Birnbaum Women's Leadership Network

Recorded in November 2017 - Carol Robles-Román ’89 is the new co-president and CEO of the ERA Coalition/Fund for Women’s Equality. She leads national efforts to advocate, educate and organize to ensure constitutional equality in the United States. The ERA Coalition is an umbrella of organization's for a national constituency in support of constitutional equality. She is the former president and CEO of Legal Momentum, where she spearheaded legislative, legal and policy efforts to ensure equal rights for women and girls, combat human trafficking and violence against women. Prior to joining Legal Momentum, Robles-Román was Deputy Mayor for Legal Affairs and Counsel to NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg for 12 years. This podcast was recorded while Carol Robles-Román was president and CEO of Legal Momentum. She is now co-president and CEO of the ERA Coalition/Fund for Women’s Equality.

Recorded in October 2017 - Robin Steinberg ’82 is a leader and a pioneer in the field of indigent defense. She is the CEO of The Bail Project, a national organization modeled after The Bronx Freedom Fund, which she co-founded with David Feige in 2007. Steinberg is the founder and former executive director of The Bronx Defenders, a community-based public defender office serving low-income New Yorkers in the Bronx since 1997. She helped develop The Bronx Defenders’ model of holistic defense, a client-centered model of public defense that uses interdisciplinary teams of advocates to address both the underlying causes and collateral consequences of criminal justice involvement. She is also the director of Still She Rises, Tulsa, the first public defender office in the nation dedicated exclusively to the representation of mothers in the criminal justice system. Steinberg received her BA from UC Berkeley and JD from New York University School of Law. She is currently a senior fellow of the Criminal Justice Program at UCLA School of Law, where she works with faculty and students on bail reform initiatives and research.

Recorded in November 2017 - Mitra Hormozi ’95 is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Revlon. She is responsible for overseeing Revlon’s legal affairs worldwide, including the Board of Directors, corporate governance, intellectual property, licensing, acquisitions and divestitures, regulatory matters, and litigation. Hormozi has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors of the legal field. Prior to joining Revlon, Hormozi was a litigation partner at two major law firms and served as Deputy Chief of Staff to then New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Hormozi also served as an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting high profile complex racketeering cases in the Eastern District of New York. Hormozi received numerous honors during her time in both the public sector and private practice. Currently, she sits on the Board of New York University School of Law’s Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement.

Recorded in November 2017 - Alma Asay ’05 is the Chief Innovation Officer, Legal Solutions, at Integreon Discovery Solutions, a leading global provider of alternative legal services, where she focuses on opportunities to improve legal services delivery for both corporations and law firms by applying best modern practices across people, processes, and technology. Asay joined Integreon as part of its acquisition of her litigation management software business, Allegory, where she was founder and CEO. Allegory is used by Fortune 500 companies, Am Law 100 law firms, and top litigation boutiques, including firms in both Vault’s “Top 10 Law Firms” and “Best Litigation Boutique Law Firms.” Before founding Allegory, Asay was a successful litigator at top law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, winner of The American Lawyer’s biennial “Litigation Department of the Year” competition in 2010, 2012, and 2016. In 2017, Asay was awarded the prestigious “Legal Rebel” title by the American Bar Association and became the first female founder to have her legal technology business acquired. In 2016, she was named a Fastcase 50 award winner and by the ABA’s Legal Technology Resource Center as one of 10 “Women of Legal Tech.” Asay received a BA in psychology, with high distinction, from the Pennsylvania State University, where she graduated magna cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her JD, at age 22, from New York University School of Law.

