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

Please join us in welcoming Taifha Natalee Alexander, Lisa Dicker, and Eric Shannon, who have joined our full-time faculty as Assistant Professors of Law. Visit our website for more about Professors Alexander, Dicker, and Shannon and the rest of the outstanding St. John’s Law faculty.

The Law School welcomed nearly 200 students from across Long Island for the annual Catholic Middle School Mock Trial Program. Designed to build hands-on experience in advocacy, public speaking, and the legal system, the longtime initiative is supported by the Law School’s Frank S. Polestino Trial Advocacy Institute (PTAI), whose student leaders helped organize and judge the trials that culminate the Program. Many thanks to Duffy & Duffy, PLLC and Michael E. Duffy ’94 for endowing this special learning opportunity. Learn more about this year’s Program.

Tonight, the Law School community will gather at Casa Cipriani in Lower Manhattan for The Centennial Gala, the culminating event of our year-long 100th Anniversary celebration. To all attending, we wish you a wonderful evening! We'll share an event recap with everyone soon. In the meantime, to join the celebration from wherever you are, you can make a gift to support student scholarships and fellowships at St. John's Law. Thank you!

Andriana Georgallas ‘12, a partner in the Restructuring Department at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, has built a successful practice advising clients in domestic and international restructurings, distressed asset sales, distressed financings, and liability management transactions. In this month’s Bankruptcy Alumni Spotlight, she reflects on how her interest in bankruptcy law sparked at St. John’s Law, why restructuring work is so engaging, and how the practice has evolved. Read the interview.

Congratulations to Timothy P. Lyster '05 on his appointment as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of New York. Currently a partner and practice leader in the Bankruptcy & Financial Reorganization Group at Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP, Lyster brings decades of practical experience in the field to his judicial role in the Western District, where he previously served as a law clerk to several Bankruptcy Judges. Read the official press release (pdf).

This fall, we’re hosting two golf outings to support student scholarships at St. John’s Law:

Hon. Theodore T. Jones, Jr. ’72L, ’07HON Memorial Golf Outing*
Monday, October 5, 2026
Rockaway Hunting Club, Lawrence, NY
*Note: We moved the event date and location to accommodate The Centennial Gala in June.

Fall Alumni Golf Outing
Monday, October 26, 2026
Nassau Country Club, Glen Cove, NY

We’ll share more details soon. Whether you join us for one outing or both, we look forward to seeing you on the green!

For nearly 20 years, Dean & Rose DiMartino and Karen Sue Smith Professor of Law Jelani Jefferson Exum has focused her legal scholarship on closing the gap between the ideals of sentencing and the realities of sentencing practices and outcomes, with the goal of addressing racial disparities in punishment. She discusses that work, including her recent invited testimony before the U.S. Sentencing Commission, in the latest installment of our Law Matters story series. Read the full Q&A.

Professors Ashley B. Armstrong, Robin Boyle-Laisure, Rosa Castello, Louis Jim, Colleen Parker, and Rachel H. Smith presented at the 2026 Empire State Legal Writing Conference at Fordham Law. The conference showcased thoughtful discussions and engaging presentations on legal writing pedagogy, the NextGen Bar Exam, Generative AI, and other current topics shaping legal education and practice.

Professors Christine Lazaro and Eric Shannon will contribute to the next publication in the Clinical Legal Education Association’s Best Practices book series (Carolina Academic Press). Their contribution will describe Leadership for Lawyers, the innovative course they developed and co-taught at St. John’s Law, as well as strategies for developing lawyer-leadership curricula more broadly.

Professor Mark Movsesian taught an online seminar on the U.S. Supreme Court for students in the Master’s Program in American Studies at Yerevan State University, the largest and leading university in the Republic of Armenia. Over six sessions, the seminar addressed judicial review and its limits along with current proposals for Supreme Court reform.

Adjunct Professor Jeanne Ortiz-Ortiz, Director of the Law School’s DiMartno/Smith Public Interest Center, proposed, led, and participated in a 2026 Equal Justice Conference session on pro bono partnerships between law schools and legal services organizations. She also presented on disaster relief and recovery for the National Bar Association Women Lawyers Division’s Housing and Natural Disasters Series. The webinar covered Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance programs, survivor advocacy, and the legal challenges communities face after natural disasters.

Professor Eric Shannon joined Interim Associate Dean for Student Services and Adjunct Professor Melissa Kubit Angelides to co-present Notes from the Frontlines: Adoption of the In-house Mental Health Professional (IMHP) Model from Theory to Implementation at the University of Pittsburgh Law’s Legal Initiative for Fortitude and Transformation (LIFT) 2026 Resilience Conference. Their presentation explained the work behind Professor Shannon’s article framing the IMHP model and shared Dean Angelides’s experiences operationalizing the model at St. John’s Law.

Professor Eva Subotnik presented her co-authored paper, “Roll the Credits? Why Attribution Works Differently in Sculpture and Film,” at the Seventh Annual Art Law Works-in-Progress Colloquium at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Primarily geared towards a legal audience, the Colloquium provides a scholarly venue for works-in-progress in art law.

After gaining practical knowledge and skills hands on over three years at St. John's Law, Yan Lee ’26 will begin his legal career as an Excelsior Fellow at New York State Homes & Community Renewal, New York’s affordable housing agency. The highly competitive Excelsior Service Fellowship Program places talented graduates in policy and operational roles across New York State government, where they work alongside senior leaders to address pressing issues facing New Yorkers. Learn how Yan achieved his dream of government service at St. John’s Law.

Arielle Sanders ’26 has been named a 2026 National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) Outstanding Law Student Award recipient. Presented annually to one graduating student at each participating law school, the award recognizes contributions to the advancement of women, commitment to issues affecting women in the legal profession, academic achievement, and demonstrated leadership, motivation, and service. Read more about Arielle’s award win.

Well done, Arielle and Yan!

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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