City. I quickly decided that was not the right path for me. HH: Why did you choose Pace Law?

Harold R. Burke received a favorable decision on June 9, 2016 when the NY Court of Appeals issued a decision in a case he argued—S.L (Anonymous) v. J.R. (Anonymous). The case successfully challenged a procedure used by the Westchester Family and Supreme courts stripping a parent of child custody in violation of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Karen Collins retired after extensive practice in New York and North Carolina. The last eight years of Karen’s practice was with the firm of Hardison & Cochran in Raleigh, NC. John M. Vorperian was honored with an Outstanding Teacher Award from George Washington University’s Jackie Robinson Project. In his fifth consecutive visit to the school, he was presented

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JG: I was married and my wife was a grad student with a fellowship. I needed to work during the day, so my choice was really between St. Johns and Pace. Being in White Plains, Pace was convenient. I started at Pace in its first year of operation when it was unaccredited. The university made a major investment in the new law school, which achieved accreditation in the shortest time allowable. In my career as a corporate lawyer in New York City, I have worked with top lawyers at top firms on both sides of the table and have always felt smart and capable. HH: Can you tell me about your career path after you graduated from law school? JG: I graduated in 1980, during the depths of a recession. I started in-house with a medium-sized public company, Fedders — and I stayed there in litigation management for three years. I got that job because of my experience working during law school. I then moved in-house to Hertz. At Hertz,

HH: Do you have any advice for current students? JG: Going to Pace had a major impact on my career and life. My advice to students is that you are getting a fabulous legal education so the only limitations on where you go with it are those you create. Therefore, come out with a high level of confidence.

“Pace gave me an opportunity I otherwise would not have had. I took a risk on Pace Law and it took one on me.” I developed expertise in advertising and marketing law as well as in doing small to medium-sized mergers and acquisitions. By 1986, Hertz had been sold to United Airlines which moved the company out of New York. Shortly thereafter, I moved to Grey. My experience with advertising and M&A had made me an attractive candidate for them. At Grey, I progressed to the general counsel position and assembled an in-house legal team. In 2005, Grey was sold to WPP, a British holding company (the largest media and marketing services company in the world). After the sale, my role in the company changed significantly. Securities and M&A are now handled by our corporate parent and I moved into a broader business role.

ALUMNI PROFILE

Now, as chief of staff, I am responsible for managing all matters relating to Grey’s senior executives and human resources globally. As general counsel, I am responsible for the company’s global legal affairs including litigation, and regulatory compliance. I split my time approximately 50 percent on the legal side and 50 percent on the business side.

HH: How has Pace Law or your experience there helped you in your career? JG: Pace gave me an opportunity I otherwise would not have had. I took a risk on Pace Law and it took one on me. Pace was driven and focused on being successful and they helped set that in motion within me. It has grown to become a respected school in the metro area and nationally. I benefitted from the reputation and the quality of my education. HH: Do you have any favorite memories from Pace? JG: Professor Bennett Gershman brought Roy Cohn into class one evening to speak to us. Roy Cohn was the notorious Justice Department lawyer who led the famous Julius and Ethel Rosenberg espionage prosecution and served as chief counsel for Joe McCarthy during the Red Scare prosecutions. It was certainly an event. Cohn was quite a character. Hannah is a 2017 Pace Law graduate and sat for the New York State Bar Exam in July. Hannah will be working as an associate at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in New York City. She looks forward to building her career and continuing her passion of tax law.

