Fordham Lawyer Magazine – Summer/Fall 2022

Fordham Lawyer Summer/Fall 2022 logo
Reset,
Rebuild,
Reinvent:
The Future
of Our Town
Madeline Singas ’91 on
New York’s Highest Court
The Future is Fintech
Cura Personalis:
The Service of
Father McShane
Summer/Fall 2022
black downward arrow
SBA President Roosevelt Ettienne ’22 leading class at diploma ceremony
snapshot Student Bar Association President Roosevelt Ettienne ’22 leads the class at Fordham Law’s 115th Diploma Ceremony on May 28. See photos.
Photo by Chris Taggart

Contents – Summer/Fall 2022

Fordham Lawyer red logo
Summer/Fall 2022
Reset, Rebuild, Reinvent The Future of Our Town article snapshot
The Future is Fintech article snapshot
All Rise article snapshot
Reset, Rebuild, Reinvent The Future of Our Town article snapshot
His Own Write: What John Lennon Taught Me About Lawyering–and Life article snapshot
The Service of Father McShane article snapshot
The Embodiment of the Network article snapshot

Features

After more than two years of disruption, alumni and faculty are working to bring the future of New York City into the present.
In a rapidly changing market, alumni are staying ahead of the curve and finding new ways to innovate.
How the child of Greek immigrants became a member of the highest court in New York state.
Jay Bergen ’62 sings the ballad of what he learned from his time representing a Beatle in court.
A celebration of the 19-year tenure of the university president who sparked the fuel for the Law School’s rise to national prominence.
Assistant Dean Toni Jaeger-Fine, the architect of Fordham Law’s reputation on the international stage, makes her next move.

Departments

A new chapter for our city—and our University
Welcoming our new president
Notable news from Fordham Law alumni
Professor Dan Capra makes an impact on students
The National Center for Access to Justice charts a course to reform court fines and fees
New books by faculty, and the most newsworthy events of the year
These law students are standing out on Fordham Law School’s campus and beyond
The Law School celebrates its first full in-person Diploma Ceremony in two years
Edward Joyce ’86 shows up for others
Alumni celebrate the return of class reunions
Two alumni are taking the lead for Fordham Law’s future
When the unexpected occurs, Ryan Washington ’23 thinks on his feet
bobble head
Increasing Justice in New York book cover
three book covers
Chehak Gogia
115th Diploma Ceremony photo album article snapshot
Reunion photo album article snapshot
Luggage Lost, Confidence Found artwork
From the Dean

A New Chapter.

AS I WRITE, the fall semester is about to begin, at a moment when both Fordham Law School and New York City seem poised for a rebirth of sorts. After two years of pandemic-related restrictions and inestimable loss, a new kind of normal is returning to New York City, and to our Lincoln Center campus. In a way, you can’t really separate the two—New York City has always been the center of the legal profession, and its propulsive energy is built into Fordham Law School’s DNA.

But New York City’s influence stretches well past the city limits and across the globe, as does Fordham Law School’s. This issue celebrates the connection between the city we love and the school we love—highlighting the ideas, ideals, and leaders that are born and made here. Just as New York is integral to Fordham Law’s identity, our students and alumni have, in turn, made a significant mark on our city—and beyond. Wherever important things are happening, whether in the courtroom, the boardroom, or the halls of government, you’ll find Fordham lawyers contributing in ways that make the city and the world better. You’ll meet a few of these changemakers in these pages, starting with “Reset, Rebuild, Reinvent”. The story shines a light on the alumni and faculty who are rethinking that most New York of subjects—real estate—and how we can creatively adapt the physical landscape of our city to solve the affordable housing crisis that was laid bare and exacerbated by the pandemic.

MAKING HISTORY
MAKING HISTORY

Tania Tetlow
Named President
of Fordham;
First Woman and
First Attorney
to Lead the
Jesuit University
of New York

A photograph of Fordham University President Tania Tetlow smiling with her arms crossed

Tania Tetlow Named President of Fordham; First Woman and First Attorney to Lead the Jesuit University of New York

O

n July 1, Tania Tetlow, a former law professor and president of Loyola University New Orleans, started her tenure as the 33rd president of Fordham University. She is the first layperson, first woman, and the first attorney to lead the institution in its 181-year history.

