Creative Lawyers in Creative Industries on How to Find Your
Cardozo Students on the Frontlines of Justice
Spotlight on the FAME Center for Fashion, Arts, Media and Entertainment Law
Igniting Sparks: New Podcast
Focuses on Alumni Careers in the Law
Milbank Funds
$1 Million Partnership with Perlmutter Center’s Freedom Clinic
JOHN D ENATALE
ASSOCIATE DEAN, COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
JUDY TASHJI CREATIVE DIRECTOR
CATHERINE FERRIS WRITER/MANAGING EDITOR
KAITLYN HART WRITER/MANAGING EDITOR
BRYAN JACKSON
DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
MICHAEL DIVITO, SARI GOODFRIEND, JORG MEYER, ERYC PEREZ D E TAGLE PHOTOGRAPHY
MELANIE LESLIE ’91
DEAN, DR. SAMUEL BELKIN PROFESSOR OF LAW
IRA S. DIZENGOFF ’92 CHAIR, BOARD OF DIRECTORS
RABBI DR. ARI BERMAN PRESIDENT, YESHIVA UNIVERSITY
Connect with Cardozo
FACEBOOK: CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW
INSTAGRAM: @CARDOZO_LAW
LINKEDIN: CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW
TWITTER: @CARDOZOLAW
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Cardozo’s International Advocate for Peace Award
Given to Richard Haass
The presidential advisor, diplomat and U.S. special envoy was recognized for a lifetime of advocacy for peace.
14
Justice for All
• Milbank Law Firm Gives $1M to The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice
• Kathryn O. Greenberg
Immigration Justice Clinic Wins the Case To Bring Home Deported U.S. Military Veteran Marquez-Almanzar
• Cardozo Students Discuss Their Work for Justice
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Faculty in the Media
Cardozo faculty in the news for analysis, opinions and expert commentary.
24
Faculty Scholarship
Recent contributions to intellectual discourse on law, democracy and public policy.
Cardozo’s renowned program in intellectual property and information law is a launching pad for outstanding careers. In this issue, we highlight the program’s FAME Center for fashion, arts, media and entertainment law and talk to some of the alumni who have hit their mark.
Alumni Hall of FAME
Jason Boyarski ’00
Len Egert ’91
Charity Gates ’20
Kara Lemberger ’09
Michael Seltzer ’92
Amanda Sivin ’23
Game Changers: Cardozo Women in Sports Law
A Boutique Startup Balances Creativity with Flexibility
Students Take the Microphone
Our students talk about how their Cardozo experiences will shape their careers.
50 Meet Miriam Lacroix, Cardozo’s New Director of Diversity and Inclusion
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Alumni Spotlight
Alice Pang ’11
Susan Cohen ’85
Jack Jia ’20
Chris Seeger ’90
Stephen Weiss ’90
A Letter from Dean Melanie Leslie
Scan to share your Cardozo
Dear Alumni and Friends of Cardozo,
In the fall of 2025, we will begin celebrating Cardozo’s 50th anniversary, culminating with a gala in the fall of 2026 to mark the law school’s opening day. Please keep an eye out for invitations to a variety of events.
In honor of our anniversary, we are compiling a history of the law school. I invite you to help us round out the Cardozo story by sending in your memories and photos of the most important aspects of your time at Cardozo, perhaps describing your favorite professor or detailing an experience that shaped you as a lawyer. If you found your spouse, partner or lifelong best friend here, please drop us a note.
When I was enrolled at Cardozo, it was an exciting place that facilitated personal growth. Like many Cardozo students, I had moved to New York City after college to pursue a career in the performing arts. I met Dean Monroe Price at an admitted-students event, and he convinced me that Cardozo was the school for me. Believe me when I say that in my wildest dreams, I could not have imagined that I would one day be the dean.
A 1991 graduate, I have many memories of my time as a Cardozo student. I recall gathering at the Lone Star Café with my 1L classmates after our Elements exam—remember the giant iguana on the rooftop? That day marked the beginning of many meaningful friendships that I still cherish. Many mornings, as I walk into the Cardozo building, I remember the drug store that used to occupy the lobby, and I am grateful for Dean David Rudenstine’s vision in transforming the lobby into an elegant, welcoming space. I think back to the fear that I felt at the prospect of being cold-called in Elements and remember struggling as a Law Review editor to cite check articles for a conference involving the philosopher Jacques Derrida. And I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to be a teaching assistant for Professor Sterk, an experience that inspired me to become a teacher.
Being dean is the most rewarding job of my career, and it is an honor to serve this great school every day. I am proud of what my team, faculty and I have built together: from making sure that every student gets the right job to guiding the school through the pandemic, building out new programs like the FAME Center and the Perlmutter Freedom Clinic to finally—finally—getting the elevators replaced!
I am so grateful to the Cardozo professors and colleagues who helped me find my path. As we look back on 50 years, I hope you enjoyed your time here as much as I did mine. I hope to see you during our celebrations in 2025 and our gala in 2026, and in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this issue of Cardozo Life
Keep in touch, and we’ll see you at the 50th anniversary gala in the fall of 2026!
Warmly,
MELANIE LESLIE Dean and Dr. Samuel Belkin Professor of Law
Photos from the 1991 ResNova yearbook
memories for our 50th Anniversary celebration
Dr. Richard Haass Receives the 23rd Annual International Advocate for Peace Award at Cardozo &
Dr. Richard Haass, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations and Senior Counselor with Centerview Partners, received the 2024 International Advocate for Peace (IAP) Award from the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution on March 27.
Haass chaired the multiparty negotiations in Northern Ireland that provided the 2014 Stormont House Agreement and, from 2001 to 2003, was the Director of Policy Planning of the U.S. Department of State, where he played a pivotal role in shaping foreign policy.
For over two decades, the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution has presented the annual IAP Award to an individual, organization or group that has made significant contributions in the field of conflict resolution and in the promotion of peace around the world. Past recipients include Gloria Steinem, President Jimmy Carter, President Bill Clinton, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sir Paul McCartney, Sen. George Mitchell and diplomat Richard Holbrooke.
In remarks titled “Peace in a Time of War” Haass gave 10 pieces of advice for peacemakers that he has gathered from working internationally in India and Pakistan, Northern Ireland and the Middle East.
“Selecting the recipient for the IAP Award is a wonderful and welcome break from all of the current conflicts
taking place around us,” said Zach Knoop, the symposium editor of the journal. “The award provides us with the opportunity to celebrate the achievements being made in resolving conflicts and focus on the good that is being done in the world.”
Haass also took questions from audience members, speaking about the role mediators can play in resolving conflicts internationally, his time in government, working for four U.S. presidents, NATO and the wars in Ukraine and Israel.
• Dr. Richard Haass accepts the International Advocate for Peace Award from Daniel Kim ’24, Editor-in-Chief of the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution.
In addition to his career as a diplomat, Haass is the author or editor of 14 books on American foreign policy, one book on management and one on American democracy. His latest is The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens.
Two-Week January Intensive Courses Teach Students Courtroom Litigation and Transactional Skills
Cardozo hosted the 41st annual January intensive courses, which are renowned bootcamps that promote experiential learning and provide future lawyers with career connections.
The simulation courses, a cornerstone of the school’s practical experience curriculum, include the Intensive Trial Advocacy Program (ITAP) and the Intensive Transactional Lawyering Program (ITRANS). In them, students gain real-world casework and courtroom experience under the supervision of top legal practitioners who provide one-on-one feedback.
“They held our feet to the fire and pushed us out of our comfort zones in the best way possible,” said Zoe Sheppard ’24, who participated for the first time. “Each day, I left feeling a little more confident and a little bit more like a future lawyer.”
Now in its 11th year, ITRANS, which focuses on transactional and business law, helps students learn the transactional skills needed for
effective client representation.
ITRANS students participate in a mock deal and are divided into teams to work on executing it. They learn contract drafting, negotiation and preparation of closing documents through an interactive workshop guided and critiqued by experienced attorneys.
ITAP, one of the toughest trialadvocacy programs in the country, is a cornerstone of Cardozo’s practicalskills curriculum. ITAP students learn cutting-edge strategies for courtroom litigation under the instruction of leading jurists and lawyers from across the country. They practice direct and cross examinations, interviewing and preparing witnesses, selecting juries, dealing with evidentiary issues and preparing for and presenting bench and jury trials. At the end of the course, students participate in a mock trial, where their performances are recorded and critiqued by real-life judges and lawyers.
“Many students will be entering
careers where they will be litigating cases,” said Zamir Ben-Dan, interim ITAP program director. “ITAP has already made them more prepared and ready to try cases than their future first-year colleagues.”
Many Cardozo alumni, including Jonathan Lenzner, the Chief of Staff for the FBI, who called his ITAP experience “transformative,” have participated in the program.
ITAP has helped countless students gain skills and jumpstart their careers.
“I gained an incredible amount of knowledge, skills, and most importantly, confidence throughout my two weeks in ITAP,” Sheppard said. “I left those two weeks having gained a solid understanding of what makes an effective trial lawyer and how to tap into my personal style to bring those techniques to life. It was also a great opportunity to work with other students at Cardozo that I haven’t had the opportunity to work with before; I was constantly so inspired and impressed by my peers.”
Cardozo Welcomes Six New Faculty Members
WILFRED CODRINGTON III joins Cardozo as the Walter Floersheimer Professor of Constitutional Law. He is an expert in constitutional law, election law, race and the law and civil rights and civil liberties. Codrington received his A.B. from Brown University, his J.D. from Stanford Law School and his M.P.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. He most recently was a member of the faculty of Brooklyn Law School, where he was a dean’s research scholar focusing on constitutional reform, election law and voting rights. Before that, he was a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and was a fieldwork supervisor for the Brennan Center Advocacy Clinic at NYU.
HAIYUN DAMON-FENG joins Cardozo as an assistant professor of law. She received a B.A. in Philosophy and a B.S. in Mathematics from Purdue University and a J.D. from Yale Law School. She most recently was an acting assistant professor of lawyering at NYU School of Law. Damon-Feng’s expertise and research are at the intersection of administrative law and immigration law and policy, with a focus on issues relating to executive power, federalism, procedure and race.
TYSON-LORD JUSTICE GRAY joins Cardozo as the Harold A. Stevens Visiting Assistant Professor of Law. He received his B.A. from Trinity International University, his J.D. from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University and his PhD from Vanderbilt University. He most recently was a visiting assistant professor of law at Boston University School of Law. Gray’s scholarship addresses social justice concerns in environmental law, food law and cannabis law.
RACHEL LANDY transitions into a full-time faculty role at Cardozo as an assistant professor of law. Since 2022, Landy has been the Director of Cardozo’s Heyman Center on Corporate Law and Governance and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law. She received her B.M. from New York University and her J.D. from UCLA Law School. Before coming to Cardozo, she worked on the public policy team at Google, where she managed YouTube’s response to legislative proposals globally relating to the platform’s business model, and as a technology transactions attorney in private practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Cooley. Her areas of expertise include business law and intellectual property.
MARIANA BERENICE ACEVEDO NUEVO joins Cardozo as an assistant clinical professor of law. Acevedo Nuevo received her M.P.A. from Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas and her L.L.M. from UC Berkeley School of Law, where she is a clinical supervising attorney in the New Business Community Law Clinic. Before that, Acevedo Nuevo was the Shriver Housing Attorney at Legal Access Alameda, where she was an advocate for housing rights for lowincome residents.
ZALMAN ROTHSCHILD joins Cardozo as an assistant professor of law. He received a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, an M.A. from Yeshiva University in Jewish philosophy, a PhD in Religion & Jewish Studies from New York University and a B.A. from Binghamton University. Rothschild received his Rabbinic Ordination from the Ariel Institute Rabbinical School of Jerusalem. He most recently was a Bigelow Teaching Fellow and lecturer in law at The University of Chicago Law School. His expertise is in the First Amendment, anti-discrimination law and law and religion.
Cardozo Centers Host Events
The Future of ‘History and Tradition:’ The First Amendment Implications of Bruen
The Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy held a panel that delved into the Supreme Court’s recent shift toward history, tradition and text, focusing on Justice Clarence Thomas’s opinion in New York State
Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen and its implications for First Amendment and media law cases.
Panelists discussed the landmark ruling that overturned a 1911 New York law restricting carrying a gun in public. The Bruen decision makes carrying a gun in public a right guaranteed by the Second Amendment. Panelists included Mary-Rose
Papandrea, the Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law at The University of North Carolina School of Law; Clay Calvert, professor of law and Brechner Eminent Scholar Emeritus at the University of Florida Levin College of Law; and Matthew Schafer, vice president and assistant general counsel, litigation at Paramount Global and an adjunct professor of law at Fordham Law School.
Cardozo Law Review Symposium 2024
The Jacob Burns Center for Ethics in the Practice of Law, in partnership with the Cardozo Law Review and The Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy, presented the annual Cardozo Law Review Symposium, which focused on ethics in the judiciary and legal profession.
U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), lead counsel in the first House impeachment of then-President Donald Trump, gave the keynote address, and three panels followed. Panelists discussed the ethics controversies surrounding the Supreme Court, the role of bar discipline in the aftermath of the Trump presidency and the risks and benefits of using courts to address unlawful conduct by political figures.
• Professor Anthony Sebok, U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Professor Jessica Roth
• A panel discussion for The Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy.
NALP NAMES SHERRY-ANN SMITH-GOMEZ AS RECIPIENT OF SERVICE EXCELLENCE AWARD
Sherry-Ann Smith-Gomez, senior director of Career Services and coordinator of Diversity Initiatives at Cardozo, has received a Service Excellence Award from the National Association for Law Placement.
The award, announced on Aug. 6, recognizes volunteers who go above and beyond making contributions to the association and its members.
Dean of Career Services Carey Bertolet Grand congratulated Smith-Gomez and said that the entire Cardozo community has “benefitted from her wisdom and leadership.”
Cardozo Welcomes 53 Top Firms for Employer Forum
The Cardozo School of Law lobby was abuzz on March 27 as the Office of Career Services welcomed some of the most prestigious law firms to the school for its annual employer forum.
The forum, hosted by the school’s Office of Career Services, included Davis Polk, Kirkland & Ellis and Proskauer Rose.
“We look forward to this marquee event each year,” said Dean of Career Services Carey Bertolet Grand. “The country’s largest law firms are here to showcase how highly they value the talented 1L students at Cardozo.”
The 180 1L students in attendance were joined by many Cardozo alumni representing law firms.
Cardozo is ranked No. 32 in The National Law Journal’s Go-To Law Schools for Big Law list, and its graduates have a strong presence at these firms.
Kalyn Heyen ’22, an associate at WilmerHale, said, “When I was a student, I had all types of graduates answer my emails and help me through the process, so it’s rewarding to be back to ensure that current students get that same help.
I hear feedback from industry peers that Cardozo graduates make really good team members, and people notice that they are good at pitching in and getting work done correctly the first time.”
Cardozo extends special thanks to event sponsors Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Vault and Flo Recruit for contributing to this impactful night.
Hear from attendees by scanning the QR Code or by heading to Cardozo’s YouTube channel.
Cardozo’s annual Donors & Scholars event, where students meet those alumni who helped support their scholarships and stipends, was held on April 15. The occasion was marked by a welcome from the dean and warm and vibrant exchanges between students and their supporters.
During her remarks, Dean Melanie Leslie ’91 thanked the generous donors for their assistance to Cardozo students. She also recognized the David Berg Foundation, the largest supporter of the Public Service Summer Stipend Program, which provided more than $2.6 million to nearly 750 Cardozo students.
The dean said these scholarships “are crucial in bridging the gap for so many of our deserving students, providing essential funding that affords them the opportunity to pursue a legal education.”
Dean Leslie pointed out that the generosity of these donors is not only critical for the individual students adding, “it reflects their commitment to equity and inclusion in the legal profession.”
First-year student Olivia Chijioke ’26, the recipient of the David Martinidez Scholarship and an ambassador for the Entertainment Law Society, recalled her experience graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2020 and moving to New York at the height of the pandemic with no job, just a few friends and a plan to pursue a career in entertainment law. “My desire to work in the industry is rooted in my extreme love for the arts and desire to support underrepresented creatives and those who have made me feel seen through art,” she said.
I discovered entertainment law. I was interested in how to help artists’ ideas come into fruition, not only creatively but to help leverage them the best protection.”
Chijioke became involved in the entertainment law field prior to Cardozo, working at Atlantic Records in the business and legal affairs department. She became fascinated by how deals are made and how labels can work to maintain artistic integrity.
“I’m so grateful to Cardozo for creating this community, which is allowing me to stay motivated on my path for advocating for diverse creatives to protect their art, and I hope one day to be able to contribute to the scholarships,” Chijioke said.
Georgeanne Moss ’88, a financial advisor with The Gould Group of Wells Fargo, and former Managing DirectorInvestment Officer, has been in the securities industry since 1988.
Moss sponsored Sebastian Saavedra ’25’s internship with the New York Legal Assistance Group in its Foreclosure Prevention Project. She said she had received a “beautiful letter” from Sebastian in which he shared his experience and his enormous gratitude.
Moss described her career highlights including working for a Connecticut law firm as a senior attorney specializing in litigation, securities compliance and derivative projects at a major brokerage firm. She was also a legal intern to Mario Cuomo when he was the governor of New York.
An avid reader, she grew up feeling connected to the stories she read, often comparing them to their TV and movie adaptations. As she got older, Chijioke also became interested in music and musical artists.
“I learned more about who supports these artists and knew that I wanted to do the same,” she said. “That’s when
Her interest in giving back to Cardozo dates to a conversation she had with then-Cardozo Dean Monroe Price. Moss said Price was fascinated by her career, particularly her internship with Cuomo and her work in public service.
“The interest is public service, getting an education but then giving back after you get that education—that’s what it should all be about,” she said.
Olivia Chijioke ’26, left, and Georgeanne Moss ’88 at the 2024 Donors & Scholars event.
Cardozo’s First Class of Gates Scholars Celebrates Commencement
In June, Cardozo’s first class of Gates Scholars graduated, marking a milestone for the program.
The E. Nathaniel Gates Scholarship recognizes outstanding potential in first-generation college or graduate students or in those who have experienced barriers or challenges in their path to a law career. The program was created in honor of Professor Gates. A member of the Cardozo faculty from 1992 until his death in 2006, he was the first member of his family to attend college and law school. At Cardozo, he served as an advisor to important initiatives and
organizations, including the Diversity Coalition and the Black, Asian & Latino Law Students Association.
The first class of Gates Scholars began its law school journey in 2021. They came together and created a strong community for themselves and for the following Gates Scholars after enduring a year and a half of the worldwide pandemic.
Dean of Students Jenn Kim said that the Gates Scholars have served as ambassadors and mentors, helping with programming ideas and giving critical feedback on the needs of Scholars through some of our most challenging times as a school.
“I have seen our 3L Scholars come together, support one another, and even advocate on each other’s behalf,” Kim said. “I have seen them take the time to reach out to the current 2L and 1L
“It’s not easy being the first of anything, and our 3L inaugural class of Scholars has done an incredible job of paving a path for the ones to come after them.”
Scholars, spend countless hours sharing information and holding space for the newer classes to share and be their authentic selves. It’s not easy being the first of anything, and our 3L inaugural class of Scholars has done an incredible job of paving a path for the ones to come after them and demonstrating their deep commitment and investment in the program and the students to come after them.”
Cardozo’s Annual P*LAW Week 2024 Celebrates Public Service Law
In an emotional and impactful panel during P*LAW Week, students from the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic appeared with several clients for whom the clinic provided legal representation that enabled them to return to the United States.
It was one of a dozen panels held from Jan. 29–Feb. 1 at the law school celebrating public-service law.
“Deported: A Conversation With Immigrants Who Were Deported and the Students Who Helped Bring Them
Back” featured Stacy Moses ’25 and Noa Gutow-Ellis ’24 and clients Lorenzo Charles, Samantha Louis and Jose Marquez-Almanzar. The conversation was moderated by Professor Lindsay Nash, co-director of the clinic.
Charles, who had been deported in 2003 and was allowed to return to United States in 2023, said that “the work of the clinic professors and students not only helped win my case but inspired me to go to law school,” which he plans to do once he finishes his undergraduate degree.
Moses and Gutow-Ellis spoke about the joy of making meaningful changes in their clients’ lives.
Gutow-Ellis, who graduated in June, recently won a prestigious Immigrant Justice Corps fellowship. She will be working at Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN NY).
Cardozo’s 2024 P*LAW Week, organized by the Center for Public Service Law, included a wide range of
other panels and discussions dedicated to showing the impact and rewards of a career in public-service law.
“The panels were attended by hundreds of Cardozo students, engaging in dynamic public-interest discussions with thoughtful panelists,” said Alissa Bernstein, director of the Center for Public Service Law and overseer of the events. “We are grateful to the P*LAW student Planning team for creating such a memorable 2024 P*LAW program.”