Recorded in December 2017 - Faiza Patel ’91 serves as co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. Patel is an expert on national security and surveillance laws and policies, who focuses on how they impact minority populations. In addition to co-authoring the Center’s Extreme Vetting report, she has published research on countering violent extremism, efforts to incite fear of Islam, the NYPD’s surveillance program, and foreign intelligence surveillance. She is a frequent expert commentator for major print, online and broadcast media outlets and an editor of Just Security. Previously, she worked as a senior policy officer at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, and clerked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Recorded in December 2017 - Marilyn Sobel ’78 is currently Of Counsel at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where she previously served as partner. She specialized in mergers and acquisitions, advising multinational corporations and private and hedge funds on business combinations and a wide variety of other strategic transactions. Sobel has acted as a legal and business advisor to a wide range of clients. She has advised on acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, and licensing transactions. As senior advisor on these matters, she has led teams of lawyers and coordinated closely with investment bankers and financing sources. Her role of trusted adviser has provided her with an understanding of a variety of issues critical to business transactions, including intellectual property, corporate governance, securities, tax, and finance. Sobel was honored for her leadership by the Kate Stoneman Project. In 2012 through 2014, she was recognized as one of the Best Lawyers for Corporate and Venture Capital Law in America and in 2013 was named among the Legal 500 U.S. Technology lawyers. Sobel is respected for leadership contributions at Paul Weiss, where she chaired the Women’s Initiatives and Associates Committees. She also served as mentor and coach to women lawyers; led task forces related to recruiting, developing, advancing, and retaining women talent; and participated in recruitment and talent selection. She served as co-chair of the Internet, Technology, and Intellectual Property Corporate Group. Sobel graduated magna cum laude from Boston University and holds a JD from New York University School of Law, where she was a member of the Law Review and Order of the Coif. She completed the Executive Women’s Director Development Program at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Sobel lives in New York City and is the mother of grown twins, a daughter and a son.

Recorded in September 2017 - Linda M. Gadsby ’92 is vice president and deputy general counsel at Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, and a leading developer of educational technology. For more than 20 years, she has been providing counsel to employers on all aspects of employment law, and representing her clients before federal and state courts and administrative agencies. She has also managed union-organizing efforts, collective bargaining negotiations, grievance hearings, union arbitration, and various National Labor Relations Board matters. Gadsby is responsible for handling all labor and employment law issues for Scholastic's approximately 7,000 domestic employees, plus the UK, Canada, Puerto Rico, and other locations. In addition, she serves as the primary attorney for two of the company’s largest divisions: Scholastic Book Fairs and the National Service Organization (manufacturing and distribution). She also manages the company’s immigration and employee benefits law areas, regularly advises and counsels top executives, and serves on the company’s Administrative Committee. Gadsby holds a BS from Cornell University and a JD from NYU School of Law.

Recorded in May 2017 - Florence Davis ’79 has served as President and a member of the Board of Directors of The Starr Foundation since March 1999. A graduate of Wellesley College (highest honors, Phi Beta Kappa) and New York University School of Law (Root-Tilden Scholar), she began her legal career in private practice with Sullivan & Cromwell in 1979. From 1986-1995, Ms. Davis served in a number of positions at Morgan Stanley & Co., Incorporated, where she rose to become a Principal and Director of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs. From 1995-1999, Ms. Davis was Vice President and General Counsel of American International Group, Inc. ("AIG"). She is retired from the practice of law. Ms. Davis is a trustee of New York University School of Law, a director of the International Rescue Committee, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a trustee of the New York Botanical Garden, and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Newman's Own Foundation. Ms. Davis served as a member of Mayor Bloomberg's Committee on Economic Opportunity, and the board of the Eisenhower Fellowships.

Recorded in December 2016 - Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan ’79 is a sitting judge on the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Term, First Department. She is the first woman of Asian descent to be appointed to an appellate panel in New York State. Before becoming a judge, she worked in the New York State Attorney General’s consumer fraud protection unit and has also served as an attorney for various New York Legal Services agencies representing indigent people. She earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Brooklyn College and a JD from NYU School of Law.

Recorded in November 2017 - Lisa Marie Boykin ’95 is Senior Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs/Television Group at Annapurna Pictures. Born in Philadelphia, PA, Boykin grew up in Sumter, SC, where she attended Sumter High School. She holds a BA in Government/Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame and a JD from NYU School of Law. Boykin started her legal career as a lawyer at the Wall Street law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. In her current role in the newly formed television group at Annapurna Pictures, she’s responsible for negotiating the talent deals with the writers/directors/performers on Annapurna’s television series as well as the deals to distribute these series on premium cable and new media platforms. Prior to joining Annapurna Pictures, she worked in the legal department at The Walt Disney Company. She’s also served as production and legal counsel at Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and PBS. Boykin lives in Baldwin Hills in Los Angeles, CA.