Tetlow received her law degree from Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University. Prior to being named president of Loyola in 2018, she was senior vice president and chief of staff at Tulane, where she previously served as associate provost for international affairs, the Felder-Fayard Professor of Law, and director of the university’s domestic violence clinic. From 2000 to 2005, she was a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, where she specialized in general crimes, violent crimes, and major narcotics cases.

THE Docket

News of note from Fordham Law alumni
By Erin DeGregorio and Sejla Rizvic
A black and white close-up portrait photograph perspective of Shaoul Sussman speaking while holding a microphone
“Fordham Law has unique and exciting ties to the FTC and the work it is doing at the moment.”

Promoting Fair and Competitive Markets

Serving as attorney advisor to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan has been a great honor, “especially at this moment of renewed interest in antitrust and an ever-growing interest in privacy and consumer protection in digital markets,” according to Shaoul Sussman ’19. Since he joined Khan’s office last year, the FTC has brought some notable enforcement actions, including successfully moving ahead its monopolization complaint against Facebook and challenging a number of large vertical mergers, including those of Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne as well as chipmakers NVIDIA and Arm.

“This is a particularly exciting time to be involved in the [FTC]’s work,” said Sussman, citing President Biden’s executive order to promote competition and refocus antitrust enforcement as well as the significant antitrust and consumer protection legislation under consideration by Congress.

Reset, Rebuild, Reinvent

The Future of Our Town

More than two years after the start of the pandemic, New York City is beginning its latest reinvention. While much has changed, one thing remains the same: the outsize effect of the city’s real estate market on the lives of New Yorkers. Now, business leaders, activists, and academics are developing plans to address issues from remote work to gentrification in order to bring the future of the city into the present.
By Helene Stapinski
F

rom her 36th-floor office window, Bonnie Neuman ’06 can see the life trickling back into New York City. The dark days of the early pandemic are a fading memory, her young son is back at school, and work is “crazy busy” again. Neuman heads Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft’s real estate finance division in lower Manhattan, where she can see the tourists heading to the Freedom Tower or over to Battery Park to hop on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Their return to New York City means a return to normalcy for the hotel and hospitality sector that makes up a good part of her real estate finance business.

Illustration by Dan Stiles

Reset, Rebuild, Reinvent

Building Illustration
Illustration by Dan Stiles

The Future of Our Town

More than two years after the start of the pandemic, New York City is beginning its latest reinvention. While much has changed, one thing remains the same: the outsize effect of the city’s real estate market on the lives of New Yorkers. Now, business leaders, activists, and academics are developing plans to address issues from remote work to gentrification in order to bring the future of the city into the present.
By Helene Stapinski
F

rom her 36th-floor office window, Bonnie Neuman ’06 can see the life trickling back into New York City. The dark days of the early pandemic are a fading memory, her young son is back at school, and work is “crazy busy” again. Neuman heads Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft’s real estate finance division in lower Manhattan, where she can see the tourists heading to the Freedom Tower or over to Battery Park to hop on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Their return to New York City means a return to normalcy for the hotel and hospitality sector that makes up a good part of her real estate finance business.

The Future
is Fintech

As more and more transactions move online, New York City, the financial capital of the world, has become a hub for innovation in fintech.
While the markets whipsaw between record highs and resolve-testing lows, Fordham Law alumni are hard at work building the future of finance.
By Courtney Rubin
Donna Redel ’95 can trace the start of her career pivot to an engineer friend who told her, “You have to come to this meeting and learn about the blockchain1.” It was 2016, and the conversation around cryptocurrencies2 and the blockchain technology behind it was starting to reach critical mass. Everyone had a take: Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, was publicly skeptical of bitcoin (ironically, the event Redel attended was held at the company’s office). So Redel, the former managing director of the World Economic Forum, went to a women’s networking group event about the technology that enables the existence of cryptocurrency, among other things.