Other topics included “Motherhood and Incarceration” and “How Steven Donziger and the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Won a Landmark $9.5B Case Against Chevron.”
P*LAW Week, which is held at the beginning of each spring semester, is designed to educate students on public-law career opportunities and to highlight the work students do helping disadvantaged communities.
Kathryn O. Greenberg, center, with Dean Melanie Leslie, Professors and Co-Directors of the Immigration Justice Clinic Lindsay Nash and Peter Markowitz, clinic students and panelists.
Cardozo Cheers on NYC Pride March at Ninth Annual Pride Brunch
on N C nnual
The lobby of Cardozo’s Ruth & H. Bert Mack Pavilion was bursting with rainbow colors on June 30 as students and alumni gathered to celebrate the school’s LGBTQIA+ community while cheering on the NYC Pride March during the ninth annual Pride Brunch.
The Cardozo Alumni Association and the OUTlaw Alumni Group invited the Cardozo community to Pride Brunch.
Chantelle “Elle” Gyamfi ’20, the alumni chair for OUTlaw, encouraged students to join the OUTlaw Alumni Group once they graduated and to get involved in the OUTlaw Student Group. She spoke about the work the student organization accomplished, including forming a mentorship program.
Cardozo’s Greenwich Village home is in a neighborhood known for its LGBTQIA+ history, including the 1969 Stonewall uprising. One year after the uprising, thousands of people marched from the Stonewall Inn to Central Park on the first Christopher Street Liberation Day.
Today, the NYC Pride March is an iconic event in New York City every June, and it passes right by Cardozo.
Pride Brunch supports students through different funds, including the Paris Baldacci Scholarship. Named after the late professor, the scholarship is awarded to a 3L or LL.M. Cardozo student who has done exemplary work at the school that’s related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit, non-binary or intersex rights in a clinic, credited externship or through non-credit work, such as organizing and activism.
Cardozo Marks New School Year by Welcoming Newest Class of JD, LL.M. Students
Cardozo welcomed its newest members of the JD and LL.M. community during orientation.
Approximately 260 students in the fall JD class began their law school journey. Many are native New Yorkers, while others traveled from other countries to study at Cardozo. About half have already worked in the legal field with various law firms or in different professional careers.
Dean Melanie Leslie ’91 welcomed the new JD class by referencing the school’s namesake, Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo, who wrote, “The final cause of law is the welfare of society.”
She praised the collective commitment to a free and fair society that has created a system of laws. She also spoke about how lawyers have a responsibility to analyze the laws they work within and to use their skills to confront laws that are not just and trample on individual rights.
“We are going to give you everything you need to become an ethical lawyer, working to uphold the law, as
well as learning how to speak up when a law needs to be changed if it is unjust,” she said.
She also discussed how the students must find ways to listen to each other, even if they strongly disagree, saying that in the current polarized environment it is essential that Cardozo students uphold the highest standards of civility and respect for all points of view.
The class includes 35 Gates Scholars. The E. Nathaniel Gates Scholarship recognizes outstanding potential in first-generation college or graduate students or in those who
“Your reputation as a lawyer begins today.”
have experienced barriers or challenges in their path to a law career. The program was created in honor of Professor Gates, a Cardozo faculty member from 1992 until his death in 2006. While at Cardozo, he served as an advisor to important initiatives and organizations, including the Diversity Coalition and the Black, Asian & Latino Law Students Association.
LL.M. class members attended seminars and activities and got to know their classmates. They participated in a Q&A session with Cardozo alumna Laure Esther Kaïoun, the associate general counsel of business and legal affairs for Secretly Group who has 10 years of music business and law experience; reviewed the curriculum; and toured the library.
“We are thrilled to see you join our vibrant and diverse community,” said Associate Dean of Graduate, International and Online Programs Val Myteberi. “You gathered from 28 countries to begin this exciting
journey with us. Cardozo is a place of discovery, growth and endless possibilities. Our community is dedicated to supporting and nurturing your dreams.”
As part of orientation, the JD class participated in the annual oath, which was administered by Judge Robert Rosenthal ’91, a classmate of Dean Leslie and a friend of the law school.
Rosenthal was appointed to New York City’s Civil Court and was assigned to Criminal Court in 2019 by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
He told the students that they are taking on a serious responsibility to advocate for their clients and encouraged them to listen and learn from one another.
“You have a lot to learn, and there is a faculty here who is responsible for teaching you as much as you are willing to learn,” he said. “But you are responsible for your reputation. Your reputation as a lawyer begins today. Be good to each other, your colleagues and to your clients.”
FOURTH CLASS OF GATES SCHOLARS WELCOMED TO CARDOZO
Cardozo welcomed 35 Gates Scholars during orientation week, marking the fourth class in the program.
The E. Nathaniel Gates Scholarship recognizes outstanding potential in first-generation college or graduate students or in those who have experienced barriers or challenges in their path to a law career. The program was created in honor of Professor Gates, a Cardozo faculty member from 1992 until his death in 2006. While at Cardozo, he was an advisor to important initiatives and organizations, including the Diversity Coalition and the Black, Asian & Latino Law Students Association.
Dean Melanie Leslie ’91, Associate Dean of Admissions Jeanne Estilo Widerka, Dean of Students Jenn Kim, Director of Diversity and Inclusion Miriam Lacroix and Vice Dean Felix Wu were among those who spoke to the Gates Scholars.
“You’ll learn about the law, what it means to think like a lawyer, you’ll learn about yourself and form meaningful relationships with one another,” Kim said. “You’ll find yourself challenged in ways that you may not have been.”
While they may face challenges, Kim added that they have access to communication, mentorship and resources at Cardozo.
Dean Leslie reflected on her own law school journey at Cardozo. “You’re going to discover things about yourself that you did not know,” she said. “Your journey as lawyers starts today, and the people in this room will be among your greatest supports throughout law school and beyond.”
The newest Gates Scholars class
JUSTICE FOR ALL
“The power and the ability to affect the lives of their clients, the lives of the families of their clients, is rare for people early in their career, and it’s something that we are lucky enough to be able to help students do routinely in our clinic.”
—PROFESSOR PETER MARKOWITZ, CO-DIRECTOR
KATHRYN O. GREENBERG IMMIGRATION JUSTICE CLINIC
Army Veteran Welcomed Home to U.S. After 20-Year-Long Deportation Order
A20-year-long chapter came to an end when Cardozo’s Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic successfully overturned a deportation order for Jose Marquez-Almanzar, a U.S. Army veteran.
Marquez-Almanzar was 12 when he was admitted to the United States as a permanent resident. Years later, while serving in the Army, he filled out an application for citizenship and was told he was eligible, leading him to mistakenly believe he had become a citizen.
After his honorable discharge, Marquez-Almanzar was convicted of possessing and attempting to sell cocaine, resulting in a sentence of seven years to life. In May 1999, Immigration and Customs Enforcement began removal proceedings. Because of his conviction, Marquez-Almanzar was told he was not eligible for naturalization or to apply for cancellation of removal.
Professor Peter Markowitz, currently the co-director of the Immigration Justice Clinic, previously worked with The Bronx Defenders defending Marquez-Almanzar in his original case, which ended in his deportation to the Dominican Republic.
But years later, Markowitz would see his client re-enter the country due to his work and that of Cardozo clinic students. Markowitz said Marquez-Almanzar worked as an advocate for deported veterans in the Dominican Republic and reached out to lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union who did work with deported veterans. He told
a lawyer that Markowitz was his lawyer, and the two reconnected.
A new policy under the Biden administration allowed Marquez-Almanzar to be paroled into the United States. That parole is a temporary permission to reenter for a special humanitarian reason.
“There were two different teams of students—an initial team of students in that 2022-2023 year when we originally made contact with him,” Markowitz said. That team was responsible for getting Marquez-Almanzar parole.
In fall 2023, Markowitz and the new team of students looked into how Marquez-Almanzar’s Green Card could
Jose Marquez-Almanzar, at a panel during P-Law Week at Cardozo.
be returned to permanent status and how he could work toward citizenship.
“We physically got him back, and the students filed a complicated motion to reopen those old proceedings, to overturn his deportation order and then to eventually submit his application for citizenship,” Markowitz said.
Marquez-Almanzar’s Green Card has been restored, and he is a permanent resident. Markowitz is optimistic that citizenship will also be granted.
Markowitz said his case came at a critical juncture in the history of immigration enforcement.
According to a 2023 story by The Washington Post, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported more than 142,000 people in fiscal year 2023, which is double from previous years.
“Immigration detention was almost non-existent in the ’80s. It began climbing to a few thousand people a day in the ’90s and, in recent years, hit as many as 50,000 people per day locked up in detentions,” Markowitz said. “With hundreds of thousands of people locked up every year, the scale of immigration enforcement and the harshness of the immigration regime
has accelerated in dramatic ways.”
Markowitz said it was incredible that the clinic found a pathway for Marquez-Almanzar to come back to the United States despite the sharp increase in immigration enforcement. Marquez-Almanzar was welcomed by the clinic students at John F. Kennedy Airport.
For 3L Stacy Moses, a child of immigrants and student of the Immigration Justice Clinic, the work felt personal.
“Rights for immigrants have always been very important for me,” she said. “I was very excited to be placed on a case for a deported veteran. It feels great to get him back home to where he belongs.”
This major victory was a full-circle moment for Markowitz.
“The work we do is exhilarating when you can have that moment of walking someone out of detention or keeping a family together, and it’s devastating when the opposite happens,” he said. “Jose was that first feeling of devastation for me. To be able to come full circle and see these students do at the beginning of their careers what I couldn’t do at the beginning of mine is extraordinarily rewarding.” •
“Both of my parents were immigrants from Guyana. It felt like I was doing work that I personally know is so important and meaningful for people, because I see how life changing it is to have legal immigration status in the United States.”
—STACY MOSES, 3L KATHRYN O. GREENBERG IMMIGRATION JUSTICE CLINIC
To see Marquez-Almanzar’s first moments back in the United States with some of the students who made it possible, scan this QR Code.
Professor Peter Markowitz, left, with Marquez-Almanzar
“[At The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice] we empower students to understand that they have a voice. To see them do it right, to see them challenge people in positions to do better is everything. To have that one-on-one experience, that live experience, to actually be working to bring somebody back to their families, I think it’s very good for any student.”
—DERRICK HAMILTON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, THE PERLMUTTER CENTER FOR LEGAL JUSTICE
Milbank and Cardozo’s Perlmutter Center Announce Partnership To Advance Criminal Justice Reform
The law firm Milbank LLP and The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law have established a comprehensive, four-year partnership to combat inequities in the U.S. criminal justice system with a focus on wrongful conviction, excessive sentencing and clemency.
As part of this partnership, which was announced on Feb. 12, Milbank pledged $1 million to establish the Milbank Exoneration and Resentencing Review Unit at the Perl-
mutter Center, which will enable the center to increase its staff and expand its ability to review its high volume of requests. Milbank also pledged to work as a close partner with the Perlmutter Center on every stage of its work, from screening clients and writing case recommendation memos to litigating cases.
“Milbank has a long history of defending individuals who have been wrongfully convicted or improvidently over sentenced, and we’re proud to expand our commitment to those efforts through this partnership with the Perlmutter Center at Cardozo,” said Milbank Chairman Scott A. Edelman.
Josh Dubin, executive director of the Perlmutter Center, said that “Milbank is one of the most prestigious law firms in the world. What their pro-bono department has demonstrated under the leadership of Tony Cassino and Milbank’s
chairman, Scott Edelman, is that they really care about precisely what matters to the Perlmutter Center, which is to seek justice for the unjustly incarcerated. So, partnering with Milbank is more than a collaboration—it’s a commitment to ensuring that every voice is heard and that justice prevails.”
Cardozo School of Law has been a pioneer in legal education, advancing reforms in the criminal legal system. The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law was launched in 2022 and is supported by a $15-million grant from the Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation. Its mission is to open cases of incarcerated individuals that deserve reconsideration.
The Perlmutter Center is led by Dubin and Deputy Director Derrick Hamilton. Dubin is a prominent civil-rights lawyer and criminal justice reform advocate who has helped gain reduced sentences and exonerations for many wrongfully incarcerated individuals. Hamilton is a selftrained “jailhouse lawyer” who served 21 years in prison for a crime he did not commit before securing release and exoneration.
“We are thrilled that Milbank will be working with us on these critical issues,” said Dean Melanie Leslie. “The Perlmutter Center has done incredible work. Partnering with Milbank will further enhance Cardozo School of Law’s ability to be leaders in the fight for justice for all.” •
Perlmutter
Center Deputy Director
Derrick Hamilton Featured in The Guardian
Louis Scarcella was your classic ’70s New York City detective, a hard-charging renegade who lived for locking up bad guys. In 26 years on the beat, most of that time overlapping with New York’s crack era, he was famous for his ability to close cases and seal murder convictions. There was just one problem with his carefully crafted reputation: He was crooked.
It took a group of wrongfully convicted people who were imprisoned based on Scarcella’s overzealous policing to reveal the lie. “We pledged that whoever got out of prison first would spread the word that there were many men in jail for crimes they didn’t commit,” says the 58-year-old Derrick Hamilton, now a paralegal teaching at Cardozo School of Law.
Hamilton was part of that crack team of jailhouse lawyers—the term for the self-taught incarcerated people who take up the slack when public defenders fall short or can’t take clients who have already lost the first appeal. What they lack in academic credentials (most have little more than a high school degree), they make up for in time and determination.
“Our students are involved in every aspect of representation of their clients in the Securities Arbitration Clinic. They do opening statements, closing arguments, directing cross examination. They negotiate settlements. They also advocate before regulators, along with me, on laws and rules that affect our client population.”
—PROFESSOR ELIZABETH GOLDMAN, DIRECTOR SECURITIES ARBITRATION CLINIC
Read more here
Dubin Hamilton
This piece originally appeared in The Guardian.
SPARKS A Cardozo School of Law Podcast
Ignite your passion for the practice of law with SPARKS, a captivating podcast hosted by Dean Melanie Leslie and Dean of Career Services
Carey Bertolet Grand that shines a light on the inspiring journeys of Cardozo lawyers and delves into the lives of leaders across the legal field.
Deans Leslie and Bertolet Grand converse with prominent lawyers, exploring the pivotal moments and career-defining twists that shaped their paths.
Experience the highs and lows, and uncover the speed bumps encountered on the road to success. Tune in to discover what sparked their passion for law and propelled them to the pinnacle of their professions.
Cardozo Faculty in the Media
In addition to their legal scholarship and classroom expertise, Cardozo professors appear frequently on major media outlets.
Here is an overview of news analysis, opinion and commentary from the faculty. •
JESSICA ROTH
Professor of Law
Co-Director, Jacob Burns Center for Ethics in the Practice of Law
Father of Oxford School Shooter to Begin Trial Following Wife’s Conviction
The Washington Post (3/5/24)
“It would be oversimplifying the case to say that these are parents who’ve been charged with manslaughter based on their son committing a school shooting—and leave out the critical distinct facts about this particular case. The details just make it seem that there was a callous disregard for the danger or possible danger.”
JACOB NOTI-VICTOR
Associate Professor of Law
Every Development Since Reesa Teesa’s ‘Who TF Did I Marry?’ TikTok Series Went Viral TIME Magazine (3/4/24)
“Reputable producers would want to collaborate with her and make sure that she was involved. Some elements of her story could be protected by copyright and other forms of intellectual property, and trying to adapt the story without her permission would be risky.”
SAM WEINSTEIN
Professor of Law
Co-Director, Heyman Center on Corporate Law and Governance
Google’s Antitrust Loss To Epic Could Preview Its Legal Fate In 2024
The New York Times (12/12/23)
“It’s a period of massive uncertainty for Google, where they’re not sure what their business practices are going to look like in two or three years.”
ANDREA SCHNEIDER
Professor of Law
Director, Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution
Fran Drescher is SAG-AFTRA’s ‘Norma Rae.’ But The 100-Day Actors’ Strike Poses New Challenges
The Los Angeles Times (10/21/23)
“The suspension of the talks last week, when the studios walked away, was a classic negotiation ploy. We are in Hollywood, and this is good acting: ‘I’m offended. I’m appalled. There’s no way we could ever give up this money.’ We will see how fast they can get back to the table. They’ve made progress and I don’t think either side wants to throw that all away.”
STEWART STERK
H. Bert and Ruth Mack Professor of Real Estate Law
Director, Center for Real Estate Law & Policy
NYC’s Housing Shortage Costing Billions in Lost Taxes, Report Finds
Gothamist (6/27/24)
“The state has to pursue bolder measures to tackle the housing crisis, even if they’re unpopular. The principal thing leading to higher housing costs is lack of supply. The legislature is focusing on the small things it can control without making people upset. They need to put the city in a position where more housing can get built.”
MICHAEL POLLACK
Professor of Law
Associate Dean for Faculty Development
Co-Director, Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy
Analysis: Can Hochul Be Sued into Overturning Her ‘Unlawful’ Congestion Pricing Pause?
Streetsblog NYC 7/26/24
“Courts are going to be very deferential to the government’s decision making. The ‘arbitrary and capricious’ standard is a very low bar for
FACULTY IMPACT in the media
the government to meet; it’s essentially [does the government have] some plausible, not arbitrary reason. They don’t need to prove scientifically that there’s this causal connection between car usage or car deterrence and the rebound of the central business district. They can sort of gesture toward that and say, it was not arbitrary for us to think that there would be this connection.”
ALEXANDER A. REINERT
Max Freund Professor of Litigation & Advocacy Director, Center for Rights and Justice
Was Trump’s New York Fraud Case a Victimless Crime? Why That Question is Key to His Appeal. USA Today (2/21/24)
“It seems clear that Mr. Trump’s lawyers will argue that the attorney general and the court overstepped here because there were no clear victims in this case. But, even if showing a victim were necessary, here the banks were victims because had they known the true value of Mr. Trump’s assets they would have been able to charge a higher interest rate on their loans.”
SAURABH VISHNUBHAKAT
Professor of Law Director, Intellectual Property and Information Law Program
Lawmakers Keep Up the TikTok Pressure Axios (5/9/24)
“Users would be deprived of a platform that they already had access to and have come to rely on. I’m pretty skeptical of any sort of congressional defense of the First Amendment rights of users being respected here. Without legislative findings of fact, that charge that you’re overcorrecting a problem that you haven’t even proven really exists, is a sort of one-two punch that the law is susceptible to.”
EDWARD ZELINSKY
Morris and Annie Trachman Professor of Law
New Jersey is Motivating Telecommuters to Appeal Their New York Tax Bills. Connecticut May Be Next Associated Press (4/24/24)
“An awful lot of people are hurt by these laws. While New York and other states like to pretend that these are wealthy people, the people who are most hurt by this rule are often people of modest income, middle icome, people who can’t afford lawyers.”
KATHRYN MILLER Professor of Law Co-Director, Criminal Defense Clinic
Harvey Weinstein’s Conviction in NY Was Overturned. It Could Lead To a New State Law Gothamist (5/17/24)
“Extreme cases make bad policy. When you legislate around something that is an extremely unlikely case scenario, you sometimes don’t think about the typical scenario.”
BETSY GINSBERG
Clinical Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Education Director, Civil Rights Clinic
Trump Is Now a Convicted Felon. Here’s What That Could Mean For His Rights ABC News (6/3/24)
“These laws could cause Trump problems depending on what happens with his sentence and whether a particular country bans people convicted of a comparable crime … [but] governments of these countries likely have some discretion to waive the prohibition.”
Faculty Scholarship with Impact
An important way to assess the excellence of any law school is to look at the engagement of its faculty members in advancing legal scholarship. The Cardozo faculty placed #34 in the nation according to the Sisk Study on Scholarly Impact rankings. Cardozo professors are shaping the intellectual discourse on law, democracy, culture and public policy. Following are some of their recent contributions to law school journals. •
LUÍS CALDERÓN GÓMEZ Assistant Professor of Law
Taxation’s Limits
Northwestern Law Review
“This Article develops a novel normative theory that rationalizes and justifies our current tax exemption regime. Rather than conceiving exemptions as subsidies or individual deviations from a normative base explainable by ordinary politics, the Article argues that exemptions are best understood as mapping the “limits” of tax. These limits are neither arbitrary nor merely a collection of individual subsidies to favored activities; rather, they are best seen as being reflective of deeper collective socio-political judgments about the scope of the State and the public sphere.”
CHRISTINE KIM Professor of Law
Taxing Litigation Finance
George Washington Law Review
“This paper proposes a customized multi-factor analysis to identify the true nature of litigation financing transactions and impose proper tax treatment. The bedrock of this approach is the concept of tax ownership, which, in the context of litigation financing, can be
streamlined into two key factors: economic risk and legal control of the claim. By emphasizing the legal control factor, this proposal has the potential to combat the agency problems inherent in litigation finance without hindering market growth. As the industry continues to develop, this paper calls on tax policymakers and other regulatory bodies to reduce the current tax uncertainty by integrating the factors discussed herein when issuing future guidance and imposing disclosure obligations.”
