Brooklyn Law School Public Service Awards Ceremony Honoring Public Service at Brooklyn Law School and the Accomplishments of the Class of 2021 Tuesday, April 6, 2021 5:30 pm EST Brooklyn Law School Public Service Awards Ceremony Welcome Michael Cahill, President and Joseph Crea Dean Presentation of Distinguished Commitment to Public Service Award Stacy Caplow, Associate Dean for Professional Legal Education Recipient of Distinguished Commitment to Public Service Award and Keynote Speaker Mark Zaid, Founding Partner, Mark S. Zaid P.C.; Executive Director, James Madison Project; and Co-founder, Whistleblower Aid Presentation of Faculty Award for Excellence in Public Service to Sidney Cherubin Jacqueline Cheney, Director of Community Engagement, Public Service Law Center Presentation of Alumni Award for Excellence in Public Service to Hon. Juliet P. Howard (’91) Minna Kotkin, Professor of Law Presentation of Public Service Awards to the Class of 2021 Stacy Caplow, Associate Dean for Professional Legal Education Presentation of Pro Bono Project Leadership & Access to Justice Awards Danielle Sorken, Executive Director, Public Service Law Center Closing Remarks Danielle Sorken, Executive Director, Public Service Law Center Our Honorees Members of the Class of 2021, who will pursue a wide array of careers, have performed exceptional pro bono and public service work at organizations ranging from The Legal Aid Society to the New York State Attorney General’s Office and from the Colorado Public Defender to Sanctuary for Families. Over the course of these students’ law school careers, they have devoted over 100,000 hours to assisting individuals including people who lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic, immigrants, survivors of domestic violence, people seeking health care benefits, children, veterans, and others, as well as helping government agencies provide critical services to the public. The Pro Bono Scholars are devoting thousands of additional hours to working full-time at nonprofit organizations. Our pro bono project leaders have dedicated their time and passion to running the Law School’s projects. STUDENTS WHO PERFORMED OUTSTANDING PUBLIC SERVICE GOLD – 1,000+ hours Alexandra Bertolino Kim Aquino Alexandra Dudas Lauren Miller Amanda Schaefer Mark Bhuptani Benjamin Buford Mary Bianco Catherine Perez Mary Campbell Celeste Russell Maya Ureno-Dembar Christina Yellamaty Mckenzie Szarmach Connor Blancato Melanie Bell Daniella Haviv Mia Guthart David Vegvari Michael Yoon Devin Ly Michelle Lam Elliot Disha Tanha Rebecca Whedon Hassan Ahmed Semyon Davydov Heather Todoroff Steven Montesano Henna Rustami Tara Mahon Jamie Levitt Zachary Rippe Jennifer Liles Zoe Bernstein Jessica Phillips SILVER – 500-999 hours Alexa Anastasia Pantelidis Jennifer Rabbino Alexa Bennett Jessica Paszko Alexandra Sherer Jill Davis Annabel Stanley Joanna Chalifoux Ariana Reinhertz Jonathan Fertig Ashley Avera KT Firstenberger Blaire Rose Kathryn Gutt Bridget Mcdonagh Kyle Campion Christina Taylor Lance Bond Daniel Rabbani Lillianna Iorfino Dzenela Becic Madison Smiley Elise Lindenmayer Marcelle Little Dawes Elizabeth Berkowitz Megan Hallson Emma Charap Michael Fiedler Evan Teich Michelle Chen Francisco Alvarez Rene Macioce Gehan Ghanem Ryan Bolger Gisette Paez Saba Waqar Haley Leibowitz Samuel Weinstein Henry Thomson-Smith Sarah Colgan Isabel Agosto Taylor Bates Jacqueline Lasker Tyler Fritzhand James Bass Zachary Kotin Jason Houda BLS PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD – 250-499 hours Aaron Doyer Janelle Jerome Andrew Baranetsky Kate Rael Andrew Garcia Maggie Frei Benjamin Black Matthew Aronowitz Blake Benton Nicholas Fuchs Cian Barron Nick Rybarczyk Desiree Knight Noelle Stone Elise Dee Oren Silverman Eliza Simons Rachel Maryash Elizabeth Grefrath-Sessions Sarah Francois Ernira Mehmetaj Sarah Meyers Hyanna Cardoso Sheilagh Lichtenfels Hyezhin Rhee Susan Kritzmacher Jacqueline Steinberg Tal Edri James Williams Xuan Lu PRO BONO PROJECT LEADERSHIP AWARD Student-led projects are at the heart of the BLS pro bono experience. They offer unique leadership and practical opportunities while helping underserved populations. This celebration, in part, is to honor those graduating students who displayed outstanding student leadership in the school’s pro bono projects. These students founded projects, revived and revitalized dormant projects, and took over other projects requiring sophisticated oversight. For all your hard work, we thank you, graduating pro bono project leaders: Alexandra Dudas Joseph Giacona Amanda Ackaway Karra Puccia Caitlin Cash KT Firstenberger Carley Cooke Kim Aquino Catherine Perez Layla Noriega Daniella Haviv Mateo Rendon Darby Singh Mehvish Maqbool Elaina Mansley Michael Yoon Fiona McFarland Monica Sanchez Jackie Lasker Oren