St. John's Law Magazine Fall 2021

ST. JOHN’S LAW

3.62 3.62 GPA

162 162 LSAT

(25th–75th)

(25th–75th)

median

median median

LSAT median 155 – 164 155 – 164 (25th–75th)

GPA 3.39 – 3.79 3.39 – 3.79 (25th–75th) 26 States 26 States AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, CA, MT,CO, NC,CT, NE,FL, NH, NJ,IL,NY, PA,MA, SC, TX, AZ, GA, IN, OH, KY, LA, MD,VA, ME,WV MI, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, TX, VA, WV

54% one or more years of work 54% one or more years of work

39 39 Age ageRange range

46% straight from college 46% straight from college

37% 37%

19 19

Students Students ofColor Color of

118 118

undergraduate colleges undergraduate colleges

44 44

undergraduate majors undergraduate majors

2,836 2,836

applications applications

17 17

50% women 50% women n n

students born students born outside of of thethe USUS outside

266 266

new new1st 1styear year JD JDstudents students

50% men 50% men

CONTENTS FALL 2021

WOMEN

DEPARTMENTS 2 From the Dean

RAISE THE BAR

4 Faculty Focus

FEATURES

24 In Memoriam

7

16 Commencement 2020 & 2021 23 Births 26 Leadership Spotlight

Rachel R. Paras ’04 Comes Aboard as Senior Director of Bar Preparation

COLUMNS

8

Mary C. Daly

Leaves a Legacy of Leadership

3 Advances: Fresh Takes

9

Hon. Genine Edwards ’92

6 On Direct: Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity,

Mentors the Next Generation of St. John’s Lawyers

10

Jennifer Gilroy Ruiz ’92

Takes the Helm Where it All Began

20 Traditions: St. John’s Law Family Ties

11

Mary Metlay Kaufman ’37

22 Second Acts: Christy Gleason ‘98

Sows the Seeds of Progressive Advocacy

12

Marie Napoli ’89C, ’93L

Puts Catholic Values into Action

13

Christina Suarez ’11

Charts a Career in the Music Industry

14

Leadership Lessons

and Inclusion Vernadette Horne

18 Trends: Valerie Capers Workman ‘90

28 End Note: Danielle D’Aquila ’12

FALL 2021 l 1

FROM THE DEAN St. John’s Law Magazine As students were settling into the rhythms of a fully in-person fall semester, our Rittenberg Law Library turned its main floor into an exhibition space to host 100 Years After the 19th Amendment: Their Legacy, and Our Future, a traveling exhibit sponsored by the American Bar Association in conjunction with the Library of Congress.

Walking through the curated collection of historic photos and artifacts chronicling the battle for women’s constitutional right to vote—and the ongoing challenges to truly representative democracy—my thoughts turned to the women, past and present, who have elevated St. John’s Law as students, professors, administrators, and alumnae.

FALL 2021 Dean and John V. Brennan Professor of Law and Ethics Michael A. Simons Vice Dean for Administration Sarah Jean Kelly Associate Dean for Law School Advancement Brian J. Woods Assistant Dean for Alumni Relations and CLE Claire C. McKeever ’80SVC, ’93L

When we opened our doors in downtown Brooklyn almost a century ago, women were part of the very first Law School class, which a student newspaper described as the most “democratic” of its day, representing “every nationality, creed, cult, age and section of the city.” By 1930, the Law School had 125 women as students. Today, our student body still reflects the rich fabric of our New York City home, with women in the majority of our seats. On our full-time faculty, women are also in the majority, as they are in executive leadership roles at St. John’s Law. Through a sampling of their stories, this issue of the magazine celebrates generations of women who have studied and worked at the Law School. We introduce you to alumnae who are making their mark in law firm practice and as top government, nonprofit, and in-house attorneys. You’ll also hear from recent graduates who learned valuable career and life lessons as student leaders. A spotlight shines on family ties that bind alumnae, and on our woman-led effort to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion at, and beyond, St. John’s Law. To round out the stories, I’m honored to share my remembrance of Mary C. Daly, whom I succeeded as dean of the Law School after her untimely death. Like all the women featured in these pages—and thousands of others who have studied, taught, and guided the administration here—Mary helped to raise the bar at St. John’s Law. As I carry on that mission, I am honored to follow in their footsteps.

I hope you enjoy this special edition of St. John’s Law magazine. I look forward to seeing you in person very soon.

All the Best,

Michael A. Simons Dean and John V. Brennan Professor of Law and Ethics

Associate Dean for External Relations Trent Anderson Managing Editor and Lead Writer Lori Herz Copy Editors Dominique Cendales Claire K. Pollicino Art Director Jill Cuddire Rose Creative Group Please send comments to: Editor, St. John’s Law St. John’s University School of Law 8000 Utopia Parkway Queens, NY 11439 lawalumni@stjohns.edu stjohns.edu/law Copyright 2021 St. John’s University School of Law On the Cover (L-R): Professors Rachel Smith, Rosa Castello, and Renee Nicole Allen Cover Illustration: John Inzetta

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L-R: Professors Rachel Smith, Rosa Castello, and Renee Nicole Allen

ADVANCES

FRESH TAKES Professors Design and Teach Innovative New Courses

I

t was an exciting opportunity for RACHEL H. SMITH, Associate Dean for Experiential and Skills-Based Education and Professor of Legal Writing. With St. John’s Law set to welcome its inaugural Theodore T. Jones, Jr. Fellows, she was asked to design and teach a virtual, two-week course introducing them to the study and practice of law.

“This is a group of talented 1Ls selected as Jones Fellows from a competitive pool of Black applicants,” Dean Smith says. “For the last year, the faculty has been thinking about ways to offer more classes that engage with questions of racial and social justice. And we wanted to give the Jones Fellows a meaningful kickoff to their Law School careers. So, I crafted Civil Rights Advocacy to put students in the shoes of the lawyers who argued major civil rights cases by reading and analyzing briefs written by those lawyers.”

The course provided perspective on lawyering and the work of seeking justice that the first-year students could draw on and share in their foundational classes. “In just a short time, the students saw that the cases we discussed were the result of the work of lawyers who made strategic choices about what arguments to make and how to make them,” Dean Smith explains. “As law students and then lawyers, they will have the skills to do the same thing.”

Like her faculty colleague, Professor RENEE NICOLE ALLEN was excited to build and teach a course this fall that offers St. John’s Law students a fresh perspective. In Music & The Movement: Race, Rhythm, and Social Justice, they examine how music has played a vital role in energizing social justice movements and elevating the legal and social issues facing Black people. In addition to music, Professor Allen incorporates videos, podcasts, and firsthand accounts into the curriculum.

“The course was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and the social justice protests of Summer 2020, the Hip Hop and the Law

textbook, and my love and appreciation for music,” she shares. “It’s designed so students learn the legal, historical, and social contexts for the music created during each social justice movement, and hopefully take away that Black music is more than entertainment; it’s a critique of social ills, a reflection of strength, a source of empowerment, a roadmap for resistance, and a proposal for change.”

Change is also a driving force behind Feminist Theories and Feminist Judgments, a new elective created and taught by Professor ROSA CASTELLO ’06. Students in the course study different feminist legal theories and approaches and re-write seminal U.S. Supreme Court opinions from a feminist perspective. The idea, which came to Professor Castello after she started teaching Drafting Judicial Opinions two years ago, taps her own interest in gender discrimination and feminist theory and students’ desire for more courses focusing on discrimination and civil rights issues.

An anchoring tenet of the course is that judges, and the laws they are charged with interpreting and upholding, aren’t objective and neutral. “The judiciary has long been dominated by white men, and therefore many judicial opinions are written without a feminist perspective,” Professor Castello notes. “That perspective often considers embedded and implicit biases, structural inequities, and historical social and legal positions and accounts for race, class, gender, and other aspects of marginalization.”

Expressing a desire that weaves through all three of these innovative course offerings, Professor Castello says: “I hope students will begin to appreciate that law should be critically examined and analyzed and that diverse perspectives are important for many reasons, including to shape the law to achieve equity for marginalized groups. I hope they will improve their critical thinking and writing skills, both crucial skills for any lawyer. And I hope that, with this new insight and perspective, they will become the leaders and change agents we need in and beyond the legal profession.”

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FACULTY FOCUS Read all about the latest activities and achievements of the outstanding St. John’s Law faculty.