“I didn’t understand one word anybody said there, not one,” said Redel, who is also the only woman ever elected chairman of the board of Commodity Exchange. But she went home and read up on the subject. The more she learned, the more she saw it everywhere, with companies like Ernst & Young and Fidelity getting involved. “Before I knew it, I was knee-deep in it.”

She isn’t referring to the two framed prints backed by NFTs3—made for her by the pioneering cryptoartist Kevin Abosch—on her home office wall. In 2018, Redel developed a blockchain course at Fordham Law, soon after adding one on smart contracts, where computer code acts as a digital agreement between two parties, and another on decentralized finance, a blockchain-based ecosystem that doesn’t rely on banks or brokers for transactions.

Madeline Singas standing in courtroom

All Rise

All Rise
New York Court of Appeals Associate Judge

Madeline Singas ’91

Madeline Singas ’91
Last year, after 30 years of blazing trails, Madeline Singas ’91 was appointed to the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state. Now, she plans to use her voice on the bench to continue to serve justice and protect the vulnerable.
By Jennifer Altmann
Photos by Mitch Wojnarowicz
G

rowing up, Madeline Singas ’91 spent many afternoons at her family’s pizza shop in Queens, but she never pulled a hot slice from the oven or took a customer’s order. Her parents, immigrants from Greece who didn’t finish high school, never let her or her sister work at Singas Famous Pizza. She was there with her schoolbooks, doing homework.

“My parents didn’t speak English well, but the one word they mastered was ‘study,’ she recalled. “They saw education as a vehicle to a better life for their kids.”

That reverence for education led Singas to a 30-year career in the public sector, during which she focused on improving the lives of vulnerable groups, including the elderly, immigrants, and survivors of domestic violence. Her career also blazed a trail for Greek Americans: In 2015, she became the first Greek American woman to serve as a district attorney in New York state. And last year, Singas was appointed associate judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, the first Greek American to sit on the state’s highest court.

After graduating from Barnard with a degree in political science, Singas thrived at Fordham, where she was drawn to courses on criminal law. “There were a lot of children of immigrants and those from blue-collar families, and I felt a real affinity for them,” she said. She began her career as an assistant district attorney in New York’s Queens County, where she specialized in addressing domestic violence. “It was a time when women didn’t have a lot of faith in the criminal justice system to protect them in these situations, and often law enforcement didn’t take that crime as seriously as it took other crimes,” she said. “I couldn’t believe the amount of violence that children and women were subjected to in their own homes by people that purportedly loved them. I wanted to be a voice for them.”

His Own Write:
What John Lennon Taught Me
About Lawyering—and Life

Black and white portrait of Jay Bergen
Photos courtesy of Jay Bergen ’62

His Own Write: What John Lennon Taught Me About Lawyering—and Life

A new book by Jay Bergen ’62 reveals surprising details about his most famous client and the trial that reinforced his passion for the courtroom—and reignited his love of rock ’n’ roll.
By Paula Derrow
F

or 40 years, wherever he moved, from the New York metropolitan area to his current home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Jay Bergen FCRH ’59, LAW ’62, took six heavy banker’s boxes with him, transferring them from one garage or attic to another, where they continued to gather dust. “I always kept them with me, but I didn’t open them until five years ago,” said Bergen.

When he did, he couldn’t help but sit down on one of those boxes and lose himself in the reams of depositions and the trial and appeal records of a case he considers the highlight of his wide-ranging legal career: the two-year lawsuit he handled for John Lennon in 1975 and 1976 against Mafia-connected record company executive Morris Levy.

“When I read the transcripts from John Lennon’s testimony about how he and the Beatles became the Beatles, how they took control of the process of making an album, how they produced the covers, I realized that this was a good story—one that, surprisingly, had never really been told,” said Bergen. “And I know all the details.”

