Alumni | CLASS NOTES

Stanley M. Grossman was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the New York Law Journal. Grossman, a senior counsel at Pomerantz, focuses his practice on securities litigation.

Alan E. Weiner published an article, “Becoming Successful in Today’s Professional World,” in the CPA Journal.

Michael Rikon, partner at Goldstein, Rikon, Rikon & Houghton, was inducted into the 2021 Hall of Fame by the International Association of Top Professionals.

James Grossman was selected by his peers for inclusion in the 27th edition of The Best Lawyers in America for his expertise in eminent domain and condemnation law. He is a partner at Barclay Damon.

Joseph Karp, founder of the Karp Law Firm, received the 2021 Martindale-Hubbell Silver Client Champion Award in recognition of superior service provided to his clients.

Stephen J. Dannhauser joined the board of Ellington Financial as an independent director. He is a consultant for Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where he has worked since 1975.

Gerald Lefcourt ’67, whose practice is focused on the areas of criminal law and complex civil litigation

Sanford Rubenstein ’71, founding partner of Rubenstein & Rynecki

Jeffrey Citron ’75, managing partner at Davidoff Hutcher & Citron

Vincent Pitta ’78, founding partner at Pitta Law, whose practice focuses on labor and management relations

Frank Carone ’94, executive partner at Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara, Wolf & Carone

Anta Cissé-Green ’03, president of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association and senior vice chancellor for legal affairs and general counsel of the State University of New York

Camille Joseph Varlack ’03, chief operating officer and partner at Bradford Edwards & Varlack

Stephen J. Silverberg joined the executive committee of the Estate Planning Council of Nassau County. His practice focuses on estate and tax planning, estate and trust administration, asset preservation planning, and elder law.

John Leventhal joined Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins as a partner. He focuses his practice on appellate law and litigation. He was previously an associate justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department.

Rosalyn Richter joined Arnold & Porter as a senior counsel in its complex litigation practice group. She was previously an associate justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department.

Linda Maryanov, a wills, trusts, and estate planning attorney at Zimmerman and Maryanov, founded and continues to facilitate a popular trusts and estates study group.

Carlos Ortiz joined McDermott Will & Emery as a partner in its white-collar defense and litigation groups. He was previously a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright.

Jill Ginsberg, senior partner at Ginsberg Shulman, received a Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award for her work with the Mission United Veterans Pro Bono Legal Project, which helps veterans in civil legal matters.

Paul Sweeney was named to the Irish Voice‘s 2021 Irish Legal 100, a list that honors distinguished American lawyers of Irish descent. He is a partner at Coughlin & Gerhart in its labor and employment law and commercial litigation groups.

Scott Middleton is the president of the board of directors of East End Arts, a nonprofit arts organization serving the East End of Long Island. Middleton is senior partner at Campolo, Middleton & McCormick.

David Pollack joined Goldberg Segalla as special counsel in its workers’ compensation group. He was previously a senior associate at the Law Office of Joseph A. Romano.

Daniel Rosenfeld joined Sullivan & Worcester as a partner in its litigation group. Rosenfeld was previously a partner at DLA Piper.

Laura Watters was promoted to acting executive director of the Staten Island Foundation, where she previously served as a program director.

Mary Critharis was appointed as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s acting chief policy officer and director for international affairs. She was previously senior counsel at the same agency.

Thomas DiBiase was appointed general counsel for the U.S. Capitol Police. He was previously the acting general counsel for 11 months and the deputy general counsel for 10 years.

Ada Clapp joined Berdon as a senior partner. She was previously general counsel at Elysium Management.

Juliet Howard was appointed as a judge on the New York City Housing Court. She was previously a court attorney in New York County.

Caroline Krauss was named a 2020 Distinguished Leader by the New York Law Journal. Krauss and Valentina Shaknes ’07 are co-founders of the family law firm Krauss Shaknes Tallentire & Messeri.

Jeffrey Berkowitz joined Uniphar as an independent nonexecutive director of its board. Berkowitz is also CEO of Real Endpoints.