{BARRETT}

{CASTELLO}

Professor John Q. Barrett’s tribute essay, “Charles Reich, New Dealer,” appears in a Touro Law Review symposium on the late Yale constitutional law professor and best-selling author. Professor Barrett’s essay, “Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Litigating Against Gender Discrimination . . . and Remembering One Such New York Case,” appears in Judicial Notice, a publication of the Historical Society of the New York Courts. His recent virtual activities include delivering the Second Thomas J. Romig Lecture, Principled Legal Practice by Justice Robert H. Jackson at Nuremberg, to the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, VA; lecturing to the Project Nuremberg Emerging Attorneys cohort at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, FL; lecturing on the Nuremberg Trials to the Illinois Holocaust Museum’s Summer Institute for Educators; and introducing and conversing with NYU Law Professor Melissa Murray for Chautauqua Institution’s Robert H. Jackson Lecture on the Supreme Court of the United States.

“Is it Socially Acceptable? Using Social Media in the Law School Classroom to Facilitate Learning,” an article by Professor Rosa Castello, will appear in the Southern Illinois University Law Journal. Her essay, “Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowdsourcing Activity,” will be published in Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing.

{BOYLE} Professor Robin Boyle presented recently at three virtual conferences. At the International Cultic Studies Annual Conference, she discussed legal developments in the United States. For the Association of Legal Writing Directors’ Biennial Conference, she spoke on the topic of scaffolding course exercises. Writing outside the legal writing discipline was the focus of Professor Boyle’s presentation at the Empire State Legal Writing Biennial Conference. She also organized and led the scholars’ forum at that event. The online formative assessment companion to Professor Boyle’s workbook, Becoming a Legal Writer (Carolina Academic Press), will be available this fall, and she is currently producing teaching modules on legal writing topics for West Academic Publishing.

{CALABRESE} Professor Gina Calabrese co-presented before a drafting committee of the Uniform Law Commission on its model statute to reform consumer debt litigation, which has proliferated in state courts. As a Consumer Observer to the Debt Collection Default Judgment Act Drafting Committee, Professor Calabrese presented on behalf of all Consumer Observers. Drawing from her clinical teaching, her presentation described the due process issues implicated by collection cases and included recommendations to the Committee regarding the scope of the model law.

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{CHIU} Professor Elaine Chiu worked with the Asian American Bar Association of New York’s Anti-Asian Violence Task Force to research two important issues: (1) how New York City counts hate incidents and hate crimes; and (2) how hate crimes are processed through the criminal justice system, from charging and bail decisions to their final resolutions. She led a research team that analyzed incidents in the New York metropolitan area, as reported by news sources, social media, and official government agencies. Professor Chiu also co-presented a virtual webinar on the criminal implications of using force in self-defense or in defending others in New York.

{DEGIROLAMI} “The End of the Affair,” a review essay by Professor Marc O. DeGirolami, is forthcoming in the American Journal of Jurisprudence. It discusses Joel Harrison’s book, Post-Liberal Religious Liberty: Forming Communities of Charity (Columbia University Press 2020). Professor DeGirolami is now writing about the public/private distinction in the tort of nuisance, as well as the concept of traditionalist disestablishments in First Amendment law.

{GREENBERG} Professor Elayne Greenberg’s book chapter, “ADR’s Place at the Justice Table,” appears in Discussions in Dispute Resolutions: The Foundational Articles (Oxford University Press 2021). She also wrote “Meeting the Parties Separately,” a chapter on confidentiality and the ethical parameters of caucusing published in Mediation Ethics: A Practitioner’s Guide (ABA 2021). Professor Greenberg’s paper, “When Public Defenders and Prosecutors Plea Bargain Race—A More Truthful Narrative,” was the focus of her presentation at an ONU Law Review symposium. For a conference sponsored by the United National Association of Italian Mediators, she shared her paper “Hey Big Spender: Ethical Guidelines for Mediators When Parties are Backed

by Third-Party Funders.” Most recently, Professor Greenberg presented her paper on “Remote Justice Still Justice? Shifting Dispute Resolution Online” to the Southeastern Association of Law Schools.

FACULTY FOCUS {JACKSON SOW} Professor Marissa Jackson Sow’s latest paper, “Protect and Serve,” will be published in the California Law Review. It asserts that, despite provisions of constitutional and statutory law, the mandate that police “protect and serve” doesn’t apply to Black people in the United States because they are the objects of racial contracting rather than participants therein. Professor Sow’s work on the role of contracts in sustaining racial capitalism and other systems of oppression is forthcoming, or has appeared, in the NYU Law Review, Michigan Law Review, and Washington & Lee Law Review.

{ROBERTS} “Victims, Right?” an article by Professor Anna Roberts, appears in the Cardozo Law Review. Professor Roberts accepted an invitation to present at a conference on The Role of the Victim in the Criminal Justice System.

She also created two events for the Association of American Law Schools’ annual meeting: a panel entitled Rethinking Criminal Law Language and a discussion group on Critical Evidence Reform: How Do We Change Prior Conviction Impeachment in the U.S.? Professor Roberts presented on conviction-based impeachment and jury exclusion at a recent FedCap Group event, and delivered a paper on “Prior Conviction Impeachment of Prosecution Witnesses” at the Evidence Summer Workshop. She has accepted an invitation to join the Pedagogy Subcommittee of the Law School Anti-Racist Consortium.

{SALOMONE} Professor Rosemary Salomone presented her paper, “In Search of Transformative Justice: The South African Constitutional Court and the Right to Education in the Language of One’s Choice,” as part of an international seminar series organized by Leiden University in the Netherlands and at the conference on Inequality in a Time of Global Crisis sponsored by the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and

Anti-Discrimination Law and the University of Cape Town. She also presented a paper, “The Ties That Bind: Is English Reshaping Identity and Belonging in Europe?” at the 27th International Conference of Europeanists hosted by the Council for European Studies. Both papers draw from her forthcoming book, The Rise of English: Global Politics and the Power of Language (Oxford University Press 2021).

{SOVERN} The American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers (ACCFSL) elected Professor Jeff Sovern a Fellow of the College. ACCFSL Fellows include many lions of the consumer finance bar and leading consumer law professors. Professor Sovern was also quoted in two articles published in American Banker.

{SUBOTNIK} Professor Eva Subotnik presented her forthcoming book chapter, “DeadHand Guidance: A Preferable Testamentary Approach for Artists,” at the Art Law Works-in-Progress Colloquium and the IP Scholars Conference.

The book chapter is a contribution to Posthumous Art, Law and the Art Market (Routledge 2022), a forthcoming volume co-edited by Professor Peter J. Karol and art historian and curator Sharon Hecker, Ph.D.

{WARNER} “Enterprise Group Restructuring: Dutch Options and United States Enforcement,” an article that Professor Ray Warner co-authored with Dutch Professor Dr. P.M. (Michael) Veder, has been accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed European Insolvency & Restructuring Journal. The article explores whether corporate groups comprised of multiple affiliates that are located in different jurisdictions can use the newly enacted Dutch scheme legislation to restructure the jointly owed debt of multiple enterprise group members.

Professor Rosemary Salomone Examines the Rise of English With 1.5 billion of the Earth’s population claiming English proficiency, today there are far more non-native speakers of English in the world than native speakers. In her latest book, The Rise of English: Global Politics and the Power of Language, Kenneth Wang Professor of Law Rosemary Salomone charts English’s meteoric rise as the 21st century’s lingua franca, along with its far-reaching effects on global and local politics, economics, media, business, and rights to education; the pushback from countries, especially France, interested in curbing its spread; and the consequences for other languages and identities. From the inner workings of the European Union to China’s use of language as “soft power” in Africa and drawn-out legal conflicts in India, Italy, and South Africa, the book builds on a wealth of research to tell the complex story of English—and, ultimately, to argue for English not as a force for domination but as a core component of multilingualism and the transcendence of linguistic and cultural borders.

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ON DIRECT at the Garden to drive to the Meadowlands to watch the Nets play Michael Jordan and the Bulls. I guess you can say that I’m serious about basketball.

LH: What inspired you to go to law school?

VH: I decided to go to law school after discovering Thurgood Marshall in middle school, but not because he won 29 of the 32 cases he argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. And not because he was the first African American to be appointed U.S. Solicitor General, or because he was the first African American Supreme Court Justice. His work for the NAACP on Brown v. Board of Education stayed with me because it didn’t just change things for his initial client, but helped to end racial segregation for so many others. Seeing the impact of that work inspired me to become a lawyer.

Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Vernadette Horne In June, Vernadette Horne joined the Law School’s leadership team as Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Here, she sits down with Director of Communications Lori Herz to discuss her new role and the career path that’s taken her from litigation practice and corporate consulting to law school administration, with a laser focus on creating a truly inclusive and representative legal profession.

LH: Where were you born and raised?

VH: I’m a native New Yorker. I was born in Manhattan, but I grew up in Hollis, Queens, about 10 minutes away from St. John’s campus.

