Fordham Lawyer Magazine – Winter/Spring 2023

Fordham Lawyer Winter/Spring 2023 logo
illustration of birds with various human faces on the wings and bodies

The Leadership Issue

Celebrating our community of dynamic changemakers—of both today and tomorrow
President Tetlow and Dean Diller in Conversation
Celebrating 50 Years of the Black Law Students Association at Fordham
Profiles:
DA Anne Donnelly ’89
Rep. Jerry Nadler ’78
Winter/Spring 2023
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Dean Matthew Diller and President Tania Tetlow discuss leadership, lawyers, and more in a sit-down interview

SNAPSHOT

typographic logo with two corner border edges that surround the word BEHIND THE SCENES Dean Matthew Diller and President Tania Tetlow discuss leadership, lawyers, and more. Read the story in this issue.
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BEHIND THE SCENES Dean Matthew Diller and President Tania Tetlow discuss leadership, lawyers, and more. Read the story on page 8 or watch the conversation.

Photo by Chris Taggart

Contents – Summer/Fall 2022

Fordham Lawyer red logo
Winter/Spring 2023
Leading with Authenticity article snapshot
The Leadership Lab article snapshot
Doing the Right Thing article snapshot
A More Perfect Union, One Law at a Time article snapshot
Profiles in Action article snapshot
Those Who Have Come Before article snapshot

Features

Fordham University President Tania Tetlow joins Dean Matthew Diller to discuss what it takes to lead today—and how to produce leaders of tomorrow.
Through innovative programming, Fordham Law creates opportunities for up-and-coming leaders.
As district attorney, Anne Donnelly ’89 strengthens the Nassau County D.A.’s Office’s commitments to service and community.
U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler ’78, now in his 31st year in Congress, on how to lead a life of service.
Six members of our community at the start of their careers share lessons learned in inspiring and leading others from any point on the org chart.
As Fordham Law’s Black Law Students Association turns 50, the organization’s existence is more important than ever.

Departments

How Fordham Law builds a community of leaders
Notable news from Fordham Law alumni
Former Dean John Feerick is still very much rooted in the present—and looking to the future
These law students are standing out on Fordham Law School’s campus and beyond
Students in the Criminal Defense Clinic work with Legal Aid lawyers to innovate in mitigation advocacy
Fordham Law clinics help prepare students for their future careers through practice
A new podcast and the most newsworthy events of the year
Merck Chair Ken Frazier Receives the 2022 Fordham-Stein Prize
A focus on faculty funding
In class, two students discover a historical connection
Photo of Rosevelle Morales
Dean John Feedrick article snapshot
In Our Corner article snapshot
Meeting the Moment article snapshot
#FutureFordhamLawyers Drive for Success article snapshot
Around the Law School article snapshot
Photo Album article snapshot
Almost Family article snapshot
Picture of cubes demonstrating a network.
From the Dean

The Makings of a Leader.

T

hrough all the upheavals of the past few years, one of the many lessons we’ve learned is the tremendous importance of leadership. In the face of each crisis, many people rose to
meet the moment—some of whom were already established leaders, others new and from unexpected places. We could not have navigated all of these challenges without their efforts.

But what makes a good leader? And how can we build communities that are prepared to meet upcoming challenges while also keeping all of their members in mind? One of our responsibilities at Fordham Law is to train the leaders of tomorrow. Our graduates are leaders in the legal profession, as well as in business, government, and the nonprofit sector. Moreover, lawyers have a special role in our democracy and are often called upon to guide us through our most difficult issues. Thus, how we train lawyers to use their expertise and vision to inspire others and to build resilient communities and organizations is of the utmost importance.

THE Docket

News of note from Fordham Law alumni
By Erin DeGregorio and Sejla Rizvic

My Little Law Firm

photo of angela autier-chanot
Angela Autier-Chanot ’19. remembers wanting to pursue law since she was young, out of a sense of justice and a desire to have an impact. “I couldn’t accept unfair situations,” she said.

Already a practicing lawyer in France, Autier-Chanot first came to Fordham Law through the Legal English Institute before pursuing her LL.M. in 2018. She’s now started her own Paris-based firm focused on employment law, including cases related to gender discrimination in the workplace.

