Welcome to another edition of See infra, delivering a sampling of news from St. John's Law. 

The Supreme Court Fellows Commission has appointed Dean Jelani Jefferson Exum to serve on the Academic Advisory Board for the Supreme Court Fellows Program during the October 2025 Term. In this role, she provides scholarly and professional guidance to a Supreme Court Fellow assigned to conduct research at the U.S. Sentencing Commission. This prestigious appointment reflects Dean Jefferson Exum’s prominence as a legal scholar whose research on sentencing, comparative criminal law and procedure, policing, and the impact of race on criminal justice is widely published in leading journals.

Last month, the Law School’s Public Interest Center, Public Interest Law Students Association, Mattone Family Institute for Real Estate Law, and Alumni Association Alumnae Leadership Council Chapter hosted a Pro Bono Working Lunch. Now in its second year, and part of a series of programs marking the National Celebration of Pro Bono, the day-long event brings dozens of St. John’s Law alumni and students together to provide legal support to low-income New Yorkers through the American Bar Association’s Free Legal Answers Program, which operates locally through the New York State Bar Association as New York Free Legal Answers. Read more about this mission-driven event.

Please join us in congratulating Patricia Holian ’09 on her appointment as Borough Chief of the New York City Law Department’s Brooklyn Family Court Office. Patricia started on her path to this pivotal role during law school, when she was a Summer Honors Intern at the Law Department. As Borough Chief, she will oversee the Office’s legal and operational functions.

Many thanks to Brian Breheny ’96, founder and co-head of Skadden’s SEC Reporting and Compliance practice, for sharing insights on the SEC’s regulatory priorities with students in the Law School’s in-house Securities Arbitration Clinic during their recent Washington, D.C. field trip.

At this year’s American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review Alumni Reception, more than 100 alumni, students, and faculty members came together to connect, catch up, and celebrate the appointment of Hon. Sheryl Giugliano ’08L, ’10LL.M. as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of New York. Many thanks to Morrison Foerster for graciously hosting!

Last week, as part of our year-long 100th Anniversary Celebration, St. John’s Law alumni, faculty, administrators, and friends gathered at the New York Athletic Club for a Military Veteran, First Responders, and Scholarship Reception generously hosted by Colonel Frank Kelly ’88, U.S. Army, Commander, 4th Legal Operations Detachment. As a highlight of the evening, the Alumni Association Armed Forces Chapter presented its Military Appreciation Award to Korean War Veteran Donald F. Reid ’58CBA, ’62L, ’87HON. In her remarks, Dean Jelani Jefferson Exum recognized alumni and friends who have established scholarship endowments supporting military veterans, their families, and first responders. It was also great to connect with our military veterans, including Richard Donoghue ’92, partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, and Gregory W. Kehoe '79L, '05HON, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. Thank you to all who helped make this special event a success!

The St. John’s Law Alumni Association Brooklyn Chapter is hosting a fun and festive Holiday Reception on 12/2 at The Randolph. Learn more and register online to attend.

Outside the boroughs, on 12/4, the Nassau Chapter will host its Holiday Luncheon honoring three generations of our alumni family: William J. Croutier ’52C ’58L, William J. Croutier, Jr. ’78, and Bridget Croutier Caulfield ’15. To join us for, and to sponsor, this special event at The Garden City Hotel, visit our event registration page.

Professor Robin Boyle-Laisure’s latest book, Taken No More: Protect Your Children Against Traffickers and Cults (Bloomsbury) has been published. In his book review, forensic psychologist Steve Eichel says, “There is no other book that provides such specific advice tied to a child’s, adolescent’s, or young adult’s developmental level for both recognizing manipulators and coping with exposure to cultic or trafficking processes.”

Professor Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal’s article, “What’s Left of the New Deal State?”, appears in the Michigan Law Review’s online edition, MLR Online. In it, he reviews legal historian Anthony Gregory’s book, New Deal Law and Order: How the War on Crime Built the Modern Liberal State (Harvard University Press).

Professor Evelyn Malavé and Brooklyn Law Professor Cynthia Godsoe co-wrote an amicus brief in a New York Court of Appeals case, with assistance from WilmerHale. The issue presented was whether the Office of Court Administration’s confidential memos advising judges on how to interpret the law should be released under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), which Professor Malavé favored, or whether the memos were subject to attorney-client privilege. In a 7:0 decision (PDF), the majority sided with Professor Malavé’s position. 