In fact, when I returned to New York after graduating from law school in Baltimore, I studied for the bar exam in the St. John’s Law library.

LH: So, given your deep New York City roots, I need to ask: Mets or Yankees; Knicks or Nets; Jets or Giants; Islanders or Rangers?

VH: Yankees, Knicks, Giants, and Rangers.

There’s no other way! I was a Knicks season ticket holder for many years. And I’m such a basketball junkie that I once left a Knicks game

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LH: You were a litigator before making the jump to law school career services. What prompted that professional shift?

VH: The law firm I worked for was national counsel for a British company that made products containing asbestos. We traveled all over the country representing the client, taking depositions, arguing motions, appearing for hearings, conducting trials, and settling cases. I also spent three years away from law practice, as an information consultant and project manager for a corporate communications company. I wanted to change direction in my career and felt that I could offer students a wide variety of perspectives on practice.

LH: In your last law school role, you helped to lead diversity initiatives. What did it mean to you then to take on that dimension of law school administration?

VH: It was very meaningful and rewarding. I worked closely with students to guide their application process and place them in diversity internships and fellowships. As a liaison to student and professional affinity groups, I assisted with programming and event planning and increased networking opportunities. Every task I took on served an end goal of enhancing student learning, development, and success. I aimed to make DEI prominent and significant in the minds of the students, faculty, and administration. It was also important to me to foster a sense of belonging, create a supportive

environment, and help the students feel heard and seen.

LH: You’re assuming this key leadership role at St. John’s Law as the pandemic endures and as our country continues to reckon with pervasive racism. How does this social context inform your DEI work?

VH: We certainly couldn’t have foreseen all of the incredible challenges our world faces today. First, the onslaught of COVID-19 brought devastating financial losses and the deaths of more than 600,000 Americans. And, in the midst of that, the murder of George Floyd again thrust the issue of racial injustice before all of America and indeed the world. We know there is much to be done in the quest for justice and equality. By definition, systemic racism is embedded deep and wide across American society and cannot be easily rectified. But the world’s growing acknowledgment of its existence means that there is hope for change.

My plan is to continue the Law School’s policy of actively promoting an environment and culture of inclusion and equality, and to nurture and strengthen a sense of community, belonging, and mattering to all students.

LH: What do you most enjoy about working with students and colleagues on DEI programs and initiatives?

VH: I enjoy the congeniality, cohesiveness, and ‘let’s do our best to serve our students’ attitude that permeates everything we do. But the best part about working on DEI programs and initiatives is witnessing the positive impact they have on our students. Watching them grow and flourish really makes it all worthwhile. For example, last summer I started the Long Island Legal Diversity Fellowship Program, which provides opportunities for rising 2Ls to work at leading firms and develop key lawyering skills while gaining exposure to our local legal community. The inaugural summer fellows recognized the tremendous, hands-on experience they gained, and I’m confident that the program will lay the groundwork for increasing diversity in Long Island law firms. It’s rewarding to create this DEI pathway and others for law schools and the legal profession to follow as they commit to becoming truly inclusive and representative of all.

Ninety one percent. Seeing St. John’s July 2020 New York Bar Exam results in print, Rachel Paras smiled from ear to ear behind her face mask. It had been a long, trying few months. But the Law School’s recent graduates had prepared and performed so well that, once again, their success put alma mater ahead of the statewide and national averages for first-time test takers. Paras was especially proud that a portion of that 91% was attributable to students who took her Applied Legal Analysis (ALA) class.

A pillar of the Law School’s robust bar preparation program, ALA is a full-year course that helps a select group of students build the targeted knowledge and skills they need to succeed on the Multistate Bar Exam, Multistate Essay Exam, and Multistate Performance Test. Paras started teaching ALA as an adjunct professor in 2016. Now, she’s taking on a newly expanded role as Senior Director of Bar Preparation at St. John’s Law. “This is such an exciting opportunity,” Paras says. “My St. John’s teaching career has taken me from Drafting: Adoption Law and the Externship Seminar beginning in 2012, to working with LL.M. students in the ALA classroom four years later, and then joining Professor Bob Ruescher and the late Professor Erica Fine ’82 in 2018 to teach the J.D. ALA course. I see my new role as a natural extension of my ALA work.”

As she transitions to her leadership position, Paras continues to focus on student success. “I look forward to helping our students prepare for the bar so they’re confident when they get there,” she shares. “I want them to know that everyone at St. John’s is rooting for them, whether it’s on the bar exam, in their careers, or just in life in general. I also want to make St. John’s number one in the state for bar passage.

We’ve brought the bar passage rate up to 91%, but 95% or higher would just be great. I believe we have the team, the students, and the support to make it happen.”

Paras also sees her move to the Law School administration as an opportunity to set an example for her children. “I know my kids like that I’m a lawyer and tell their friends I teach in a law school,” she says. “I hope they’re proud of their mom and know that when I’m not with them I’m working with my students. It’s really all for them, so they can see that making a commitment to other people and an idea matter. If I can help just one student pass the bar who otherwise wouldn’t have passed, then maybe that student can make a change in the world that we all need.”

Rachel R. Paras ’ 04 Comes Aboard as Senior Director of Bar Preparation

Taking this next step, Paras thinks of Professor Fine, her close colleague and friend who loved working with students on their bar preparation. “There’s no better way to honor Erica than to succeed and show that St. John’s is the best place in New York to go to law school,” she says. “I’m not sure what happens when we die. But I hope wherever Erica has gone, she’s cheering us along. At a minimum, I know she’s probably making fun of me for this article.”

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MARY C. DALY

LEAVES A LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP

By Dean Michael A. Simons

Mary Daly holds a special place in history as the first woman to serve as dean of St. John’s Law. Here, Dean Michael A. Simons remembers his colleague, the impact she made leading the Law School, and the enduring legacy she left to guide him, as her successor, and the institution forward.

It’s been almost 13 years since Mary Daly’s untimely death in November 2008, so decades of students have come through St. John’s Law without knowing her personally. Still, they have benefitted from her deanship because she left an indelible mark on the Law School—not just as a trailblazer, but as a visionary leader whose work here defines our institution today.

Mary came to St. John’s in 2004, following a career path that took her from Big Law, to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and then to Fordham Law—her alma mater—where she spent decades as an esteemed professor and as a noteworthy scholar of professional responsibility and legal ethics. Her predecessor in our dean’s office, Hon. Joseph W. Bellacosa ’59C, ’61L, ’87HON, had guided the Law School deftly out of a tumultuous period and Mary was the perfect person to lead the next leap forward. As an outsider with a fresh perspective, she recognized our strengths. But, just as clearly, she saw opportunities for improvement and moved quickly to seize them.

Understanding the global nature of the legal profession, Mary stewarded the expansion of transnational offerings at St. John’s Law. She created our Rome summer program, started our first LL.M. program for foreigntrained lawyers, and established our first international partnership with the Kenneth Wang School of Law in Soochow China. We now have

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dozens of international partner schools; we send students all over the world for travel courses, international practica, and exchange programs; and our multiple LL.M. programs are filled with foreign-educated lawyers who enrich the life of the Law School and the wider profession.

Mary also understood how much students benefit from learning the law hands on. To expand our skills training programs, she established our in-house Child Advocacy Clinic, Securities Arbitration Clinic, and Center for Dispute Resolution. She also oversaw the addition of several skillsbased courses. When Mary became dean, there were only two clinics at St. John’s Law. We now have a dozen clinics, a stellar skills faculty, and countless drafting and advocacy courses.

All of that is Mary’s tangible legacy. Less tangible, but just as important, is the personal impact she had on the Law School community. Her leadership style was defined by strength, decency, grace, and kindness.

She led by example—including the example she set by balancing her work as dean with her roles as a parent to her three children Anthony, Stephen, and Meg, and as a spouse to her husband, Tony. And, for most of her time as dean, Mary was dealing with the cancer that would ultimately take her life. She did so with courage, steadfastness, and faith.

To me, Mary was both a mentor and a role model. She gave me my first administrative role as Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship and I learned so much by watching her gentle and effective approach to leadership. When I succeeded her as dean in 2009, it was with a great sense of responsibility. I consider myself lucky to have served with her, to assume the deanship of an institution she enhanced, and to build on all she did—and looked forward to doing—to help St. John’s Law thrive.

HON. GENINE EDWARDS ’92 Mentors the Next Generation of St. John’s Lawyers

M

entoring has deep roots for Kings County Supreme Court Justice Genine Edwards. From her childhood in Brooklyn, to her years at St. John’s Law, and all along her career path to public service, it’s been received and given generously.

Today, Judge Edwards continues to share her experience and wisdom as she mentors the next generation of St. John’s lawyers.