SUMMER 2017

ALUMNI PROFILE

Susan Brownbill-Vega ‘95 We asked April McKenzie, a May 2017 graduate, to interview Susan Brownbill-Vega. Susan has dedicated her legal career to public service, working first with the Bronx District Attorney’s office and currently as an assistant district attorney and director of community affairs with the Westchester D.A. She has also mentored many high school, college and law school students. In addition, Susan has been invited to speak by various organizations on issues including women in the law, criminal prosecution, and texting while driving. AM: What brought you to Pace Law? SBV: Professor McLaughlin. I graduated college and was not sure what I wanted to do next. By chance, I met Professor McLaughlin in the supermarket. Ironically, he was mentored by my father, who was a civil rights and community activist. After some encouragement from my father and Professor McLaughlin, I applied. AM: What are some of your passions and how do you relate them to the law and to your career? SBV: Well, prior to applying to law school, I knew that I had three passions: performing, teaching, and the law. I perform modern dance – I went to the High School of Performing Arts in New York City. I actually went to high school with some of the original cast of the movie “Fame.” You are probably thinking, “How does performing relate to law?” Well, to be a litigator is to be a performer. You have to be able to tell a story and to get it across to a jury. Several improv classes that I took have helped with questioning witnesses because no matter how much you prep, you never know what will come out of a witness’s mouth. Dance also helps with body movement. You have to be able to express yourself honestly and be able to relate to the jury. AM: What brought to you to the Westchester District Attorney’s Office? SBV: I wanted to practice in an area where I felt I was making a difference and could see the impact of my work. I learned about a position with the Westchester DA involving community affairs. I kept seeing these young kids permanently alter their lives with a criminal record. It got me thinking of how we could get these kids to realize there are

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other options; that once you get any kind of criminal record it changes your life. Something as simple as a violation can lessen your ability to receive financial aid for school. If you put that information in front of a kid and show them real life examples of what their options are and how their actions will impact their lives then, yes, they may still choose the bad option, but maybe now they won’t. AM: What drew you specifically to community affairs? SBV: I looked across the table at the defendants, at the children on the other side, and couldn’t help but connect. In my role, I attend meetings throughout the community to determine how that community can best be served and what programs are needed or can be utilized through the District Attorney’s Office to help those communities. We have several educational programs for children, teens and the elderly. I am constantly searching for new ways to connect the District Attorney’s Office to the community. I want to change peoples’ ideas of what a prosecutor’s office is. — We truly are trying to help the community. AM: What do you find most rewarding about your job? SBV: I have really learned my craft and I feel like I am making an impact and am respected by my coworkers and colleagues, as well as victims, defendants, and the community at large. I had a case against a young kid who was arrested for trespassing. He was searched by the police who found drugs on him. He did his research and came up with great theories and cases to support his side of the case. He filed a motion essentially saying the search performed by the police was improper and he was right and he won. After the case was over, with the permission of his attorney, I spoke to the young man and advised him he should go to school and put his intelligence to use. Later, I received a letter from him saying that I was the only person who ever said that he could do anything, be anyone, and that believed in him. It changed me. Our words and actions matter and can change a person’s perspective and their life. I am lucky that my job allows me the opportunity to provide words of encouragement often. AM: What advice would you give to a law student who wants to practice in the criminal field?

with the kudo for his role in the education of GWU students about the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson and the historical and sociological relationship between race and sports in America. John also received the first-ever Front-Line Professional of the Year Award from the Eastern Regional Interstate Child Support Association (ERISCA) at its 53rd annual training conference on May 2, 2016 in Myrtle Beach, SC. He is an Assistant County Attorney with the Westchester County Attorney’s Office, Family Court Bureau.

“I want to change peoples’ ideas of what a prosecutor’s office is. — We truly are trying to help the community.”

1990

Brian M. Rothery i s now a partner at Fox Rothschild LLP. Previously, he was a partner at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP.

1993

Brian Burke was promoted to senior vice president at the Garden City Group.

SBV: Law is a practice and an art form. But no matter what side you practice on, you are dealing with human beings. If you are a prosecutor, remember that the defendant is still a human being. You are seeing the worst of the worst, but that’s still someone’s son, brother, cousin, niece, nephew, daughter, father, mother. AM: How has attending Pace had an impact on your career? SBV: Pace has professors who truly care. They guided me to learn the law and to continue to pursue the profession as best as I can – especially Professor Garfield, Professor Atwell, Professor McLaughlin, and Professor Nolon. Pace exposed me to so many different areas of potential practice and this made me a better lawyer. April McKenzie is a May 2017 graduate. During her time at Pace Law, she was a Pro Bono Scholar. April hopes to pursue a career in public interest and criminal justice.

Institute in Newark, NJ on Monday, December 5. Carol is a partner of The Lambos Firm LLP, who has provided a broad range of legal services and counsel to the international maritime industry.

1996

Daniel S. Eichhorn h as joined the firm of Sokol Behot as a partner in the firm’s litigation practice.