KATHRYN MILLER Professor of Law, Co-Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic
The Antisubordination Eighth Amendment
California Law Review
“This Article argues for a constitutional response to one of the worst structural harms of the criminal legal system: the perpetuation of racial subordination. Through an examination of the history, structure, jurisprudence, and theory of both Amendments, the Article concludes that an Antisubordination Eighth Amendment is both possible and necessary to address the systemic racism of the criminal legal system. Because criminal punishment perpetuates and entrenches America’s racial caste system, courts must strictly scrutinize punishments that disproportionately impact Black people and other historically subordinated groups.”
KYRON HUIGENS Professor of Law
A Model Defense of Due Process Balancing
Michigan State Law Review
“The model of judicial balancing presented in this article portrays judicial balancing as instrumental reasoning, based on an account of causal explanation in the sciences known as a difference-maker account. The difference-maker account explains a phenomenon by eliminating causal factors from the explanation, leaving only those necessary to represent it. The goal is a minimal, maximally abstract explanation. This is what judges do when they balance interests. To look at balancing this way shifts the burden of persuasion from balancing’s defenders to balancing’s detractors.
The model answers several standard objections to judicial balancing, but it provides four answers to the most troubling one —that balancing puts rights at risk of extinction. First, the model shows that rights have a secure role in a balancing opinion, because they are systematically distributed in a balancing opinion according to a small set of logical operators. Second, when so distributed, rights are too divided to be conquered, dispersed as they are among multiple acts of localized balancing. Third, rights can be set aside harmlessly if they are abstracted into a category of which they are instances. Fourth, our various rights are insulated from any ill effects of balancing because a right’s substance is abstracted into an expression of the values it serves.”
FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP with impact
LINDSAY NASH
Associate Professor of Law
Co-Director, Kathryn O. Greenberg
Immigration Justice Clinic
The Immigration Subpoena Power Columbia Law Review
“For over a century, the federal government has wielded the immigration subpoena power in darkness, forcing private citizens, sub-federal governments, and others to help it detain and deport. Thus, in an era in which local information has become central to immigration enforcement, the immigration subpoena power raises urgent questions about when, how, and with what constraints the federal government uses this power writ large. This article provides the first comprehensive account of the immigration subpoena power. Drawing upon previously undisclosed agency records and an original dataset reflecting thousands of subpoenas issued nationwide, this article shows how Immigration and Customs Enforcement now deploys a power initially created to enhance racial exclusion at the border to reach deep into our communities and people’s lives. These findings, this article argues, shed vital light on the immigration subpoena regime.”
JACOB NOTI-VICTOR Associate Professor of Law
Regulating Hidden AI Authorship
Virginia Law Review
“With the rapid emergence of highquality generative artificial intelligence (AI), some have advocated for mandatory disclosure when the technology is used to generate new text, images, or video. But the precise harms posed by nontransparent uses of generative AI have not been fully explored. While the use of the technology to produce material that masquerades as factual is clearly deceptive, this Article focuses on a more ambiguous area of harm: the consumer’s general interest in knowing whether works of art or entertainment were created using generative AI technology. The Article also investigates ways existing law might help facilitate disclosure of the use of generative AI.”
MICHAEL POLLACK Professor of Law
Associate Dean for Faculty Development
Co-Director, Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy
(with Matthew Tokson, University of Utah College of Law)
Decentering Property in Fourth Amendment Law
University of Chicago Law Review
“For the past several decades, privacy has been the primary conceptual foundation for Fourth Amendment search law. Yet privacy is no longer the sole determinant of Fourth Amendment protection, as the Supreme Court has recently added a property-based test to address cases involving physical intrusions on land or chattel. Further, given the ambiguity of the reasonable expectation of privacy test, a variety of influential judges and scholars have proposed relying primarily, or even exclusively, on property in determining the Fourth Amendment’s scope. This Article exposes the overlooked challenges and flaws of a propertycentered Fourth Amendment.
Pushing past simple hypotheticals, it examines the complications of real-world property law and demonstrates its complexity and uncertainty. It also explores the malleability of property rights and reveals how governments can manipulate them in order to facilitate pervasive surveillance.”
ANDREA SCHNEIDER
Professor of Law
Director of the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution
(with Abigail Bogli, attorney at Quarles & Brady, and Hannah Chin, legal counsel at the Whitefish Bay School District)
The New Glass Ceiling Wisconsin Law Review
“In every sector of the workforce, there is evidence of gender discrimination, inequality, and bias. Not surprisingly, the legal profession is not immune. Law school graduates in the 1990s, including one of this Article’s authors, were told that it was only a matter of time before equality in all areas of the law would occur. This promise has yet to be realized. Through new and detailed data, this Article focuses on correcting the narrative that equality in the legal profession has been achieved. To understand potential levers of change, we collected data on women’s representation, leadership roles, and compensation …. Yes, the numbers are dismal. But firms vary, and they vary widely. Law students should know to ask key questions to determine these differences … and better understand what their future experience might entail.”
MATTHEW WANSLEY
Professor of Law
(with Mark Lemley, Stanford Law School)
Coopting Disruption
Boston University Law Review
“Our economy is dominated by five aging tech giants—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. In the last twenty years, no company has commercialized a new technology in a way that threatens them. Why? We argue that the tech giants have learned how to coopt disruption, we show how three important new technologies—artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and automated driving—are being coopted right now, and we propose reforms that would make it harder to coopt disruption.”
REBECCA INGBER
Professor of Law
The Insidious War Powers Status Quo Yale Law Journal Forum (solicited), published March 8, 2024
“This Essay highlights two features of modern war powers that hide from public view decisions that take the country to war: the executive branch’s exploitation of interpretive ambiguity to defend unilateral presidential authority, and its dispersal of the power to use force to the outer limbs of the bureaucracy.”
PETER GOODRICH
Professor of Law
Director,
Program in Law and Humanities
Critique of Comparative Law: To Compierre
Journal of Law and Society (Spring volume)
“A judge springs out of his car on the way to court in downtown Chicago and takes photographs of an inflatable rat. A while later he inserts these photographs into a decision involving another insufflated rodent used in a union protest. The increasing use of images in case law and precedent in the common law world provides a visual atlas of how lawyers see. Using a constantly augmenting corpus of over 400 images drawn from decisions in different common law influenced jurisdictions across the globe, Judicial Uses of Images catalogues, analyses, and reviews the normative significance and affective force of this new medium of legal expression and judgement. An increasingly imaginal transmission of law is critically dissected in the terms of remediation and the emergent criteria and protocols of retinal justice. The affective and aesthetic tensors of viewing are elaborated to provide a guide to the novel visual sensibilities of legality.”
Cardozo’s renowned program in intellectual property and information law has been a launching pad for thousands of outstanding careers. Graduates excel at jobs all over the world from Hollywood to Lincoln Center, from Gucci to Nike and from Google to the Brooklyn Nets. Students have a range of externships and field clinics to choose from as they embark on their professional careers. The creation of The FAME Center for Fashion, Arts, Media & Entertainment Law at Cardozo, with its highly respected board of directors, has helped solidify the law school’s place in these industries.
We spoke with students and JD and LL.M. alumni in the spotlight about their flourishing professional experiences and asked them:
How did you find your FAME?
FASHION, ARTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT LAW CENTER
How did you find your FAME?
LEN EGERT ’91
General Counsel/General Manager, San Francisco Ballet
JASON BOYARSKI ’00
Founding
Partner,
Boyarski Fritz LLP
Jason Boyarski is a founding partner of Boyarski Fritz LLP and has been named as one of America’s Top 200 Lawyers by Forbes, a top entertainment lawyer by Billboard, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Super Lawyers and New York Magazine. He is cited as an industry expert by The New York Times, Time Magazine and The Times of London. Jason’s practice is well-rooted in dealmaking and covers many practice areas including music, film/television, technology, media, branding, intellectual property, licensing, employment and corporate.
Q: What are the most exciting things about your job right now?
A: The ongoing convergence of new tech and music like AI constantly keeps us on our toes. Additionally, working with exciting new talent whose rise to success never gets old.
Q: What was a turning point in your career?
A: There were two turning points: the first was being recruited out of big law into a business affairs position at a major music publishing company that allowed me to start focusing on a music law skillset that would become my career expertise. [A turning point in my career was] The second my taking the leap to launch my own firm at the end of 2010—everything I’ve done since has been for the benefit of building a brand.
Q: What advice do you have for students looking to get into this career field?
A: Focus first on the type of work you want (transactional or litigation). From there focus on the practice area and try to avoid being a generalist—find a place where you can become an expert. Experts are well valued.
Len Egert is a seasoned executive, labor leader, and attorney with over 20 years of experience in entertainment and labor relations. He currently serves as the General Counsel/General Manager at San Francisco Ballet, where he oversees the legal, operations, and union labor relations functions for one of the world’s premier ballet companies.
This interview is from Cardozo’s SPARKS podcast. For more information about SPARKS, see page 19.
Q: What do you like about being a lawyer who works in the entertainment industry?
A: I love film, television, live performance theater and arts. It was a way to interact and engage with artists who are brilliant and creative in this labor world.
I was representing a group of Sesame Street writers in collective bargaining. They are the most talented, brilliant people because they write for adults, parents and children. At that time, the toy Tickle Me Elmo came out and it was a huge sensation. We had started negotiations, and the company was reaping millions of dollars off this creation, that this group of writers came up with. The contract at the time gave them a small share of merchandising revenue. We went into this negotiation, and we were able to harness the writers at the time to a larger share of the character and the intellectual property that they created.
Sesame Street writers were represented by the Writers Guild. Most of the basic terms were set forth in the collective bargaining agreement. To this day, even though it was decades ago, it was one of the best bargaining sessions that I had. It was one thing for them to share in the revenue and I think that what that did for me was give me a sense of empowerment.
Q: What’s been the biggest surprise of your current job?
A: I think it’s just the volume. There are positions where you have a team. You have a legal department that you have to manage. Here at San Francisco Ballet, it’s a different
structure. There’s an operations team, which I oversee, but on the legal front, I’m sort of a one-person band. There are multiple needs coming at me from different ships. You need to prioritize, you need to communicate with people and you need to set expectations about what’s doable.
My job was unique because the general manager position had opened, but they didn’t have an in-house counsel. When I talked to the leadership here, we talked about the outside legal billing and the legal requirements they were looking for. I looked at that list, and throughout the years, I’ve done much of it. I told them I could fill in and help here. I took on the legal part, but also the operations management part as well.
Charity Gates works in the fields of Art Law and IP. Previously she worked in a boutique international law firm working with French companies starting their business in the U.S. and as an associate at a firm providing legal services to visual artists.
Q: What are the most exciting things about your job right now?
A: The law is always changing in the field of intellectual property law, so I am constantly being challenged by new questions or issues brought by clients or new ways to interpret preexisting law to adapt to new developments. My practice involves a significant majority of work in the art world so there are even more unique questions that arise whether it’s a cutting-edge trademark or copyright registration, selling an archive of images or advising galleries or museums on the logistics of mounting a particular exhibit.
Q: What was a turning point in your career?
A: The turning point in my career was when I transitioned into my current role. I entered law school with the goal of working with artists and creatives particularly Black and other underrepresented groups. When I started practicing
at my current firm, all my career goals and even personal aspirations aligned. I’m doing exactly what I set out to accomplish post-law school. I’ve also been surprised with other industries, like publishing, that I have been able to develop an understanding of and grow a fondness for beyond personal consumption.
Q: What advice do you have for students looking to get into this career field?
A: Be open to different opportunities but stay focused on what your passions are. It is important to have clarity about what you like and don’t like. You can develop that sort of clarity by being open to different opportunities and actually experiencing the work rather than self-selecting out. Networking is also an important skill to have because this industry is based on relationships. Sometimes knowing someone can extend better than data on a resume. Lastly, it is essential to exercise patience. Your dream job may not come automatically. For me, it took several twists and turns and closed doors until I finally received the opportunity that I desired.
KARA LEMBERGER ’09 Vice President, Associate General Counsel—Sotheby’s
Kara Lemberger is the Vice President, Associate General Counsel at Sotheby’s. Prior to this role, Kara held various legal positions at Bank of America, Kaplan PMBR, Stuart Weitzman LLC, Merrill Lynch, and Bingham McCutchen. Kara’s experience includes drafting and negotiating contracts and advising on intellectual property matters.
Q: What are the most exciting things about your job right now?
A: What’s constantly compelling about this job is that even in the throes of our biggest sale season, there’s always the “next” sale to consider. Our teams are constantly sourcing property to sell, either in future auctions or privately, and
continued on page 34
JASON BOYARSKI ’00
Founding Partner, Boyarski Fritz LLP
“There were two turning points: the first was being recruited out of big law into a business affairs position at a major music publishing company that allowed me to start focusing on a music law skill set that would become my career expertise. The second was my taking the leap to launch my own firm at the end of 2010—everything I’ve done since has been for the benefit of building a brand.”
KARA LEMBERGER ’09
Vice President, Associate General Counsel, Sotheby’s
“Learn to be a good lawyer first. It certainly helps to have a passion for the practice area, because you’re more likely to be invested in the work, but if your drafting is sloppy and your grasp of the underlying legal principles is shaky, your value as a lawyer is limited.”
LEN EGERT ’91
General Counsel/General Manager, San Francisco Ballet
“I love film, television, liveperformance theater and arts. It was a way to interact and engage with artists who are brilliant and creative in this labor world.”
This quote is from Cardozo’s SPARKS podcast. For more information about SPARKS, see page 19.
legal is almost always involved in some capacity, so it is incredibly exciting to see the property as it comes in. Whenever a consignment comes across my desk, the first thing I will do is flip to the property schedule to see what it is that we’re being asked to sell and what the sales estimates are for the work. I’m going into my sixth Marquee Sale season, and I have not yet tired of seeing names like Monet and Picasso on my agreements followed by an astounding number of zeroes in their asking price. I also get very invested in the deals that I work on, so it is always a blast to go “cheer them on” during the sale—there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a deal that you spent hours and hours negotiating command a record-setting price at auction. And once that hammer falls it’s gone, which is why I find myself constantly fascinated not just by what comes through the door but what may potentially come through next.
Q: What was a turning point in your career?
A: I went to law school to pursue a career in IP, ideally in the arts and entertainment space, but after graduating in a very difficult job market in 2009 I was lucky enough to land a position as a lawyer on Wall Street where I ended up spending over a decade. It was a great job, and I certainly could have made a career of it, but it wasn’t at all what I was interested in so in 2021, I decided it was finally time to make a move. The challenge in leaving an industry after so long is selling your skill set as transferable to any environment so it wasn’t until I figured out how to convey that my experience was not specifically in finance but instead as a more general transactional lawyer that doors in other industries opened. Sotheby’s was looking to add to its commercial legal team which was a perfect transition—I had spent years reviewing contracts in my previous job so while the art world is very nuanced and I had to learn that element of the role (as would anyone coming from outside of the auction house world), the legal portion came naturally and my significant in-house experience made me a desirable candidate.
Q: What advice do you have for students looking to get into this career field?
A: I always give the same advice no matter what sector you’re looking to break into—learn to be a good lawyer first. It certainly helps to have a passion for the practice area
because you’re more likely to be invested in the work but if your drafting is sloppy and your grasp of the underlying legal principles is shaky, your value as a lawyer is limited. The art law world is relatively small so it’s not hard to get to know all of the major players via networking but because of that, your reputation as an attorney is so incredibly important. The people who have been the most successful in this industry are first and foremost great lawyers who have supplemented their legal knowledge with an understanding of the art market, rather than the other way around. I am proof that just because you don’t start in a certain field doesn’t mean that you can’t end up there and it’s the time you spend honing your legal skills that will help you get your foot in the door regardless of where you begin your career.
MICHAEL SELTZER ’92
Executive Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs and Head of Commercial Transactions, Universal Music Group
A highly respected music attorney, Michael Seltzer oversees a team of 15 attorneys helping shape and negotiate the company’s agreements including recording contracts, label ventures, label distribution, merchandise, vendors, trademark entities, brand partners, film, TV and theatrical productions and equity and asset acquisitions, among other areas.
Q: What are the most exciting things about your job right now?
A: Even considering how technology and other factors have so dramatically changed the music business since I started thirty years ago, the thing that excites me most is the same thing that excited me back then—it’s meeting and working with new and developing Artists and Entrepreneurs.
Q: What was a turning point in your career?
A: I had three significant turning points and the results: SKILLS: Landing 1st Job in Corp Legal at PolyGram Records (parent company to largest global label), and being trained
by the best in the business including Cardozo grad Julie Swidler.
PERSPECTIVE: Hired to run Island Records Business and Legal, and learned from my close friend and music biz legend Chris Blackwell.
SWAGGER: Closed the deal to bring Jay-Z in as President of Def Jam, and worked closely with him and his team ever since.
Q: What advice do you have for students looking to get into this career field?
A: Never quit. As my immigrant grandfather, who worked on the railroad by day and studied at night, told my father, and he’s repeatedly told me, just keep at it and it’ll happen.
AMANDA SIVIN ’23
Associate, Akin Gump
Amanda Sivin works with public & private companies in mergers & acquisitions, securities, finance transactions, corporate governance and general corporate matters. Prior to joining Akin, Amanda interned at Madison Square Garden Sports, New York Red Bulls, and Sony Corporation of America.
This quote is from Sivin’s video interview. To view the video, please visit the QR code on page 29.
Something I loved about the FAME program were the events of panelists it brought to the school. They brought people from the sports world, the TV world, the influencer marketing world and the fashion world. I think the exposure to all of the professionals in the different fields sets you up to bring that knowledge with you into your career.
For more on Cardozo’s FAME Center, visit cardozo.yu.edu/ academics-and-clinics/centers-and-institutes/fame-center
AMANDA SIVIN ’23
Associate, Akin Gump
“Something I loved about the FAME program were the events of panelists it brought to the school. They brought people from the sports world, the TV world, the influencer marketing world and the fashion world. I think the exposure to all of the professionals in the different fields sets you up to bring that knowledge with you into your career.”
MICHAEL SELTZER ’92
Executive Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs and Head of Commercial Transactions, Universal Music Group
“Never quit. As my immigrant grandfather, who worked on the railroad by day and studied at night, told my father, and he’s repeatedly told me, just keep at it, and it’ll happen.”
“I entered law school with the goal of working with artists and creatives, particularly Black and other underrepresented groups. When I started practicing at my current firm, all my career goals and even personal aspirations aligned. I’m doing exactly what I set out to accomplish post-law school.”
Game Changers: Women in Sports Law
It is difficult to gauge just how many women are in highlevel positions in the sports law industry, but Cardozo offers students the opportunity to take classes and participate in programs related to the field. Numerous female graduates have pursued careers in sports law.
Involving women in the sports industry’s decision-making bodies ensures diversity and representation, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes.
The agency also reported that when women are involved in these processes, it challenges systemic biases within the legal system.
JUMPING IN
STEPHANIE KAPINOS ’18, associate counsel at the National Hockey League, knew she wanted to pursue a legal career in sports law while she was in law school. She interned with the NHL and at the entertainment company Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment.
“I’ve had incredible mentors since my early days at Cardozo, and through those professional connections, I was able to secure my NHL internship,” she said.
After graduating from Cardozo, Kapinos worked at Proskauer Rose, focusing on technology, media and privacy. Several deals she worked on were for sports clients, which fanned her interest in the industry.
Primarily, she works with sponsorship businesses and other business teams across the league.
“It’s exciting to see the results of deals I’ve worked on in arenas or on TV during games,” Kapinos said.
While Kapinos envisioned a career in sports law, RACHAEL PIERCE ’14, vice president, associate counsel for the NBA’s Miami Heat, thought she’d take a different path.
“Before law school, I had this notion that I would be practicing fashion law,” Pierce said. “I applied to Cardozo because of its innovative intellectual property and fashion law curriculum.”
She completed all the fashion law courses that were offered, pursued internship opportunities with companies in
the fashion industry and even enrolled in evening and weekend courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
But Pierce came to a fork in the road when faced with a choice between an internship with a major American fashion brand and an international media company.
“I decided to take the opportunity with the media company, although it was a deviation from my chosen path, because I was inspired by the all-women trademarks department at the media company that I would be working with,” she said.
That internship turned into Pierce’s first attorney role. Through the job, she was exposed to various aspects of intellectual property, advertising, media and consumer protection law. In 2019, when she found out about a position with the Miami Heat that called for an attorney with marketing and intellectual property law experience, she applied.
As a basketball fan who comes from a family of sports fans, the role was perfect.
“Having been a fan of the Miami Heat since the Tim Hardaway days and watching the games with my uncles and brothers, I applied and landed the role,” Pierce said. “I played basketball growing up, and the love for the sport never dissipated. With my role, I get to marry my two passions—sports and law—so this is a dream come true.”