Photos courtesy of Jay Bergen ’62
illustration of Father McShane
Illustration by Kevin Sprouls
Cura Personalis

The Service of Father McShane

During his 19-year tenure as president of Fordham University, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., has lent his vision and given his deep commitment to the Law School. His leadership has been a driving force behind the Law School’s rise to become the nationally recognized institution it is today.
By Jennifer Altmann
collage of images with Father McShane
From left, Father McShane at the Law School diploma ceremony in 2021; with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan in 2018; cutting the ribbon at the new Law School building dedication in 2016; and speaking at the FLAA Annual Luncheon in 2011
IN THE LATE 1930s, Owen McShane started classes at Fordham Law School. A high school teacher and coach, he attended evening classes before going home to his young family. He was deeply influenced by the Law School’s emphasis on service, and, after graduating as a member of the Class of 1940, he would go on to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II and worked for many years at the U.S. State Department.

That commitment to service left an indelible mark on McShane’s son: Joseph M. McShane, who would go on to become a Jesuit and the president of Fordham University. “[My father] was immensely proud of the Law School and grateful for his Fordham education,” Father McShane said. “The emphasis on service really changed him.”

That ethos was the driving force behind Father McShane’s transformative leadership of the University. He has been intimately involved with the Law School during his tenure, from reshaping the physical campus to enhancing the school’s academic quality.

The Embodiment of the Network

A Salute to Assistant Dean
Toni Jaeger-Fine typography
Over the 16 years she has led its non-J.D. programs, Assistant Dean Toni Jaeger-Fine has helped Fordham Law grow into an international power-house by never forgetting the power of connection.
By Elaine R. Friedman
THe innovator, architect, and “force of nature” responsible for creating and sustaining most of Fordham Law’s impressive roster of internationally acclaimed non-J.D. programs (including nine LL.M. programs, an S.J.D. degree, two M.S.L. programs, and eight certificate programs) is Assistant Dean of International and Non-J.D. Programs Toni Jaeger-Fine. Jaeger-Fine joined Fordham Law in 2006; she will be stepping down at the end of the 2021–22 academic year, but will remain a part of the Fordham family in the role of senior counselor. The author of five books, a gifted and magnetic teacher at Fordham and worldwide, and a sought-after speaker in national and global forums, Jaeger-Fine not only raised Fordham Law’s international profile to new heights, but also launched and advanced the careers of her many students and program participants.

Jaeger-Fine catapulted Fordham Law into a highly respected player on the international stage “through her sheer force of will,” said Dean Matthew Diller when presenting her with the 2022 Dean’s Medal of Recognition in May. Under Jaeger-Fine’s 16-year tenure, Fordham Law established new LL.M. programs, online degrees in Compliance and U.S. Law, the innovative M.S.L. program, the S.J.D. program, the Legal English Institute, the Summer Institute, the Pre-Law Institute, the Structural Issues in Law Firm Management program, and the RISE Leadership Academy for the Advancement of Women in Law. “None of these programs would exist without Toni’s leadership,” said Dean Diller.

IN THEIR ELEMENT
IN THEIR ELEMENT
Professor Dan Capra in his office
Photos by Chris Taggart
Professor Dan Capra typography with Trophy

Professor Dan Capra

People like to say that it’s tough to get things done in Washington, D.C., these days. That’s not the case for Dan Capra, Philip Reed Professor of Law. As reporter to the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules since 1996, he has been responsible for 20 substantive amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence—including, most recently, more regulations for expert witnesses. “We’re trying to limit overstatement of forensic opinions, like saying a bullet is an exact match to a gun, when guns are not unique,” said Capra. “Many defendants have gone to jail unjustly because of this kind of overstated expert testimony.”
justice scale logo
In Our Corner
Highlighting stories around the A2J initiative at Fordham Law School
Increasing Justice in New York

A Map for Progress on Fines and Fees

Through an innovative new report, the National Center for Access to Justice at Fordham Law is working state by state to reform court fines and fees and remove the extraordinary burden they place on the vulnerable.
By Elaine R. Friedman
S

hortly before the pandemic, a judge in the Drug Court Part in Bronx Criminal Court tried to persuade a young man to enter a drug treatment program. However, the man said he couldn’t afford to stop working his job at a flooring company to address his substance abuse issues due to the huge fines and fees attached to his offenses hanging over his head. There was no leeway; due to a New York state law passed during the 1990s, the height of the “tough on crime” era, the judge could not waive the mandatory court fines and fees because of the young man’s inability to pay, nor as an incentive for the young man to complete treatment. As a result, the young man declined critical assistance.