Joanne Forbes was appointed a city court judge by the Newburgh City Council. She was previously a senior principal law clerk for the New York State Unified Court System.

Mark Kornfeld joined Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney as a shareholder and will serve as its current court-appointed federal equity receiver. He was previously a partner at Quarles & Brady.

Norman Leon was named by Law360 as a 2020 Employment MVP. Leon is a partner at DLA Piper.

Deborah Riegel, a member at Rosenberg & Estis, was included in the 2021 Crain’s New York Business Notable Women in Law. She focuses her practice in the area of landlord tenant law, real estate law, condominium/co-op law, and commercial litigation.

Jeffrey Gewirtz was promoted to chief operating officer of BSE Global, which operates the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, the WNBA’s New York Liberty, the NBA G League’s Long Island Nets, and the NBA 2K LeagueNets GC. He continues to serve as executive vice president and general counsel of the company.

Narda Jones was appointed to be one of the seven lead members of President Joe Biden’s White House science team. She previously served as the senior technology policy advisor for the Democratic staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Jill Salmon was promoted to head of professional lines for the U.S. at Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance. She has been with BHSI since 2014.

Blair Todt joined health benefits company Anthem as executive vice president and chief legal officer. He was previously senior vice president and chief legal officer at Health Care Service Corporation.

Robert White was appointed first Assistant District Attorney of the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office.

Ari Markenson was one of the authors of What Is the Corporate Practice of Medicine and Fee Splitting? (American Bar Association Health Law Section, 2021). He is a partner and co-chair of Winston & Strawn’s healthcare and life sciences industry practice groups.

John Scannell joined CIB Marine Bancshares’ Board of Directors as an independent director. He is also a senior advisor at Hildene Capital Management.

Sanford Smokler was promoted to shareholder at Simmons Hanly Conroy in its complex litigation group. He focuses his practice on mass torts, including medical device, pharmaceutical, and opioid litigation.

Charles Ward was promoted to general counsel at Bow Wow Labs. He has been with the company since 2017.

Mitch Graffeo joined Tech Launch Arizona, University of Arizona, as its senior licensing manager. He was previously the owner and sole proprietor of Individualized IP Management.

John Lewis was appointed president and CEO of the United Nations Federal Credit Union. He previously served as UNFCU’s senior vice president of corporate affairs and general counsel.

Michael Mosberg was named chair of the American Bar Association’s family law section. Mosberg is a partner at Aronson Mayefsky & Sloan.

Laurie A. Stanziale joined Fox Rothschild as a partner in its construction and real estate practice groups. She was also included in the 2021 Crain’s New York Business Notable Women in Law. Stanziale was previously a partner at Tarter Krinsky & Drogin.

Laurie Grasso, a partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth, was included in the 2021 Crain’s New York Business Notable Women in Law.

Dean Steele joined Moses & Singer as a partner in its corporate and maritime and multimodal transportation practice groups. He was previously senior counsel at Norton Rose Fulbright.

Brian Guzman founded Guzman Advisory Partners, a firm that offers outsourced in-house legal services. Guzman was previously a partner at Indus Capital Partners.

Alexander Kaplan joined Oppenheim + Zebrak as a partner. Kaplan was previously a partner at Proskauer Rose. He practices in the areas of copyright, trademark, advertising, right of publicity, and trade secrets law.

Nicholas Pinto was appointed as a member of the Sea Cliff board of trustees. Pinto manages his own private practice, focused on criminal law.

Jeffrey Schulman was recognized by the New York Law Journal as a 2020 Litigation Trailblazer. He is a partner at Pasich, where he focuses his practice on insurance, construction defect, product liability, multimedia, asbestos, and first-party claims.

Krista Halpin joined Norris McLaughlin as an associate in its real estate and finance practice group and cooperative and condominium law industry group.

Ime Lopez joined Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center as a senior attorney in the Legal Information Network of Colorado Program. Lopez also recently joined the boards of directors for the Pikes Peak Pro Bono & Justice Center and Safe Passage.

