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Alumni News and Notes
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news & notes
ALUMNI
Tributes, a Wine Tasting, Seminars,
and Reunions Add to Campus Life
Lieberman and Weiss Join Board
New Alumni Director Starts
United States Supreme Court Group Admission
Graduates Direct Funds to Bet Tzedek
New Cardozo Alumni Association Officers
Letters
Tributes, a Wine Tasting, Seminars, and Reunions
Add to Campus Life
Alumni were back on campus this fall to serve as mentors to current
students, see old classmates, and pay tribute to Cardozo's deans. A cocktail
party held in October honored deans Paul Verkuil and Michael Herz for achievements
during their tenures. The theme, "Fighting for Cardozo's Future," was carried
through with music from the film Rocky and antique English boxing
gloves for each dean. 
A holiday wine tasting and networking party at Union Square Wines in
early December brought NYC alums together to sample nine wines. The event
was so well attended that it was standing room only.
Laurence Gottlieb '93, Marc Mukasey '93, Nikiforos Mathews '96, Joel
Schmidt '96, Craig Warkol '99, and Susan Schwab '00 spoke to current students
about their post graduate clerkship experiences and encouraged them to
pursue this rewarding opportunity. At a luncheon for students, Donald Scherer
'93, CEO of Crossborder Solutions, discussed various aspects of life at
an Internet company and how the study of law provides a useful backround
for business. Alumni Association Chair Joshua Sohn '97 reserved the conference
room, which was filled to capacity, at Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe,
L.L.P. for an alumni breakfast; Howard Abrahams '94 brought in Bradford
Hildebrandt of Hildebrandt, Inc. to speak. Mr. Hildebrandt, who has been
a consultant to many of the recent law firm mergers around the world, discussed
significant aspects of law firm strategies, mergers and acquisitions, practice
management, partner and associate compensation structures, and New York
City real estate leases. Three student organizations hosted their annual
reunions this fall. BALLSA gave a cocktail party with live music. The Arts
& Entertainment Law Journal held its annual dinner following the
Tenzer Distinguished lecture, featuring Q. Todd Dickinson, under secretary
of commerce for intellectual property and director of the US Patent Office.
The annual Law Review alumni party was held at the Manhattan Penthouse,
bringing together professors, alumni, and current students.
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(From left) Vivien Naim '88, Howard Lieb '83, Melanie Leslie '91, Lisa
Foy '93, Maxine Stein '94, Robert Bernstein '95, Tricia Pantzer '95, Dean
Verkuil, Dean Herz, Lawrence Klein '94. |
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(From left) Aliya Nelson '01, Samuel Tsegaye '02, Michelle Ricardo
'02, and John Potter '00 at BALLSA reunion. |
Lieberman and Weiss Join Board
At the annual Board of Directors dinner new board members Mark
Lieberman '84 and Stephen Weiss '90 were introduced. Chairman Earle Mack
presented Dean Verkuil with a Baccarat crystal gavel to
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commemorate his
tenure as dean. The highlight of the evening featured Prof. Larry Cunningham
'88, who gave a preview of his new book, How to Think Like Benjamin
Graham and Invest Like Warren Buffett.
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Chairman Earle Mack and Mark Lieberman '84 |
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Stephen Weiss '90, Rachel Warren '92, and
Prof. Larry Cunningham '88 |
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Lisa Foy '93, Josh Sohn '97, and YU President Norman Lamm |
New Alumni Director Starts
Barbara
A. Birch was named director of alumni affairs and started at Cardozo on
January 2. For the past four years, she has been at Hofstra University
School of Law, most recently as assistant dean for law alumni affairs.
In that position, she had responsibility for alumni programming and the
annual fund. She is currently studying at Hofstra for an MBA in marketing
and anticipates graduating in May 2002. She holds a BA summa cum laude
from State University of New York at Binghamton.
United States Supreme Court Group Admission
Be admitted to the US Supreme Court with fellow Cardozo alumni. Join
us in Washington, DC on March 27, 2001, for the swearing-in ceremony and
to hear oral arguments. For more information and to make a reservation,
call Barbara Birch, director of alumni affairs, at 212-790-0298. Space
is limited.
New Cardozo Alumni Association Officers
The Cardozo Alumni Association elected new officers in June 2000.
They are Joshua Sohn '97, chair; Lisa Foy '93, senior vice chair; Stephanie
Gayden '93, program vice chair; Tricia Cohen Pantzer '98, treasurer; Robert
Bernstein '95, corresponding secretary; and Lawrence Klein '94, recording
secretary. The Executive Committee is looking for volunteers to serve on
the following standing committees: CLE-Career Development, Student Relations,
Non-Legal Attorneys, and Outreach. To volunteer, contact the Office of
Alumni Affairs at 212-790-0298. Donna Costa '87 and James E. Schwalbe '93
have been named chairs for the 2001 Alumni Annual Fund. Special thanks
to Stephen A. Weiss '90 and Christopher A. Seeger '90 for their superb
leadership during the past two academic years. Alumni who want to assist
with this year's annual fund should contact the Office of Alumni Affairs
at 212-790-0298.