In August 2019, Peggy Herrera, a mother from Queens, called emergency services when her 16-year-old son, who had been previously criminalized for his mental health issues, experienced an anxiety attack. After counseling, her son calmed down. The police, however, proceeded to remove her son from their home. Herrera, who had never been arrested, told the police she could assist her son herself. As she described in the New York Daily News, Herrera was tackled from behind and arrested. The following March, Herrera’s charges were dropped, but she and her family remain trapped in debt from mandated fines and fees.

Around the Law School

 Around the Law School
read the full stories and more at news.law.fordham.edu

Leaders & Icons

Women Sweep the Slate as Journal Editors-in-Chief

For the second time in Law School history, all six student-run journals were led by women editors-in-chief: Shazell Archer ’22 of the Fordham Urban Law Journal; Alexandra Bieler ’22 of the Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law; Claudia Carollo ’22 of the Fordham Environmental Law Review; Tatiana Hyman ’22 of the Fordham Law Review; Laura Rann ’22 of the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal; and Magdalen Sullivan ’22 of the Fordham International Law Journal.

“It [was] so fulfilling to solicit authors … and work with them to develop informative and impactful literature,” said Archer. “I’m honored to have led my journal and to be a representation of what women can do.”

Alexandra Bieler ’22, Magdalen Sullivan ’22; Tatiana Hyman ’22, Claudia Carollo ’22, Laura Rann ’22, and Shazell Archer ’22 all standing on a set of stairs, smiling
From left: Alexandra Bieler ’22, Magdalen Sullivan ’22; Tatiana Hyman ’22, Claudia Carollo ’22, Laura Rann ’22, and Shazell Archer ’22

Ruth Whitehead Whaley, Class of 1924, Honored with Historical Plaque

In May 2022, Ruth Whitehead Whaley, the first Black woman to be admitted to Fordham University and member of the Law School Class of 1924, was honored with a historical highway marker in her hometown of Goldsboro, North Carolina. She was the first Black woman ever admitted to the bar in the state of North Carolina and among the first admitted in New York. An expert in civil service law, she was secretary of the New York City Board of Estimate from 1951 to 1973, the first president of the New York City National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women, and president of the National Council for Negro Women.

Whitehead Whaley died in 1977 at the age of 76, though her legacy has endured. Today, Fordham Law students in the top 25 percent of their class are honored as Ruth Whitehead Whaley Scholars and the Black Law Students Association bestows an annual Ruth Whitehead Whaley Trailblazing Alumnus Award to alumni who embody her “bold spirit and commitment to excellence.”

The historical plaque in North Carolina stands at the corner of Ash and John streets in Goldsboro, just half a mile from Whitehead Whaley’s childhood home. Summarizing her legacy in just a few short words, the plaque reads: “Ruth W. Whaley, (1901-1977), Pioneer Female African American Lawyer.”

Ruth W. Whaley sign

#FutureFordhamLawyers Pave Their Own Paths

#FutureFordhamLawyers Pave Their Own Paths typography

These law students and recent graduates have been inspiring others on Fordham Law School’s campus, in their communities, and beyond.

Follow us for more #FutureFordhamLawyers @FordhamLawNYC

Cameron A. Kasanzew photographed sitting on the steps of a doorway

Cameron A. Kasanzew ’23

Aspiring Problem Solver
“During high school, I interned with Judge Nushin Sayfie ’93, Chief Judge of the Florida 11th Judicial Circuit, and volunteered at a nonprofit immigration law firm in my hometown of Miami. I found those early experiences to be foundational in my law career because they helped me realize my passion for law and policy and led me to become the person I am today. I’m working as a summer associate at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where I’ll be learning the ropes and dipping my toes in different areas of law. I’m passionate about stepping up and being a problem solver during times of crisis. When a company is facing litigation during the most critical moment, I want to be that person they pick up the phone and call for help. I’m looking forward to learning from experienced and successful attorneys, who will help me become the best lawyer that I can be.”
central view of the 115th Diploma Ceremony

Photo
Album

115th Diploma Ceremony On May 23, Fordham Law celebrated its first full in-person commencement event in two years. Blessed with brilliant sun and a clear blue sky, approximately 4,500 guests traveled to the University’s Rose Hill campus to celebrate the accomplishments of the 634 graduates. Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York served as this year’s distinguished speaker.