Charles Montorio-Archer was appointed by Governor J.B. Pritzker to the Illinois Youth Budget Commission. He is currently the president and CEO of One Hope United.

Todd Albert was appointed Oregon’s public records advocate. He was previously deputy of the Office of the Public Records Advocate.

Angela Baglanzis-Mastrangelo joined Hyland Levin Shapiro as counsel in its restructuring, reorganization, and liquidation group. She was previously an attorney at Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel.

Andrew Bourne joined the insurance recovery firm Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna as a partner. He was previously with Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney.

Asim Grabowski-Shaikh was promoted to partner at BakerHostetler in its corporate transactions group.

Joshua Kopelowitz joined Fox Rothschild as a partner in its litigation and real estate practice groups. He was previously with Rosenberg & Estis.

Ory Apelboim was promoted to partner at Blank Rome. He focuses his practice on complex matrimonial and family law matters for high-net-worth individuals, including divorce, property distribution, child custody, spousal and child support, and marital agreements.

Nirav Patel attained board certification with the American Board of Plastic Surgery and is now a diplomate of the board. He has also been a fellow of the American College of Legal Medicine since 2018 and recently opened up his own surgical solo practice.

Sara Schramm, shareholder at Blasingame Burch Garrard & Ashley, was reappointed by Judge M. Casey Rodgers in the Northern District of Florida to a second term on the 3M Combat Arms Earplug product liability multidistrict litigation plaintiff leadership team.

James Cretella, member at Otterbourg, was named chair of the firm’s alternative and specialty finance practice group.

Michelle Gitlitz, a partner at Crowell & Moring, was included in the 2021 Crain’s New York Business Notable Women in Law.

Nicholas Palumbo joined Davis Polk & Wardwell as a partner in its finance practice group. He was previously a partner at White & Case.

Nicole Wyskoarko was promoted to executive vice president and co-head of artists and repertoire (A&R) at Interscope Geffen A&M. She was a partner at Carroll, Guido & Groffman before joining Interscope Geffen in 2018.

Jason Cade was named the University of Georgia School of Law’s associate dean for clinical programs and experiential learning. As associate dean, he works to enhance and advance the school’s 18 experiential learning offerings, which currently include its clinical courses and a wide range of simulation classes.

Brooke Crescenti was promoted to vice president and general counsel at Gucci, where she has worked since 2012.

Samir Ahuja was promoted to of counsel at Blank Rome. He focuses his practice on finance, restructuring, and bankruptcy matters.

Ross Hofherr was promoted to partner at Harris Beach. He focuses his practice on defense of consumer class actions, premises liability claims, and complex business disputes in state and federal courts.

David Knapp joined Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman as partner in its insurance group. He was previously a partner at Ward Greenberg Heller & Reidy.

Adam Koelsch joined McNees Wallace & Nurick as of counsel in its state and local tax practice group. He was previously a state and local tax manager at Grant Thornton.

Heather Maly joined Ice Miller as a partner in its business and litigation practice groups. She was previously an associate at Venable.

Valentina Shaknes was named a 2020 Distinguished Leader by the New York Law Journal. Shaknes and Caroline Krauss ’91 are co-founders of the family law firm Krauss Shaknes Tallentire & Messeri.

Erica Bernstein joined Macrae as a partner. Previously, she worked for the boutique recruiting firm she founded, Erica Michele Group.

Seth Cardeli joined Levin & Perconti as partner in its traumatic birth litigation group. He was previously a partner at Janet, Jenner & Suggs.

Adam Gregory was promoted to partner at Levine DeSantis. He focuses his practice on estate planning, wealth preservation, gifting strategies, federal gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes, and offshore tax controversies.

Meredith McBride was promoted to partner at Butler Tibbetts in its marital and family law practice group.

Aaron Prince joined Vinson & Elkins as a partner in its corporate practice group. He was previously a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Allan Rotlewicz returned to RumbergerKirk as a partner. He focuses his practice on first-party property and casualty defense claims. Rotlewicz will continue to serve his previous employer, Anchor Insurance Holdings, as outside general counsel.