She provides general legal counsel to the organization on business dealings, handling contractual, corporate and regulatory matters that focus on intellectual property, marketing, licensing, privacy and technology.
KORI CLANTON ’15, vice president of business and legal affairs at OneTeam Partners, wanted to become an intellectual property litigator in the media and entertainment industry while in law school.
Clanton completed two concentrations in litigation and intellectual property, garnering further law experience through internships with a boutique IP law firm, the Office of the New York State Attorney General and NBCUniversal.
When Clanton graduated, she served as a judicial law clerk for the New Jersey Superior Court-Passaic Vicinage and the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division. She then worked as an associate with Rivkin Radler LLP’s commercial litigation and intellectual property practice groups. Over time, Clanton pivoted to transactional law, becoming in-house counsel. She worked in-house with Paramount
KORI CLANTON ’15
(formerly Viacom) and later with AMC Networks. Those experiences helped her land the position with OneTeam Partners, which represents the group licensing rights of more than 20,000 professional and collegiate athletes. The name, image and likeness (NIL) rights of professional athletes are granted to OneTeam through their respective player associations, and OneTeam negotiates deals with third-party companies to create branded products, campaigns and content featuring the players’ NIL.
“The opportunity to work in the sports industry that leverages my media and entertainment and brand licensing experience has been a dream,” Clanton said.
THE MATCH UP
Sports law is not entirely in a league of its own.
Pierce said her experience in the fashion and entertainment industries allowed her to see parallels between them and sports law.
“All three fields of practice incorporate many legal disciplines, such as contract law, licensing, real estate, right of publicity, marketing law and media law,” she said.
Kapinos said the legal issues she handles as a transactional lawyer are similar across many industries, but the key differences lie in understanding the nuances of the organization and its business objectives.
Working with the NHL is unique, she said, because its efforts are covered by the media, and its structure is different from most companies.
While there are striking similarities between sports law and other legal fields, the field continues to evolve.
“In recent years, the sports industry has undergone significant changes that have transformed traditional commercial revenue models and opened new growth opportunities,” Clanton said. “There has been a lot of discussion about the rights of college athletes to receive compensation for the use of their NIL. The release of the video game, EA Sports College Football 25, is just one example of how OneTeam Partners intersects with student-athlete compen-
RACHAEL PIERCE ’14
sation and the inclusion of their NIL in branded licensed products.”
Clanton said that in addition to NIL in college sports, industry insiders are exploring different revenue streams, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI), original sports content across new platforms and applications and the growth of women’s sports.
Kapinos said that the increased visibility of women’s sports is likely to lead to more opportunities for women across the industry.
In the five years that Pierce has worked in the sports industry, she said she’s seen a massive growth in technology in sports.
“Through data analytics, sports teams are better able to understand their fans and market, and therefore better able to provide services and content more catered to their core audiences,” she said. “Also, as fans change the way in which they view and interact with sports content and games, so must the teams.”
Rather than watching a game on television, Pierce said sports fans are looking to their mobile devices to engage in sports content, which encouraged teams that understand that space to seek ways to enhance the digital experience.
LOOKING BACK...AND FORWARD
Clanton said that being a Black woman in a predominantly male industry is her superpower. It gives her the opportunity to lend a diverse perspective to critical business and legal discussions.
abilities and use their voices to advocate for issues in women’s sports.
Kapinos was supported by male and female mentors and colleagues.
Although it may be difficult to break into the sports industry, Kapinos said Cardozo students have the benefit of living in New York City with internship opportunities at their fingertips. They provide students with a perspective on what they may want to pursue and help build a professional network as they put in their best work by arriving early, staying late and being self-aware, professional and hard working.
Kapinos recommended that students attend on-campus events, contact alumni to learn about their careers and join bar associations as student liaisons.
Pierce said she’s lucky to be with an organization that champions women and encourages gender diversity.
“The Miami Heat’s legal department is comprised of all female attorneys, and that is very rare in any sports league anywhere, but it shows how much our organization recognizes the importance of diversity and inclusion and how it works to advance our culture to ensure diverse viewpoints are heard,” she said.
The road to getting where she is now was not devoid of gender bias—Pierce said some male attorneys spoke over her during contract negotiations or asked her whether she were a legal administrative assistant even after she introduced herself as an attorney.
“I’ve been able to overcome those challenges by leaning on the strength of my legal team,” she said. “I know they’ve experienced similar instances and have also lived through
“Believe in yourself, trust in your talent, and remember, ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’”
— RACHAEL PIERCE
“Whether you are an athlete or an executive, there has never been a better time to be a woman in the sports industry,” she said. “Across the globe, the excitement for women’s sports is on the rise as players such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have fueled fandom on the collegiate and WNBA basketball courts, and Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Alex Morgan, among other National Women’s Soccer League players, continue to make strides on the soccer field.”
Women who want to break into the sports industry, Clanton said, should be confident in themselves and their
mansplaining and being underestimated based solely on other people’s notions of gender roles. We’re able to openly talk about our experiences, sympathize with each other, laugh and work through it as a team.”
Pierce said it’s important to just go for it, adding that she applied for her job via LinkedIn.
“Believe in yourself, trust in your talent, and remember, ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,’” she said. •
A Boutique Startup that Balances Creativity with Flexibility
Founding and serving as a managing partner at her own boutique law firm—ESCA—was not something that FRANCESCA WITZBURG ’14 planned during or immediately after her years in law school. She aspired to pursue a career in big law and eventually make partner.
While in law school, she picked up in-house experience with a focus on brand protection by working as a legal intern with several companies, including Tory Burch and Prada. After graduation, Witzburg worked for Dentons, one of the world’s largest law firms, and Loza & Loza LLP, a midsized IP and litigation law firm, where she was made partner at age 31.
But something felt as though it were missing.
With some self-reflection and an eye toward the future, Witzburg forged a new path by starting her own firm.
“I realized my husband and I were in a really good position to be able to build a business that is a more modern, next-generation law firm,” Witzburg said. “We started growing our family at the same time, and it has been convenient to be able to raise a family and build a business.”
In 2023, Witzburg founded ESCA with her husband, Adam Witzburg, who took on the role of chief operating officer. She said it was “enticing” to start something from scratch. Adam has a background in business and technology, and the couple decided to integrate his knowledge to create a modern and different kind of firm.
They hired Cardozo graduate NICOLE DOLGON ’16 as a partner, who also went through some career changes.
With professional experiences ranging from matrimonial law and litigation within a boutique law firm to serving as the director of business development and licensing with ED Ellen DeGeneres, Dolgon brought a diverse set of skills to ESCA, which she joined in September 2023.
Dolgon said the firm’s mission is to provide brand protection from an intellectual property standpoint, protect companies from counterfeit products and infringement and build relationships and deal with contracts and agreements.
“We take a more proactive, more offensive approach versus a defensive approach, where we can work with our clients from the bottom up to build out processes and an infrastructure that benefits and serves them in the future,” Dolgon said.
ESCA has hit the ground running by working with clients and hosting events.
In early April, ESCA hosted its first ESCAPADES event, which brought together legal experts and attorneys in brand protection, intellectual property and licensing for networking and panel discussions.
Dolgon returned to Cardozo in the spring when ESCA sponsored a lunch-and-learn event for the Fashion Law Society to introduce students to ESCA and to teach them about brand protection.
CASSIDY MOON ’24, former president of the Fashion Law Society, worked as a law clerk with ESCA throughout her spring semester.
“After the event, the Fashion Law Society received incredible feedback from the students, who felt like they walked away with a much better understanding of different
Francesca Witzburg, left, with Nicole Dolgon at their first ESCAPADES event.
career paths available in brand protection and the substantive work that lawyers in this field do every day,” Moon said.
Working with ESCA was a positive experience, she said, adding that she looks forward to returning as an associate after graduating.
“I’ve received incredible training, and Francesca has entrusted me with a lot of responsibility,” Moon said. “Throughout the fall semester, I worked on the first issue of ESCA’s ‘Trademark Mag,’ which was released in January. I was also one of the lead organizers for ESCAPADES, managing all panelist communications and creating all of the visual materials for the event.”
As the firm grows, Witzburg said its competitors are big law firms and IP boutique law firms. Because much of their business is conducted virtually, Witzburg said ESCA can offer the same services as big law firms for much less cost.
Witzburg, as one of the founders of the firm, wants to ensure that employees work hard but is cognizant of the fact that they have lives outside of work.
There may be long days or work on the weekend, if
necessary, but Witzburg and Dolgon, who are parents of young children, said work-life balance is important.
Witzburg gets work done early in the morning, allowing her to have time with her children when they wake up, while Dolgon puts in extra hours after her children have gone to bed.
“We find pockets of time where we can give attention to parenting but also give attention to our work,” Dolgon said.
Witzburg pointed out that the traditional top-tier law firms were created by men decades ago when the delegation of duties at home and work was different than today.
“The key word is flexibility,” she said. “I think we were starting to see this during the COVID-19 pandemic. But I think a lot of companies moved backward, not for the better. I think they’re going to lose young talent because there are firms like ours that are more modern and that have flexibility with remote working or time flexing. You still have to work hard and do amazing work, but you do it in a way that is in line with your own schedule and your own needs.”
As the firm continues to take shape, Witzburg strives to
FRANCESCA WITZBURG ’14
keep in line with what she initially wanted to achieve, which was to compete with peers across every IP boutique firm.
“You have to operate the law firm as a business,” Dolgon said. “It’s not just billable hours; we have to make sure we look at it from a business perspective. That is everything from making sure the mission is clear, the brand guidelines are clear and operating from a revenue perspective.”
Witzburg has learned to use various forms of technology to help push ESCA forward.
“Being in a world where society is so digital, we thought we should create a firm that is equally as digital,” she said. “When you think of lawyers, you don’t really think of hightech businesspeople, but that is a stereotype we’re trying to change. We’re trying to show people that you can be efficient and still run a profitable firm.”
While they’ve picked up some important skills since the firm began operating, the duo has held on to many lessons from law school.
Dolgon said she thought she would pursue litigation and participated in Cardozo’s Intensive Trial Advocacy Program. She also spent two weeks in Boulder, Colorado, participating in a National Intensive Trial Advocacy summer program. Following graduation, she was in court and cultivated a breadth of knowledge from mentors through the years.
Although she’s pivoted to a different type of law, Dolgon said her skills, notably the power of persuasive writing and speaking, were transferable.
Dolgon did not take a class in intellectual property, but a class in constitutional law with then-Cardozo Professor Marci Hamilton helped her with issue spotting and problem solving.
“She was somebody who valued creative thinking,” Dolgon said. “That’s what we do every single day—creative thinking, issue spotting and problem solving.”
And, because she worked on AELJ, participated in clinics and had internships and externships, Dolgon strengthened her multitasking abilities.
“Being in a world where society is so digital, we thought we should create a firm that is equally as digital.”
— FRANCESCA WITZBURG
Witzburg was the editor-in-chief of Cardozo’s Arts & Entertainment Law Journal (AELJ), which, she said, taught her how to lead people and give them autonomy while setting the vision.
“The goal is basically how I run the firm now, and I learned that from AELJ,” she said. “I realized that a lot of people are micromanagers.”
But as a 3L, working as the editor-in-chief of the law journal while juggling internships and focusing on school and her personal life, Witzburg learned to delegate.
“It was cool to watch, to develop my board and watch them thrive while managing, mentoring and encouraging them to take ownership of their work,” she said.
Witzburg said she finds herself having to teach ESCA interns to think autonomously.
“In school, we sit, we listen, we regurgitate, and we forget sometimes to think creatively or how to have an opinion about things,” she said.
Witzburg and Dolgon aren’t the only Cardozo alumni at ESCA—three associates also are graduates.
Witzburg said Cardozo students are intelligent and work well within the firm.
“We are so happy with the Cardozo community, and it’s important for us to invest in the community because Cardozo has given us so much,” Dolgon said. “We know the quality of the students, the classes, the professors and the experience, and that’s really important to us.”
As those in the Cardozo community look to further their legal careers, Witzburg and Dolgon said it is important for the students to build authentic relationships through networking and extensive experience.
“It was what gave me the ability to start my own firm at 33 years old and become a partner at 31,” Witzburg said. “I put in a ton of time getting as much experience as possible.” •
Sam and Libby Edelman Visit Cardozo to Discuss Their Journey in the Footwear Industry
Footwear designers Sam and Libby Edelman visited Cardozo on Oct. 10 to talk about the success of their eponymous brand and give advice to future lawyers on how to work in a creative industry.
Professor Barbara Kolsun, director of The FAME Center, interviewed the couple about working in the fashion business, asking how they got started 40 years ago and what the industry’s future holds.
The Edelmans stressed how important inclusivity in fashion is to them, noting that their brand carries shoes up to size 14 while maintaining comfort, style and quality.
They also discussed the value of partnership in their professional and personal lives and how to balance both.
The Edelmans, who have been married for over 40 years, said that
placing an emphasis on partnership is a key reason for their success. In addition to prioritizing partnership in their marriage, they prioritize it in the partnerships they have with other businesses, including those they license their name to and their parent company, Caleres.
Kolsun was a consultant for Sam Edelman on their licensing agreements in the past, and they discussed working on agreements.
“Our company owns the name Sam Edelman, Sam and Libby and Circus,” Sam said. “So, we own all the rights around that name. We ourselves manufacture footwear, but we don’t manufacture all the other things … When people rent your name, which is what licensing really is, they don’t always pay as much respect to it, and they want to get as much as they can out of it as quickly as they can.”
The Edelmans also discussed the importance of giving 50/50 in relationships, and how, when working with companies, to take time to make sure the cultures blend and mesh to create a new culture from that partnership.
The couple gave advice to future fashion lawyers, emphasizing the importance of a different kind of partnership—mentorship.
“All the young people around me in our business, they keep me young … when I go to offices, and I see an older professional that I really respect, and then there’s younger crews, those older professionals are bringing them along, but also learning along the way,” Libby said. “Think about a place where, as a younger person, that they’re going to listen to you, and that you’re going to really matter.”
Students Take the Mic
Future lawyers from across the country who are planning a career in the entertainment industry flock to Cardozo’s FAME Center.
With a focus on fashion, arts, media and entertainment, The FAME Center, directed by Professor Barbara Kolsun, is part of Cardozo’s Intellectual Property & Information Law Program.
Graduates have gone on to work in the entertainment field, earned impressive awards, including the Rising Star Award, or were named to prestigious lists, including the Forbes America’s Top 200 Lawyers list.
Those just getting their foot in the door as students have a range of possibilities for their future as they set the stage for their legal careers.
WHY CARDOZO
The FAME Center builds on Cardozo’s intellectual property curriculum, which is focused on trademark, copyright and patent and privacy law. The professors and members of the FAME Board also sponsor events with industry leaders. In January, designer Steve Madden spoke with students about his experiences and how he got started in the industry.
“These professors are seasoned greats, and they teach you a thorough knowledge of copyright and trademark, but they can offer things that are helpful outside of the classroom,” said Adlai Lamason ’25. “That is their experience with huge brands like Steve Madden, L’Oreal and Ralph Lauren.”
Perry Santos ’26 echoed the sentiment, noting that the faculty is what drew him to Cardozo.
“The faculty spans the breadth of entertainment law,” he said. “They come from a wide range of experiences, from in-house to law firms.”
CREATIVE LAWYERS FOR CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
Santos, who grew up surrounded by the arts, knew he wanted to work with artists.
“It instilled in me this desire to protect the creative process and the individuals behind these creative works,” he said.
When Michael Ecker ’25, who completed an externship for FilmNation, watched a discussion that featured a district attorney, it struck him that the
ADLAI LAMASON 3L
PERRY SANTOS 2L
district attorney described his role as a storyteller.
“That word means so much to me,” Ecker said. “I was a storyteller as a performer. I was a storyteller as a writer and editor, and I had never heard it in the context of an attorney and of law school.”
He decided to attend Cardozo and the FAME program because of how the school creates an avenue for lawyers in creative spaces.
“Coming from a creative background myself, I think that’s so important,” Ecker said. “It wasn’t until my summer internship with FilmNation that I knew this kind of work existed, where lawyers are heavily involved in the creative process.”
PROFESSIONAL CONNECTIONS AND NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
Students have the opportunity to pursue a variety of externships at major brands, including Universal Music Group, the Brooklyn Nets and Viacom.
Riann Colbert ’25, who had an externship with a luxury fashion brand, lauded Cardozo for its alumni network. She said the school’s Fashion Law Society networking events allowed her to meet people at the brand she eventually worked with.
“There are amazing student organizations where we bring speakers onto campus, and you could meet some amazing people that way,” she said. “You never know what doors it would open.”
Lamason told Dean of Career Services Carey Bertolet Grand that she wanted to pursue a career in entertainment.
When she began her work with Spirit
Music Group, Lamason met Omar Sandoval, the company’s director of business affairs, and he described what he did for Spirit.
“I knew this was what I wanted to do,” Lamason said. “Not only for the summer but what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
Kolsun said some students have told her they came to Cardozo for the FAME program. She added that many firms enjoy working with Cardozo students.
“I’ve been hearing this for a long time from the outside world, that our students are just the best,” Kolsun said. “They’re hungry, and they’re very focused. This is the world they want to live in. They’re in New York, and they’re ready to go.”
To see student videos please scan here
MICHAEL ECKER 3L
RIANN COLBERT 3L
FAME’s International & LL.M. Reunion in Milan, Italy
More than 60 lawyers from around the world joined Dean Melanie Leslie and Val Myteberi, associate dean for graduate, international and online programs, at a reunion of LL.M. and international alumni hosted by Cardozo in May in Milan, Italy, the fashion center of the world (story p 62).
Cocktails and dinner were served at the Dolce & Gabbana Bar Martini, and Professor Barbara Kolsun, director of The FAME Center for Fashion, Arts, Media & Entertainment, was a featured speaker at brunch.
We asked some of the attendees how Cardozo had helped them in their careers.
To see the video of the LL.M. Milan reunion, please scan this QR code.
LISA DIGERNES
Partner, Bull & Co (Norway)
Intellectual Property, Media, Entertainment & Culture
In Norway, law school is very theoretical. You sit in big classrooms, maybe 300 students, you never talk to the professor, but at Cardozo, you talk to the professor, and you get asked questions. The connections were very important. It’s a very different way of going to law school. It’s really, really good network building.
DANIEL ZOHNY
Global Head of Online Brand Protection, Abion (Switzerland)
Former Head of Intellectual Property, FIFA
Cardozo profoundly prepared me for my career. It solidified my wish to work in IP and clearly set my prerogative to find a job in IP. Sports law has a lot of facets to it. Securing the brand because the brands are the lifeline of sports outfits, sports clubs and how they make money, as part of that you are very much working commercially for the business.
JUN WANG
Founder/ Partner Jun Wang & Associates
Real Estate, Art & Entertainment Law, China Practices
I spent one year in Cardozo, I met a lot of friends there and learned a lot from the fantastic professors and the courses they teach. It helped a lot in building my career.
TIBÉRIADE ALLIBERT
Legal Counsel at MF Brands Group International (Paris)
I oversee premium fashion brands in the Asia region, doing legal business affairs. [I work on] many negotiations for a wide range of contracts. It’s very cool. I studied IP law at Cardozo, and I think it brought me a lot of opportunities. The teachers are amazing. I still have connections with some of them today. It’s a very beautiful experience at Cardozo. I felt like I was not alone in New York. The first time in New York could be tricky and sometimes a bit difficult, and it was amazing with the help from the Cardozo community.
DANIEL KOBURGER
KBL Roche
Super Lawyer ‘Rising Star’ ‘One of the Top I.P. Entertainment & Tech Lawyers’
The Cardozo experience gave me the opportunity to think as an entrepreneur, the foundation for running a law firm, not just being a good lawyer but knowing how to run a business. I counsel European businesses that are U.S. inbound, transactions, distribution, funding and so forth. Cardozo is a real community. The distances are short between people. People support each other, be it at school, be it throughout industries.
MANNY SINGH
Judicial Law Clerk, New York Supreme Court
I think Barbara Kolsun is a genius and one of the main reasons I came to Cardozo.
The way the teachers spent time with me, every teacher took a personal interest in me. They all knew my name; they still know my name. Even Dean Leslie just gave me a hug.
MIRIAM LACROIX joined the Office of Student Services and Advising as Cardozo’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion on May 1, working to ensure that graduates have the cultural competency to be effective leaders and helping to cultivate and sustain an inclusive campus culture where students, faculty, administrators and staff of all backgrounds feel welcome and valued.
Before joining Cardozo, Lacroix was the principal of Lacroix Law P.C., where she dedicated her law practice to helping immigrants navigate their path to legal status and assisting companies in hiring foreign employees. Lacroix earned her BA and JD degrees from Pace University in 2011 and 2014 respectively.