But her career journey was not without its hurdles, she said, including the difficulties of juggling her career and parenthood after the birth of her first child. Despite feeling that motherhood had made her a better lawyer, there were practical issues standing in her way—like childcare. She found an American Bar Association study that confirmed this was a common issue: 46 percent of women lawyers have stated work-life balance and the lack of support for family and child caretaking responsibilities as one of the main reasons why they leave the profession.

“There was no support whatsoever for women lawyers like me, who are ambitious but who also care about their children and want a more balanced life,” said Autier-Chanot. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these issues and reinforced the isolation faced by women lawyers when they become mothers, said Autier-Chanot. “And that was my ‘aha’ moment.”

Autier-Chanot came up with the idea for My Little Law Firm, combining a child day care center and a co-working space designed for women lawyers. The idea is still in the early stages of development, but Autier-Chanot is confident the center would be a valuable resource for working mothers.

“I have a daughter, and if she was to be a lawyer, I would not want her to go through what I’ve been through,” says Autier-Chanot. “That’s why I would like to improve the condition of women in the legal profession. Because that’s what we’re supposed to do—make things better for the next generation.”

Dean Matthew Diller in black suit and President Tania Tetlow in powder blue dress

Leading with Authenticity

A conversation between
Fordham University President Tania Tetlow
& Fordham Law Dean Matthew Diller
What does it take to be a true leader in troubling times? As 2022 drew to a close, Dean Matthew Diller sat down with Tania Tetlow, Fordham University’s new president, to discuss their own unique styles of leadership, the crucial role lawyers have in solving the hard problems of our democracy, and how to prepare law students for a career “in the service of others.”
Edited by Paula Derrow
Photos by Chris Taggart
Dean Matthew Diller: I wanted to start by talking with you about leadership—what it means, your philosophy of leading, and how your legal training and experience play into it.

President Tania Tetlow: One thing I’ve learned is that you have to have a variety of skills—it’s the range that matters. And you must be authentic. The myth of perfectionism is just silliness.

MD: How did you come to that realization?

TT: In some ways, it’s my awareness of what Saint Ignatius [the founder of the Jesuits] knew, 500 years before all the business school reviews came up with it. [To be a good leader] you need to be aware of your own flaws, have the ability to listen hard and take in information in all sorts of ways, and then be able to sit with it and give decisions the time they need while checking your gut and your values.

The Leadership Lab

At Fordham Law, opportunities abound for up-and-coming leaders.
By Suzi Morales
Khasim Lockhart headshot
I

t’s a situation to which nearly any New York attorney can relate: Khasim Lockhart ’18 was stuck in traffic on his way to work. As his stress level rose, he navigated Manhattan rush hour driving while calling—hands-free, of course—into his office at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, where he is an associate, to manage his morning schedule.

Then Lockhart remembered a recent discussion on stress management he’d had with the students in his Peer Mentoring & Leadership course at Fordham Law. “My class topic was on stress and how to make stress your friend,” said Lockhart, an adjunct professor at the Law School. “So, rather than getting down on myself, I remembered the class I’d taught.”

Lockhart’s leadership mindset hasn’t helped him only in traffic. Now a fifth-year associate, he is already serving on firm committees. As the chair of the firm’s racial justice task force, he—as a midlevel associate—leads biweekly discussions attended by firm leaders.

Lockhart credited his leadership mindset in part to what he learned at Fordham Law: “Fordham always told me yes.”

digital illustration of birds flying and faces on their wings

Doing the
Right Thing

District Attorney, County of Nassau, N.Y. seal
After 32 years as a prosecutor in Nassau County, District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly ’89 is now leading the office with the commitments to service and to her community that have always guided her.
By Elaine R. Friedman
"F

ordham Law’s motto, ‘In the service of others,’ is how I was raised,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly ’89. “We were taught that no matter what type of law you practiced, an attorney is there to be of service to others.”

As a young girl, Donnelly often accompanied her father, Patrick Galligan, a court officer at the Nassau County Courthouse, to work. At her inauguration in January 2022, Donnelly said, “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine [that] one day I would be the district attorney in the same courthouse where my father worked.”