“My first mentor was my mother, who taught me to strive to be all I can be,” Judge Edwards recalls. “My Aunt Sybil also exposed me to many careers. When I mentioned becoming an architect, she took me around New York City to view the oldest buildings.”

As a new student at St. John’s Law, Judge Edwards found a willing and able mentor in the late Professor Cynthia Straker Pierce. “She encouraged me to press on even though classes were quite challenging,” she says. After earning her law degree, Judge Edwards became an Assistant Corporation Counsel at the New York City Law Department, where she forged another strong mentoring relationship.

“Troy K. Webber, who is now an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department, gave me invaluable guidance in those first years of practice and remains my mentor,” Judge Edwards says.

“I was privy to her experience as an attorney and as a candidate for election, which solidified my desire to become a judge.” Now that she is presiding in Brooklyn, Judge Edwards continues to rely on her circle of mentors. “I’m fortunate to have many woman jurists supporting me,” she shares. “We’ve created a safe space to discuss different professional and personal issues, and I benefit greatly from their perspective.”

Judge Edwards’ experiences as a mentee made her eager to “pay it forward” as a mentor to many aspiring and young lawyers, who often join her to observe her work in the courtroom. She sees mentoring as especially key for women in the law. “You must surround yourself with wise people who have already traversed

the path you’re embarking on,” she notes. “And, once you become an attorney, mentors can help you gain the insight you need to navigate the landmines on your journey.”

Over the years, Judge Edwards has worked closely with college students participating in the Ronald H. Brown Law School Prep Program, an award-winning pipeline initiative of the Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights at St. John’s Law. “Being a judicial liaison for the Prep Program is indeed a labor of love,” she says.

“My interns and mentees stay in contact with me, and I’m happy to be a small part of their professional trajectory and success.”

Judge Edwards also shares her time and experience with students at the Law School.

That’s where she first met Ashley Williams ’21, who is now her mentee. “We forged a relationship when Ashley was a 1L and I was a panelist at a networking program sponsored by the Women’s Law Society,” Judge Edwards says. “I offered her advice and encouragement. For example, during her second semester, she was hesitant about study groups. But after our conversation, she found a group and it made a huge difference. I was thrilled to see her thrive as I knew she could.”

Williams, who sat for the New York Bar Exam in July, is grateful for this special relationship. “Beyond helping me directly, Judge Edwards informed and uplifted so many students through programs I organized with the Women’s Law Society and the Black Law Students Association,” she says, adding, “It means a lot to me to have her support. As a Black woman in a position of power, she inspires me and I’m forever thankful for her mentorship.”

The inspiration and gratitude are mutual. “Mentoring is a two-way street,” Judge Edwards observes. “The mentor easily becomes the mentee, and vice versa. That’s one of the things I really enjoy about it. I also appreciate that it keeps me close to my alma mater and, especially, to women in the student body who go on to become my fellow alumnae and colleagues in the field. It’s empowering to help build and sustain a vibrant community of St. John’s Law women in this way, and I look forward to doing it for many years to come.”

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JENNIFER GILROY RUIZ ’92 TAKES THE HELM WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

n March 2020, while the pandemic roared in, Jennifer Gilroy Ruiz was appointed Chief of the New York City Law Department’s Family Court Division. As she helped her staff of almost 300 lawyers and legal support professionals adjust to working remotely on behalf of the city’s children, families, and communities, there was little time for her to celebrate this milestone on a career path that spans three decades of public service.

When she has a moment to reflect, Gilroy Ruiz can connect the points of her career success from her childhood in Brooklyn, to her years at St. John’s Law, to her many achievements in the field. “Public service was a way of life in my family,” she says. “My mother was a New York City public school teacher, and my father was a New York City social worker. I was taught early on that public service is more than a job. It’s an honor. My dad and his colleagues would meet at our house to discuss grassroots politics and community solutions. I remember hearing them say, on more than one occasion, ‘Great ideas. Now we need the lawyers to make them happen.’”

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Gilroy Ruiz came to St. John’s ignited by a passion for the law as an agent of change. At the end of her 1L year, she visited the Career Development Office looking for part-time work.

They suggested that she check out a posting for a Student Legal Specialist at the New York City Law Department. “I applied and got the job in the Family Court Division I now lead 30 years later,” she says, marveling at the odds of her taking the helm where it all began.

Over those 30 years, after earning her J.D. and with a couple of hiatuses to work elsewhere, Gilroy Ruiz ascended through the Law Department ranks from Assistant Corporation Counsel to Trial Specialist to Supervisor before becoming the Family Court Division’s Queens Borough Chief, Deputy Chief, and then First Deputy Chief. “I’m humbled, especially as a first-generation lawyer, to have an opportunity, in these spaces, to do this crucial work,” she says.

“The extraordinary people in our Juvenile Delinquency Prosecution Unit seek justice each and every day, and everyone in our Interstate Child Support Unit works tirelessly for the families they serve. Among other duties and projects, I work within

the highest levels of city government on policies affecting community safety, the rehabilitation of youth in our city, and restorative justice for those harmed.”

The juvenile justice operation that Gilroy Ruiz oversees runs day and night, 365 days a year and the child support practice spans courts, jurisdictions, state lines, and international boundaries. It’s essential work made all the more vital, and challenging, by the ongoing pandemic. But Gilroy Ruiz can’t imagine doing anything else. “I love what I do,” she shares. “There are countless rewards. It’s the empathy demonstrated in a victim impact statement; a heartfelt letter thanking our staff for helping a family overcome barriers to support; the successful completion of a disposition carefully crafted to support a young person’s success, and so much more.”

Gilroy Ruiz is also grateful to work in an office that supports women and their advancement. “The Law Department has always been ahead of the curve in this regard, with women making up about 59% of its staff,” she notes. “Several members of the executive team and nine of our 16 division chiefs are women.

The new Corporation Counsel, Georgia Pestana, is the first woman and first Latina to hold that top job. She’s also the first Corporation Counsel in recent time to be appointed from within the agency. All these firsts are certainly a long time coming, but show just some of the ways women can, and do, rise and excel here.”

As she looks forward to the work ahead of her, Gilroy Ruiz is grateful for the career that launched at St. John’s Law. “At each stage, I’ve learned more about myself and the profession,” she says. “With the support of my family, friends, and colleagues—including my husband, Al, my daughters, Veronica and Kathryn, and members of the defense bar, judiciary, advocacy groups, and other city agencies—I believe that I continue to evolve and grow.

I’ve learned to consider different perspectives and to permit myself to revisit, and sometimes change, policies, overcome challenges, and solve new and unique problems. And with the perspective I’ve gained, I can better support the work of my amazing colleagues as they serve the people of, and connected to, New York City.”

Mary Metlay Sows the Seeds of Kaufman ’37 Progressive Advocacy

By Jay Hedges ’21

I CAME TO ST. JOHN’S LAW intent on becoming a lawyer who advocates for social justice. So, as a 2L, I jumped at the chance to help launch the Law School’s student chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), the nation’s oldest and largest progressive bar association. Little did I know that this affiliation would lead me to unearth a splendid bit of history connecting St. John’s— and me—to one of the NLG’s most notable original members.

the racially integrated NLG as it organized in response to the American Bar Association’s exclusion of Black attorneys. That same thirst for justice took Kaufman to Nuremburg, Germany at the end of the Second World War, to serve as one of very few women on the team prosecuting Nazi war criminals.

When she returned home to the United States, Kaufman was disturbed by McCarthyism’s impact on leftist political

It all started with an invitation.

Photo: Office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.), Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

With people across the country taking to the streets to protest anti-Black violence and racism, I was drawn to the work of the NLG’s Mass Defense Committee (MDC). Through its regional chapters, the MDC provides pro bono legal representation to protesters who are arrested during social justice demonstrations.

It also recruits thousands of “legal observers” to monitor and document police actions during protests.

Given my involvement with the NLG and my work as a legal observer, I was asked to find a panelist for a discussion hosted by the Law School’s Public Interest Center. I invited the former NLG-NYC Chapter MDC Chair, Bruce Bentley, to share his experience and explain how students could assist social justice movements. On the morning of the panel, he gave me a short article written by the late Hon. Elliott Wilk about an early and longtime NLG member, Mary Metlay Kaufman.

As I read about Kaufman and her work for progressive causes, I was delighted to discover that she was a St. John’s Law alumna. And, as I further explored her contributions in the field until her death in 1995, I couldn’t help but notice that they seemed to outline the history of the legal left in the United States during the 20th century.