1997

Michael G. Murphy co-authored an article, “Valuation of Distributed Energy Resources under New York State’s REV Initiative,” which was published in the National Law Review. David M. Sobel w as named a FINRA specialist with Jacko Law Group, PC. Caryn Gerst Teitelman w as promoted to the unit chief of the Firearms Prosecution Unit at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office where she has been employed since graduating from Pace Law.

1998

Rosario Chetta a nd Kathleen T. Feroleto were married on May 7, 2016 in Buffalo. Rosario is a partner at Malaby Bradley.

David Isabel joined McManimon, Scotland & Baumann, LLC with offices in Newark, Roseland and Trenton, New Jersey, as a partner and chairman of its environmental group.

Lisa M. Delsante was recently named senior vice president, general counsel at REC Solar, part of Duke Energy. Lisa is also president and co-founder of Children of the Sahara Foundation.

2001

Jeff Jacobson was appointed CEO of Xerox Corp. Robert F. Nicolais received special recognition from the New York State Bar Association for his service as an Attorney Emeritus Program volunteer attorney with Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County.

1994

Carol Lambos received the 2016 Connie Award presented by the Containerization & Intermodal

Jeffrey M. Casaletto s poke at a breakfast seminar sponsored by Montclair State University Continuing Environmental Education for Professionals (CEEP). The

SUMMER 2017

CLASS NOTES IN MEMORIAM Mary M. Iocovozzi (’82) passed away on Monday, December 5, 2016. At the time of her death, she was the assistant attorney for Lewis County. Prior to that, Mary was a past president of the Mid-York Women’s Bar Association and also operated a private practice in Herkimer. Mark J. Sherman (’98) passed away on Tuesday, December 6, 2016. Mark practiced at the Sullivan County Legal Aid Panel before becoming a court attorney for Sullivan County Supreme Court. Prior to attending law school, Mark was a history

program, “New Jersey Real Estate & Corporate Transactions: Dealing with Environmental & LSRP Program Concerns” was held December 2, 2016 in the Center for Environmental and Life Sciences at Montclair State University. He is a member with the firm of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A., and practices in the environmental law group. Christopher Rizzo was promoted to partner at Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP. He is a member of the firm’s litigation department and codirector of the firm’s environmental practice group.

2002

Ali Dolger was recently named FactSet’s first chief of staff to the CEO. Previously, Ali was deputy General counsel. She joins CEO’s executive team with a focus on strategic projects and operational initiatives. Uswah A. Khan was awarded the “New Leaders in the Law” award by the Connecticut Law Tribune at the Grand Ballroom in Hartford in early November 2016. She is an attorney at Fairfield Family Law, LLC.

seven years with his wife and two children. He established his own national search firm specializing in real estate and construction in 2014. You can read more on his website at http://criticalpathsearch.com. And, his 8 year old son just won the World Putting Championship for his age group! Nicholas Oliva accepted the position of general counsel and chief compliance officer at Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings America, Inc. John H. Paul co-authored an article, “Valuation of Distributed Energy Resources under New York State’s REV Initiative”, which was published in the National Law Review. Raymond N. “Rusty” Pomeroy II rejoined the environmental law firm of Beveridge & Diamond after serving as global environmental, health & safety leader and environmental counsel for GE Capital’s global commercial real estate business since 2007.

2004

Ami Shah has joined Oyster Consulting, LLC, as a director.

Stephen J. Brown i s a partner with Bleakley Platt & Schmidt, LLP. He is a member of the firm’s litigation, corporate and estates and trusts practice groups.

2003

2005

Ben Steven Chazen h as been living in La Jolla for the past

Michael A. Calandra, Jr., has been named a partner in the

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Edward “Teddy” Eynon (JD ’96, LLM ’97) We asked David Rullo, a May 2017 graduate, to interview Edward “Teddy” Eynon. Teddy is currently a member with Dickinson Wright PLLC where his primary specialty is government relations – focused on healthcare, tax reform, infrastructure, and national defense/homeland security. Previously, he was a partner with Fox Rothschild where he founded their government strategies practice group and represented clients on everything from energy, to environment, to defense, and more. He lives and works in Washington, D.C. with his wife and three sons. DR: Did you find Pace? Or did Pace find you? TE: Ha! That is a great question. I spent my summers in Michigan and loved the outdoors. I would consider myself an outdoors guy. When it came time to pick a school, I had narrowed down my list to Vermont, Pace, and University of Puget Sound. My LSAT wasn’t the best, but Pace looked at all of my positive qualities and accepted me. From the first moment that I stepped foot on campus, I loved the school and the people. DR: What made you decide to go back and pursue your LLM? TE: After doing work on the 1996 presidential election for Senator Bob Dole, I was in a lull and actually, Dean Angie D’Agostino called me and asked if I would be interested in the program. This was at a