As a Fordham undergraduate (Class of 1986), Donnelly majored in English and minored in philosophy. Inspired by her father’s career, she seriously considered becoming a police officer. However, he would remind her of the positive impact of the attorneys in public service she witnessed as a child at the courthouse. With his encouragement, Donnelly shifted course and applied to law school.

Sadly, Patrick passed away before Anne’s law school acceptance letters rolled in. Donnelly credits her mother, Barbara Galligan, for helping her remain focused on pursuing her legal education despite her own and her family’s profound loss.

close view of Anne T. Donnelly smiling with her arms crossed, wearing a black blazer with white trim and a blue blouse

Doing the
Right Thing

District Attorney, County of Nassau, N.Y. seal

After 32 years as a prosecutor in Nassau County, District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly ’89 is now leading the office with the commitments to service and to her community that have always guided her.

By Elaine R. Friedman
"F
ordham Law’s motto, ‘In the service of others,’ is how I was raised,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly ’89. “We were taught that no matter what type of law you practiced, an attorney is there to be of service to others.”

As a young girl, Donnelly often accompanied her father, Patrick Galligan, a court officer at the Nassau County Courthouse, to work. At her inauguration in January 2022, Donnelly said, “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine [that] one day I would be the district attorney in the same courthouse where my father worked.”

As a Fordham undergraduate (Class of 1986), Donnelly majored in English and minored in philosophy. Inspired by her father’s career, she seriously considered becoming a police officer. However, he would remind her of the positive impact of the attorneys in public service she witnessed as a child at the courthouse. With his encouragement, Donnelly shifted course and applied to law school.

Sadly, Patrick passed away before Anne’s law school acceptance letters rolled in. Donnelly credits her mother, Barbara Galligan, for helping her remain focused on pursuing her legal education despite her own and her family’s profound loss.

close view of Jerry Nadler smiling while sitting at mircophoned table, a name plate resting in front of him reads "Mr. Nadler, Chairman"

A More Perfect Union,
One Law at a Time

Early exposure to injustices inspired U.S. Representative Jerry Nadler ’78 to enter public life.

Now, in his 31st year representing the Upper West Side—and Lincoln Center—in Congress, Nadler speaks to what keeps him committed to a life of service.

By Eugene K. Chow

graphic of the top of the Capitol building
A
s a young boy in Brooklyn, long before he would ever swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, Jerry Nadler ’78 already believed in the power of law to fight discrimination.

Nadler vividly recalled reading about a court ruling when he was 12 or 13 years old. “The police beat a confession out of somebody, and the Supreme Court upheld the decision,” he said. “I remember thinking, ‘There’s a lot wrong with that, and when I get older, I’m going to fix that.’”

To right the wrongs he saw, the young Nadler believed the best way was to “get into politics and get into positions of authority.” So he set himself on a path to achieve just that. His first foray into electoral politics came when he was voted president of his senior class at Manhattan’s Stuyvesant High School. By the time he was in college, he had become a fixture within his community, leading neighborhood groups, forming block associations, and working on political campaigns.

Profiles in
Action

These six members of our community—five recent graduates and one student leader—are at the start of their careers but are drawing from their lessons in leadership to help lift up everyone around them. We asked them what qualities they think make for a good leader and where they’ve gleaned the best lessons in inspiring and leading others. Their answers display the incredible diversity of thought and deed amongst the Fordham Law community, and their examples demonstrate that leadership does not begin when one makes partner or joins the C-suite—anyone can be a leader at any point on the org chart.
By Liz Krieger
Illustrations by Kathryn Rathke
digital illustration of Michelle Chan

Michelle Chan ’15

Associate, Hunton Andrews Kurth
A

good leader meets people where they are. That’s something I have learned through my involvement in the Fordham Law Alumni Association’s Recent Graduates Committee and our Alumni Attorneys of Color affinity group. It’s made me very aware that, because people have so many other things going on in their lives, it can be a challenge to meet our members where they are and where they need us. We really try to think about what might appeal to them so we can address what they want when we’re planning events and outreach.