In 1937, right after graduating from St. John’s, Kaufman advocated for, and organized, labor unions as a lawyer for New Deal agencies. Around the same time, she became one of the founding members of

organizing. To her, the Red Scare, with its suppression of political dissent, resembled the political and social climate in Nazi Germany before the outbreak of WWII. Taking action, she began representing prominent communist party leaders who were being persecuted for their political beliefs.

Political and cultural currents continued to inform and shape Kaufman’s efforts on behalf of progressive causes over the next two decades. In the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s, she shined as a zealous anti-war and nuclear disarmament advocate. She started the NLG’s MDC in 1968 to support student anti-war protesters at Columbia University. From there, the MDC’s work expanded under Kaufman’s watch to aid radical political groups like the Attica prison inmates, Black Panther Party, and Young Lords.

My account here is just a small sampling of Kaufman’s long history of creative legal advocacy and activism. A voluminous collection of her papers can be found in the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College.

They contain incredible nuggets of legal left history including: Kaufman’s correspondence with prominent Black radicals such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Claudia Jones; meeting minutes of the American Institute for Marxist Studies in the 1960s; syllabi from courses Kaufman taught in the 1970s on Racism and the Law, McCarthyism: Political Hysteria and Repression in the U.S., and From Nuremberg to Vietnam; and a resolution from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression titled Ban the Klan.

Some 25 years after her death, I was proud to help my fellow St. John’s Law students reap benefits from the seeds of progressive advocacy that Kaufman sowed. With the help of my co-founders, Jeremy Ashton ‘21 and Heidi Simpson ’21, St. John’s nascent student chapter of the NLG became an official student organization in Fall 2020. We hit the ground running in the wake of historic mass protests against police brutality by organizing legal observer trainings and building camaraderie among a growing group of students committed to fighting for the transformation of our legal system.

Now, as I begin my career as a tenant lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, I remain in awe of Mary Metlay Kaufman’s ceaseless advocacy for justice. I look forward to carrying on her legacy of rejecting systemic oppression in every form and laboring to reshape the world for the better.

Jay Hedges is a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society’s Housing Justice Unit in Queens, representing tenants facing eviction. He remains an active member of the New York City Chapter

of the National Lawyers Guild and looks forward to continuing to support progressive social movements in the city.

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,

, Marie Napoli 89C, 93L Puts Catholic Values into Action

M

arie Napoli found her calling in the law early on. Raised on Long Island in a large, close-knit Catholic family, she was just a teenager when she started working at her father’s law firm.

An industrious St. John’s Law alumnus with a deep belief in protecting the dignity and rights of others, he taught her the business from the ground up. Guided by that formative experience, Napoli began her legal studies at St. John’s, where she found a curriculum and culture animated by the Vincentian value of helping those in need.

At the Law School, Napoli also found a kindred spirit in fellow student Paul Napoli ’92. After earning their J.D.s, they married, had children, and built a work-life partnership that has taken them—individually and together—to professional heights. As a founding partner at Napoli Shkolnik PLLC, Marie Napoli is one of very few women leading a national plaintiff-side litigation firm. She has earned recognition as a fierce advocate for victims of defective prescriptions drugs and medical devices, asbestos-related diseases, aviation accidents, and other serious personal injuries.

“My work dovetails with my Catholic values as I represent those who are unable to help and protect themselves,” Napoli says. “Whether they’re 9/11 first responders, New York families destroyed by the opioid crisis, or other injured individuals or municipalities, I fight for regular folks looking to be made whole.

Even if we can’t really make them whole, we can get them consideration to help ease their suffering and chill malicious behavior by companies.”

In addition to serving on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the National Prescription Opiate Litigation (MDL 2804), Napoli Shkolnik is Co-Lead Counsel in the New York Opioid Cost Recovery Litigation. The firm is also giving voice to the hurt and disenfranchised as Co-Liaison Council in the Flint Water Crisis

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Class Action Litigation. “In this landmark case, children and others in the community were exposed to lead contaminated water due to the negligence of companies, agencies, and elected officials,” Napoli explains. “We strongly feel it’s an example of environmental racism, and we’re right at the table negotiating directly for our clients.”

As its advocacy in Flint continues, Napoli Shkolnik has teamed with Ben Crump, the acclaimed civil rights attorney who represents the families of Michael Brown, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor, and other victims of anti-Black violence and racism. “I’m very proud of this partnership,” says Napoli. “At its core, in the Flint case, it’s about bringing awareness on matters of environmental discrimination affecting marginalized communities. Although the law is slow to recognize such claims, we’re working hard to change that.”

Napoli is also proud that so much of her hard work, in Flint and on other matters, benefits women. “Throughout my career, I’ve made it a priority to help women who have been injured, whether physically or as victims of sexual harassment and discrimination,” she shares.

“I’ve experienced discrimination, and I want to protect women and correct those wrongs. I want to be part of the movement that continues to break the glass ceiling. I also want to be a role model to my daughters and others through my leadership in mass tort litigations as well as my speaking engagements, media appearances, and publications. I want to show them what’s possible.”

Reflecting on her professional path, and on the Catholic values that imbue and shape it, Napoli offers this advice to her fellow alumnae and to women studying at St. John’s Law: “Make sure you’re working towards your goal and not someone else’s. Surround yourself with similarly minded people who share in your passions, which will lead to individual and shared success. If your voice isn’t heard, or is devalued, move on. Have a true heart and believe in yourself and you will succeed.”

CHRISTINA SUAREZ ’11 CHARTS A CAREER IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY Growing up on the Jersey Shore, Christina Suarez lived in a home filled with music. On any given day, work and play choregraphed to the sounds of salsa, jazz, pop, and doowop. There were in-house jam sessions courtesy of her father’s close friends, Latin musicians who played with Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, and others. And no holiday was complete without tunes from Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, and The Sound of Music.

“Music, whether played on my childhood record player, performed live at home, or projected from a Broadway stage, was magical to me as a child,” says Suarez, adding, “It still is.” Today, she channels that magic as Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at Universal Music Group (UMG). The SVP post is the latest success along a career path that started with summer work in her uncle’s law office and continued when she entered St. John’s Law intent on breaking into the music industry.

Courses in entertainment law, sports law, contracts, and intellectual property taught Suarez cornerstone concepts. Even as a participant in the Law School’s mock trial

program, she honed the “quick-thinking skillset” that lawyers rely on to make and close deals. But of all the offerings at St. John’s Law, Suarez considers her externships the most formative. “Gaining that hands-on experience was invaluable,” she says. “As an extern, you’re able to create real relationships in the industry that can help you later in your career. You apply rules to real world issues, practice drafting, and really learn how to transition into the workforce after school.”

Suarez’s first externship was with Sony Music, and that’s where she launched her full-time career in music after earning her St. John’s law degree. After two years at Sony, she became a lead attorney at Roc Nation, the entertainment company founded by musician and entrepreneur JAY-Z, and elevated there to Chief of Staff and the head of business and legal affairs.

Five years later, in 2018, she accepted her current position at UMG. It’s challenging work, but Suarez is thriving.

“As an in-house business and legal affairs department, I love that we work with all

areas of the company: creative executives, artwork, finance, etc.,” she says. “You become such a well-rounded lawyer and person since you’re tasked with advocating for all and making deals come together with all considerations. You also get to interact with countless attorneys from outside firms, artist managers and agents, and other media companies. They’re some of the most well respected and brilliant people in the music industry.”

As she continues to chart her professional path, Suarez is grateful for all the people in the field who give her support and guidance, especially in these extraordinary times. “It’s not easy being a professional woman, yet alone a woman of color, and becoming a new mom during this pandemic has had its ups and downs,” she shares. “But I’ve been blessed to have supportive and forward-thinking mentors and managers. I’m still great friends with former colleagues from Sony Music and Roc Nation. We all lean on each other for help, advice, and connections. The music industry is about inclusivity and shattering the glass ceiling. I’m so proud to be a part of it.”

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Leadership ASHLEE AGUIAR ’16 •A ssociate, Davis Wright Tremaine •

LLP, Portland, OR E ditor-in-Chief, Journal of International and Comparative Law/New York International Law Review P resident, Latin American Law Students Association

KAITLIN DECKER ’17 •C ounsel, ESPN, Bristol, CT •E ditor-in-Chief, St. John’s Law Review

“We often hear that lawyers are fundamentally risk-averse, but my Law School career was heavily shaped by selective risk taking. In particular, my time with the Law Review was a daily “Law school relationships were about exercise in taking one particular risk that more than just a reliable study group and many law students (myself included) try JASMINE BROWN ’19 a mentor to navigate the job search. They to avoid at all costs: admitting when you were about finding people to challenge don’t know the answer. The beginning •A ssociate, Law Office of Vincent me to become a better student and lawyer. of my tenure as Editor-in-Chief often Toomey, East Meadow, NY The JICL/NYILR editorial board I chaired felt like the world’s longest cold call, for • P resident, Women’s Law Society was tasked with revamping the journals’ which there is no textbook. There was a structure. I met with members from every publication process to keep on schedule, prior board to learn what worked in a staff of my peers to oversee, and a the past and what needed improvement.