Fordham Law Alumni Association

“I Believe in
Showing Up”

A Q&A with Incoming FLAA President
Edward M. Joyce ’86

portrait of Edward M. Joyce

For the Fordham Law Alumni Association’s new president, the Law School is not just close to his heart—it’s family. In this Q&A, he talks about what Fordham Law means to him, the role service plays in his life, and how he plans to use his passion to bring growing numbers of alumni into the fold.

By Paula Derrow
Q. When you think about your own experience at Fordham Law, what stands out most?

A. I’ll never forget the time during our orientation in the fall of 1983 when John Feerick gave a speech in the old Lowenstein Auditorium. I was 22, and he had graduated from Fordham the year I was born. I was immediately taken by him. There are some people who have a bedside manner and others who don’t, and John truly has empathy. He was always looking to figure out how to help you, both as a student and once you graduated. I also fell in love with my professors, including Hugh Hansen, Maria Marcus, Joseph Perillo, and Georgene Vairo, among others. After my first year, I wrote on to both the International Law Journal and the Urban Law Journal, and I joined the ULJ—eventually becoming a commentary editor during my third year. My daughter, Kayla, is also on the ULJ, and the first thing she saw when she walked into the journal’s office was a photograph of me as a student—with a lot of big hair. I also did moot court. The ULJ and moot court offices were right across the hall from each other in the old building, which was very convenient, since I was spending 24/7 on campus during the week.

two alumni share a big hug
a alumni stands a podium holding a bottle of wine
wide view of a large banquet room full of alumni and event attendees

Photo
Album

Reunion Three hundred alumni celebrated at the long-awaited return of a beloved Law School tradition—class reunion. Held April 7, the event marked the first time classmates could reunite as a group in three years. The Classes of 2020 and 2021 were also invited celebrate their accomplishments—and, for members of the Class of 2020, it was their first opportunity to come together in person since their graduation at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Campaign update banner short
Planned Giving

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Fordham Law’s FORWARD campaign continues to raise the philanthropic support needed to enhance students’ experiences, education, and engagement. Thanks to the Fordham Law community’s future-focused philanthropy, students—current and yet to come—are realizing the transformative potential of a legal education.

By Erin DeGregorio

Brian J. McCarthy headshot
Brian J. McCarthy ’78, co-chair of the FORWARD campaign, has a century-old history with Fordham that goes back three generations. His father, Maurice J. McCarthy Jr., was a graduate of Fordham College (1932) and the Law School (1935), and his grandfather was a leader on campus—teaching at the College and coaching the College’s football and track teams in the early 1900s. Now, McCarthy wants to extend the familial legacy in his own way.
Ralph Craviso headshot
When Ralph Craviso, FCRH ’69, LAW ’73, attended a Law School function prior to the pandemic, one line from a speech by Dean Matthew Diller resonated with him: “We teach people how to think like lawyers.”

“When I look at my career, I did not go into a law firm,” said Craviso, “[but] the gift Fordham Law gave me—to think like a lawyer—is with me in everything I do.”

Brian J. McCarthy headshot
Brian J. McCarthy ’78, co-chair of the FORWARD campaign, has a century-old history with Fordham that goes back three generations. His father, Maurice J. McCarthy Jr., was a graduate of Fordham College (1932) and the Law School (1935), and his grandfather was a leader on campus—teaching at the College and coaching the College’s football and track teams in the early 1900s. Now, McCarthy wants to extend the familial legacy in his own way.
Ralph Craviso headshot
When Ralph Craviso, FCRH ’69, LAW ’73, attended a Law School function prior to the pandemic, one line from a speech by Dean Matthew Diller resonated with him: “We teach people how to think like lawyers.”

“When I look at my career, I did not go into a law firm,” said Craviso, “[but] the gift Fordham Law gave me—to think like a lawyer—is with me in everything I do.”