Recorded in February 2017 - Hon. Betty Weinberg Ellerin ’52 is senior counsel in the firm’s Litigation & Trial Practice Group in the New York office. Prior to joining Alston & Bird, Justice Weinberg Ellerin served more than 20 years as an Appellate Division jurist. She was the first woman appointed as Deputy Chief Administrative Judge of the State of New York for the New York City Courts, where she was responsible for the operation of all the trial courts within the city. Following that position, she became the first woman appointed as Associate Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York (First Department). Additional positions include Presiding Justice and Additional Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York (First Department). Prior to her tenure on the bench, she served as Law Clerk to various State Supreme Court judges. Justice Weinberg Ellerin received her LL.B. in 1952 from New York University, where she was awarded the Florence Allen Scholarship. She received her B.A., cum laude, in 1950 from Washington Square College under the combined college-law program, where she was elected to Justinian, the Pre-Law Honor Society.

Recorded in May 2017 - Hon. Betty Staton ’79 attended NYU School of Law on a full scholarship. After graduation, Staton worked at Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Legal Services (BSCLS) for eight years, during which she served as the deputy director and director of community outreach and education. As part of her position, she developed curriculum in various legal areas and trained laypeople to advocate for and represent clients at administrative hearings. She also conducted outreach seminars at schools, senior citizen centers, and youth centers. In March 1987, Staton left BSCLS to become a founding partner in the law firm of Boyd, Staton & Cave, the first African-American female law firm in New York state. Staton was a partner in the firm until April 1991, when Mayor David Dinkins appointed her to a 10-year term on the New York State Family Court, assigned to Kings County. In 2001, she was reappointed to a 10-year term by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and served until her mandatory retirement. After a career of almost 20 years on the bench, including a period as a judicial hearing officer, Staton returned to BSCLS. She currently serves as president of the consolidated Legal Services NYC organization Brooklyn Legal Services. Staton has served as an adjunct lecturer at several colleges, including New York City College of Technology, where she taught business law for more than 15 years. She is a member of several law-related associations and community organizations and was a founding member of the St. Paul Community Christian School, a private school for students pre-K through ninth grade in Brooklyn. In 1978, Staton, who traveled to the 1963 March on Washington, was among the students who organized NYU Law’s Black and Latino Alumni Association, which later became the Black, Latino, Asian Pacific American Law Alumni Association and now the Law Alumni of Color Association (LACA). Staton graduated cum laude from Brooklyn College in 1973, which she attended after an absence of 18 years and while raising two young sons.

Recorded in September 2017 - Capt. Brenda Berkman ’78 retired as a Captain in the New York City Fire Department after serving the City for 25 years. She was assigned to firehouses in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Capt. Berkman began her career in the fire service after winning the federal sex discrimination lawsuit she initiated that resulted in the hiring of New York City's first women firefighters. The documentary Taking the Heat, which chronicles Berkman’s struggle to integrate women into the FDNY, aired on PBS in 2006 and is available on YouTube. She has also been profiled in several books and numerous articles. In 1996-97, Capt. Berkman served as a White House Fellow, the first professional firefighter to be awarded this prestigious leadership development fellowship in the history of the program. She has led both local and national women firefighters’ organizations. Since retirement from the FDNY, Capt. Berkman’s passions have shifted to printmaking and volunteer work. Her art can be viewed at her website, Brenda Berkman Artworks. She volunteers as a walking tour guide at the 9-11 Memorial in New York City to honor her friends and colleagues who were lost on 9-11, and to help educate visitors.

Recorded in January 2017 - Maureen Brundage ’81 is the former executive vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary, and chief ethics officer of The Chubb Corporation, where she worked for over ten years. Before joining Chubb as general counsel, she spent over 24 years at White & Case, where she was a partner and head of the Global Securities Law Practice Group. Brundage has been highly involved in diversity initiatives throughout her career. While at Chubb, she was active in the company’s Women’s Development Council and was a frequent speaker at its biannual conference. She was a member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and is currently a member of the National Association of Women Lawyers. She also serves on the Board of the Jersey Battered Women’s Service. Brundage has a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Fordham University and a JD from NYU School of Law, where she was editor-in-chief of the Annual Survey of American Law.