Professor John Q. Barrett was the principal speaker at a U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania program and reenactment titled Trial of the Twentieth Century: The 1935-1937 Tax Trial of Andrew W. Mellon in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

For a recent webinar hosted by the Federal Bar Association and myLawCLE, Professor Robin Boyle-Laisure and Heather Gram, Teaching Professor at Wake Forest School of Law, discussed The Art of Clear Legal Writing: Advanced Tools for Structuring Arguments and Drafting Contracts without Ambiguity.

At Touro Law Center’s 36th Annual Honorable Leon D. Lazar Supreme Court Review, Professor Catherine Baylin Duryea addressed key developments in administrative law, including the regulatory ban on ghost guns, the future of independent agencies, and the distinction between principal and inferior officers.

Professor Kate Klonick spoke at McGill Law School’s Attention conference on the Perilous Free Speech Environment. She presented her paper, “Ban Cookie Banners,” at Berkeley Law School, served as a discussant at Northwestern Law School’s STEM and Law conference, and was a speaker at the Mozilla Festival in Barcelona, Spain.

Professor Mark Movsesian was a Discussion Leader at a conference titled The Constitution of Practice: On Law and Tradition hosted by the Georgetown Center for the Constitution.

Professor Michael A. Simons was a featured presenter at a AALS symposium on Impact, Excellence, Resilience: Contemporary Views on Pioneering Legal Education Scholarship (pdf). Sponsored by UC Irvine School of Law and New York Law School, the symposium invited contemporary scholars to reflect on some of the most critical scholarship that has appeared in the Journal of Legal Education.

As a panelist at the University of Pennsylvania Law Review’s symposium on The Future of Law and Multiracial Democracy, Professor Cheryl L. Wade discussed the future of corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. She also participated in a UCLA School of Law symposium marking 25 Years of Critical Race Studies, serving on a panel titled Sound as Legal Resistance: Hip-Hop’s Role in Critical Race Theory’s Future.

In a guest spot on WNYC’s Radiolab, Professor Kate Klonick offered her take on the evolution of free speech online over the last 15 years. She interviewed NYU Law Professor Rick Pildes for the Lawfare Daily podcast about how social media has contributed to the downfall of democratic systems and institutions. She also contributed to recent episodes of NPR’s Open to Debate podcast and Lawfare’s Rational Security podcast.

Professor Philip Lee’s award-winning work as a teacher and scholar bridges education, equity, and the law. In conversation with Dean Jelani Jefferson Exum for the latest edition of our Law Matters Q&A story series, he shares: “I believe that education is at the center of fulfilling human potential. Understanding who you are, your relationship to society, and your ability to effectuate change are crucial elements of human flourishing.” 

The Law School's full-time faculty are researching, writing, and commenting on some of today's most pressing legal issues. We share news about their activities and achievements at our Faculty Focus blog. Follow along!

Congratulations to Yosef Haddabah ‘27, who received the Best Advocate Award at the Cardozo Invitational Negotiation on Entertainment, Media and Art (CINEMA) Competition.

Sarah Wilkinson ‘26 was named Third Best Overall Advocate after four rounds of advocacy at the prestigious, invitation-only 2025 Tournament of Champions Mock Trial Competition. Well done, Sarah!

Let’s also hear it for our students who excelled at the Hon. Milton Mollen Moot Court Competition, the Moot Court Honor Society’s fall internal competition for its junior staff. Best Oralist went to Marley Arzonico ‘27 and Second Best Oralist to Alexander Cukier ‘27. The Finalists were Oksana Holovka ‘26 and Ryan McLoughlin ‘27. The four advocates argued before a panel of judges that included Scott Mollen ‘72. At the Mollen Competition reception, the Best Oralists from this summer's Hon. Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick ‘67, ‘03 HON Moot Court Competition were announced. There was a three-way tie between Tae Young Lee ‘27, Mae Long ‘27, and Subhana Zafar ‘27. Congrats to all!

We’re delighted to share that Monserrat Perez ’26 won this year’s Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development (JCRED) Best Note Competition for her note, “Threading the Needle: How State Legislatures Can Regulate Restrictive Covenants in the Absence of Federal Regulation.” Juliet Tomaro ’26 was named runner-up for her note, “After the Storm: Human Trafficking in the Shadows of Natural Disasters in the United States.

Comments, Suggestions, or Content Ideas?
Please email Lori Herz, See infra's Managing Editor and Lead Writer, at herzl@stjohns.edu.

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