There can be a big learning curve for junior associates, and that can be really stressful. Some struggle to find ways in which they can be useful when they’re still learning, which I know is really hard. But I’ve tried to let them know that, no matter how junior you are, you can still take initiative—you don’t have to wait to be asked to do stuff. Be proactive. Ask, “What can I get started on?” “What can I take ownership of?”

The way you deliver feedback matters. Even if you’re not getting the deliverables you want—which can be frustrating when you feel you gave good instructions—it’s so important to remember what it was like to still be learning and to feel so overwhelmed but want to succeed. I try hard to remember what it was like to be in someone else’s shoes.

Pages of The Advocate from the early 70's talking about BALSA and related articles
Pages of The Advocate from the early 70's talking about BALSA and related articles

Those Who Have Come Before

As Fordham Law’s Black Law Students Association turns 50, the recent discovery of the organization’s founding documents shines new light on the journey Fordham Law students of color have made at the school—and why the organization’s existence is more important than ever.
By Paula Derrow
Fordham BLSA 50 Years logo
letter L
ast August, Afrika Owes ’24 headed to the meeting room of Fordham Law’s chapter of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) to do some straightening up. “I’d just come back from the diversity, equity, and inclusion picnic and wanted to get the office ready for the new semester,” said Owes, BLSA’s president for 2022–2023. But her work was quickly interrupted when she came across a dusty binder deep in a file cabinet.

“I assumed it was an old photo album, but when I started looking through it, I saw that it contained the founding documents of Fordham Law’s BLSA,” she said.

Noticing the dates on the documents, she realized that the group’s 50th anniversary was approaching. “I couldn’t believe that we were totally unaware,” she said.

IN THEIR ELEMENT

Dean John Feerick sitting at his desk

IN THEIR ELEMENT
Dean John Feerick sitting at his desk
Photos by Chris Taggart
Professor Dan Capra typography with Trophy
TAKE A LOOK AROUND the photo-lined office of Dean Emeritus John Feerick ’61 and the first thing that comes to mind is family. That includes not just his six children, 11 grandchildren, and wife, Emalie, but also his Fordham family—made during his years as a student as well as since his start as a law professor in 1976 and through his deanship from 1982 to 2002. Among them are hundreds of colleagues, legal luminaries, and students who have touched his life over the years.

Feerick’s parents, both Irish immigrants, encouraged him from an early age to, as he recalled, “get an education and make something of myself.” For a son of the Bronx like Feerick, that meant attending Fordham College, then going on to Fordham Law, where, as editor-in-chief of the Fordham Law Review, he published an article on presidential succession. After President Kennedy’s assassination, the article led to Feerick being asked to help draft the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

With all his illustrious accomplishments, Feerick is still very much rooted in the present—and looking to the future. He meets with Fordham Law students every day, always taking care to send them out into the world a little kinder and wiser. “At my present age, talking with students about their careers, about life, sustains me,” said Feerick. “It gives me great joy that people think I can be useful and constructive.” What he hears in those conversations also gives him hope. “I’m very encouraged by our students’ enthusiasm,” he said. “We’re in very challenging times right now, but it helps to think about how you can contribute and solve problems.”

#FutureFordhamLawyers Pave Their Own Paths

#FutureFordhamLawyers Drive for Success
These law students are challenging themselves to unleash their potential, both in their studies at Fordham Law and in their lives outside the classroom.

Follow us for more #FutureFordhamLawyers Instagram Icon @FordhamLawNYC

Akosua Opong-Wiredu

Akosua Opong-Wiredu ’23

An International Vision
“Growing up as a Black woman with parents who are immigrants—my mom from Jamaica, my dad from Ghana—I was always hyperaware of the different societal and systemic issues in our country and around the world. I felt studying the law, particularly international human rights law, would be the best way to tackle some of those issues.

“During my 2L year, I enrolled in the semester-long Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic and, as a Crowley Scholar, researched the collapse of the rule of law in Hong Kong. I was working on real, evolving, present-day issues, which culminated in a report that was submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee’s periodic review of Hong Kong’s human rights record. The classes I took and the programs I participated in last year were the perfect springboard for me to pursue my passions through a double-degree program this year in France—an opportunity that has definitely opened doors for me professionally.”