Q&A
Welcome to Cardozo!
Q. What most excites you about joining the CSL community?
A. I am thrilled to be here and look forward to being a support to all students, faculty and staff. I am most excited about the opportunity to work closely with such a diverse and talented group of students. Each and every one of them has such interesting backgrounds and experiences that I know will bring valuable perspectives to our community. I look forward to collaborating with students to create initiatives that promote equity, celebrate diversity and ensure that Cardozo remains a welcoming and supportive place for everyone. I am excited about building a stronger, more inclusive community that reflects the best of what our society can be.
Q. What inspires you to work in the academic community, particularly with students? Are there specific elements of this role and field that you find particularly satisfying?
A. Working in academia offers a unique platform to shape the future of the legal profession by directly impacting law students’ development.
My role, within the Office of Student Services, allows me to teach and engage with students, support their growth and be their cheerleader as they navigate their academic and professional journeys. I look forward to being a part of ensuring that they not only excel academically but also embody cultural humility and a commitment to inclusivity.
This role is particularly satisfying because it aligns with my passion for ensuring that the legal profession
WITH MIRIAM LACROIX, CARDOZO’S NEW DIRECTOR OF
Diversity
&Inclusion
better reflects the society it serves. Watching students grow, thrive and contribute to a more inclusive legal culture is incredibly rewarding, and it’s an honor to be a part of that process.
Q. In addition to your extensive career experience in immigration law, you taught courses on implicit bias, race and political ideology at your alma mater, Pace University. How has your experience in the classroom helped prepare you for your new role at Cardozo?
A. My experience in the classroom has really honed my ability to present on topics like implicit bias, race and cultural humility in an engaging and impactful way, fostering open dialogue and critical thinking among students. I am very familiar with providing personalized support for students from various backgrounds and perspectives, which will be important when providing one-onone support and academic advising
to Cardozo students.
I have also had the opportunity, for the past four years, to present Continuing Legal Educations on the topic of implicit bias to attorneys doing pro-bono work with immigrant populations. This work has given me practical insights into how these issues manifest in the legal profession and the importance of addressing them head-on.
I’m excited to leverage this experience at Cardozo to create diversity and inclusion programming that not only educates but also encourages students to become champions of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.
Q. What are your hopes and goals for Cardozo as it relates to diversity and inclusion?
A. As I work to set the diversity and inclusion goals for the academic year, I would first say that my aspirations for Cardozo is that students
Miriam Lacroix, director of diversity and inclusion
understand the importance of roles like mine in their law school and that they are key facilitators in the type of welcoming community we want to see here.
Specifically, I intend to build upon the great work of the Office of Student Services and my predecessor by advancing initiatives such as the Gates Scholars Program. My vision involves extending the reach of these programs to provide much-needed support to all students navigating the challenges of law school.
Secondly, I am committed to enhancing diversity and inclusion programming across campus. This extends beyond orientation, encompassing the entirety of students’ experiences at Cardozo. I look forward to collaborating with the affinity groups to ensure that there is student input in my office’s goals. By introducing diversity and inclusion principles into various aspects of campus life, I hope to create an environment where every student feels valued and supported.
Furthermore, I plan to actively engage with recruitment events aimed at introducing underrepresented students to the vibrant and inclusive community Cardozo offers. Through these efforts, I seek to not only attract diverse talent to our institution but also ensure that all students feel a sense of belonging and support throughout their journey at Cardozo. •
STUDENT briefs
Cardozo’s Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic Protects a Woman from Deportation to Haiti, Where She Faced Torture
A Haitian woman who came to the United States in 1991 as a 10-year-old was a survivor of gender-based violence in her home country. Over 20 years later, she was convicted in 2012 of a felony that made her deportable. She served just over 11 years in Bedford Hills Correctional Facility and Taconic Correctional Facility in New York, where she received treatment for her past trauma. While in prison, she earned a bachelor’s degree and committed herself to a new life of rehabilitation.
But despite her achievements, she faced deportation to Haiti as soon as she was released in July 2023. The Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic began representing her in 2021, and in June 2023, her case was reopened so that she could apply for protection under the Convention
Against Torture, a treaty that prevents the deportation of individuals who are likely to face torture if sent back to their homeland. Three classes of Cardozo students worked on her behalf.
Last year, students with the Immigration Justice Clinic submitted evidence and briefing to the Immigration Court in Elizabeth, New Jersey. They argued that if their client returned to Haiti, she would be singled out for torture as a female criminal deportee who does not speak Haitian Creole and does not have any remaining family in Haiti.
On Dec. 15, the court granted the clinic’s client deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture, and the government did not appeal the decision. The woman was released from immigration detention and reunited with her U.S.-citizen mother and sisters in New York.
She hopes to pursue a master’s degree in social work or human rights.
Rob Cook ’25 was awarded a 2024 Peggy Browning Fund fellowship in workplace justice advocacy, an honor for which there were over 3,950 applications.
Cook is a member of Cardozo’s Immigration Justice Clinic, where he has researched federal work authorization policy and drafted a motion that ultimately resulted in a U.S. Army veteran’s lawful permanent resident status being restored after he was deported two decades ago. (Article on page 14).
Cook joined Cohen, Weiss & Simon this summer as a Browning Fellow. The Browning Fellows have not only excelled in law school but also have demonstrated a commitment to workers’ rights through previous educational, organizing, work, volunteer and personal experiences.
But her fight is not yet over.
Convention Against Torture protection is precarious and does not provide a path to lawful immigration status or citizenship.
The clinic’s partner organizations will continue to advocate for her to be pardoned by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“The moment I read the client’s background, I knew I had to fight to give this person the second chance I truly believed she deserved,” said 3L clinic student Tanuja Gupta. “Haiti is
“The biggest lesson is that the will to keep fighting for others will always come from my clients’ own resilience.”
in complete chaos right now, but our client would have been uniquely targeted for torture, and she deserved the best arguments we could make for her. It was a demanding semester, but I learned more about immigration law in the last three months than most get to learn in a lifetime about the topic. And the biggest lesson is that the will to keep fighting for others will always come from my clients’ own resilience.”
In addition to Gupta, 3L Emma Bratman worked on the case last year. In 2022–2023, Noa Gutow-Ellis, Marc Cardona and Chris Chuang, all ’24, were on the team. In 2021–2022, Paloma Bloch, Bill Seguin and Jack Andrews worked on the case; and in spring 2021, the students were Jason Ducena, Melody Rahimi and Zachary Ross.
The 15 Class of 2024 students from Cardozo’s Criminal Defense Clinic have accepted full-time positions as public defenders in offices around the country.
Led by Co-Directors Jonathan Oberman and Kathryn Miller, the clinic gives students the opportunity to engage in fieldwork, representing people charged with misdemeanors from the case’s inception through final disposition.
“Cardozo has long been a powerhouse for public defense, but this class of students really stood out,” Miller said. “Their work ethic, enthusiasm and dedication to their clients is unparalleled. We are so proud of them and are confident that they will be incredible public defenders.”
Bet Tzedek Clinic Represents Disabled Boy
Every year, the work done by Bet Tzedek Clinic students changes lives. Their recent representation of a 6-year-old boy with Down syndrome has allowed him to live as fully and independently as possible.
The boy has significant intellectual disabilities and serious medical conditions, and his parents applied for Medicaid in 2021 to maximize his ability to live as fully and independently as possible. His disabilities were severe enough to qualify him for institutional care, but his parents wanted to raise him at home with his brothers and sisters. To do so, they had to apply for a special waiver.
They filed an application and waited a year only to find out that the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities denied their request.
That’s when Cardozo’s Bet Tzedek Clinic changed the course of the family’s life. The team represented the boy at his Medicaid “fair hearing,” challenging his service denial.
It took another year for a hearing to be scheduled. During that time, the students reviewed the extensive administrative record, analyzed New York State’s over 500-page federally approved application for a Home and
The students who participated in the Criminal Defense Clinic with Co-Directors Jonathan Oberman and Kathryn Miller
Community-Based Services Waiver and built their case.
They drafted formal documents that were submitted by the boy’s mother and his treating physician. They prepared the family and the boy to testify at the hearing. They drafted a long legal memorandum.
At the hearing, they presented their argument and conducted direct and cross-examinations.
Despite their efforts, the request was again denied.
Leslie Salzman, co-director of the Bet Tzedek Legal Services Clinic
But the students and professors continued the fight and submitted an extensive motion for reconsideration. And just in case the request was again denied, they prepared a federal court complaint seeking declaratory and injunctive relief for their client. Two years after the students started their work, the waiver was granted.
The boy became eligible for Medicaid and Home and Community-Based Services.
The pro-bono work by students and professors in this case is representative of their dedication to helping the underserved in communities throughout New York City and beyond.
Cardozo Celebrates Public Service at 32nd Annual Inspire! Awards
Cardozo’s Center for Public Service Law celebrated the Inspire! Awards on May 28, a yearly event that honors students, alumni and community leaders who have made strides in public service over the past year.
This year’s ceremony celebrated those who have represented victims of sexual assault that were previously time-barred from pursuing their claims to seek justice through New York State’s Adult Survivors Act. Cardozo students who have made a difference in the world of public service while still in law school were also recognized for their achievements.
The 2024 Community Impact Honorees, Hilary J. Orzick ’16 and Gow Mosby Jr. ’18, both have represented plaintiffs pursuing Adult Survivors Act claims since the Act took effect in 2022. Orzick is a trial attorney at Crumiller P.C. who has dedicated her career to assisting employees facing unlawful discrimination and retaliation. During her
time at Cardozo, she was the Managing Editor of the Moot Court Honor Society and received a certificate in Dispute Resolution. Mosby is an Associate Attorney in the Sexual Abuse practice at Slater Slater Schulman LLP and represents survivors of sexual abuse against individuals and private or government institutions. While attending Cardozo, Mosby participated in the Civil Rights Clinic where he represented an incarcerated individual in a religious discrimination case and was the Editor-in-Chief of the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal
They both also participated in this year’s Public Interest Law Advocacy Week (P*LAW), which celebrates public service law through a weeklong series of events that includes daily panels and workshops featuring inspiring conversations about the practice of public interest law.
“Public service is a profound way to recirculate the many gifts we have
received from our life experiences and the people, friends, family, colleagues, and members of our community who have shaped our journey,” Mosby said. “As attorneys, we have a duty to use the immense power we hold to impact the lives of those who are most in need.”
At the ceremony, Mosby mentioned that he had initially come to Cardozo for the entertainment law program because he wanted to be a creative lawyer. However, once he started to learn more about public service law, he realized that he could exercise his creativity in other fields of law, especially public service.
“Working in public service means you will always have the motivation to be the best advocate possible for your clients,” Orzick said. “I am so grateful to be selected amongst Cardozo’s many alumni who dedicate their careers to helping disadvantaged and marginalized members of our community.”
INSPIRE! AWARDEES
A ARDEES
Community Impact Honorees
Hilary J. Orzick ’16
Crumiller P.C.
Gow Mosby Jr. ’18
Slater Slater Schulman LLP
Student Service Awardees
Jacqueline Blyudoy ’26
Chloé Quinn Sotomayor ’26
Linzy Mae Dineen ’25
Stacy Moses ’25
Zoe Sheppard ’24
Ben Wade ’24
Champions of Change Awardees
Bryce Alvord ’24
Rebecca Dugini ’24
Frances Grail-Bingham ’24
Simone Lonas ’24
Leaders in Service Awardees
Chelsea Burkhart ’24
Pro Bono Scholar
David John Davani ’24
Pro Bono Scholar
Emma Kabuto ’24
Pro Bono Scholar
Michael Schatz ’24
Pro Bono Scholar
Brandon Simon ’24
Pro Bono Scholar
Rahni Stewart ’24
Pro Bono Scholar
Joshua Weiner ’24
Pro Bono Scholar
Liana Weitzman ’24
Pro Bono Scholar
Albert Yakobashvili ’24
Pro Bono Scholar
Molly Baraban ’25 and Briann Ricks ’24
Courtroom Advocates Project
Natanyah Liberman ’25, Vasundhra Navjeevan ’25, Aja Rumann ’25, and Hannah Dunn ’25
Suspension Representation Project
Emily Prendergast ’26
Unemployment Action Center
Julia Mark ’24
Uncontested Divorce Project
Cardozo’s Civil Rights Clinic Wins Fifth Circuit Appeal for Client in Police Misconduct Case Civil Rights Clinic students Zoe Burke ’23 and Rahni Stewart ’24 won an appeal earlier this year for their client in a police misconduct case in Kenner, Louisiana.
Deanna Thomas, an unhoused 56-year-old woman, was handcuffed, thrown on the ground and kneeled on by officers with the East Jefferson Levee District Police Department during her arrest for living on a levee in April 2020. The officers also seized and destroyed her birth certificate and irreplaceable personal effects.
Burke and Stewart drafted the appeal brief and the reply brief responding to the officers’ brief. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the district court erred in granting the officers qualified immunity and dismissing Thomas’ excessive-force claim, stating that she put forth evidence that the officer “used excessive force, in violation of clearly established law, by throwing
Betsy Ginsberg, director of Clinical Education and the Civil Rights Clinic
her to the ground while she was restrained and subdued.”
Betsy Ginsberg, the director of Clinical Education at Cardozo and the founder and director of the Civil Rights Clinic, said that qualified immunity often stands in the way of legal recourse for victims of law enforcement misconduct, calling it a “complex doctrine” that requires “not only a careful understanding of an ever-evolving legal doctrine, but mastery of a complex set of facts.”
She added that “Zoe and Rahni put in countless hours, both researching the law and carefully marshaling the factual record in this case to craft arguments on behalf of their client.”
Stewart said that “this case is a
TWO GRADUATES AWARDED MARK WHITLOCK SCHOLARSHIP
Gowri Cheepurupalli ’24 and Zoe Sheppard ’24 were awarded the Mark Whitlock Scholarship at this year’s graduation ceremony.
“Both Gowri and Zoe have clearly demonstrated the characteristics identified by this scholarship,” said Jenn Kim, Associate Dean of Student Services & Advising. “It has been an absolute privilege and joy getting to know them through their time here at Cardozo.”
The Whitlock Scholarship was established by the friends and family of Mark Whitlock ’10, who died of brain cancer while a student at Cardozo. It is designed to recognize two outstanding third-year J.D. students who, “through the force of individual effort, energy, spirit, and initiative, contribute to and/or expand and strengthen student life and community at Cardozo.”
For three years, Cheepurupalli served in the Student Bar Association, first as the May class senator during her 1L year, then as vice president and most recently as president during her 3L year.
Sheppard is a member of the Gates Scholars inaugural class and has been a Gates Scholars Ambassador and mentor since her 2L year. Working with the admissions office, she was instrumental in developing programming to advance the Gates’ mission. In addition, she was co-president of the Minority Law Students Association and served as a Public Service Scholar, a teaching assistant for legal writing and staff editor and Inclusion Committee chair of the Moot Court Honor Society.
perfect example of why clinical work is so important in law school. Not only did it teach me so much about refining my practical skills, like researching and how to navigate the federal appellate system, but it also taught me about how much emotional weight and strength it takes to advocate for clients.”
Burke said that the clinic taught her about appellate litigation and advocacy, and it gave her the rare opportunity to fully brief an appeal while still in law school. Since graduating, she began a fellowship doing litigation and advocacy around collateral civil-rights issues that individuals in immigration detention face.
“My time working on this case in the clinic solidified my continued commitment to this work, especially on behalf of people most vulnerable to civil-rights abuses in this country,” she said. “I am thrilled to have been on this team and even more so because of the outcome for Ms. Thomas.”
Gowri Cheepurupalli ’24, Sarah Whitlock, and Zoe Sheppard ’24
Cardozo Celebrates the Class of 2024 at the 46th Annual
Commencement
“You will leave here today ready to make your mark on the world.”
—DEAN MELANIE LESLIE
Dean Melanie Leslie with Professor Stewart Sterk
Professor Michael Pollack with Gowri Cheepurupalli
Keynote speaker U.S. District
Judge Ronnie Abrams
Professor Myriam Gilles with Gowri Cheepurupalli
Cardozo School of Law celebrated the Class of 2024 at a graduation ceremony at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center on June 3.
The J.D. Class of 2024 began its law school journey after a year and half of a worldwide pandemic and began the 1L year wearing masks. The LL.M. class also had to overcome many obstacles, such as securing visas at a challenging time and learning to study law in English.
“Each of you has certain talents and capabilities that should give you confidence for the future,” Dean Melanie Leslie said. “You have shown that you can face challenges, learn from them and emerge stronger than before.”
The graduates took time to celebrate those in the Cardozo community who helped them reach graduation day. At the ceremony, awards were presented to faculty and administrators by Gowri Cheepurupalli, the outgoing Student Bar Association president.
The recipients were Director of Academic Success Stephen Iannacone for Outstanding Assistance to the Student Body, Associate Dean Jenn Kim for Best Administrator, Professor Michael
Pollack for Best 1st-Year Professor, Brian Farkas for Best Adjunct Professor and Myriam Gilles for Best Professor.
U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams, the keynote speaker, told the graduates that as lawyers, they have the power to make the world better, both in their professional careers and personal lives. She spoke about how positive change can be made anywhere and have far-reaching impacts that could never be imagined.
“Here’s my pitch: Wherever you end up, aim to make things a little bit better,” she said. “You can do that just by being ethical, diligent, zealous and respectful. Be gracious to everyone around you, including colleagues above you and below you.”
That ideal was also echoed by the student speakers.
Meriem Sennoussi, the LL.M. class speaker, told students that “kindness is not a suggestion. It is a way of life, a force or power to be able to bridge the divide and bring the light, even into the darkness of days. It’s the secret weapon that transforms strangers into friends, enemies into allies and dreams into reality.”
Polina Pittell, the J.D. speaker, spoke about how Cardozo’s community is known for its “Cardozo grit,” but she said that that’s a misnomer and that the “grit” comes from a community that is engaged, compassionate and inclusive.
“I think it’s the Cardozo community where it is expected and essential that you rise to be your truest self that is our hallmark quality,” Pittell said. “We embrace the complexity of the human experience and recognize that true understanding requires more than just ego and fear. It demands empathy, creativity and a willingness to listen. I believe that inspires the grit we also need to share.”
During the ceremony, 317 J.D. and 78 LL.M. students were conferred, carrying the speakers’ words with them as they embark on their next endeavors.
“Today is the end of your law school career, but more importantly, it is the beginning of a new chapter in your lives,” Dean Leslie told them. “You will leave here today ready to make your mark on the world.”
Alumni Signature Events
Kwanza Jones, Class of 1999, Honored at 14th Annual BALLSA Celebration
Warmly lit pine trees and the Yeshiva University student jazz ensemble set the scene for the 14th Annual BALLSA Celebration on February 28th honoring recording artist, leader, motivational speaker, consequential conversationalist, impact investor and philanthropist Kwanza Jones, Class of 1999, for inspiring excellence throughout the world with her leadership and commitment to equity and inclusion.
The event brought in over $60,000, a record-breaking goal that provided support for four student scholarships. The law firm Morrison Cohen LLP also presented the inaugural $5,000 Morrison Cohen LLP Summer Award, which provides funding to a thirdyear student during the summer after graduation to assist with bar prep courses and living expenses.
The annual event is hosted by BALLSA, the Black, Asian & Latino Law Students Association alumni group, to celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion at Cardozo and raise funds for students. This year’s contributions supported the BALLSA Scholarship Fund for students who have made a positive impact on and contribution to one or more of Cardozo’s diverse student associations. The award helps students with costs related to textbooks, bar prep, commuting and more.
Alexandra Nieto ’19 and Amanda Sewanan ’20, co-chairs of the BALLSA alumni group, presented the award to Jones, whose work as a Billboard-
chart recording artist, leader, philanthropist and much more has helped amplify voices and issues that may otherwise not be heard.
Jones co-founded the Kwanza Jones & José E. Feliciano Initiative (Jones•Feliciano) with her life and business partner, José E. Feliciano. A high-impact philanthropic grantmaking and investment organization, the initiative partners with for-profits and non-profits to work toward societal change that benefits millions of lives. So far, Jones•Feliciano has committed more than $200 million to education, entrepreneurship, equity and empowerment.
When she was a student at Cardozo, Jones was involved with the Arts & Entertainment Law Journal and the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution. Since then, she has taught cross-cultural negotiation as an adjunct professor at New York University and served as a courtappointed mediator for New York City Civil Court.
In her remarks, Jones discussed
what Cardozo meant to her and noted that, with the school’s 50th anniversary approaching in 2026, it is still relatively young compared to other law schools, and that appealed to her when deciding where to get her degree.
“There was creativity, there was innovation, there was the possibility to create for yourself the foundations of a life well lived,” she said.
Jones earned a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University, a Juris Doctor from Cardozo School of Law and a Master of Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University.
