SPECIAL AWARDS

RISING STARS: 40 & UNDER

LEAH JACKSON Associate Attorney The Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington

Michal Cantor is a member of Nixon Peabody’s Healthcare practice, as well as the firm’s State Attorneys General team. Michal has cultivated a practice at the intersection of healthcare and white-collar investigations. She represents clients through all stages of criminal and civil government investigations and related litigation. Michal handles internal and regulatory investigations, risk mitigation, and compliance matters in healthcare and other industries. She also has experience assisting hospitals with medical staff issues and advising academic medical centers on graduate medical education issues. Additionally, Michal conducts investigations of abuse of children and vulnerable individuals on behalf of institutional clients. She dedicates a portion of her practice to representing victims of abuse.

Michal leads the Long Island Office’s Women’s Resource Group, and she previously served on the firmwide Mental Health & Wellbeing Committee and on the Associates Council. She is also a recipient of the firm’s pro bono award for outstanding service.

Q&A

If you weren’t in the industry you’re in now, where would you be?

I love to cook and, in another life, I think I would really enjoy working as a chef. In my spare time, I enjoy trying out new recipes and kitchen gadgets, and I’d like to think that I could keep up with the fast-paced energy of a commercial kitchen.

Leah Jackson — born and raised on Long Island — serves as Board Chair of Minority Millennials, which seeks to help young people of color become civically engaged and build wealth. She also volunteers for Long Island Citizens for Community Values which seeks to protect women, children and families from the harmful effects of the internet. Leah graduated from SUNY Oswego in 2016 with a B.S. in Business Administration.

In 2017, Leah enrolled into Touro Law School where she developed a love for criminal justice reform and civil rights. In 2020, Leah obtained her Juris Doctor. After graduation Leah began her career with the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society advocating zealously for the indigent. Today, Leah currently works for the Law Offices of Frederick Brewington where she continues her zealous practice of law in the areas of Criminal Defense and Civil Rights.

Mika Mooney is a New York-based business, trademark and employment attorney and fellow entrepreneur. Mika Mooney Law was born out of a desire to support female founders in all things legal in a straight-forward, caring and sound way; all with a goal of also making legal counsel approachable and accessible. As a litigator, she argued countless cases in court and vigorously defended big businesses day in and day out, gaining a deep and extensive understanding of the legal needs of businesses and how best to protect them. Now, Mika uses that knowledge to keep entrepreneurs and small business owners from experiencing any legal headache, hopefully creating a stress-free, easy and seamless legal experience.

Q&A

What/who inspired you to be on the path you’re on today?

I would not be where I am today without the inspiration and guidance from my boss Frederick K. Brewington. When I joined his firm as a Summer Associate in 2018, I already had an idea of the type of law I wanted to do and what I thought justice meant. After spending the summer working on discrimination and criminal defense cases, my passion for people, my ideas of justice and who needs the most legal protections changed. I have been on this path ever since and have no regrets.

Q&A

What/who inspired you to be on the path you’re on today?

My mom was my biggest inspiration. Every day I strive to be the woman that she was and to make her proud. She immigrated to the United States from Japan, spoke little English, had no formal education and raised me as a single mom. She had an entrepreneurial spirit and was so creative and vivacious but ultimately chose to go down a different path so that she could secure my future, provide and care for me. She had an incredible work ethic and persevered always, all with a smile and a sparkle in her eye. She always told me to believe in myself and I try to remind myself and others of that every day!

RISING STARS: 40 & UNDER RISING STARS: 40 & UNDER PHILANTHROPISTS OF THE YEAR

Joseph Packard became a partner at Schroder & Strom in 2022. He concentrates his practice on representation of commercial and residential property owners in real property tax litigation.

Always active in his community, Joseph has provided pro-bono legal services to elderly, low-income homeowners seeking assistance with Senior Exemptions. He served on the Board of the Mineola-Garden City Rotary Club for many years. He was Treasurer of the club for several terms and is a Past-President. Additionally, Joseph is a firefighter and currently the secretary for Ladder 2 of the EMFD, as well as current chairman of the Fund Drive Committee.

Professionally, Joseph is an active member of the Nassau, Suffolk, and the NYS Bar Associations. He belongs to the Community Bankers’ Mortgage Forum, the Commercial Industrial Brokers Society of Long Island (CIBS), the Long Island Real Estate Group (LIRE”), the Mineola Lions Club, as well as the Mineola Chamber of Commerce.

Q&A

What has been your greatest achievement(s) within the past year?

Being elevated to the partnership level of my firm.

ROCHELLE L. VERRON Founder & Attorney Verron Law Group, P.C.

Rochelle L. Verron, founder & managing partner of Verron Law Group P.C., has 11 years of experience in the area of Elder Law and Trust and Estates. Before attending law school, she graduated from John Jay College in New York City with a degree in Criminal Justice. Inspired by her work in the legal field, she went on to attend Touro Law School here on Long Island where she earned her Juris Doctorate, cum laude.

Rochelle is presently the co-chair of the Suffolk County Bar Association Elder Law and Special Needs Committee. Rochelle focuses her practice in all areas of Elder Law as well as Estate Planning, Estate Administration, and Guardianships. She can also provide invaluable support on obtaining Medicaid eligibility with simultaneous or subsequent asset protection. It’s often uncomfortable and difficult to address personal, financial, and family matters during the legal process but clients can be confident that Rochelle will help make the process clear, help them understand their options, and allow them to have peace of mind for the future.

Being family-oriented, Rochelle takes great pride in being able to help the elderly and also position younger families with a more secure future. Rochelle is a member of the Suffolk County Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, as well as the Suffolk County Elder Law Committee.

Q&A

What has been your greatest achievement(s) within the past year?

Co-Chair of the Suffolk County Bar Association Elder Law and Special Needs Committee

Vishnick McGovern Milizio LLP

Joseph Milizio is the managing partner of Vishnick McGovern Milizio LLP. He leads the firm’s Business and Transactional Law, Real Estate, Exit & Succession Planning for Business Owners, LGBTQ Representation, and Surrogacy, Adoption, and Assisted Reproduction practices. Joseph founded the firm’s groundbreaking LGBTQ Representation practice twenty years ago, one of the first in the nation. He provides legal counsel, representation, and education to the LGBTQ community in a variety of matters.

Joseph is a founder, leader and member of several nonprofit LGBTQ organizations, including as a founding member of the New York State Bar Association LGBTQ Law Section, former cochair of the Nassau County Bar Association LGBTQ Committee, founding member of the Suffolk County LGBTQ Advisory Board, and HRC (Human Rights Campaign) National Board of Governors and NY Steering Committee member, to name just a few. As Managing Partner, he’s led VMM in numerous pro bono and community engagement projects.

Q&A

What has been your greatest achievement(s) within the past year?

With the constant flurry of new and revised laws and regulations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, VMM has become the “go-to” firm in matters of business and employment law compliance. Working at the forefront of a particularly complex legal landscape in constant flux, we've been able to help influence the interpretation and application of laws on Long Island on behalf of our clients, which is a series of achievements we're very proud of. We've also been called upon for our expertise by mainstream and legal trade press, from CBS to Bloomberg Law to the Herald, allowing us to help many other people navigate these choppy waters.