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In Our Corner
Highlighting stories around the A2J initiative at Fordham Law School

Freeing
Their
Stories

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Students in Fordham Law’s Criminal Defense Clinic are working with lawyers at The Legal Aid Society Criminal Defense Practice to help persons charged with crimes tell their personal stories to judges and district attorneys to achieve more appropriate plea dispositions or to support bail applications in innovative new ways.

Freeing Their Stories

By Elaine R. Friedman
Aleezah Merali ’23, a third-year student in the Criminal Defense Clinic, recalls her indelible first visit to Rikers Island to meet with a client. She and the rest of her team, two Fordham Law students and a student in the MSW program at Fordham, had driven to the jail complex together to meet with their client, who had been charged with a felony, incarcerated, and denied bail. After passing through various checkpoints at the jail complex, surrendering all their personal items—including their smartphones—along the way, the group then waited, amid corrections officers in riot gear, to meet their client for the first time.

After a four-hour wait—an unusual occurence caused by a basketball game being filmed for an event led by a reverend in the community—the group was taken to a small room, where the legal team members crowded together on one side of the glass partition. Soon after, their client walked in on the other side of the glass, breaking into a huge, spontaneous smile. “He didn’t know us,” said Merali. “He didn’t know we were coming. He was thrilled to have so many people come to visit him.”

Fordham Law Clinic logo
Meeting the Moment
While aspects of our lives and our work have returned to normal following the global health pandemic, many legal issues surrounding equity, access to justice, and representation remain. The students and faculty in Fordham Law’s clinics are responding by working harder than ever to serve their clients and provide crucial legal counsel and representation for our country’s underserved communities.

We invite you to watch our “Meeting the Moment” video series below and meet a few of the Fordham Law clinicians leading our students through the incredible work that prepares them for their future careers.

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The Right to Housing
Litigation Clinic

Housing affordability is possibly the most significant domestic policy issue of our time. New York has long been a leader on issues of housing affordability. Norrinda Hayat, who leads the Right to Housing Litigation Clinic, is an award-winning housing advocate who joined the full-time faculty at Fordham Law in the fall (see p. 53). In this clinic, students use legal strategies to assist clients facing housing-related issues.

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The Global
Anti-Racism Clinic

The Global Anti-Racism Clinic is a new joint initiative of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice and the Center on Race, Law and Justice at Fordham Law School. Spearheaded by Zenande Booi, Paolo Galizzi, Gay McDougall, and Elisabeth Wickeri, the clinic engages students in projects that aim to challenge and redress racism, global discrimination, and inequality at national, regional, and international levels.

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The Entrepreneurial
Law Clinic

Entrepreneurship is growing in New York City, and Fordham Law is in the center of it all. Under the supervision of clinic director Bernice Grant, the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic provides free transactional legal services to start-ups in New York, helping turn entrepreneurs’ ideas into flourishing enterprises. The ELC helps entrepreneurs achieve ambitious business goals, build a talented workforce, and protect their budding brands.

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The Family Defense and Advocacy Clinic

The Family Defense and Advocacy Clinic is a partnership between Fordham’s clinical program and the Center for Family Representation. The Center, led by director Leah Hill, is a holistic, multi-disciplinary legal services organization whose mission is to keep families together through legal representation and social work support to prevent children from entering the foster care system or minimize their time away from home.

Around the Law School

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

Making History

Erika L. Moritsugu, Quyen L. Ta, Judge Denny Chin ’78, Kathy Hirata Chin, Professor Thomas Lee, John C. Yang, and Dean Diller
From left: Erika L. Moritsugu, Quyen L. Ta, Judge Denny Chin ’78, Kathy Hirata Chin, Professor Thomas Lee, John C. Yang, and Dean Diller

Center on Asian Americans and the Law Launches

In the fall of 2022, Fordham Law celebrated the formal launch of its Center on Asian Americans and the Law. Co-directed by Senior U.S. Circuit Court Judge Denny Chin ’78M, Lawrence W. Pierce Distinguished Jurist in Residence, and Thomas H. Lee, Leitner Family Professor of International Law, the center is among the first in the country to focus on the intersection of the Asian American experience with legal studies. It functions as a hub and platform for interdisciplinary scholarship on issues of interest in these areas of study.