Robert Sitman was promoted to managing director and head of asset management at Blackstone Mortgage Trust. Before joining Blackstone in 2014, Sitman was an associate at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.

Nicholas David was promoted to partner at Troutman Sanders. He is a member of the firm’s construction law practice, representing owners and developers through all phases of the development and construction process.

Alexander Drylewski was recognized by the New York Law Journal as a 2020 Rising Star. Drylewski is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in its securities and complex commercial litigation groups.

Gordon Sung was promoted to U.S. general counsel of Pony.ai, Inc., a global autonomous vehicles company. He was previously legal counsel for Kia Motors America.

Sparkle Sooknanan joined the Department of Justice as a Deputy Associate Attorney General. She was previously a partner at Jones Day.

Christopher Bouriat was promoted to partner at Reed Smith in its labor and employment practice group.

Jennifer Bouriat opened her own criminal defense and investigations firm, Jennifer Bouriat Law. She was previously a partner at Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti.

Christopher DiCicco was promoted to shareholder at Marshall Dennehey in its casualty group.

Mathew Dudley was promoted to partner at Harris Beach. He focuses his practice on zoning and land use.

Michael Scavelli was promoted to partner at Steptoe & Johnson. He focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, internal/government investigations, and white-collar criminal defense matters.

Brad Wanner was promoted to partner at Harris Beach. He focuses his practice on mass tort litigation, including products liability and commercial litigation.

Allison Arotsky joined Moritt Hock & Hamroff as an associate in its creditors’ rights, restructuring and bankruptcy practice group. She was previously an associate at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle.

Elizabeth Dahill was promoted to partner at Seyfarth Shaw in its real estate practice group.

Sagar Dalal joined Spearhead as managing director in its advanced wealth management division. He was previously senior vice president at Momentum Advanced Planning.

Jason Labate was promoted to partner at Goldstein Hall. His practice focuses on real estate and community development, nonprofit formation and governance, and real estate and project finance.

Kristina Srica was promoted to assistant chief in the Antitrust Division at U.S. Department of Justice, where she has worked since 2012.

Yamicha Stephenson was appointed to chair of the Corporate Counsel Section of the New York State Bar Association. She previously served as the section’s treasurer and secretary. Stephenson is currently a manager at Deloitte in its anti-money laundering and sanctions practice groups.

Adam Blander was promoted to partner at Wolf Popper. He focuses his practice on commercial and securities litigation, corporate governance, and consumer rights.

Karl Dowden was recognized by Super Lawyers as a 2020 New York Metro Rising Star in real estate law. He manages his own private practice.

Tyler O’Reilly was promoted to partner at Harris Beach. He focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, commercial contracts, and corporate governance.

Sherief Morsy joined McCune Wright Arevalo as an associate in its consumer fraud class actions and complex litigation matters group. He was previously a senior associate at Faruqi & Faruqi.

Erin Ogburn joined LPL Financial’s Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s 2021 Fellows Program. She is currently an assistant vice president and associate counsel at LPL Financial.

Jared Brenner was elected to the board of directors of Songwriters of North America. He is an associate at Stubbs Alderton & Markiles and previously practiced at WilmerHale.

Erica Carter joined Epic Games as counsel. She was previously counsel for Sesame Workshop.

Richard Quatrano was recognized by Super Lawyers as a 2020 New York Metro Rising Star in business and corporate law. He is an associate at Farrell Fritz.

Anthony Beneduce was recently elected to the board of directors of the Puerto Rican Bar Association. He currently serves as secretary to the Young Lawyers Committee of the New York County Lawyers Association. Beneduce is an associate at Zaremba Brown.

Michael Troiano joined Moritt Hock & Hamroff as an associate in its creditors’ rights, restructuring and bankruptcy practice group. He was previously a law clerk at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Brittany Parisi joined Wong Fleming as an associate in its commercial litigation, creditors’ rights and bankruptcy, and trial insurance defense and coverage practice groups.

George Peters joined Certilman Balin as an associate in its real estate and land use and zoning practice groups.