finance group at Alston & Bird LLP. He represents buyers and lenders in repurchase, warehousing and other secured lending facilities related to residential and commercial mortgage loans, securities and other financial assets, in addition to counseling buyers and sellers of residential and commercial mortgage loans, servicing rights and tax liens. He was also recognized by Lawyers Alliance for New York with its 2015 Cornerstone Award honoring outstanding pro bono legal services

to nonprofits. He is one of eight winners selected from 1,650 business and transactional lawyers who volunteered through Lawyers Alliance during the past year. Jennifer Lofaro was honored by “914INC.” at the sixth annual Women in Business awards luncheon in November. She is a partner with Bleakley Platt. Joseph Schaller w as named deputy commissioner of the New Rochelle Police Department.

ALUMNI PROFILE

point in my life where it made sense so I did it. And I loved it. I really appreciated the diversity of the program and it was a great choice for that period in my life. DR: Now this is something I found extremely fascinating in your bio. Can you talk a little bit about the series of events leading up to your serving as a deputy chief of staff for an Arizona Congressman (Congressman John Shadegg)? TE: Well, I had been working as a prosecutor with the Justice Department and had wanted to move on, but had plenty of reservations because I did not want to join a large firm and wind up at the bottom of the totem pole again. I had plenty of interviews with big firms, but it is difficult to do a lateral move sometimes and I did not want to start all over. Then I got an offer I couldn’t refuse, an opportunity to work with a Congressman. They offered me the deputy chief of staff spot and I took it. DR: What is the best piece of advice you received regarding your legal career? TE: I would say that the best advice was to “never take no for an answer.” It holds true today. You have to realize that as long as you are persistent and pay attention, your resume will never be the final answer for any employer. In this day and age you should be out there emailing your resume to everyone – especially fellow Pace Law alumni. These jobs are not going to find you and if you do your research and put in the effort, it will show. I got my first job because I played basketball every morning with lawyers from the old Wilson, Bave, Conboy, Cozza & Couzens firm. That was a prime example that these sort of jobs aren’t going to just find you.

2006 Elsbeth J. Crusius was named prosecutor for Bergen County Central Municipal Court. Tiffany N. Gagliano n ow works for the Orange County Department of Law as the chief assistant county attorney - Family Law & Juvenile Justice. Colleen M. Carey Gulliver w as promoted to partner in the New York office of DLA Piper. She focuses on class actions, securities

“[Y]our resume will never be the final answer for any employer.” Also, I always appreciate a handwritten thank you note after an interview, it is one of those personal touches that goes a long way.

David graduated in May 2017, as a 4L part-time student. He is also a full-time parent and has been a police officer for thirteen years. He previously served in the United States Marine Corps from 1998–2004 and is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He plans on practicing labor and employment law and looks forward to continuing his lifelong passion of community and civil service.

litigation, enforcement, and business litigation.

2007

Lisa B. Kelly and her husband, Michae Isabel l Lombardi, are happy to announce the birth of their son, Alexander Deivid Kelly-Lombardi. Alexander was born on Thursday, August 4, 2016, weighing 7 lbs., 8 oz., and was 21 inches long. Nina Shapirshteyn was recently selected as Trial Lawyer of the

Year from the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association for her work as lead counsel in the Kuhlmann v Ethicon-Endo Surgery, LLC, Johnson & Johnson Health Care Services, et al. Stephanie A. Skelly a ccepted a position as a legal recruiter with The Mara Group. Previously, Stephanie practiced at Togut, Segal & Segal LLP. Nathan Zezula h as been promoted to the position of partner at Pastore & Dailey LLC.