Silverman Jacqueline Bywater Oscar Matlala Jesse Mautner Sheilagh Lichtenfels Joanna Chalifoux Zoe Bernstein ACCESS TO JUSTICE AWARD Pro Bono Scholars BLS’s Pro Bono Scholars spend their final semester providing direct legal services to low-income individuals: Alexandra Bertolino KT Firstenberger Catherine Perez Michael Yoon Celeste Russell Oren Silverman Gehan Ghanem Sarah Francois Joseph Giacona Talysia Francis Sidney Cherubin, Legal Director, Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project & Adjunct Professor of Clinical Law, Brooklyn Law School Faculty Award for Excellence in Public Service Sidney Cherubin, Esq., is the Director of Legal Services of the Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Brooklyn Law School where he teaches the New York Civil Consumer Law Clinic. He was an Attorney, Brooklyn Site Director and Acting Legal Director at The Family Center from 2002-2007 where he gained a great deal of experience representing families affected by a terminal illness with regard to all aspects of planning for children’s future well-being. These services include drafting guardianship and standby guardianship papers and representing parents and caregivers in court and executing wills, powers of attorney, health care proxies, living wills, uncontested divorces and Article 17A guardianships. As the VLP’s Director of Legal Services, Sidney supervises the Family Law, Bankruptcy, Guardianship, Matrimonial, Elder Law, Foreclosure and Consumer Debt practice. Sidney oversees and supervises the Kings County Civil Court Civil Law Advice and Referral Office (CLARO) and Volunteer Lawyers for the Day Projects. He is an active member of the CLARO Council, a co-chair of the Brooklyn Bar Association Pro Bono Committee and Special Events Committee and member of Brooklyn Bar Association Judiciary Committee, and Chair of the New York City Bar Association Civil Court Committee. Hon. Juliet P. Howard ‘91, Civil Court of the City of New York, Housing Part Alumni Award for Excellence in Public Service Juliet P. Howard is a recently appointed judge, sitting in the New York City Housing Court in Kings County. She was appointed to the bench by Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks in 2021. Juliet and her wife, Judge Norma Jennings, appointed to the bench in 2019, are part of a historic moment and believed to be the first married same-sex couple appointed to the same court in New York. They have been together for 27 years and are most proud of their roles as the mothers of their two sons. Juliet earned her BA from Barnard College, her JD from Brooklyn Law School, and twelve years ago, her MFA in Creative Writing from the City College of New York. Juliet has dedicated her legal career to public interest law and serving the public. Creatively, she is an author, widely anthologized poet and Curator of Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon. Most recently, Juliet served as a court attorney for the Civil Court of the City of New York, Housing Part. Her legal career also includes serving as an Adjunct Clinical Instructor with Brooklyn Law School’s former Elder Law Clinic and as a Staff Attorney at The Legal Aid Society, Civil Division. Juliet was an Edward V. Sparer Fellow at the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco, California and an LSPIN Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights while at Brooklyn Law School. Juliet has volunteered as the Manhattan Housing Court Borough-Wide Coordinator for the New York Courts’ Court Navigator Program for the last four years. She co- facilitated a “Diversity & Inclusion CLE: Navigating Unconscious Bias” program for Citywide Housing Court judges and Housing Court attorneys, where she presented on “Understanding LGBTQ Concerns in the Courthouse.” Juliet is also the author of SAY/MIRROR, a debut poetry collection, which was a 2016 Lambda Literary Award Finalist. Mark Zaid, Founding Partner, Mark S. Zaid P.C.; Executive Director, James Madison Project; and Co- founder, Whistleblower Aid Distinguished Commitment to Public Service Award Mark S. Zaid is a Washington, DC-based attorney who specializes in crisis management and innovatively handling simple and complex administrative and litigation matters relating to national security, international law, foreign sovereign and diplomatic immunity, and the Freedom of Information/ Privacy Acts. Through his practice Mr. Zaid often represents former/current federal employees, particularly intelligence and military officers, defense contractors, whistleblowers and others who have grievances, have been wronged or are being investigated by agencies of the United States government or foreign governments, as well as members of the media. Mr. Zaid teaches D.C. Bar Continuing Legal Education classes on “The Basics of Filing