She stressed that her educational journey included an Ivy League, the youngest law school in Manhattan at the time, and a Christian university in California. “That combination is diversity,” she said. “That’s equity. That’s inclusion. That’s in my DNA, and that’s part of the foundation of a life well lived at Cardozo that I have and continue to have.”
Photos by Eryc Perez de Tagle
Pure GOLD!
Cardozo Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) glittered at LOOK Dine-In Cinemas on November 8 as they reconnected with their peers and Cardozo faculty.
SIGNATURE EVENTS
GOLD (Graduates Of the Last Decade) Reception: November 13, 2024
BALLSA Celebration: February 27, 2025
Homecoming & Reunion: May 21, 2025
OTHER EVENTS
Kukin Peace Gala Dinner and Celebration: November 7, 2024
Pride Brunch: June 29, 2025
Cardozo Welcomes Over 200 Alumni for Homecoming & Reunion
More than 200 Cardozo alumni, from the first graduating Class of 1979 to The Class of 2024, were welcomed at the Homecoming & Reunion on May 23.
Attendees participated in headshot photography sessions, two panel discussions, special gatherings for Cardozo’s affinity groups and journals, and the evening’s marquee event, the All Alumni Cocktail Party. Graduates of classes from years ending in 4’s and 9’s celebrated milestone reunions.
Renowned legal scholar and women’s rights advocate Professor Ruth HalperinKaddari of Bar-Ilan University joined Professors Andrea Schneider and Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin for the panel discussion “Seeking Justice for Sexual Violence Victims of Hamas.”
Director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project Omar Jadwat participated
Members of Cardozo’s first graduating class, 1979
Dean Melanie Leslie with the Homecoming & Reunion Host Committee
The Seeking Justice for Sexual Violence Victims of Hamas panel
The Justice for Sexual Violence Victims Hamas
The Immigration Federalism’s New Frontier: The Legal Battle Over Texas’ New Deportation Law panel
in the panel presented by the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic, “Immigration Federalism’s New Frontier: The Legal Battle Over Texas’ New Deportation Law,” with Professors Peter Markowitz and Michael Pollack. It was moderated by Professor Lindsay Nash. Associate Dean for Library Services Kelly Leong unveiled and presented Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo’s papers that he wrote while on the U.S. Supreme Court.
“I was honored to be a part of the host committee of Homecoming & Reunion and to work with such dedicated and enthusiastic Cardozo employees,” said Leslie Felden ’81. “It was wonderful to see alumni from so many classes and to reconnect with faculty and friends. I hope that the next Homecoming & Reunion is widely attended, regardless of whether it is a reunion year. I encourage people in the alumni community to get involved in any way that works to ensure the continued success of Cardozo.”
Homecoming & Reunion is one of three signature events for alumni to reconnect and reminisce with the Cardozo community.
Dear
Members
of the Cardozo Law Alumni Association,
As the 2023–2024 academic calendar comes to a close, we reflect on a successful year of Alumni Association events and programs. We are proud of our law school’s expanding reach, which grows with every graduating class. As the school celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2026, we hope you will celebrate Cardozo with us and help propel the school forward. Whether through hosting and attending events, mentoring and hiring Cardozo students and graduates, speaking with prospective and admitted students or supporting the school through personal and corporate philanthropy, your involvement is invaluable.
This year, alumni and volunteer leaders gathered at several notable events. In November 2023, we hosted the inaugural GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) Reception and look forward to hosting the second GOLD Reception on Nov. 13th. At the 14th Annual BALLSA Celebration in February, alumni came together to honor Kwanza Jones ’99 and recognize four recipients of the BALLSA Scholarship (the most students ever) as we raised the most money to date. At Homecoming & Reunion in May, we welcomed back alumni, particularly those from the classes ending in 4s and 9s, to celebrate milestone reunions. You can read more about these annual signature events on the following pages.
Additionally, the Office of Institutional Advancement and the Alumni Association hosted special Dean’s Council events, the Volunteer Leadership Summit for alumni and parent leaders, and the 9th Annual Pride Brunch. Alumni spoke at featured events at the law school, traveled with students and faculty members for the “Lawyering in D.C.” January trip and congregated for amazing and meaningful social events in China, Italy and Israel.
We are excited about what is to come in the 2024–2025 academic year and hope you will join the Alumni Association’s events and programs. If you are interested in participating in the alumni affinity, professional, or regional chapters or would like to serve on a signature event host committee or help with the Rise Up for Cardozo campaign, please email Emily Snider at emily.snider@yu.edu.
There are many other ways that Cardozo graduates, as alumni, can support and strengthen the law school by staying connected. Our leadership as philanthropists, participants, and proponents is critical to the continued success of the law school.
Please keep an eye out for the quarterly alumni e-newsletter, check out the “Alumni” and “Events” pages on the Cardozo website, follow Cardozo on social media and join the Cardozo Alumni group on LinkedIn.
Thank you for your support and commitment to Cardozo School of Law’s alumni and students.
Best regards,
Maurice Robinson ’09 and Alissa Makower ’92 2023–2024 Alumni Leadership Council Co-Chairs
Photos by Eryc Perez de Tagle
Building Bridges Around the World
Associate Dean of Graduate, International and Online Programs Val Myteberi travels around the world to build connections with Cardozo’s partners and LL.M. alumni. Working with other administrators, faculty and staff, she ensures that international collaborations and partnerships enrich the Cardozo community. This year, Myteberi went on three international trips to further strengthen these connections.
CHINA | MARCH 2024
ISRAEL | APRIL 2024
Myteberi’s trip to China was important and meaningful because it was her first time back since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A lot has changed, and yet our many partners, connections and alumni there remain committed to helping Cardozo,” she said.
Starting in Shanghai, Myteberi met with representatives of East China University of Political Science and Law, one of the most prestigious schools in China and where Yifan Li ’21 is a professor of law.
Myteberi worked on a memorandum of understanding between the two institutions.
She also stopped in Beijing, meeting with additional Cardozo partners, including the China Intellectual Property Training Center, Peking University Law School and Hylands Law Firm, and hosted an alumni dinner for 10.
Myteberi visited Israel and met with Cardozo’s partner schools and deans from Tel Aviv University, Reichman University, Bar-Ilan University, Hebrew University, COLMAN’s Haim Striks Faculty of Law and College of Law & Business.
She hosted an alumni dinner for 20 at the Tel Aviv home of Karen Sinai ’04.
“Karen opened the doors and hosted us on a school night while her kids were coming from sports and doing homework,” Myteberi said. “She and her husband are so kind and warm, and we are grateful for their generosity.”
MILAN | APRIL 2024
The alumni gathering in Milan was attended by Dean Melanie Leslie and Professor Barbara Kolsun and was Cardozo’s second in which the international community reunited. Last year’s event took place in Paris, and both were sponsored by Jack Jia ’20.
“It was wonderful to see some familiar faces and to meet new participants who have not been able to join before,” Myteberi said. “The dinner and the brunch gave our international alumni from different countries an opportunity to come together to reconnect, network and share experiences with us all.”
Dean Leslie welcomed more than 40 alumni whose careers are internationally focused. It was an opportunity to meet fellow alumni, celebrate accomplishments, and reflect on their time at Cardozo. Kolsun, Director of The FAME Center for fashion, arts, media and entertainment law, presented a talk on brand protection and international practices with lawyers from global brands.
Cardozo Alumna Shares Experiences Escaping Holocaust and Starting New Life in America
Evelyn Konrad, who enrolled at Cardozo when she was 73 and graduated in the Class of 2005, had an idyllic childhood that included ballet lessons and a treasured children’s book collection. But everything changed with the outbreak of World War II, when she and her family were forced to flee Europe to escape the Holocaust and start a new life in America. Her story was featured in the book Austria and Us, which was published by the Austrian Embassy.
“Remembering Vienna,” an event held on Oct. 10 by the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights (CLIHHR), featured a discussion between Konrad, who was born in Vienna, and Professor Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, the director of CLIHHR.
Dean Melanie Leslie ’91 and Deputy Consul General of Austria Johannes Gassner introduced the discussion.
Much of Konrad’s childhood was spent in Vienna, but she and her family moved to Italy when her father, a soccer player, signed a contract to play in Trieste.
in life is what you have here,’” Konrad remembered, pointing to her head and her heart.
She and her family settled in New Jersey, and by the time she was 14, she wanted to go to work. In addition to attending Hunter College High School in the Bronx—made possible by using an aunt’s address—Konrad worked at the clothing store Schulman’s, cleaning up the dressing room.
Konrad worked hard and saved her money, which she initially wanted to use to buy a gift for Mother’s Day. But when her mother saw the dress Konrad purchased, she took it back and started a savings account for her, which was used to pay for her first trimester at Stanford University.
But when antisemitic laws were put into place in 1938, life for Konrad and her family turned upside down.
Konrad and her family got permission to live in Lille, France, and they traveled there by way of Vienna, which had changed greatly since their residency.
“It was gray and horrible,” Konrad said.
For a short time, she attended a school, which was converted into a hospital when the war broke out. When Konrad and her family fled France, she had to leave her children’s library behind.
“My father put me on his lap, and he said, ‘What counts
Konrad also attended New York University’s business school, but it wasn’t until she was 73 that she decided to enroll at Cardozo School of Law.
“I loved it, and I just felt very much at home here,” Konrad said.
In addition to discussing her life throughout the war and time in America, Konrad talked about her experiences with antisemitism and her eventual return to Vienna with her children and grandchildren.
“It’s an incredibly historic and wonderful city,” she said. “I tried to tell them a balanced story. I told them about the Nazis, of course, but I also talked to them about the history.”
Konrad’s remarkable life led her to think about how others perceive one another. She said she hopes people are not judged by the color of their skin, their nationality or their religion.
“No one tells you what your life is or what you mean or what you want,” she said. “Only you determine that.” •
“No one tells you what your life is or what you mean or what you want. Only you determine that.”
— EVELYN KONRAD ’05
Evelyn Konrad, center, with Dean Melanie Leslie and Professor Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum
Susan Cohen ’85
Susan Cohen ’85 is an award-winning immigration attorney who is the chair emeritus and founder of The Immigration Practice at the Mintz Law Firm in Boston. Her nearly 40 years in the profession have made her one of the most highly regarded immigration attorneys in the country. Cohen’s 2021 book, Journeys from There to Here: Stories of Immigrant Trials, Triumphs, and Contributions, is a powerful reminder that behind every case there is a human story. Cohen’s clients include Fortune 500 CEOs as well as asylum seekers from war-torn countries such as Afghanistan. Her desire to support the next generation of immigration attorneys
recently led her to pledge $250,000 to the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic. This gift will create a case fund to support the clinic’s out-of-state travel to help clients who are in areas where there are fewer probono attorneys. Cohen’s gift has made a huge impact and has allowed the clinic to afford vital translation services for its out-of-state clients, a service that is too often overlooked and denied to immigrants, as documented in a recent groundbreaking report by the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic and published in the LA Times.
Q: What made you want to focus on immigration law?
A: Although I did not know it would be formative at the time, after I
graduated from college, I spent a few years working as a paralegal for two different Boston immigration lawyers. Then I came to Cardozo. After I graduated and arrived at my law firm, Mintz Levin (now known simply as “Mintz”) as a first-year lawyer, I was assigned to the corporate law department. Corporate law was not my first choice, as I thought I wanted to be a litigator. Little did I know that the year I spent in that department would help forge my destiny as an immigration lawyer. The firm rarely took on immigration cases and did not focus at all on that type of work. However, in my first year, a fascinating immigration case happened to come to our firm, and it was assigned to a senior associate in the corporate department. He asked me if I would be willing to work with him on that case because he’d heard that I had some exposure to immigration before law school.
The case concerned a very gifted Japanese artist who crafted exquisite, delicate pottery. He was on a special short-term visa at Harvard University with his wife and their three kids, but his visa required him to go back to Japan when the term ended. He and his family enjoyed living in the Boston area so much that they wanted to stay. He hired my law firm to see if they could find someone to help find a pathway to stay in Boston permanently. That person ended up being me. Although I had no exposure to this esoteric type of immigration case when I worked as a paralegal, I was tasked with analyzing the law, figuring out what immigration law options might be available for an artist like him and proposing
Alumni Spotlight
strategies that might work. I had no experience to draw on except the research and analytical skills that I had gained at Cardozo, but I was thrilled with this assignment and very motivated to help this lovely family. I found an unusual but promising pathway for people with exceptional ability in the arts. If we could prove that our client had exceptional ability in the arts, it would provide a way for the whole family to secure permanent resident (green card) status. I spent a lot of time researching and talking with our client about his artistic accomplishments. Fortunately, our client’s beautiful pottery had been exhibited in museums all over the world. To prove the case, I contacted the heads of many museums to ask if they would write letters of support. Every museum director I contacted enthusiastically agreed. It was so gratifying. Although my work was supervised by the senior associate assigned to the case, effectively I put the case together myself. We sent the case in, and it got approved, no questions asked, which is not the norm with immigration cases. The family could stay in the U.S. permanently, and they were beyond thrilled. We had a wonderful and memorable celebration. Their joy was so palpable. They went on to became American citizens and to my knowledge still live in the area.
The success of that case taught me the personal satisfaction of positively impacting someone’s life and helping them achieve their dreams. When I realized how meaningful this work was, I hoped I could do more of it, even though we did not have an
immigration law department at my firm. Since the firm’s other practice areas did not interest me as much as immigration law, I ended up founding an immigration law department at Mintz, thanks to the incredible support of my firm.
Q: How do you think your experience at Cardozo shaped you as an immigration lawyer?
A: The rigor of the education that I got at Cardozo was superb, as were my professors who emphasized the importance of strategic thought, legal analysis and cogent writing. Those are the skills you need to be a successful immigration lawyer because you have to think out of the box and come up with complex, workable legal strategies and paint a clear and compelling narrative for each case. Second to tax law, immigration law is widely considered the most complex type of law in the United States. There are so many different categories of visas and pathways to different types of immigration status or relief from deportation/removal. Many of the provisions and regulations are intertwined—a misstep in any one aspect of a case can be disastrous for the client. My Cardozo Moot Court experience later helped me successfully argue in front of immigration court and federal district court judges in my career. I was also on the Law Review, where I was rigorously mentored by very committed 3Ls and learned to become a good writer. Cardozo has always attracted top-notch academics and leaders in their areas of expertise. They taught us a lot, and they also demanded a lot
from us—which is why the education was so valuable. The discipline I learned at Cardozo made me a better lawyer. I always tell everyone that I don’t think I could have gotten a better legal education anywhere else in the country.
Q: When you were first getting started, was immigration law a popular field for lawyers to go into?
A: It was not. Right out of Cardozo, I joined Mintz, a big corporate law firm, which I learned about in the career placement office at Cardozo. Because I had done very well at Cardozo, I was fortunate to be chosen as one of the first non-Ivy League law school graduates to be accepted to work at my law firm. I happened to work on that particular immigration case in my first year, but that case was a rare exception for my firm at that time, as immigration law was mostly practiced in small boutique immigration law firms. In that era big, multi-city corporate law firms did not focus on immigration law. I was doing other kinds of legal work in my first few years, but after I worked on the Japanese potter case, I had my eye on the potential for a firm like mine to bring in immigration cases. I realized I did not like the other kinds of law I was doing in those early years: corporate law, commercial litigation, etc. In my mind, I kept going back and comparing that work with the experience that I had of changing someone’s life. Even though I was a junior associate, I started to dream about proposing to my law firm that we consider trying to develop real expertise in immigration law. We had a lot of existing corporate
clients, including many biotech and software companies, that were hiring people on visas. These companies needed an immigration lawyer. As a rising third-year associate, I went forward with a radical proposal to my law firm. I said, “If you give me a chance to prove the value of an immigration practice to the firm, developing this expertise could really help the firm expand our business and what we can offer our clients.”
I prepared a memo with this proposal and gave it to the managing partner of the law firm. It was a shot in the dark by a junior associate. I nervously waited—not knowing what was going to happen. A couple of days later, he called me into his office and said the management committee met to review my proposal, and they were giving me a year to see what I could do with it. I couldn’t believe my good fortune—my large corporate law firm was willing to support branching into a brand-new area of law. The management committee also provided me with a modest budget to build an immigration law reference library and to allow me to travel to immigration law conferences to develop expertise. It was a busy, exhausting, but exhilarating, year. To learn my craft, I relied heavily on the fabulous mentors associated with the American Immigration Lawyers Association who took so much time to help teach me about the technical aspects of the law, and just as importantly, about the practical aspects of putting immigration cases together. The work started flowing in, but it took many years to build a strong, highly regarded practice.
We were able to increase the firm’s revenue and also give back to the community by taking on pro bono asylum cases. Life-saving immigration work became a major part of my firm’s commitment to pro bono work and is something the entire law firm still participates in and supports.
Q: You’ve worked in this field for nearly 40 years. What are some of the most poignant changes—good or bad—that you’ve seen take place?
A: There are too many to discuss here, but I’ll describe a few. Early in my career, President Ronald Reagan was still in office. During that time, Congress passed a law that included an amnesty provision, which the president signed. I got to witness how transformational it was for so many people to finally be able to legalize their status and what that meant for them, for their families and their stability. That same law, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, also introduced the requirement, enshrined to this day, that employers must check the documents and “legal authorization to work” of all new employees by having all new hires fill out a form that’s now universal, called the I-9 form. Before that, there was no requirement to check anyone’s legal ability to work in the U.S. Because of that law, I ended up developing an expertise in my career on employment verification for employers. Then, in 1996 when Clinton was president, sadly Congress passed some of the most punitive and terrible provisions in immigration law, most of which are still in the books to this day. These harsh laws were passed in the wake of terrorist incidents on U.S. soil. This law changed the definition of what kind of crimes could result in someone’s removal from the United States; stripping them of their permanent resident status; and requiring them to be imprisoned. The laws made a distinction between
American citizens and permanent residents. Certain categories of offenses that we would consider misdemeanors under the criminal law when applied to a U.S. citizen— like shoplifting something inexpensive—when applied to non-citizens, under this law would now be considered “aggravated felonies.” The provisions are egregious and overbroad. The result has been that many lawful permanent residents who have families and have made contributions to the U.S. have been stripped of their permanent residence, and deported, sometimes on the basis of one relatively minor mistake, not violent or dangerous in nature.
In between the immigration law changes in 1986 and 1996, Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1990. I was very involved with the American Immigration Lawyers Association, proposing and writing parts of the regulations to implement that law. I was able to leave an imprint on those regulations because I was working to help make some of the work-oriented pieces more userfriendly, including to allow for further extensions of time on certain visas so that employers who had invested in their employees could keep their foreign workers longer. When I look at those regulations and see the wording, knowing that I wrote the language that was adopted by our government, it is very gratifying.
Each president’s administration deals with immigration in its own way, and immigration lawyers’ work, strategies and clients are directly impacted by the changes.
When President Trump took office, we faced a non-stop barrage of catastrophic changes and attempted changes to immigration law, policy and regulatory changes. Those four years were extremely difficult and challenging for immigrants, immigration applicants and their advocates, fraught with peril, and characterized
by intense and widespread litigation against the government by immigration lawyers and immigrants’ rights organizations. Our firm did its part to challenge unlawful governmental actions in federal court.
Some of the similarities between policies adopted by the Biden administration and those advanced by the Trump administration have taken many immigration advocates by surprise.
These are but a few examples of how my career has been influenced by changes in immigration law. Over the decades, I certainly have seen good things and bad things.
Q: There has been a spotlight on immigration policy, particularly in the last few years. As a lawyer, what advice do you have for up-and-coming lawyers as they hope to make a difference in such a divisive field?
A: When I see young people going into immigration law, I can’t adequately put into words how happy it makes me. We need young, energetic, enthusiastic and passionate immigration lawyers to get out there and give everything they have to save their clients and find legal strategies that will allow them to overcome the obstacles that they face in the system. We need to protect the rule of law, and we need to stand up for the rights that are enshrined in the laws and the Constitution. It has been too easy for certain immigration agencies and certain officers involved in law enforcement to try to skirt the legal requirements or brush over them or take advantage of people. Power corrupts—it is a simple fact. I have heard many terrible stories of bullying and verbal abuse directed by immigration officers to unrepresented, terrified immigration applicants behind closed doors. We need good immigration lawyers to hold the agencies accountable.
Standing up for immigrants and fighting for them has given my life
and career tremendous meaning. Relationships with my clients mean the world to me. I’m still friends with so many of my clients that I represented decades ago. Many are honorary family members. It’s hard work, but it’s among the most meaningful work that a person can do. You can help people one-on-one and also help shape changes in the law through class-action litigation that will benefit large numbers of similarly situated people.
Q: What has your experience been like serving as a lawyer to uphold the law and as someone seeking to change it?