2008 Michelle Beltrano, JD, RN, has been elected president of the board of directors of At Home in Greenwich. She is principal and founder of her firm, Beltrano Law, LLC. Stephen M. Forte r ecently joined Shipman & Goodwin LLP to be part of its expansion and opening of its New York City office. Previously, Stephen was a partner at LeClairRyan, P.C. Jason T. Komninos was elected secretary of the municipal court

SUMMER 2017

CLASS NOTES 2016 Pace Law Board of Visitors OFFICERS

Dennis J. Kenny, Esq.

Kathleen Donelli, Esq. ‘85 Board of Visitors Co-Chair

The Honorable Nita M. Lowey

Alfred E. Donnellan, Esq. ‘81 Board of Visitors Co-Chair MEMBERS

William M. Mooney III, Esq. ‘92 The Honorable Francis A. Nicolai

Peter N. Bassano, Esq. ‘87

Richard L. O’Rourke, Esq. ‘81

Christopher Carnicelli, Esq. ‘93

Joseph M. Pastore III, Esq. ‘91

V. Gerard Comizio, Esq. ‘80

John J. Rapisardi, Esq. ‘82

William D. Cotter, Esq.

Jerold R. Ruderman, Esq.

John P. Ekberg III, Esq. ‘90

The Honorable Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr.

Michael C. Finnegan, Esq. ‘87 Christopher B. Fisher, Esq. ‘94

The Honorable Alan D. Scheinkman

Peter S. Goodman, Esq. ‘86

Robert S. Tucker, Esq. ‘96

Philip M. Halpern, Esq. ‘80

The Honorable C. Scott Vanderhoef ‘81

Bradford Hildebrandt The Honorable Alexander Hunter The Honorable Linda Jamieson ‘79

practice section of the New Jersey State Bar Association on May 19, 2016. He previously served as the section’s junior legislative coordinator from 2014-2015 and as the section’s senior legislative coordinator from 2015-2016.

2009

Allison G. Cappella has joined the law firm of Jacobowitz and Gubits, LLP (J&G) as an associate. Anne M. Carpenter co-authored a chapter on criminal enforcement in the ABA’s fourth edition of “The Clean Air Act Handbook “(released 2016). She also published her annual article with Steven Solow in Bloomberg BNA’s “Daily Environment Report” on environmental crimes. Stephanie Chow h as recently joined the Academic Success team at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University as an Associate Director. Formerly, Stephanie was Director of Student Services

The Honorable Sondra M. Miller

Chauncey L. Walker, Esq. The Honorable Sam D. Walker

and Residential Life at the school. Stephanie and Anthony Desiato (Pace Law ’12) were married on October 8, 2016. Gregory T. Dutton j oined the law firm Goldberg Simpson as ofcounsel. He will help steer Goldberg Simpson’s energy and utility practice area. He will also offer clients counsel in environmental litigation and regulatory compliance as well as administrative law. Recently, Greg was assistant attorney general in the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General (OAG). Jonathan T. Engel has been appointed an adjunct faculty member at Dutchess Community College. He continues to serve Ulster County, New York as an assistant county attorney/contract manager. Najia S. Khalid was promoted to counsel at Wiggin and Dana LLP. She is co-chair of the firm’s immigration and nationality law and compliance practice group and co-chair of the firm’s diversity committee.

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Jeannette Arlin Koster (LLM) opened a law practice in Yorktown Heights focusing on municipal law and general practice. In June 2016, she was elected president of the Yorktown Bar Association. She is a member of the executive board of NYSBA Local and State Government Law Section, Westchester County Bar Association, Yorktown Rotary Club, and Business Networking International (BNI). Donato Palumbo has accepted an associate position with Shewmaker & Shewmaker, in Atlanta, GA. The firm specializes in family law, criminal law and military law. Additionally, Donato and his wife Jessica Palumbo (2009), had their second child in November, 2016.