“During my time as the Women’s Law budget to manage. I quickly found the Without those relationships, we wouldn’t Society president, I also worked part days became better when I leaned on have been able to fully assess the future those around me for insight, whether time, served on the National Black Law of the journals. Through those meetings, it was the Law School faculty and staff Students Association executive board, I also gained an invaluable mentor who or my classmates in the Law Review and maintained a full course load.

I still turn to for research help and office. Asking for help first felt risky. But Although it was difficult to balance my career advice. The relationships I built by admitting when I didn’t know the academic, extracurricular, and personal through LALSA are still some of the most answer and tapping into the resources responsibilities, I was able to lead the important in my life. In school, I turned Women’s Law Society to success with the around me who did, I grew so much as a to fellow and former LALSA members leader and future professional.” help of the other phenomenal women not just for career advice, moot court prep, on the executive board. I will always and help planning events, but also for appreciate their hard work and support friendship and support when I felt like an during that time.” imposter. And now that I live in Portland, the network I created through LALSA is a key source of business development.”

•

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Lessons Although they have graduated from St. John’s, these alumnae continue to draw on the knowledge, skills, and relationships they built as student leaders at the Law School.

SARA MORIARTY ’19 •A ssistant District Attorney, •

BETH DO ’21 • S taff Attorney, Privacy & Data • DENISE DESSEL ’19 •A ssociate, Marc J. Bern & •

Partners LLP, New York, NY E ditor-in-Chief, American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review

“As a leader, it’s important to remember that your team is there for you, and it’s crucial that you collaborate well together to make sure that all the tasks run smoothly. As a team, we’re all working towards the same goal, and it’s important to acknowledge your team members’ successes that helped achieve that goal. Being able to collaborate as a team was what made the ABI Law Review so successful. Leaders are only as good as their team, and without such a great team backing me up, I don’t know if everything would have gone as smoothly as it did.”

Security Team, USAA Bank, New York, NY P resident, St. John’s Law Student Bar Association

“There are a finite number of hours in a day, but a seemingly Sisyphean list of things to do. The question is, how do you prioritize? Last year, I struggled to find balance between serving on the Student Bar Association board, interning with the UN Joint SDG Fund, managing New York State Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou’s campaign, and being a teaching assistant.

Law students sometimes bite off more than we can chew (something about my Type A personality and a ceaseless urge to be validated by work), and some days it felt like I was drowning in a sea of ‘things to do’ post-its. If there’s a secret to juggling competing priorities, it’s to surround yourself with quality people, and the rest will fall into place. When I put people first, I found the work organized itself.

Leadership is ultimately about relating to people and I was fortunate to work with the best student leaders.”

Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, New York, NY E ditor-in-Chief, N.Y. Real Property Law Journal

“I would never have imagined that the collaboration skills I gained as Editorin-Chief of the N.Y. Real Property Law Journal would prove so useful in my career as a prosecutor. As EIC, I learned how to delegate tasks and when to seek help.

Collaboration with Journal members and other law groups was necessary to meet copy deadlines and increase the presence of the Journal on campus. As a prosecutor, I collaborate with others not only to meet deadlines, but also to make informed case decisions from investigation to sentencing.

Delegating tasks to paralegals, working with law enforcement agencies, and meeting with defense counsel are all part of a typical workday. Knowing when to ask for advice is key. The content of the Journal was unrelated to criminal law, but the skills I gained in collaborating with others truly prepared me for my career as an ADA. I’m grateful for the experience!”

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COMMENCEMENT

2020

Even Mother Nature seemed to know it was a special homecoming. Gray clouds that had lingered all day gave way to evening blue skies and sunshine as members of the Law School’s Class of 2020 processed down St. John’s Great Lawn and took their seats for a long-awaited, in-person commencement ceremony on Monday, July 19, 2021.

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& 2021 It takes about six steps to get up to the graduation stage in St. John’s Carnesecca Arena, and around a dozen more to cross it.

But, as Dean Michael A. Simons shared with celebrants at the Class of 2021 commencement exercises on Sunday, June 6, 2021, that short walk is deeply symbolic.

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TRENDS

Bringing My Whole Self To Work At Tesla

By Valerie Capers Workman ’90, VP, People at Tesla

In May 2020, I was six months into my leadership role at Tesla— having been promoted from the Compliance, Associate General Counsel to the executive HR Leader—when, on the heels of dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, I was watching, along with the world, the relentless and harrowing images of the murder of an unarmed Black man, George Floyd.

On one of those days, in the midst of these two world-shaking events, I decided to write about a particular day at work. It was the day that

Today I shared the following message with employees at Tesla: Last Thursday morning, as I opened my weekly team meeting, I asked myself whether I should allow them to see the emotions I am experiencing or if I should try to carry on, business as usual. The scope of my role at Tesla and seeing the breadth of the teams that I lead represented on the call were juxtaposed against the morning view of my teenage son heading out of the house for his daily jog. The site of my son valiantly determined to keep his morning routine gripped me with equal parts of fear and pride.

As I started to speak, I heard myself begin, “Team, I’m having a hard time this morning and I have decided that I am not going to pretend that today is not challenging for me.” I continued that the recent events in Minneapolis were making it difficult for me to focus on work today and, if it were difficult for me, I can imagine that hundreds of our employees are feeling the same way. As the team that is responsible for the work life of our employees, I said that we should recognize our responsibility to ensure that we acknowledge how our employees might be feeling as the real time images of an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, pleading for his life are playing repeatedly on every social media platform.

Today, I want to say to all employees who care about social justice and specifically to Black At Tesla that 18 l ST. JOHN’S LAW MAGAZINE

I kept asking myself, “How do I continue to perform with excellence when part of me is struggling?”

Over a year later, I continue to receive notes of appreciation from thousands of Black professionals and allies for social justice who thank me for putting my challenge into words—a challenge shared by so many. Before I posted the essay reprinted in full below, I shared it with our CEO, Elon Musk, and let him know that I wanted to put it on LinkedIn. He told me that I had his full support.

I see you. To those who are outraged but may not understand what it’s like to be Black at Tesla or Black in America, start by doing the hard work of listening to others whose experiences are different than yours. Here is mine: I know what it’s like to live with the ever-present fear that a loved one will have a deadly encounter simply because of the color of their skin. When I was coming into work during Shelter In Place, I clipped my work badge to my seatbelt so I would not have to reach for it in case I was pulled over and had to explain why I was on the road. Being prepared for such encounters is just part of my day.

Fearing for the lives of my husband and sons is a constant nagging undercurrent that I suppress so that I can go about my day (just as my mother, my grandmother and my great grandmother learned to live with this fact of life). Despite being a proponent of bringing your whole self to work, I never discuss this part of my life in the office.

Yesterday afternoon, my 21-year-old son was riveted to his phone as usual but for the first time in months his face was filled with joy and excitement. He was watching the SpaceX launch and as a lifelong advocate of space travel and young man who could tell you more about the possible benefits of asteroid mining then you might care to know, it was a moment he cherished. And then the moment was over. He put his phone in his pocket and left the house with his dad and his two brothers

to demonstrate peacefully in Sacramento. This is what it’s like to be Black in America, constantly compartmentalizing your life so that you can effectively navigate the two worlds that you live in.

This duality is the basis of “code switching” and if you have never heard this term, Black At Tesla will hold a forum on this learned skill and I hope you all attend. For now, suffice it to say that code switching is what allows Black employees to be excellent at work while we are dealing with the pain, stress and fear of daily life that we feel is not appropriate for us to discuss at work.

I know that all of us at Tesla, no matter how we self-identify or which group(s) we ally with, are never comfortable just standing idly by when we see that something needs to get done. Having a bias for action is a minimum basic requirement for a company where excellence is the standard. We chose to work at Tesla because we made a conscious decision to work for a company that is determined to make a difference, determined to make the world a better place for the next generations. We are all about being scrappy and getting things done, so sitting and watching events unfold and feeling powerless to do anything to help make a change can be extremely frustrating for people like us.

Knowing this I have asked the Diversity & Inclusion team to put together a list of groups that you might want to research if social justice is a goal that is important to you. In addition, I have also

Valerie Capers Workman

asked the Benefits team to provide a brief overview of Lyra Health, a mental health resource available to Tesla employees. Mental well-being is as important as physical health and Lyra provides very proactive and actionable counseling for “doers” like us. Please take a look at these resources for more information.

