CLASS NOTES 1979 Emily Constant succeeded Thomas Spota as Suffolk County District Attorney.
1980
George Oros was named Westchester County’s Director of Economic Development.
1982
Joan Murray was nominated to the Tax Court by Governor Chris Christie and confirmed to serve as the new Tax Court judge by the New Jersey Senate on Thursday, December 7, 2017. John J. Rapisardi, a partner with O’Melveny & Myers, was featured as a Distinguished Leader 2017 in the New York Law Journal.
1983 V. Gerard Comizio has joined Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP as a partner in the Corporate Department. Cynthia Exner joined Ventura Law as an of-counsel attorney. She maintains her principal office for the practice of immigration law in Danbury.
Philip M. Halpern was honored at the Legal Services of the Hudson Valley’s 2017 Equal Access to Justice Dinner. Martin Hersh was elected Chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Elder Law and Special Needs Section for the one year term beginning June 1, 2017. Martin has his own firm, The Law Offices of Martin Hersh, Esq. located in Liberty, NY. It is a boutique law office concentrating in the areas of Elder Law and Estate Planning.
1981
Judge William W. Haury received an award from the Broward County Bar Association for professionalism.
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Elizabeth Cronin was reappointed by the Governor Andrew Cuomo to a second 3-year term as Director of the NYS Office of Victim Services. The Office provides financial compensation to innocent victims of violent crime, and funds over 200 community based victim assistance providers.
1984
Laura Barbieri was appointed Chair of the Education and the Law Committee, which is a Standing Committee of the New York City Bar Association. She notes that she is very much enjoying working with a fine group of lawyers, including Pace Law’s own Professor Carlisle. Anne C. Gilmartin w as named to the Board of Directors of The Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD). Lisa Linsky was presented with the 2017 Community Impact Award by the LGBT Community Center of NYC.
1985
Thomas H. Welby, P .E., Esq., ’85, has received the Chair’s Award from the Construction Management Association of America. The award was given in recognition of Mr. Welby’s service as CMAA’s representative to the National Construction Dispute Resolution Committee, and the American Arbitration Association. Thomas is a partner with Welby, Brady & Greenblatt, LLP and an Adjunct Professor of Law (Construction Law) at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law.
PA C E L AW A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E
Elizabeth Cronin ’83 We asked 3L Ryan Memoli to interview Elizabeth Cronin ’83, Director of the Office of Victim Services. Prior to this, Ms. Cronin spent time as a Special Victims Prosecutor in the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. She was also the Director with the Office of Legal Affairs for the Second Circuit. RM: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. To begin, did you always want to attend law school? EC: Since Kindergarten! Becoming a lawyer always fascinated me. I attended Fairfield University as a politics major. And, prior to law school, I interned in D.C. at the Justice Department and National League of Cities. I also worked at the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, and spent time working at a private firm. Any opportunity I had to work in a legal arena, I was there. RM: What is about the law that attracts you? EC: You can take two sides of the same issue and argue it equally convincingly. Law pushes you to think about and analyze issues in a way you would not have otherwise. It forces you to think about other people and the positions they are taking. It is a great skill to be able to think about what my opponent is thinking and how they will handle the evidence and represent it to the trier of fact. RM: Do you remember your first day as a student at Pace Law? EC: Yes, I had seen the movie The Paper Chase and found it an intimidating representation. I was worried about keeping up with reading and answering hard questions. The prospect of one test for the whole semester was very intimidating to me as well. However, I was pleasantly surprised— I found the atmosphere very collegial. Everyone worked together and the professors were there to make sure you succeeded. RM: What helped you “get through” law school? EC: In general, throughout my time at Pace, I stayed active and involved. I organized a 5K called the Race Judicata, I participated in trial teams, moot court, I was an ABA representative,