Kristen D. Romano is now an associate with McGlinchey Stafford. Ben Sosne l eft the Appellate Division, Second Department in April to move to Williamstown, Mass. where he has been working for Thomas Krens, the founder of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MOCA). Ben has been doing a variety of development work for Mr. Krens as senior project manager and legal advisor. Mani Tafari recently opened his own practice, The Law Office of Mani C. Tafari, Esq. His firm focuses on the areas of immigration, criminal defense, and civil rights. Prior to this, Mani worked for the Legal Aid Society for eight years practicing

Keep In Touch! Have you recently changed firms, careers, or made partner? What is your practice area? Do you want to connect to other alumni colleagues within your practice area? Do you have personal information you want to share— a marriage or birth? Where are you living? Your Law School wants to receive these updates and help connect with you and connect you with others. Submit your update to plsalumni@law.pace.edu. Please include your name, year of graduation, and any relevant information. High quality photos are welcome! You can also update your information by visiting the Pace Law website at www.law.pace.edu; simply click on the alumni tab.

ALUMNI PROFILE

Kristin Furrie ‘05 We asked Anthony Palumbo, a rising 3L, to interview Kristin Furrie, a Trial Attorney with the Department of Justice’s Environmental Enforcement Section based in Washington, D.C. Kristin spoke on behalf of her experience and not on behalf of the Department of Justice. AP: Why did you decide choose Pace Law? KF: Pace has a strong environmental law program. I was attracted to the entire academic program, but mainly the environmental law classes and the environmental clinic. They also provided me with a scholarship. AP: Which law school experience helped you prepare for your legal career after law school? KF: The most important thing I did in law school is took advantage of as many externships and work experiences that I could. I did the judicial externship, environmental clinic, and I had a part-time job a few hours a week doing actual work for a land use attorney my third year. The more practical work experience you can get the better off you are after graduation. AP: Did you know that you wanted to be a trial attorney? KF: Yes, I always wanted to be a trial lawyer. I am one of the odd people that from a very young age, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, but didn’t know until my high school and college coursework that I wanted to focus on environmental law. I like helping people. AP: Is there one particular case that you worked on that you are most proud of and why? KF: I worked on the Fox River Superfund Case, it was a big case that involved the removal of PCBs in the sediment of the Fox River. It was a billion-dollar cleanup case. I was not the lead attorney, but I got to go trial for the case and it occupied the last five years of my life. It has created a lot of superfund precedent and is important environmentally. AP: What do you like about your position as a trial attorney at the Department of Justice? KF: One of the best parts of my job is that I work with a bunch of really smart and really fun people.

“I wanted to focus on environmental law. I like helping people.” On a broader level, you immediately are given a lot of responsibility—you get cases and interact with other counsel. I put on witnesses in federal court after only being at the DOJ for a year and a half. AP: Why would you recommend Pace Law to a prospective student? KF: I really enjoyed my time at Pace. I received a very good education there, and I got experience and more in-depth knowledge of the Clean Water Act and environmental laws in general than some of my other colleagues did because the Clinic and curriculum is so focused and gives you experience you cannot get anywhere else. AP: What advice do you have for soon to be graduates? KF: My advice, for when it comes to job hunting, is to apply to as many places as possible and worry about the rest of it later. You may come to realize that the position you did not think you would ever want is a better fit than you could imagine. Anthony Palumbo is a 2018 candidate for graduation with an Environmental Law Certificate. He is particularly interested in land use law.

SUMMER 2017

CLASS NOTES criminal law and also representing parolees for all five boroughs for parole violations. Mani recently had success in a high profile case involving a soccer coach charged with the murder of a 12-year-old boy, a case that was covered by various news outlets.

2010

Taryn L. Rucinski published a new article “The Elephant in the Room: Toward a Definition of Grey Legal Literature”, 107 Law Library Journal 543-59 (2015). Taryn was profiled in the September/October 2016 edition of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Spectrum magazine.

2011

Adam Dubin teaches in the international public law department at Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain, where he is also the director of an LL.M. program in international and European business law and the director of a Sub-Saharan African child rights research program. Adam specializes in the area of gender, justice and human rights in the Sub-Saharan African region.

2012

position as law clerk to Justice Ellen A. Gorman in the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Caesar Lopez recently joined Major League Soccer as associate legal counsel.

2013

Alix Cotumaccio was named associate director of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law Environmental Program at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. Benjamin Lowenthal b egan a new position at Messner Reeves LLP. Frank Joseph Polcino has had a busy year — he recently got married and also started a new job as IP counsel at MakerBot Industries, LLC. Margaret W. Serrano w ill begin work for the general counsel of United Farm Workers.