I also called a meeting with our Employee Resource Group, Black At Tesla to provide emotional support and information on resources to help get through this time period without feeling helpless. In the short term, I have reminded the Head of Security to ensure that security teams are mindful of their role to assist employees and understand the stresses they are dealing with and I have worked with HR and Workplace teams to figure out ways to help employees get to work as we now have to consider local curfews in addition to COVID-19 safety protocols. I am honored to do this work and appreciative of the support from Elon and my colleagues on the executive level. This is one of the reasons why diversity matters.

Photo: Mikolaj Walczuk

So, last week, I decided that bringing my whole self to work is more than just rocking my natural hair or supporting Tesla’s Employee Resource Groups or championing diversity. It’s about being willing (and able) to show how social injustice is not an intellectual concept for me. It’s a part of my life and as a Tesla leader, to know all of me is to know that when I see these images, I am seeing a possible future for someone I love. And so I started my team meeting by saying, “Team, I’m having a hard time this morning and I have decided that I am not going to pretend that today is not challenging for me.” After I spoke we had a brief but meaningful exchange. A safe space was opened. The air was cleared. And then we moved on to discuss business.

There is much, much more work to be done both inside Tesla and in our communities to heal, share, listen and better understand the complete individuals that work beside you. I speak for the entire leadership team at Tesla, not just HR, to say we see you and are here to support, listen and share.

As always, thank you for all you do to help make Tesla a success and a place where you can bring your whole self to work.

Thank you, Valerie FALL 2021 l 19

TRADITIONS

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

 Christoforatos

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

Martinez Cipolla & Cipolla Prinzivalli 

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

She now works as counsel at Johnson & Oshan Law handling privacy and technology transactions.

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Family Ties  Kuzniewski

Hon. Jeannine Baer Kuzniewski ‘86 presides in the New York City Housing Court in Brooklyn.

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

Welty & Cannella Carroll 

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

She is now Vice President, Labor Policy and Health at the National Football League.

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SECOND ACTS

Christy Gleason ‘98

ADVOCATES FOR VULNERABLE CHILDREN Christy Gleason headed up to the Senate gallery. Looking down at the floor, she sat on the edge of her seat as lawmakers voted to end the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that kept LGBTQ+ soldiers from serving openly in the U.S. military. It was 2010, and Gleason had just finished managing Chris Coons’ campaign to serve out the remainder of then-Vice President Joe Biden’s U.S. Senate term. Even after years in government and politics, watching the newly-elected Senator Coons cast his vote for the repeal was a milestone moment for Gleason.

A decade later, that experience continues to inspire her as she starts a new professional chapter as Vice President, Policy, Advocacy & Campaigns for Save the Children and Executive Director of Save the Children Action Network (SCAN).

Advocating for vulnerable children in the United States and around the world, Gleason taps a passion and skillset with deep roots. “My love for advocacy began early,” she says. “I was a young child when my grandmother took me to my first peace protest, and I volunteered for my first political campaign when I was 12 years old. In high school, I spent part of a summer in Washington, D.C. as a congressional page. Seeing my first live House vote from the back of the chamber, I was enthralled.”

Gleason’s fascination only grew during college as she interned in Congress and worked on political campaigns. Law School was a natural next step. “I was

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inspired by lawyers in the advocacy space, and by places like the ACLU, National Women’s Law Center, and Service Women’s Action Network,” she explains.

“Since it had a strong part-time program, I committed to St. John’s Law without stepping foot on campus.”

Excelling as an evening student while working during the day, Gleason earned a spot on the St. John’s Law Review. She went on to become the first evening student to serve as the journal’s managing editor. After graduating, she practiced law for a short time before taking a position at the Center for American Women and Politics. Two years later, she and her husband returned to her native Delaware, where she bridged her interests in law and politics managing a campaign for attorney general.

“That began my 20-year career in electoral politics and government service,” Gleason recalls. “I had the opportunity to work in county government, a state legislature, and the U.S. Senate, connecting people to the policy making process and working to solve people’s problems. I was also lucky enough to help elect some incredible people to public office, including Senator Coons. It was meaningful work, spanning everything from housing and early education, to ethics, sewers, and global development.”

After Senator Coons’ 2020 re-election, Gleason decided it was time for a career

change and looked to the nonprofit sector. When the SCAN position opened, she jumped at the chance. “I had worked with SCAN and its parent organization, Save the Children, as a Senate staffer and share their commitment to using the power of policy, advocacy, and campaigns to ‘go big for kids,’” she says. “Children are incredible, and incredibly resilient.

Even in the most daunting circumstances, they seek to survive, thrive, grow, and do amazing things. My colleagues here and around the world lift children up so they can do just that—in conflict zones, during famines, and in the poorest of countries and most challenged communities.”

There is plenty of work to do as Gleason brings children’s voices to policymakers and mobilizes people to move those policymakers to action. She welcomes the opportunities and challenges that come with her SCAN leadership. “My son was born while I was running Senator Coons’ 2014 re-election campaign,” she says. “He’s known about my work in government and politics his whole life.

Now when people ask him what his mom does for work, he tells them, ‘she helps kids all around the world.’ What could be more important than that?”

BIRTHS It’s been a year (OK, almost two). But even in all the upheaval, wonder and beauty remain. Just look at the faces of our newest St. John’s Law family members!

 Preston Demouchet ’11 and Sarah Kabay welcomed Theodore Kabay Demouchet in April.

 Christine Sammarco McIntyre ’09, husband Corey, and big brother Jack welcomed Michael Dennis in March.

 James Conlon ’97 welcomed his first grandchild, Logan Matthew Conlon, in April.

 Kevin Wallace ’14 and Maeghan McLoughlin welcomed Sean Patrick in April.

 Laura De Los Rios ’14, husband Heriberto Garcia, and big sister Victoria welcomed Alexander Gabriel in May.

 Vincent Iannece ‘15, wife Sarah, and big brother Christian welcomed Ashton Gerard in April. Over the moon grandparents are Hon. Jerry Iannece ’84 and Lynn Calvacca-Iannece ’83.

FALL 2021 l 23

IN MEMORIAM Jerome D. Bender ’51 Mario Tucciarone ‘53 Frank Ragonetti ‘52C, ‘54L Hon. Frank Torres ’55 Robert Ostertag ‘56 John Rafferty ’57 John K. Walsh ’57 John Dowd ’55C, ’58L Professor James Edward Starrs ‘58 Laurence Mullen ’59 Martin Timmins ‘56UC, ’59L John Jerome ’59CBA, ’61L Eugene K. O’Shea, ’61 William Mannion ‘62 Hon. Edward Kiley ‘54CBA, ‘63L John Bassano ‘65 Albert Pennisi ‘66 Richard C. Sherman ’66 Leonard Andrew ‘68

John Higgins ’70 Bertram Levine ‘70 Alan Berg ‘72 Henry Donald ’77 Phillip Tumbarello ‘79 Elisabeth Vreeburg ‘81 Erica B. Fine ’82 Dorothy McCabe ‘82 Nicholas Burke ‘78MBA, ‘83L, ‘92PD Brian Okane ‘83 Mark E. Gamber ’84 Raymond Scheer ‘86 Clifford Mulqueen ’89 Danielle Rigg ’94 Matthew Roth ‘95 Margaret Michaels ’97 Deven A. Smith ‘06 John Rickes ’12 Emmanuel Ulubiyo ‘12

LOOKING FOR CLASS NOTES? 24 l ST. JOHN’S LAW MAGAZINE

IT’S GONE DIGITAL! We’re excited to announce that Class Notes has moved online to stjohnslawseeinfra.com. That’s where you’ll find all the news straight from our worldwide alumni community. We’re publishing quarterly— winter, spring, summer, and fall—and want to hear from you. Just email your update to Assistant Dean of Alumni Relations and CLE Claire C. McKeever ‘80SVC, ‘93L at mckeevec@stjohns.edu.

IN MEMORIAM Professor Erica B. Fine ’82* Our beloved alumna, colleague, and friend Erica Fine passed away suddenly in May. Professor Fine was a constant presence on campus during her long career at BarBri Bar Review. Just as she was generous with her time and talents at BarBri, she was a big-hearted alumna who gave back to alma mater in many ways, including as a member of the St. John’s Law Alumni Association Board of Directors, as a founder of the Law School’s annual Public Interest Auction, and as a tireless liaison to her adored Class of 1982. In 2013, she came home to teach Applied Legal Analysis at the Law School. For her unwavering commitment to St. John’s Law, Professor Fine received the Pietas Medal, one of the highest honors bestowed by St. John’s University, as well as the Law School’s Belson Medal.