Graduates Direct Funds to Bet Tzedek
(From left) Prof. Toby Golick, Rochelle
Feder Hansen '79, Dean Verkuil, and Joel Strauss '92.
Two Cardozo graduates were co-lead counsel in a securities class action
suit and have directed $50,000 from the settlement to the Bet Tzedek Legal
Clinic. Joel Strauss '92 of Kaplan, Kilsheimer & Fox LLP and Rochelle
Feder Hansen '79 of Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP represented
plaintiffs/shareholders in an alleged stock market fraud. They were successful
in negotiating a favorable settlement for the victims. After distributing
the monies to class members at a rate of 110% of their losses there was
money remaining in the settlement fund. According to the terms of the settlement,
those monies would be distributed to consumer advocacy organizations in
accordance with the cy pres doctrine."Rochell
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e and I discussed beneficiaries;
we recognized the good work that Bet Tzedek does, and as alumni of Cardozo
we thought this would be an appropriate organization," said Joel. Toby
Golick, director of the clinic, commented: "$50,000 is a significant donation
and can positively impact the work we do here. It means a lot to us that
Cardozo alums are responsible for this donation."
Letters
Another Tribute to Morris Abram
After reading [Dean Verkuil's] tribute to Morris Abram
in the Summer 2000 issue of Cardozo Life (p.15), I wanted to share with
you an encounter I had with Morris near the end of his life.
In the fall of 1999, I was invited by Morris's son
and daughter-in-law to their home for dinner. Upon arriving, I was introduced
to Morris, who was, according to his daughter-in-law, "also a lawyer."
Exhausted from a full day at work, and somewhat regretting having accepted
a mid-week dinner invitation, I sat down with Morris in a corner of the
living room and prepared to make small talk until dinner was served.
What followed was one of the most engaging and memorable
conversations I have had with anyone (much less a brand-new acquaintance)
in a very long time. In the span of a half-hour or so, we covered a wide
range of topics, including the practice of law, classical music, and the
influence of MTV on popular culture! When he learned I had graduated from
Cardozo, Morris asked many questions about the current status of the school,
its faculty, and my experience there.
I thought about my conversation with Morris for
many days. Apart from the diverse and stimulating topics we covered, I
felt privileged to have met one of the founding forces behind a school
at which I spent three of the most challenging and enjoyable years of my
life.
Perhaps for Morris there was a feeling as well of
having come full circle. When I mentioned to Morris's son several days
later how very much I had enjoyed talking with his father, his son replied
that Morris had told him that his conversation with me somehow had made
worthwhile all the effort he had put in to help establish Cardozo many
years ago.
When I learned of his death, I felt both a deep
pang of sadness and a gratefulness that I'd had the opportunity to meet
such an extraordinary person, if only briefly. Reading your tribute to
Morris revived those feelings for me and prompted me to offer a tribute
of my own to a remarkable man.
- Jennifer Newcomb '97
Letter from Sarajevo
I'm a law clerk at an international court, The Human
Rights Chamber, which was set up under the Dayton Peace Accord. It hears
claims of human rights violations arising under the European Convention
of Human Rights that have occurred since the signing of the Dayton Peace
Accord (December 14, 1995) to the present. The court meets for one week
every month and is made up of 14 judges: six are national (two Bosnian,
two Croatian, and two Serbian) and eight are international, from all over
Europe. Most of the cases involve property issues: People are trying to
get their homes back. The court also hears cases regarding treatment of
war criminals, frozen bank accounts, and religious property destroyed during
the war, as well as ones involving labor rights, discrimination, fair trials,
pensions, etc. The law clerks- about five international lawyers paid by
our respective governments- prepare the cases and draft memoranda and decisions
for the judges to review. We present the cases, they question us, discuss
the cases, and then make decisions on them.
It is very interesting to watch the international
community immerse itself so completely in the rebuilding of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. It is particularly interesting for me to observe the international
community's work in an area where there has been
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an extreme case of ethnic
conflict resulting in what was essentially ethnic cleansing. One of the
main objectives of Dayton is to reverse the effects of the cleansing. However,
the country is divided between the groups- each with much local autonomy-
and the federal government is very weak. Accordingly, it is an uphill battle.
The court has issued approximately 500 decisions
in the five years it has been in existence and has about 4,500 cases pending.
I guess the question remains whether it is really possible to impose consensus
from the outside. I suppose only time will tell.
- Sheri Rosenberg '94
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Barbara
A. Birch was named director of alumni affairs and started at Cardozo on
January 2. For the past four years, she has been at Hofstra University
School of Law, most recently as assistant dean for law alumni affairs.
In that position, she had responsibility for alumni programming and the
annual fund. She is currently studying at Hofstra for an MBA in marketing
and anticipates graduating in May 2002. She holds a BA summa cum laude
from State University of New York at Binghamton.