A: You have to be willing to understand that change comes with great difficulty. It’s a slow process, and the changes don’t come overnight. Patience is required. But you can eventually make changes and shifts in the law and in policy. I’ve been fortunate to have been involved in shaping some important changes in the law that have benefited many people. It can be frustrating because the process is highly political, but it’s important to me to fight unjust actions undertaken by government bodies, federal agencies and even the president. I’ve never been afraid to stand up to anyone who I think is abusing people’s rights or violating the law. It can also be extremely satisfying to take bold action to hold our government accountable. Oftentimes we succeed. Sometimes cases will take years winding their way through the system, with lots of hearings and administrative delays. But you just have to be willing to keep hope alive and keep pushing for the end result.
Q: You recently made a transformative gift to the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic. Can you touch on why that is important to you?
A: I love Cardozo, and I am so proud of the work that’s being done in the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration
Justice Clinic under the leadership of Professors Peter Markowitz and Lindsay Nash. It makes sense to me to support the clinic’s tremendous work. Hopefully, my gift will help create more opportunities for students to work with diverse clients in different geographic areas, to provide more support, to build the cases and to strengthen them to lead to successful outcomes for the clients. It’s life-affirming work for the students, and it’s life-changing for the clients who are lucky enough to work with a Cardozo clinic. I felt inspired to help contribute to the growth of this terrific program and to help inspire more Cardozo law students to go into immigration law. The clinic does pathbreaking work and has had some very significant, hard-fought successes. I’m excited to see what the clinic will do next.
Q: What advice do you have for law school students?
A: I think it’s valuable for students to get real-life experience before they graduate. I did the prosecutor practicum, and it was eye-opening and provided gritty, real-life experience. People have different interests, and Cardozo provides a wide variety of opportunities. I hope that students will be able to experiment and find a pathway that will give them meaning in their lives and hopefully make the world a better place.
Q: Do you have any final thoughts?
A: I think it’s important to remember the vital role that lawyers can play to pursue and secure justice in our society and to hold accountable those people who try to subvert the law and use it to subjugate others. Our society will only survive as a democracy if we have lawyers who believe in upholding the rule of law. It is a noble goal worth pursuing and fighting for. •
Jack Jia ’20
Jack Jia ’20 is a seasoned professional who has been focused on dispute resolution for 18 years. As a managing partner at China-based Hylands Law Firm in Beijing, Jia works on civil and commercial litigation and arbitration cases that involve company shares, real estate and intellectual property.
Jia is among the leaders at the firm, which was founded nearly 30 years ago, who are moving it into the international arena.
When Jia enrolled at Cardozo to work on his LL.M., he had been practicing law for 15 years. He said the degree has helped him refine the firm’s work model and management system.
Jia, who also generously sponsored the Cardozo LL.M. reunion in Paris in 2023 and in Milan in 2024, said that Cardozo has built bridges between professionals all over the world.
Q: How did your experience at Cardozo help you in your career? What were the most valuable aspects of earning your LL.M. at Cardozo?
A: Participating in the LL.M. program at Cardozo for a year was a truly wonderful experience. Prior to studying at Cardozo, I had been practicing law in China for 15 years and managing a law firm. Many people might think that my life and work were already fulfilling enough, but I was keenly aware that as technology and the economy advance, our legal services must keep pace. I am not only eager for the renewal and supplementation of knowledge, but more importantly, I look forward to in-depth face-to-face exchanges with peers from around the world.
In the Cardozo LL.M. program, there were many individuals with rich work experience like myself. Therefore, our interactions were not
limited to academic discussions in the classroom but also included sharing our work experiences in different countries and different situations in various professional fields. I also participated in many forums organized by the school. Cardozo often invited industry professionals to share their experiences, and even a justice from the United States Supreme Court came to the school for the discussion, which was an extraordinary experience. So I believe that choosing to study at Cardozo at this stage of my career was a great decision. I not only gained knowledge but also broadened my horizons, which has given me more thoughts and inspiration for law firm management and career
development. Back at my law firm, I have transformed these experiences into adjustments in our work model, refining the management system and continuously exploring international directions in our business.
Q: You supported the 2023 Cardozo LL.M. event in Paris and the 2024 event in Milan, for which the school is very grateful. What were the highlights for you, and what is the benefit of having our international LL.M. alumni get together with each other and make connections?
A: I am delighted to have had the opportunity to support the Cardozo Alumni Reunion in 2023 and 2024 consecutively, and I am also very grateful for the school’s full commitment to organizing these events. The
2023 event took place in Paris and marked a long-awaited reunion after the COVID-19 pandemic. We spent the night at Maison de Victor Hugo discussing our work experiences over the past few years. The days of working from home and video conferencing have made us cherish face-to-face communication even more. If the theme of the 2023 event was to rebuild connections, then the 2024 event in Milan was the official launch of professional exchanges among Cardozo alumni. It was a pleasant surprise to see Professor Kolsun in Milan, listening to her conversations with guests about the intellectual property strategy of various brands and their personal career development experiences, which made us feel as if we were back on the Cardozo campus and raised the professional level of our discussions to a certain height. Our international alumni came from various countries to gather in Milan, bringing observations and experiences from different jurisdictions, which is the charm of Cardozo. Cardozo stands in Manhattan but also builds bridges between different parts of the world.
Q: As the managing partner of Hylands Law Firm, how do you view the management of the law firm, and what kind of plans do you have for its development?
A: I embrace a management philosophy that has evolved significantly over the nearly 30 years since our establishment. Our current strategy is to have a foothold in China while looking at the global stage with an international perspective. We aim to foster exchanges and cooperation with outstanding law firms around the world. In the past two years, we have visited distinguished law firms globally to understand their management models, work culture, development in international affairs, and the construction of international cooperation systems first-hand. This
aligns with my joy in participating in Cardozo alumni events, where we uphold an open concept of communication, inspiring each other and growing collectively.
Moreover, the professional quality of lawyers is crucial. As a leader, I have been advocating for the enhancement of our lawyers’ professional skills, which is one of the reasons I chose to study at Cardozo. At our firm, I initiated the establishment of the Hylands Research Institute to encourage our lawyers to integrate practical experience with theoretical learning. This approach also facilitates exchanges and cooperation between our firm and law schools. We maintain close contact with law schools in China and hope to sustain stable communication with internationally renowned institutions like Cardozo, which offer a global platform for legal education and practice. Our commitment is to continuously improve our professional capabilities and contribute positively to the legal profession on a global scale.
Q: How do you view the challenges or differences in handling complex litigation and arbitration in the United States and in China?
A: The legal profession naturally varies significantly across different jurisdictions, and in my practice, I have dealt with judicial cases involving many countries’ legal domains, collaborating with lawyers
from various nations. However, what I want to emphasize is that in commercial litigation and arbitration cases, the differences are not as vast as one might think. While it is well understood that each country has its own set of legal regulations and judicial systems, when it comes to the ultimate resolution of commercial disputes, our role as lawyers is to help our clients maximize their business interests. In this regard, the way we think about business does not differ greatly. As long as we share the same objectives, judicial procedures are merely different paths to the same destination.
The most crucial aspect for lawyers in handling these crossjurisdictional legal matters is to bridge the gaps, eliminate information disparities and seek common ground. It is through this approach that we can effectively navigate the complexities of diverse legal systems and achieve the best outcomes for our clients.
Q: What are the emerging opportunities and challenges for international lawyers who deal with Chinese companies and the Chinese government?
A: The rapid growth of China’s economy and its increasing global influence have provided international lawyers with abundant business opportunities. Chinese enterprises, through foreign investment and acquisitions, expand their global business, offering numerous
opportunities for international lawyers to play a key role in crossborder transactions, regulation, due diligence, deal structuring, intellectual property protection, risk assessment and dispute resolution. China’s “Belt and Road” initiative, involving multiple countries, provides international lawyers with the opportunity to utilize their expertise in cross-border projects, infrastructure financing and international trade. As China strengthens its intellectual property legal framework, the demand for intellectual property protection increases. Intellectual property services are also an important area of legal services in the “Belt and Road” initiative. International lawyers can help Chinese enterprises establish a robust intellectual property protection system, promoting the protection of corporate innovation and brand value globally.
Challenges are indeed inevitable, such as the differences in language and culture that may lead to some miscommunications; or the differences in customary charging models, where Chinese enterprises typically provide a clear and fixed legal fee for a specific matter, while international lawyers are more accustomed to billing by the hour. However, in fact, as I mentioned earlier, many times the concerns about Chinese enterprises and the Chinese government are overthought, and more imagined challenges stem from unfamiliarity. There is an old Chinese saying, “When in business, talk business,” and we hope to start from lawyer cooperation to eliminate misunderstandings and jointly promote economic cooperation between enterprises of various countries. •
Alice Pang ’11
Alice Pang ’11, originally from the Lower East Side of New York City, carries a deep connection to her roots. Growing up in a tenement apartment shared with other immigrant families, she witnessed firsthand the resilience and determination of her parents. These formative experiences not only shaped her aspirations but also charted a course that ultimately led her to a career in law. Today, she channels her background into her role as Lead Intellectual Property Counsel for Ralph Lauren, where her journey from those early years continues to inspire her work. Last year, she was honored with the Rising Star Award from the Luxury Law Summit—a recognition she sees as a tribute to her parents’ hard work and their bold determination to give her and her brother a better life.
Q: How did you become interested in law? Was this something you knew you wanted to pursue at an early age?
A: Growing up, law was never within the realm of possibilities I envisioned for myself.
I distinctly remember first seeing women in blazers with handbags while taking the subway to school—a rare sight in my neighborhood. Although I had no idea what they did or where they were headed, their air of direction, professionalism and purpose left a lasting impression on me.
Drawn to journalism after college, I unexpectedly landed a job as a trademark paralegal. While I found the work engaging, the idea of becoming a lawyer seemed farfetched. That changed when friends asked me to review their law school essays. As I read through their reasons for pursuing law, I realized that I shared some of those same motivations. It also became clear that I had reached a ceiling as a paralegal. If I wanted to advance, I needed to either pursue law school or start a new career path altogether.
When I told my parents I was considering law school, which felt audacious to even express aloud, I was surprised by my mom’s reaction. Given her own journey—having left school for work at a young age to support her family—she had always championed the value of education. But she cautioned that my pursuit of law might be too ambitious: It was challenging, but more significantly, it was an expensive endeavor. Her concerns were practical and wellfounded, but as someone who has always rooted for the underdog, her advice only fueled my determination to take a leap of faith.
Two stressful LSAT exams later (I walked out of one due to immense nerves), I was writing my own law school essays. My motivation was clear: I wanted to honor the sacrifices my parents made and seize the opportunities they never had the chance to consider but worked tirelessly to provide for my brother and me. When I received my acceptance letter for the May program at Cardozo, the joy and relief I felt were beyond words.
Q: Tell me a little about the career you’ve built, especially most recently with Ralph Lauren. Have you always been interested in working with the fashion industry, or is it intellectual property that drew you in?
A: I was first introduced to the world of trademarks through my role as an IP paralegal at a boutique law firm in New York City. My interest in the intersection of fashion and intellectual property truly began when I enrolled at Cardozo. During my studies, I was fortunate to secure internships at Burberry and Stuart Weitzman, where I learned from Barbara Kolsun, then General Counsel at Stuart Weitzman and now Director of The FAME Center at Cardozo.
After graduation, I juggled two part-time roles in New York and New Jersey until I was able to land my first full-time job as an IP associate in the New York offices of McCarter & English. As luck would have it, I worked for partners who had an incredible roster of fashion clients, including Diane von Furstenberg, Christian Louboutin, Cartier and various Louis Vuitton brands. I also handled IP matters for clients in a range of different industries, such as hospitality, consumer goods and food and beverage.
Now at Ralph Lauren, I draw on all these experiences because it’s more than a fashion brand—it’s a global lifestyle empire. The company’s purpose, to inspire the dream of a better life through authenticity and timeless style, guides everything that we do: from the clothing and
accessories, home goods and furniture, to our restaurants and cafés such as The Polo Bar and Ralph’s Coffee, as well as philanthropy through the Ralph Lauren Foundation.
Working at Ralph Lauren has invigorated me in ways I hadn’t anticipated. It has empowered me to bring my authentic self to work, making the experience all the more meaningful and fulfilling.
Q: What’s your role at Ralph Lauren now?
A: As Lead Intellectual Property Counsel, I oversee the company’s global IP strategy and objectives. My role spans business strategy, protection of our IP assets—trademarks, copyrights and patents—and enforcement of our diverse brands, such as Purple Label, Ralph Lauren Collection, Polo, RRL, Pink Pony and Lauren. I get to navigate the complexities of both U.S. and international IP law while working with our exceptional in-house global IP team spread across Asia Pacific, Europe and the U.S.
I also collaborate with various internal teams, including Design, Advertising, Hospitality, Innovation and the Foundation (philanthropy), since many of our projects intersect with IP. This cross-functional partnership has been instrumental in refining and integrating my skills, blending legal, strategic and business perspectives.
Q: What was your experience like as a student? What sort of classes and activities prepared you for your career post-graduation?
A: Looking back, my time in law school was challenging, especially that first year, but in hindsight, it was also very rewarding. It was a period of deep personal investment. The classes were stimulating, and Moot Court was particularly difficult for me. Despite these challenges, they were essential for my growth and
learning. Those tough times also helped me forge some great lasting friendships.
I immersed myself in intellectual property-related courses, diving into Trademark, Copyright and International law. A standout was Professor Felix Wu’s Internet Law course, which explored the application of law to the rapidly evolving digital landscape and sparked many thought-provoking questions. While Fashion Law wasn’t available at the time, I would have eagerly enrolled. I also developed a strong interest in antitrust and came to appreciate the lessons from my legal writing and drafting courses. My advice to students is to chase what genuinely excites them, both inside and outside of the classroom. Gaining real-world experience is crucial—internships, in particular, were incredibly valuable for me, offering deep insights into different legal fields and work environments.
Q: Fashion is such a fast-paced environment, between trends, shows, seasons, etc. How is it for you, as a lawyer, to keep up with the demands and expectations of the industry?
A: Being a fashion IP lawyer comes with its own unique demands: It’s a fast-paced, ever-evolving world driven by creativity. Growing up in the Lower East Side, where the vibrancy and energy of the streets match the dynamism of the fashion world, I find this environment both familiar and invigorating. I enjoy being pushed to stay nimble and fresh to meet the industry’s everchanging demands.
I also experience moments of gratitude, as it still feels surreal to work on many of the exciting projects that come my way. This summer, typically a quieter period for many companies, was filled with constant activity. As the official outfitter for Wimbledon, the US Open and Team USA at the Paris Summer Olympics,
the whirlwind of events made the work both thrilling and fulfilling. We also concluded the season with a beautiful fashion show in the Hamptons. Collaborating with various teams on these high-profile projects and watching them evolve from concept to reality has been truly exhilarating and rewarding.
Q: To go off the previous question, how much have you seen this industry change over the years with what you do?
A: Recent technological advancements, particularly in AI, are profoundly reshaping the fashion industry. AI is transforming every aspect of the fashion life cycle—from design and production to consumer engagement. These shifts impact how we handle IP protection.
Additionally, the growing presence of AI in the legal field highlights the need for strong human and emotional intelligence. While AI excels at data analysis, it lacks the nuanced understanding and empathy necessary for navigating complex legal issues. As in-house counsel, my role requires creative thinking that goes beyond legal considerations to include ethical and business factors. Law school sharpens your ability to identify legal issues and their impacts, but practical experience provides the broader perspective needed to add depth and value to these discussions. As AI becomes more prevalent, the human touch becomes even more essential in making informed decisions, building
relationships and addressing the broader implications of technology on the fashion and legal industries.
Q: Any advice for current law students, particularly FAME students?
A: I’d say it’s important to keep things in perspective. Be kind to yourself and others. Patience is key—sometimes, the best opportunities come when you least expect them. My transition in-house wasn’t achieved overnight; I spent nearly a decade at a law firm, hoping to make that shift before eventually joining Ralph Lauren.
Remember why you are pursuing law. My reason was a powerful motivator throughout my time in law school and at times today: I wanted to show my parents that what once seemed like an impossibility could indeed become a reality for us. This perspective helped me through many late nights of outlining and studying. While platforms like LinkedIn often emphasize personal branding, I believe the real power lies in being genuine and authentic. Let your true self shine through in your work, communication and personality. As technology becomes increasingly prevalent, emotional intelligence and authentic human connection become essential, setting you apart in a digital world.
Lastly, I encourage students to celebrate their progress while staying humble and open to growth. Embrace moments of joy, and invest in building strong connections with your classmates and friends. Law school can be intense, but it’s also a unique opportunity to focus on personal development and create meaningful relationships. Cherish the spontaneous, humorous moments— they’re the ones you’ll look back on with the fondest memories. •
Classmates
Chris Seeger ’90 and Stephen Weiss ’90 Score Big Wins for NFL Players, Small Farmers, Military Veterans and Opioid Victims
Early in their careers, Cardozo classmates Chris Seeger ’90 and Stephen Weiss ’90 represented the interests of big businesses. However, over time, they were struck by the imbalance of power between large corporations and individuals. They founded Seeger Weiss LLP in 1999, which has successfully litigated some of the country’s most high-profile mass tort cases, including: a $4.85 billion settlement with Merck on behalf of patients who suffered heart attacks and strokes while taking Vioxx, an over $21 billion settlement with Volkswagen/Audi for the “clean diesel” scandal, a $1.5 billion settlement for the Syngenta GMO seed contamination, and over $1 billion for retired NFL players in the concussion case.
The firm has offices in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and is renowned for multidistrict mass torts and class actions that involve drug, toxic, and personal injury. Seeger Weiss LLP is one of the most successful plaintiff-side litigation firms in the country.
Seeger served as co-lead counsel in the 3M Combat Arms Earplug Litigation. He was chosen by Judge M. Casey Rodgers from a pool of nearly 200 other applicants to represent more than 250,000 service members and veterans who suffered hearing loss and tinnitus while using 3M earplugs. After over four years of litigation, Seeger secured a landmark settlement worth over $6 billion in
N.F.L. Agrees to Settle Concussion Suit for $765 Million
August 2023, successfully resolving the largest mass tort in American history.
In the National Prescription Opiate litigation, Seeger was appointed to the Executive and Settlement Committees by Judge Dan A. Polster. To date, Seeger has been involved in over $50 billion in settlements against pharmacies and manufacturers.
The son of a union carpenter, Seeger had a career as an amateur boxer when he was in his early 20s. In a sense, he never left the ring, fighting some of the biggest and most newsworthy legal battles.
Seeger works with renowned civil-rights attorney Ben Crump to represent members of the Lacks family seeking justice against pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for profiting from Lacks’s stolen cells. The case highlighted medical disparities in Black communities. Recently, Seeger Weiss, alongside Crump, filed a lawsuit against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Novartis Gene Therapies Inc., as well as Viatris Inc. and its subsidiary Mylan Pharmaceuticals, in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland on behalf of the Lacks family.
Weiss uses his creativity when approaching litigation and conflict resolution, earning him a portfolio of diverse case victories and settlements—one of which resulted in the largest monetary award against a hog farm that failed to responsibly dispose of waste products.
In 2013, he worked on the first settlement reached under the 2010 tax whistleblower amendments to the New York False Claims Act, representing the Relator. That settlement resulted in a $5.5-million recovery by the state.
Weiss has nearly 20 years of experience representing families and corporate farmers across the country.
The Syngenta AG MIR162 Corn Litigation resulted in a $1.51 billion nationwide class action settlement, the largest in U.S. agricultural litigation history. Farmers claimed Syngenta prematurely marketed genetically modified corn seeds, leading to a Chinese embargo on U.S. corn imports that significantly harmed the industry. Seeger Weiss represented 650,000 corn producers, grain handlers, and ethanol plants affected by Syngenta’s actions.
The settlement was reached after a complex, four-year legal battle, with Weiss serving on the Plaintiffs’
Executive Committee and Seeger serving on the Plaintiffs’ Settlement Negotiation Committee for this litigation.
Weiss also worked on a trial case in 2006 representing family farmers, winning a $4.5-million jury verdict against one of the biggest hog producers on behalf of six neighbors of the defendants’ farm operations in northern Missouri. The verdict also secured an $11-million verdict after a five-week trial on related litigation in March 2010 for 15 individuals against the same defendants.
That verdict earned Weiss recognition as a finalist for the 2010 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award by the Public Justice Foundation. Seeger has won many prestigious awards and was most recently recognized in 2022 with The National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyers Lifetime Achievement Award for the indelible mark he has left on his community, clients, and practice throughout his accomplished career in the plaintiffs’ bar. •
Chris Seeger ’90
Stephen Weiss ’90
CLASSnotes
1982
Michael Reinert ’82 was selected for Billboard’s 2024 Top Music Lawyers List.
1986
Justice Dianne T. Renwick ’86 was sworn in as Presiding Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department. The first woman of color to lead the court, she is a member of the Cardozo School of Law’s Board of Overseers and the BALLSA Board of Advisors.