Recorded in May 2017 - Hon. Lorna G. Schofield ’81 is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. She was nominated in 2012 by President Obama and confirmed by a unanimous vote of the US Senate. For 20 years previously, Judge Schofield was a litigation partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in its New York office. Her practice focused on litigation in complex commercial matters, including regulatory and white collar criminal investigations, class actions, corporate bankruptcies, and other business disputes. Her trials included the successful defense of Rosie O’Donnell in her contract claim against the publisher of Rosie magazine, and of a big four accounting firm in a class action in which the jury returned a defense verdict after only 30 minutes. Judge Schofield previously served as a federal prosecutor and worked on cases involving arms dealing, domestic terrorism and white collar crime. She began her legal career as an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. She is a former Chair of the Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association. Judge Schofield has written and spoken frequently about trial tactics and women in the legal profession. Judge Schofield is the first Filipino-American federal judge to be appointed under Article III of the US Constitution.

Recorded in April 2017 - Melissa Tidwell ’03 is Vice President and General Counsel at Reddit, advising on a wide range of legal and business matters and managing the company’s Legal, Policy, and Communications groups. Previously, Tidwell was Senior Counsel at Google, advising the Product, Engineering, Business Development, and Sales teams on a variety of Google products. She started her legal practice at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York before moving to Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco. Tidwell earned her JD from New York University School of Law and a BA in American Studies from Georgetown University.

Recorded in April 2017 - Sloan Lindemann Barnett ’93 is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Green Goes with Everything: Simple Steps to a Healthier Life and a Cleaner Planet. Lindemann Barnett has been a television and print journalist for more than 15 years, appearing on-air as a consumer and green contributor on NBC's Today Show, as well as the consumer editor for the NBC affiliate in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lindemann Barnett has also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show; been a legal and consumer expert for Fox, CNN, and ABC; and hosted women’s talk shows for Lifetime and Oxygen. She began her career as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan and then went on to write a legal and consumer advice column for the New York Daily News for nearly a decade. Lindemann Barnett is the co-chair of the California Pacific Medical Center Board and a member of the leadership council of the Harvard School of Public Health, and sits on the board of NYU Law. She lives with her husband and three children in San Francisco.

Recorded in March 2017 - Claudia Carvajal Lopez ’18 is a third-year law student at NYU School of Law. She is an AnBryce scholar and is on the Law Review, and she previously served as executive co-chair of the Latino Law Students Association (LaLSA) during the 2016-17 academic year. Carvajal Lopez was born in Sinaloa, Mexico, and moved to Oakland, California, when she was five years old. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in May 2012. After graduating from college, Carvajal Lopez spent a few years working as a paralegal at an immigration law firm. She was an SEO scholar the summer before she started law school and spent the summer after her first year of law school at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York. She worked this past summer at Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco. Alina Das ’05 is a Professor of Clinical Law at NYU School of Law, where she co-teaches and co-directs the Immigrant Rights Clinic. She and her clinic students represent immigrants and community organizations in litigation and advocacy to advance immigrant rights locally and across the country. In addition to her teaching, Das engages in scholarship on deportation and detention issues, particularly at the intersection of immigration and criminal law. Das also serves as faculty director of the NYU Latinx Rights Scholars Program. Prior to joining the Law School, Das was a Soros Justice Fellow and staff attorney with the Immigrant Defense Project, and clerked for Judge Kermit V. Lipez of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Das graduated magna cum laude with an AB in government from Harvard University, and graduated cum laude from NYU Law as a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar with a joint MPA from NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service. Das is a recipient of the LexisNexis Matthew Bender Daniel Levy Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Immigration Law, the NYU Law Podell Distinguished Teaching Award, the NYU Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Faculty Award, and the NYU Center for Multicultural Education & Programs Nia Faculty Award.

Recorded in March 2017 - Carol Bellamy ’68 is the chair of the Governing Board of the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund. Bellamy was previously president of the New York City Council, a member of the New York State Senate, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), director of the United States Peace Corps, president and CEO of World Learning, and chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Partnership for Education. Bellamy has worked in the private sector at Morgan Stanley; Bear Stearns; and Cravath, Swaine & Moore. She is a member of the American University of Beirut Board of Trustees and is a former Fellow of the Harvard Institute of Politics. She has been awarded the Legion d’Honneur by the Government of France, and the Order of the Rising Sun in Japan.

Recorded in February 2017 - Maggie Drucker ’90 serves as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Grubhub Inc., which is a NYSE-listed company and is the nation's leading online and mobile food-ordering company dedicated to connecting hungry diners with local takeout restaurants. Drucker held the general counsel position at Seamless North America LLC, prior to its merger with Grubhub. Previously, Drucker was senior vice president and senior deputy general counsel at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. and prior to that, she spent seven years in-house at The New York Times Company and five years in-house at Simon & Schuster. Drucker holds a bachelor's degree in history and economics from Brown University and a law degree from New York University School of Law.