To celebrate the launch, Judge Chin and Professor Lee organized a substantive program titled “The Lost History of Asian Americans and U.S. Civil Rights Litigation: Lessons for Today.” Distinguished speakers at the event included Erika L. Moritsugu, deputy assistant and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander senior liaison to U.S. President Joe Biden; Quyen L. Ta, partner at King & Spalding; and John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

The center has many ongoing plans to further dialogue and collaborations both inside and outside the Law School, including hosting speaker panels, lectures, and reenactments; organizing research in the form of digital repositories and e-casebooks; and providing opportunities for students to get involved in its work.

Students of the new Global Anti-Racism Clinic with Zenande Booi, Professor Paolo Galizzi, Professor Gay McDougall, and Elisabeth Wickeri
Students of the new Global Anti-Racism Clinic with Zenande Booi, Professor Paolo Galizzi, Professor Gay McDougall, and Elisabeth Wickeri

First-of-its-Kind Global Anti-Racism
Clinic Launches

Fordham Law launched the Global Anti-Racism Clinic, one of the first of its kind in the country, this fall. A joint initiative of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice and the Center on Race, Law and Justice, the clinic engages students in projects that aim to challenge and redress racism, global discrimination, and inequality at the national, regional, and international levels. It is led by Zenande Booi, executive director of the Center on Race, Law and Justice; Professor Paolo Galizzi; Gay McDougall, member of the UN Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and distinguished scholar-in-residence at both the Center on Race, Law and Justice and the Leitner Center; and Elisabeth Wickeri, executive director of the Leitner Center.

In the clinic, students work with international and regional experts on cases and projects that make efforts to combat systemic racism in a range of contexts as well as support McDougall’s work at CERD. “The goal is to become a resource for institutional mechanisms as well as for individuals, communities, and activist organizations that wish to make use of them,” said Booi. “It’s especially exciting that our students will have an opportunity to work at the center of crucial global initiatives and efforts to fight racism.”

Fordham University President Tania Tetlow in red dress speaking at event
Brenda Gill ’95 in red and black floral patterned dress speaking
Fordham Law Dean Matthew Diller presents Ken Frazier with the Fordham-Stein Prize

Photo
Album

Merck Chair Ken Frazier Receives Fordham-Stein Prize On Nov. 4, Fordham Law School presented Kenneth C. Frazier, executive chair of Merck & Co., with the 2022 Fordham-Stein Prize. At a moment of increasing social and political division in the country, Frazier used his platform to implore the audience of judges, academics, and leaders in practice to reflect on the power lawyers have to help others and to fight to make our country’s “sacred creeds” real for all Americans, no matter their background.
1 Fordham University President Tania Tetlow welcomes attendees. 2 Brenda Gill ’95, first vice president of the Executive Committee of the FLAA and founder of its Alumni Attorneys of Color affinity group, serves as master of ceremonies. 3 Fordham Law Dean Matthew Diller (left) presents Ken Frazier with the Fordham-Stein Prize.
FORWARD: Campaign for the Fordham Law Experience typographic slogan

CAMPAIGN UPDATE

FACULTY ARE THE FOUNDATION

A FOCUS ON FACULTY FUNDING

Fordham Law’s FORWARD campaign continues to raise the philanthropic support needed to enhance students’ experiences, education, and engagement. Thanks to the Law School community’s future-focused philanthropy, students are realizing the transformative potential of a legal education through the work of Fordham Law faculty and staff.
By Erin DeGregorio

F

aculty are the heartbeat of Fordham Law. They share ideas freely, collaborate with one another and with students on key areas of the law, and foster open academic discourse that transforms students into the legal leaders of tomorrow.

One key goal of Fordham Law’s FORWARD campaign has been to raise philanthropic support that advances faculty members’ scholarly endeavors—which, in turn, aids students in their education, research initiatives, and post-graduate experiential learning opportunities. Students have the opportunity to build their résumés and network as research assistants—not to mention maintain lifelong relationships with their mentors after graduation.

“By supporting the faculty, donors ensure that we can provide the highest-quality teaching and ensure a first-rate experience for our students both in and out of class,” said Joseph Landau, associate dean for academic affairs. “We are fortunate to have a faculty that cares deeply about good teaching.”