1987
Janice Grubin ’87 was honored by the American Bar Association Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Grubin is a partner at Barclay Damon, LLP in New York, where she has a prominent commercial insolvency practice and co-chairs the Restructuring, Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights Practice Area.
1989
Jolie Kahn ’89 was appointed Chief Executive Officer of AgriFORCE Growing Systems Ltd., an intellectual propertyfocused agriculture technology company.
1990
Alan David Barson ’90 joined Taylor English Duma, LLP’s Corporate Department as Partner. Barson focuses on corporate and business matters, entertainment and
sports, personal representation, international trade, technology, intellectual property, licensing and brand management.
Mark Berman ’90 joined Bond, Schoeneck & King as Partner. Berman is a seasoned appellate attorney and alternative dispute resolution practitioner, and he has been a courtappointed discovery master in a significant business litigation.
1991
Patricia Sampson ’91 joined Webster Bank as Senior Managing Director, Corporate Responsibility Reporting & Analytics, CRA and Fair and Responsible Banking Officer.
1992
Ira S. Dizengoff ’92, Board of Overseers Chair, was honored at the Annual Her Justice Benefit. Dizengoff is a Partner at Akin.
1994
Andrea J. Lawrence ’94 joined Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP as Partner. Lawrence represents developers, owners, general contractors and other clients in real estate and construction, including acquisitions, dispositions, financing, leasing, construction agreements, risk management and dispute resolution through alternative dispute resolution or litigation.
1995
Tama Beth Kudman ’95 joined Kudman Trachten Aloe Posner, LLP. Kudman focuses her national practice on government enforcement, corporate compliance, internal investigations, state and federal criminal and white-collar litigation, FCA defense and complex commercial litigation.
1996
Efrem Z. Fischer ’96 joined Kucker Marino Winiarsky & Bittens, LLP as Counsel. Fischer specializes in commercial landlord-tenant litigation and complex commercial litigation. His expertise spans various areas, including contract law, debtor/ creditor rights, business torts and construction law.
1997
Joshua Sohn ’97 joined Crowell & Moring as Partner. Sohn has more than 25 years of experience as a litigator handling a range of commercial and regulatory matters, including complex disputes involving financial services, real estate, construction and securities.
Dennis Vega ’97 joined Foley Mansfield as a litigation Partner in New York. Vega defends equipment manufacturers, product manufacturers, premises owners and municipalities in product liability, environmental and toxic tort, maritime law and general liability litigation in state and federal courts throughout the United States.
1998
Kurt Sanger ’98 joined Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, PC. Sanger is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and cybersecurity expert with more than 25 years of legal experience.
1999
Michael Wickersham ’99 was promoted to Counsel at Moritt Hock & Hamroff. Wickersham focuses on real estate-related matters.
2000
Jason Boyarski ’00 was named to Forbes list of America’s Top 200 Lawyers.
Sandi Dubin ’00 joined Cozen O’Connor’s nationally recognized Labor & Employment Department in New York. Dubin is a veteran New York labor and employment attorney with more than 20 years’ experience helping major employers and highereducation institutions manage and resolve labor-relations issues.
Karen Saab-Dominguez ’00 was named to The National Law Journal’s 2023 List of General Litigation Trailblazers.
2001
Marc Simon ’01 was named to Variety’s Legal Impact Report.
2002
Jessica Haaz ’02 joined the New York City Department of Investigation.
2003
Erica Bellarosa ’03 was promoted to Head of Business Affairs and General Counsel for Atlantic Records. Bellarosa has spent nearly two decades at Warner Music Group Corp.’s Atlantic Records and is responsible for the company’s business and legal affairs and contract administration departments in her new role.
Gillian Deutch ’03 has joined Venable, LLP as a Partner in the Real Estate Finance Group in the New York office. She has extensive experience helping clients navigate a variety of transactions, including the financing, refinancing, purchase, sale and leasing of complex commercial and residential real estate as well as the restructuring of deals.
Gretchen Lyn Koehler ’03 joined law and lobbying firm GrayRobinson as Chief Marketing Officer.
2005
Brian Bank ’05 was named to the 2023 New York Metro Super Lawyers List.
Kimberly L. Brown ’05 was promoted to Partner at Sholes & Miller, PLLC. Brown’s practice is focused on medical
malpractice defense; personal injury, premises liability, product liability, car accidents and labor law are other practice areas.
Rebecca Cohen ’05 was elected Member of Bousquet Holstein, PLLC. Cohen focuses her immigration practice on employment-based petitions and visas; transitioning from a student exchange visitor status to employment; family-based green card applications, removing conditions, citizenship and naturalization; and counseling clients on a variety of complex immigration problems.
Serena K. Lee ’05 was appointed President and CEO of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution. Lee has extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution.
Wendi Opper Uzar ’05 was elevated to Capital Partner at Riker Danzig.
2006
Roman Fayerberg ’06, a Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig Boston, was recognized in the 2024 edition of IAM Patent 1000.
2008
Maria Cáceres-Boneau ’08 was named Partner at Duane Morris. Cáceres-Boneau has a diverse practice and extensive experience counseling employers on the laws governing the workplace, litigating employment disputes, providing employee trainings, investigating matters, drafting agreements and workplace policies and advising on business acquisitions.
Wesley Cheng ’08 was listed on the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Best Attorney Under 40 List. Cheng is a member of Cardozo’s BALLSA Board of Advisors.
2009
Alex Estrada ’09 launched “The Estate,” a podcast about a 1973 murder case.
John B. Fulfree ’09 was elected as Partner at Morrison Cohen. Fulfree concentrates on litigating, counseling and advising businesses and individuals in various industries in a range of labor and employment and litigation matters, including complex multi-plaintiff, multi-jurisdictional wage and hour class and collective actions, as well as sexual harassment and discrimination claims, in federal and state courts.
Peter Halprin ’09 joined Haynes and Boone, LLP as an Insurance Recovery Partner. He has arbitrated, litigated and mediated claims involving a
range of insurance policies and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance proceeds for policyholders.
2010
Andrew Gladstein ’10 joined Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, LLP as Partner. He focuses on complex commercial litigation and has represented investment managers and alternative investment funds in a variety of civil matters and regulatory investigations.
Sarah Modrick ’10 joined KingSpry, where she focuses on employment, labor and education law.
2011
Lillian Evans ’11 was selected as Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney by Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Lee Lefkowitz ’11 was promoted to Partner at Zarin & Steinmetz.
Jenny Pelaez ’11 was promoted to Partner at King & Spalding. Pelaez represents public companies facing high-stakes litigation, primarily class actions, involving alleged violations of antitrust, securities and consumer protection laws. She also defends clients in complex fraud, contract and tort cases at the trial and appellate levels.
2012
Talia Englander ’12 was promoted to Partner at Loeb & Loeb, LLP. Englander practices commercial real estate law, concentrating on the representation of landlords and tenants in the leasing of large high-end properties, including retail establishments, offices, mixed-use buildings and restaurants.
Perri Koll ’12 was promoted to Of Counsel at Connell Foley, LLP.
Alexander Lev ’12 joined Rivkin Radler as Counsel. He defends commercial clients in litigations arising from personal injury, construction/ labor law claims, Child Victims Act, premises liability and car accidents.
Evelyn Pérez-Albino ’12 was honored by the Harlem Educational Activities Foundation. Pérez-Albino is a Fortune 500 legal executive, employment attorney, DEI professional and founder of the career strategy and HR/DEI consulting firm, Ella Elevates.
Elyor Pogorelskiy ’12 joined Faegre Drinker as Counsel. Pogorelskiy advises and represents insurance industry stakeholders in regulatory compliance and litigation.
2013
Colin Bowes-Carlson ’13, former General Counsel at the Illinois Department of Revenue, has rejoined Baker McKenzie in Chicago as Partner. BowesCarlson is a transactional attorney who focuses on
cross-border transactions and reorganizations.
Brian Farkas ’13 was promoted to Partner at ArentFox Schiff, LLP. Farkas represents businesses and large nonprofits in high-stakes disputes. He regularly handles federal and state litigations across the country as well as domestic and international arbitration proceedings. He is an Adjunct Professor at Cardozo.
Joseph Micali ’13 was elected Partner at Pryor Cashman, LLP. As a member of the Intellectual Property and Litigation Group, he provides strategic counsel on domestic and international patent matters for pioneering innovators, emerging companies and multinational corporations.
Al Roundtree ’13 was elevated to Partner at Fox Rothschild.
David Schindelheim ’13 was promoted to Partner at Jones Day.
Claire Steinman ’13 joined Leech Tishman as Counsel in the Estates & Trusts Practice Group. She focuses on estate and tax planning, estate administration and the nonprofit sector.
2014
Bryan R. Joggerst ’14 was elected as Partner at Morrison Cohen. Joggerst counsels operating companies, private equity firms, strategic investors and portfolio companies on a range of activities, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, equity financings
and other complex corporate transactions. He has represented clients in industries that include consumer products, industrial manufacturing, staffing solutions, technology and SaaS companies.
Douglas Lipari ’14 was named Executive Director of the newly formed New York City Office of Community Hiring.
2015
Paula Brueckner ’15 was promoted to Counsel at Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi, PC. She practices with the Intellectual Property Group, where she represents companies, start-ups and individuals in trademark and copyright matters, particularly in trademark prosecution, licensing, enforcement and trademark litigation.
Alexandra Katich ’15 was named Partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP in the firm’s Denver office. A business-law attorney, she focuses on corporate finance transactions.
2017
Rushelle Bailey ’17 was appointed General Counsel at AccuWeather, where she guides the company through regulatory and legal business matters.
Randall T. Tesser ’17 received the 2024 Rosner & Rosner Young Lawyer Professionalism Award. Tesser is an associate attorney at Tesser, Ryan & Rochman, LLP in White Plains, New York, where he manages the professional responsibility
and ethics practice and advises a range of professionals on ethics, professionalism and disciplinary matters.
2021
Michelle Varkey ’21 joined Nemphos Braue, LLC as Corporate Associate. Varkey specializes in corporate transactional matters such as mergers and acquisitions and capital raises, as well as corporate governance, consulting and operating agreements, and intellectual property matters such as licensing and branding, trademark searches and patent strategies.
2022
Elan Kirshenbaum ’22 joined Rivkin Radler as Associate in Insurance Fraud. He focuses on no-fault insurance fraud matters and helps insurers prosecute civil lawsuits under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Nigel Pura-Bryant ’22 was appointed Chair of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association’s Corporate Law Section. He is Vice President, Associate General Counsel at Cerberus Capital Management.
2023
Elka Blonder ’23 joined Cooper Trachtenberg Law Group as an Associate Attorney.
Katherine Jenkins ’23 joined Rivkin Radler, LLP, where she focuses on insurance defense and no-fault insurance fraud matters.
GET READY TO CELEBRATE
Cardozo at 50
We want to hear from you!
We are preparing to celebrate Cardozo’s 50th Anniversary starting next fall. To help us round out the history of our first 50 years, we are collecting memories and stories from all alumni.
Tell us your favorite law school stories.
• Send us a photo that captures your Cardozo years.
• What made the biggest impression on your life?
•
Where was your favorite hangout spot?
Shared memories and experiences make Cardozo the vibrant and powerful community it is today. Use the QR code to respond to any and all questions. Thank you.
IN MEMORIAM
Cardozo Immigration Adjunct, Leon Wildes, Lawyer Who Represented John Lennon, Dies at 90
Leon Wildes, a distinguished immigration attorney and adjunct professor who taught immigration law at Cardozo for 33 years and was a member of the Yeshiva College Board of Overseers, died this spring at the age of 90.
Throughout his career as a lawyer and teacher, he received many awards, including the Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for excellence in advancing the practice of immigration law and the Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award in immigration law. At Cardozo, he guided generations of lawyers into the practice of immigration law and founded an immigration law externship to provide students with practical experience under the supervision of attorneys.
Wildes was renowned for his successful representation of John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the 1970s in their deportation proceedings instituted by the Nixon administration. He wrote a book about the rock star’s case, “John Lennon vs. the USA,” and was featured in the documentary film “The U.S. vs. John Lennon.” Wildes published numerous legal
articles, including in the Cardozo Law Review, the Brooklyn Law Review and the San Diego Law Review
Wildes was the founding member and senior partner of Wildes & Weinberg, P.C. He practiced immigration law in New York City since 1960, serving as the national president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association in the 1970s.
Wildes’ son, Michael Wildes ’89, has been an adjunct professor of law at Cardozo for many years, following in his father’s footsteps teaching immigration law. Michael is Managing Partner of Wildes & Weinberg and the Mayor of Englewood, New Jersey. He and his wife, Amy Wildes ’89, met while taking Leon Wildes’ class at Cardozo. Their children, Joshua Wildes and Raquel Wildes, graduated from the law school in 2019, and Joshua joined his grandfather’s practice in 2021.
Below left, Leon Wildes with John Lennon in the 1970s. Below right, Leon Wildes with his son Michael Wildes ’89.
Cardozo Professor Emeritus Eva Hanks, Pioneer in Legal Education, Dies at 95
Eva Hanks, a pioneer in legal education and founding member of the Cardozo Law School faculty, died on Wednesday June 12th at the age of 95. Among other firsts, she was a founder in the field of environmental law and Cardozo’s first female associate dean. During her 38-year tenure at Cardozo, she taught Property, Torts and Elements of Law to generations of Cardozo students before retiring in 2014.
“Eva Hanks led the school at a key time in its development, when women in the legal field were few, and women law school professors extremely rare,” said Dean Melanie Leslie. “She helped establish Cardozo as an important and influential law school from its inception. We are all in her debt.”
Hanks started her academic career as an Associate in Law at Columbia Law School in 1960. Two years later, she became the first female law professor at Rutgers Law School. At the time, fewer than 20 women held tenure-track positions at an American law school. She played a role in bringing the second female professor to Rutgers—Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who has written that “Eva Hanks paved the way. The excellence of her teaching eased my acceptance by my colleagues.”
She wrote important articles on water law and on the brandnew National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Along with her husband, John Hanks, who also taught at Cardozo, and Dan Tarlock, she wrote the first environmental law casebook for classroom use, the influential, field-defining Environmental Law and Policy (West 1974).
Hanks would go on to produce a second casebook, one familiar to every Cardozo student who started law school in the last 30 years. In 1994, with colleagues Michael Herz and Steven Nemerson, she published Elements of Law. The book, which came out in a second edition in 2010, is a unique volume that simultaneously introduces students to basic methods of legal reasoning and argument, profound jurisprudential questions and the tools for success in other courses.
Hanks was an unforgettable classroom teacher. She could be intimidating; her presence filled the room, and she was demanding and did not suffer fools gladly. But she cared deeply about her students and was dedicated to their success, and they realized it. In later years, she made it a practice to hold office hours in the student lounge, where one could regularly find her surrounded by engaged and admiring students.
Hanks also taught at Princeton, Indiana University and NYU before joining Cardozo’s founding faculty in 1976. Because of her national academic reputation, her very presence helped legitimize the fledgling institution. As perennial chair of the Appointments Committee and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 1977–1981, no one was more important in recruiting the early faculty and shaping many of the law school’s enduring policies and commitments.
“I suppose Cardozo would have survived without Eva— but it would not have flourished,” said Professor Michael Herz. “It would not have had the integrity, ambition and high standards that define it to this day.”
The field of environmental law is generally dated to 1970, and Hanks made great contributions to it from the start.
“In one’s life as a student, we each dream to have a teacher that provides both wisdom and knowledge that stays with you for decades. Professor Hanks’ lectures, classroom banter and hallway smiles and kindness were the greatest gift of my Cardozo education,” said Ken Weine ’95. “She taught with a passion and fierceness that will inspire generations of teachers and students.”
Hanks grew up in Berlin, Germany. The daughter of Jewish and Christian parents, she survived the Nazi years, but her father did not. After World War II, she studied at the Freie Universitat, earning her law degree in 1951. After moving to the United States, Hanks earned her J.D. at UCLA Law School then went on to earn an LL.M. and J.S.D. at Columbia Law School.
“She taught with a passion and fierceness that will inspire generations of teachers and students.”
— KEN WEINE ’95
IN MEMORIAM
Gail Cohen ’83
Cardozo School of Law and Yeshiva University mourn the passing of Gail Cohen, a member of Cardozo’s Class of 1983, wife of Board of Overseers member Eric Cohen ’83 and a pillar of the Cardozo community.
Surrounded by family and friends, Cohen passed away on Friday, May 31. She inspired those around her with her passion, empathy, zest for life and devotion to the happiness of others.
The Cohen family asks that donations be sent to The Gail Meredith Cohen Scholarship Fund at Cardozo School of Law/ Yeshiva University or any other charity of your choosing. The Gail Meredith Cohen Scholarship Fund has supported 15 Cardozo sudents with tuition assistance since 2008. Contact Emily Snider at emily.snider@yu.edu for more information.
Gail Cohen ’83 with her husband, Eric Cohen ’83, Board of Overseers member.
Adam Spilka ’87
Adam Spilka ’87 passed away on January 17, 2023. He was the husband of Patricia Murphy and father of Jackson Spilka, who survive. Born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, he moved to California in his childhood before coming to New York to get his undergraduate degree in art history at Columbia University. He went on to study at Cardozo, where he was senior editor of the Law Review and the Class of 1987’s commencement speaker. His legal career started at Debevoise & Plimpton and continued at Equitable and AXA Financial.
Sought for his demeanor as well as his intellect, Spilka became general counsel and corporate secretary of Artio Global Investors before becoming chief operating officer at Huygens Capital. In the mid-’90s, he taught legal writing at Cardozo.
Spilka left a bequest to support the Cardozo Alumni Scholarship Fund, one of the law school’s top philanthropic priorities. His generosity has already provided two students who have a background in the arts, just as Spilka had, with tuition assistance.
Join us in supporting the $50 million Rise Up for Cardozo campaign in celebration of Cardozo’s 50th anniversary in 2026.
We have already raised $40 million, and with your support we can meet or exceed our goal.
Together we can empower the next generation of students, support a world-class faculty, elevate our campus, and transform our clinical experiences to create the next generation of lawyers and leaders.
FUNDRAISING HIGHLIGHTS from individual gifts:
• $15.5 MILLION to create The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice and the Freedom Clinic
• $5.25 MILLION for the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic
• $1.2 MILLION+ to Dean’s Discretionary Fund and Student Scholarships
• $1 MILLION+ to fund new staff positions in the Office of Career Services
• $1 MILLION+ for student scholarships, the Filmmaker’s Legal Clinic, and faculty retention
• $350,000+ in endowed funds for the Public Service Summer Stipends Program
OUR FOUR CAMPAIGN PRIORITIES
Empower Students
Create a lasting scholarship pipeline through sustained philanthropy to continue to support exceptional lawyers and build on the reputation of our 17,000 alumni.
Foster Exceptional Faculty
Recruit and retain the best faculty in the country.
Elevate Our Campus
Redesign space, upgrade our building to become an inspirational space for collaboration and community.
Transform Cardozo’s World-Class Clinics
Build on one of the best experiential programs in the country, serving over 2,500 clients annually.
JOIN US AND BUILD ON OUR LEGACY
Help Cardozo continue to be a leader in legal education, and support our future students.
JACOB BURNS INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED LEGAL STUDIES
BROOKDALE CENTER • 55 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10003
cardozo.yu.edu
CARDOZO events
UPCOMING ALUMNI
SIGNATURE EVENTS
NOVEMBER 13
GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) Reception Welcoming the Classes of 2015–2024
FEBRUARY 27, 2025
15th Annual BALLSA Celebration
Honoring Daniel Dominguez ’05
MAY 21, 2025
Homecoming & Reunion
All alumni are welcome. The Classes of 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020 will celebrate Milestone Reunions
OCTOBER 16
Symposium on Professor Michel Rosenfeld’s book A Pluralist Theory of Constitutional Justice
OCTOBER 16
The Future of Entertainment: AI Takes the Stage Sponsored by the FAME Center and the Entertainment Law Society
OCTOBER 17
Black Excellence in the Spotlight: Legal Insights for Talent Representation Sponsored by the FAME Center
OCTOBER 27
Speaker Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi Topic: Same-Sex Marriage in India: In the Pursuit of Equality and Justice by the Supreme Court of India
OCTOBER 27
Melnick Symposium: How Should a Multidoor Criminal Courthouse Operate Sponsored by the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution
For a complete list of events: cardozo.yu.edu/events
NOVEMBER 8
Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) Reception
Cardozo graduates of the Classes of 2014–2023 are invited to network with fellow alumni and faculty members
FEBRUARY 2024
BALLSA Celebration (date to be announced)
Alumni are invited to attend the 14th annual dinner celebrating excellence in Cardozo’s diverse community
MAY 23, 2024
Cardozo Homecoming 2024
All alumni are invited to reconnect and reminisce with fellow Cardozo alumni and faculty members