Class Notes

’61

Dean Emeritus John Feerick was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Bar Foundation. He was also honored by the Benedictine Sisters of Kylemore Abbey on April 20 at Club 101.

’72

Hon. Jacqueline Silbermann presented an alumni talk at her 50th reunion titled “From Fordham to One’s Dreams.”

’96

Daniel G. Ecker was elected as the chair of the trial lawyer section of the New York State Bar Association.

Michael Ross Feinsod was named CEO and chairman of the board of directors for Bespoke Extracts.

Joyce McCarthy was appointed general counsel of Central Garden & Pet, based in Walnut Creek, California.

’08

Melissa G. R. Goldstein was elected to the partnership of Schulte Roth & Zabel in the Washington, D.C., office.

Daniel A. Gottesman was elected to the management committee at Ulmer & Berne in the Cleveland office.

Tiffany Hall was named executive vice president and general counsel for Mastercard, North America.

ONLY @ FORDHAM LAW

An illustrative representation of Ryan Washington conducting an improv speech in front of an audience

Luggage Lost, Confidence Found

What would you do if you had to give a talk and all your notes and slides—and even your outfit—went missing? For Ryan Washington ’23, the response came naturally.
By Paula Derrow | Illustration by Tom Bachtell

When Ryan Washington decided he wanted to be a lawyer as an undergraduate at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, he didn’t have to look far for mentors. “I joined Morehouse’s moot court program,” said Washington, 26. “That’s where I met [Fordham Law alum] Darius Johnson [’21], and the rest is history.” Washington followed Johnson to Fordham Law School because “I wanted to learn the law in a place that was rigorous. Fordham gives you the skills to be able to talk to anyone, to litigate any matter.”

Those skills came in especially handy when Washington returned to Morehouse in February of 2022 during Black History Month to talk to prospective law students at his alma mater and other historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). “I’ve been an assistant coach for Morehouse’s moot court program, and I wanted to let students know that while being a lawyer isn’t just like Law & Order, it’s possible to really make an impact,” he said.

The Dean’s Society

The Dean's Society typography logo
A collage of photographs assembled together of The Dean's Society members

Become a member of the Dean’s Society today!

The Dean’s Society comprises a select and distinguished group of alumni and friends who lead the Law School in annual giving by making a donation of $2,500 or more in a fiscal year. (Graduates 10 years out or fewer are welcomed into the Society with gifts of $1,000 or more.) These donors provide the Dean with critical resources to address immediate needs, including funding for new programs, support for comprehensive learning experiences, financial aid for exceptional students, and so much more.

Dean’s Society members are deeply committed to the future of the Law School and affirm the power of a Fordham Law degree through their unalloyed support. They are honored at a private reception held each fall at the Law School.

Ready to learn more and join? Visit law.fordham.edu/deanssociety or call the Development Office at 212-636-6529.
A landscape photograph perspective of Tania Tetlow (Fordham University's 33rd President) smiling as she poses for a picture

A NEW ERA

On July 1, Tania Tetlow began her tenure as the 33rd president of Fordham University. A former law professor, she previously served as president of Loyola University New Orleans since 2018. She is the first layperson, first woman, and the first attorney to lead the institution in its 181-year history.

Meet our University’s inspiring new leader in the next issue of Fordham Lawyer.

Fordham Lawyer logo

Mail:
Fordham Lawyer
Attn: Communications Office
Fordham Law School
150 West 62nd Street
New York, NY 10023

Email:
fordhamlawyer@law.fordham.edu

Online:
law.fordham.edu/fordhamlawyer

Dean
Matthew Diller
Editorial Board
Vera Tkachuk
Assistant Dean, Fordham Law School, and AVP for External Relations, Fordham University

Youngjae Lee
Associate Dean for Research

Ornela Ramaj Rudovic
Director of Alumni Relations

Elizabeth McKeveny
Senior Director of Development Operations

Senior Editor
Dominick DeGaetano
Creative Director
Robert Yasharian
Senior Executive Director, Communications and Marketing
Victoria Grantham
Fordham Lawyer Summer/Fall 2022 logo
Thanks for reading our Summer/Fall 2022 issue!