Class Notes

’71

Frederick J. Magovern gave a presentation to the Judicial Institute on adoption law with fellow Fordham Law alumni Gregory A. Franklin ’84 and Kerry B. Mulvihill ’03.

’73

A portrait headshot photograph of Peter Curry grinning in a multi-colored/multi-patterned (dark sky blue, black, and turquoise green) style business suit and light baby blue button-up dress shirt underneath
Peter Curry was selected to the list of Super Lawyers’ New York Metro Super Lawyers for 2022. He has been selected to this list every year since 2011.

Peter Sachs was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by South Florida Business & Wealth (SFBW).

’96

William Jannace was appointed to the Panel of Recognized International Market Experts in Finance. He is an assistant professor at the Eisenhower School for National Defense and Resource Strategy and an adjunct professor/lecturer at Fordham Law, Global Financial Markets Institute, and Metropolitan College.

Deirdre M. Mitacek was elevated to the partnership of Cullen and Dykman at their Albany office.

Valerie White was honored at the Habitat for Humanity NYC and Westchester County House Party on October 25.

’11

Brandon Berkowski was selected for the 2023 Best Lawyers in America list.

Gene Kang was named a Rising Star in Business Litigation for 2022 New Jersey Super Lawyers and awarded the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Lawyers Under 40 Award.

Ivan Sperber was promoted to special counsel at Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf.

Chi Ho (Eric) Yiu was promoted to partnership at Latham & Watkins in the Capital Markets Practice and Corporate department of their Hong Kong office.

ONLY @ FORDHAM LAW

A portrait of John Loughran
A portrait of John Loughran
John T. Loughran ’11
A picture of Edward McLaughlin and Lauren Heather
Edward McLaughlin ’22 and Lauren Heather, LL.M. ’22
A portrait of Albert Conway
A portrait of Albert Conway
R. Albert Conway ’11

Almost Family

For two Fordham Law students, a “show-and-tell” session in Professor Olivier Sylvain’s Information Law class revealed a surprise—and a deeper connection to their family histories.
By Paula Derrow
W

hen Lauren Heather, LL.M. ’22, and Edward McLaughlin ’22 logged into Zoom for a special getting-to-know-you session of their Information Law class in the spring of 2021, the two students were barely acquaintances—they had never even talked. Professor Olivier Sylvain hoped to remedy the distance of remote learning and help his students bond by asking everyone in the class to present something to “show-and-tell.” Heather decided to bring some law-related notes on privacy and libel written by her great-grandfather John T. Loughran ’11, who had been chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals from 1945 to 1953.

As soon as Heather began speaking, McLaughlin’s ears perked up. “I remember Lauren telling us that her great-grandfather had held this position and graduated from Fordham Law in 1911, and I got confused—I thought, ‘Wait, are the two of us related?!” laughed McLaughlin, now a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Claire Eagan of the Northern District of Oklahoma.

Fordham Law | Giving Day April 17, 2023

Fordham Law | Giving Day April 17, 2023
Make an impact by participating in Fordham Law Giving Day!
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Giving Day is a 24-hour fundraising marathon that raises critical support for the Law School while demonstrating the strength of the global Fordham Law network. Your commitment ensures the School can provide necessary financial aid and scholarships, retain outstanding faculty, and offer our students a life-changing legal education.
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Save the Date

Mark your calendars for Fordham Law Giving Day on Monday, April 17th.

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Make an Impact

Can’t wait to make your gift? Mark it maroon now by visiting law.fordham.edu/givenow23

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Get Involved

Connect with Fordham Law on social media through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Don’t forget to share your favorite Fordham Law memories, graduation photos, or stories and tag @fordhamlawnyc!

Visit law.fordham.edu/givingday for more details, and don’t forget to watch your inbox for donor challenges, friendly class competitions, and much more.

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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

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Victoria Grantham
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Center on Asian americans and the law Launches at fordham law

Fordham’s Center on Asian Americans and the Law, believed to be a first-of-its-kind institution, will function as a hub and platform for interdisciplinary scholarship on issues of interest not just to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community but to all Americans and people everywhere.

Watch the Announcement Video.

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