2014

Sarah Kettenmann co-authored an article, Valuation of Distributed Energy Resources under New York State’s REV Initiative, which was published in the National Law Review.

Michael Crowe h as joined FitzGerald Morris Baker Firth P.C. as an associate in the firm’s litigation practice group. Anthony Desiato, w ho has served in the Pace Law admissions office since graduating from law school, has been promoted to the position of associate director of admissions. He looks forward to continuing to dedicate his career to his alma mater. On October 8, 2016, Anthony married fellow Pace Law alumna, Stephanie Chow (’09). Laura Jensen has started a new

2016 Pace Law Alumni Association Board of Directors OFFICERS

David Haimi, Esq. ‘12

Stephen J. Brown, Esq. ‘04 Alumni Association President

Mary Clare Haskins, Esq. ‘08

Michael A. Calandra Jr., Esq. ‘05 Alumni Association Vice President

PA C E L AW A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E

Christina A. Kozachek, Esq. ‘15 Michael LaMagna, Esq. ‘07

MEMBERS

Hon. Carole Princer Levy ‘83

James M. Lenihan, Esq. ‘91

Patricia Bisesto, Esq. ‘92

Caesar Lopez, Esq. ‘12

Lucia Chiocchio, Esq. ‘01

Joseph M. Martin, Esq. ‘91

Adam Ciffone, Esq. ‘11

Joseph W. Mazel, Esq. ‘97

Aliciamarie E. Falcetta, Esq. ‘99

Mark Meeker, Esq., Dec. ‘09

Hon. Sandra A. Forster ‘79

Raymond Perez, Esq. ‘00

Michael A. Frankel, Esq. ‘03

Christopher M. Psihoules, Esq. ‘12

James A. Garvey III, Esq. ‘80

Joseph Ruhl, Esq. ‘90

Michael G. Gilberg, Esq. ‘07

John A. Sarcone III, Esq. ‘95

Lisa E. Gladwell, Esq. ‘10

Judson K. Siebert, Esq. ‘85

Michael T. Goldstein, MD, Esq. ‘06

Dawn M. Warren, Esq. ‘01

ningham, Riester & Hyde LLP as an associate attorney. He will focus his practice on health care and litigation.

2015

David Restrepo joined the Albany law office of Iseman, Cun-

Diana Bunin Kolev, Esq. ‘05

Jennifer L. Gray, Esq. ‘06 Alumni Association Secretary

Kerry J. Salkin is engaged to David Gary Futterman. Kerry is an assistant prosecutor for the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey.

Alison Morris has joined The Cuddy Law Firm as an attorney.

Adele Lerman Janow, Esq. ‘90

Joan Archer was featured by the NYC Pro Bono Center as their October 2016 volunteer spotlight.. Nicole A. Collins is an associate in the litigation department of Baxter, Smith & Shapiro, P.C.

Kevin Sylvester w as promoted to Chief of the Ossining Police Department. Jeffrey P. Valacer j oined the New Jersey offices of Gordon & Rees, LLP. He is an associate attorney in the Commercial Litigation and Employment Defense practice groups.

2016

J. Justin Woods, JD, MPA ’16, w as appointed to a one year full-time lecturer position in Pace University’s Department of Public Administration. He will be teaching graduate courses in sustainable development and research methods, supervising graduate student capstone projects, and advising MPA students.

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Dean David Yassky, the Pace Law Faculty, and the Pace Law Alumni Association invite you to the

2017 All-Class Reunion Join us to see old friends and celebrate your connection to the Law School. All years are welcome as we recognize the reunion classes of: 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017 Friday â&#x20AC;˘ November 3, 2017 4:00 p.m. Clarence Darrow starring Professor Bennett Gershman 5:30â&#x20AC;&#x201C;8:00 p.m. Cocktail Reception Pace Law, Tudor Room 78 North Broadway, White Plains, New York 10603 $100 per person $75 early registration (through October 1) $125 at the door registration Register online at www.alumni.pace.edu/Law-Reunion Please direct any inquires to 212-346-1287 or DevelopmentEvents@pace.edu