Traditions: St. John’s Law Family Ties

As we celebrate women of St. John’s Law in this issue, we’re spotlighting just a few of the wonderful mother-daughter pairings—and one equally wonderful mother-daughter trio—in our alumni family:

Kate Christoforatos ‘84 is a real estate attorney at Kulakis & Christoforatos, Esqs. in Queens. Her daughter, Kathryn Christoforatos ‘15, was a St. Thomas More Scholar and managing editor of the St. John’s Law Review. Today, she is a senior associate at Brookfield Asset Management.

Lourdes Martinez Cipolla ’92 was president of the Law School Alumni Association from 2017 to 2018 and is currently Partner/Director and Co-Chair of the Compliance and White Collar Defense Practice Group at Garfunkel Wild P.C. Her daughter, Stephanie M. Cipolla Prinzivalli ’16, was a senior staff member of the St. John’s Law Review and a Center for Law and Religion Fellow. She now works as counsel at Johnson & Oshan Law handling privacy and technology transactions.

Joanne Welty ’76, who served as an editor of the St. John’s Law Review, retired from Merrill Lynch as in-house counsel in New York. Her daughter, Meghan E. Cannella Carroll ’07, was a member of the Law School’s American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review, Moot Court Honor Society, and Intellectual Property Law Society. As an alumna, she served on the Law School Alumni Association Board of Directors. She is now Vice President, Labor Policy and Health at the National Football League.

Hon. Jeannine Baer Kuzniewski ‘86 presides in the New York City Housing Court in Brooklyn. Her daughters, Megan Kuzniewski ‘17 and Kayla Kuzniewski ‘19, practice law in New York. Megan, who served on the editorial board of the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review, is AVP, Legal Counsel — M&A and Corporate Development at Enstar (US) Inc. And Kayla, who was a student advocate in the Law School’s Consumer Justice for the Elderly: Litigation Clinic, is a staff attorney at Queens Legal Services.