Professor Robert E. Parella ’11HON* Professor Robert E. Parella, an esteemed colleague and teacher, passed away in May. He served on the Law School’s full-time faculty for 50 years, teaching generations of students Property, Real Estate Drafting, Trusts and Estates, and other courses with warmth, wit, and compassion as the George F. Keenan Professor of Real Property Law. After his retirement in 2011, he stayed on as an adjunct professor and was a regular presence at Law School programs and events. Along with his achievements as an educator and a scholar, Professor Parella received BALLSA’s (now APALSA, BLSA, and LALSA) Man of the Year Award in 1988. St. John’s University conferred upon him both an honorary degree and the title of Professor Emeritus.

Hon. Frank Torres ’55 The Honorable Frank Torres passed away in August. Throughout his long career in public service, Justice Torres advocated tirelessly for greater Hispanic representation in the legal profession.

The son of immigrants from Puerto Rico, he followed in his father’s footsteps by earning a law degree and launching a career in the public sector. He worked as a Bronx ADA and then, after a term in the New York State Assembly, ascended to a leadership position at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Justice Torres took the bench by appointment to the New York City Family Court before being elected to the New York State Supreme Court, where he served for 14 years.

* Many have asked how they can honor the lives and legacies of Professor Fine and Professor Parella. One way is to support the Erica B. Fine ‘82 Scholarship and the Professor Robert Parella Scholarship, which benefit St. John’s Law students. For more information about these giving opportunities, please contact Brian J. Woods at brian.woods@stjohns.edu FALL 2021 l 25

LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT

L-R: Abigail Sloan, Alessia Nestico, and Katherine Chung

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Rose DiMartino ’81

OPENS DOORS IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST

A

s much as she looked forward to working with the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice this summer, Alessia Nestico ’22 never imagined that the job would tap her creativity. But there she was, helping her young clients get through long and intense interviews by playing her ukulele and showing off her artwork.

Nestico gained this hands-on experience advocating for youths in neglect and parental rights cases as one of 12 St. John’s Law students who received Summer 2021 Rose DiMartino Women in Public Service Fellowships.

Established with a generous gift from Rose DiMartino ’81, the fellowships are awarded to women through the Law School’s Summer Public Interest Fellowship Program.

In addition to Nestico’s Legal Aid placement, this year’s DiMartino Fellows worked in a range of practice settings—from the New York City Office of Labor Relations, Administration for Children’s Services, and Nassau County District Attorney’s Office to Catholic Charities and judicial chambers and courthouses.

“The Law School’s Summer Public Interest Fellowship Program builds on St. John’s Vincentian mission of serving marginalized individuals and communities and recognizes a lawyer’s ethical obligation to promote justice,” says Associate Dean for Career Development and Externships Jeanne Ardan. “We were able to award 60 student fellowships this summer, with funds raised through our annual Public Interest Auction, alumni giving, partner programs, and other sources. Rose DiMartino’s multi-year gift provides an invaluable opportunity for women students to build knowledge and skills while serving the greater good.”

Nestico was thrilled to be supported by the DiMartino Fellowship as she worked on a variety of assignments at Legal Aid. “I enjoyed researching and writing,” she says. “But my favorite part of working with the Juvenile Rights Practice was speaking with my clients, learning their stories, and discovering what they desire when it comes to their lives.”

Interacting with clients was also a highlight for DiMartino Fellow Abigail Sloan ’23, who spent the summer interning with Catholic Charities’ Immigration and Refugee Project.

It was challenging, but rewarding work, Sloan shares. “In addition to attending trainings on immigration law topics, I worked directly with clients to prepare them for court hearings and attended consultations for new clients,” she explains. “I also helped the attorneys research country conditions and changes in immigration policies.”

Complementing the hands-on learning, Sloan says, were the diverse networking opportunities the placement provided. “I made great connections with immigration attorneys and gained access to resources, such as the American Immigration Lawyers Association, which will continue to guide me moving forward.”

Like Nestico and Sloan, Katherine Chung ’23 thrived as a DiMartino Fellowship recipient. She spent the summer as an intern for United States District Judge Nelson S. Román in White Plains. “I assisted Judge Román and his law clerks in drafting judicial opinions, researching case law, and preparing for a jury trial,” she says. “I also sat in on a trial, arraignments, and sentencings.

I grew exponentially within that twomonth time period, and I know that the internship has prepared me well not only for the next two years at St. John’s Law, but also for my future legal career.”

Considering the doors of opportunity she has opened for women at the Law School, Rose DiMartino says: “I’ve always thought of the law as a helping profession. There are so many issues of real significance that are crying out for the talent and energy of young lawyers. I want to use my resources to encourage law students to jump in and try to tackle them. For the fellowship, I focused on women students because I see myself in them—wanting to learn as much as I could and as quickly as I could, so I could make a difference. I hope the fellowship affords them practical experience that will make their classroom work more meaningful. But, more importantly, I hope it helps them see their law degree as an amazing credential for the betterment of our world.”

If Alessia Nestico is any indication, DiMartino’s generosity is already having its intended impact. “Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others,’” Nestico notes. “Receiving the DiMartino Fellowship has made my dream of being of service as a lawyer more tangible. It’s inspired me to follow my passions, and I look forward to honoring Ms. DiMartino by providing opportunities for others to shine.”

FALL 2021 l 27

END NOTE

Danielle D’Aquila ’12

PAYS IT FORWARD AS AN ALUMNAE MENTOR With D’Aquila’s insight, the Mentoring Circles took shape and drew enthusiastic participants from across generations and practice settings.

D’Aquila, one of the inaugural mentors, was thrilled. “I realized early on that, to succeed professionally, I needed access to women lawyers who were willing to guide me,” she says. “Through the years, their advice has been invaluable. They have helped me navigate the imposter syndrome, set and maintain boundaries, identify and reach professional goals, hone my self-advocacy skills, and expand my internal and external networks, among other things. I’m so happy to pay that guidance forward.”

ast winter, recognizing the unique challenges that women face in their legal careers, a small group of St. John’s Law alumnae teamed with the Law School’s administration and the student-run Women’s Law Society to launch the Alumnae Leadership Council. Danielle D’Aquila, a partner in the Litigation & Arbitration Practice Group at Brown Rudnick LLP, was part of the startup team that brainstormed and crafted the Council’s agenda, including its pillar Mentoring Circles Program.

“I jumped at the opportunity to help get this project off the ground,” D’Aquila says. “After surveys and discussions revealed that students and alumnae alike were seeking mentors, I proposed setting up more intimate pods of alumnae who could meet to discuss important topics in smaller groups, so real relationships could form and folks could engage in productive and meaningful conversation.” To establish these Mentoring Circles, D’Aquila tapped experience she gained as co-chair of Brown Rudnick’s Women’s Initiative, which hosts monthly networking events, trainings, and other programs and activities for women at the firm.

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Today, with D’Aquila’s ongoing support, there are 10 Mentoring Circles divided across three levels of professional experience. The most senior circles are run by alumnae who have practiced law for at least 15 years.

They mentor fellow alumnae who graduated from St. John’s Law in the last five to 10 years. The second level is run by alumnae who have been in the field for at least five years, and they are matched with mentees who graduated in the last four years. At the third level, alumnae with one to four years of experience mentor 2Ls.

Composed of two mentors and six mentees, each circle meets for six monthly sessions and follows a set curriculum, exploring topics like: owning your professional and leadership development; networking; having a life and family while practicing law; and executive presence.

As the Mentoring Circles Program enters its second year, D’Aquila looks forward to being a part of its evolution and seeing the mentors and mentees thrive. “Mentoring has a wonderful ripple effect,” she says.

“I’ve experienced it at my law firm, and now I get to experience it as a Mentoring Circle Program founder and participant. I’m so honored and excited to help the next generation of St. John’s women lawyers navigate their careers and achieve success on their own terms.”

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID ST. JOHN’S UNIVERSITY NEW YORK

School of Law 8000 Utopia Parkway Queens, NY 11439

EVERY GIFT MAKES A DIFFERENCE “What this scholarship has given me is an opportunity to be more than I was supposed to be, and work my way to a position where I can provide for my entire family. I can write my own destiny and do what so many kids like me can’t. I will be forever grateful for this opportunity, and hope to pay it forward in the future.”

— Julian Hernandez ‘22 Recipient, Kenneth L. Birchby and John D. Birchby Scholarship

PLEASE SUPPORT SCHOLARSHIPS AT ST. JOHN’S LAW. USE THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE TO MAKE YOUR GIFT, OR GIVE ONLINE AT STJOHNS.EDU/LAW-GIVING