Recorded in April 2017 - Leslie Spencer ’98 is a partner in Ropes & Gray’s intellectual property group, and co-chair of the firm's diversity committee. She advises clients on matters involving computer software, electronics, financial technology (“FinTech”), healthcare information technology and consumer products. Spencer has over 15 years of experience representing clients in intellectual property disputes. She is a registered patent attorney and appears before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Spencer also counsels clients regarding IP asset protection, and freedom-to-operate opinions. Before law school, Spencer worked in financial services, and supervised development of a smart card system. She received her JD from New York University School of Law, and holds a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as an MBA from the University of Michigan. Before recently relocating to Silicon Valley, she was based in Ropes & Gray’s New York office and recognized as one of thirty “Top Women in Law 2016” by the New York Law Journal.

Recorded in December 2016 - Rachel Robbins ’76 currently serves as senior independent non-executive director at Atlas Mara, a London Stock Exchange listed company focused on building the premier financial services group in in Sub-Sahara Africa. Her legal career in the financial and international development sectors spans more than 35 years, beginning with her time as an associate at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. She went on to hold managing director and general counsel positions at J.P. Morgan (where she also served as Secretary), Citigroup International, and NYSE Euronext (where she was also executive vice president and secretary). From 2008-12, she was vice president and general counsel of the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation. A native of New Jersey, Robbins is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a trustee of the Law School. She received NYU Law Women’s annual alumna of the year award in 2007. While at NYU Law, Robbins was Order of the Coif as well as managing editor of the Annual Survey of American Law. Prior to attending NYU Law, she graduated from Wellesley College with a Bachelor of Arts in French Literature.

Recorded in June 2017 - Sheila Birnbaum ’65 is currently a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, where she practices primarily int he areas of products liability, toxic torts, and insurance coverage litigation and is co-chair of the firm's Global Product Liability and Mass Torts Practice. She was previously a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and has also served as a professor of law and associate dean at NYU Law. Her many professional achievements include arguing successfully three times before the US Supreme Court and serving as special master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund as well as chair of the New York State Commission on Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Compensation. She is the recipient of multiple awards, including the ABA's Margret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award and NYU Law's Judge Edward Weinfeld Award. In this podcast, Sheila Birnbaum was interviewed by her nieces Sara Lubetsky and Lauren Lubetsky.

Recorded in March 2017 - Vijaya Gadde ’00 is Twitter’s General Counsel, leading the company’s legal, trust and safety, and public policy teams. She previously served as a Legal Director at Twitter, where she managed the international and corporate legal teams. Prior to joining Twitter in 2011, Gadde was Senior Director, Legal at Juniper Networks; previously, for nearly a decade, she was an associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. While at WSGR, Gadde acted as counsel to the New York Stock Exchange’s Proxy Working Group and Committee on Corporate Governance. She earned a JD from New York University School of Law and a BS in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She is @vijaya on Twitter.

Recorded in April 2017 - Deb Ellis ’82 is director of operations at NJ LEEP, a college bound program in Newark, NJ. Previously, Ellis has served as the executive director of the NJ Coalition to End Homelessness, assistant dean for Public Service at NYU School of Law, legal director of NOW Legal Defense Fund, staff attorney at the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, and adjunct professor at Yale College and NYU Law, where she taught Sex Discrimination for over 20 years. She has spoken and published widely on women’s rights and public interest legal careers. In recognition of her leadership in public service, Ellis received NYU’s Public Service Award in 2012, and was recognized in 2011 by the White House as a Champion of Change. Ellis is a graduate of Yale College and NYU School of Law, where she was a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar. After graduating from NYU, Ellis clerked for the late Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr., of the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Montgomery, Alabama.

Recorded in February 2017 - Elizabeth Vrato ’90 is the author of The Counselors: Conversations with 18 Courageous Women Who Have Changed the World (with a foreword by President Bill Clinton), which provides mentoring advice from some of this country's most trailblazing women leaders, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Janet Reno. A Harry S. Truman Scholar, Vrato has practiced law in both the public and private sectors. Vrato graduated magna cum laude from LaSalle University in Philadelphia, where she was given the Political Science Department Award upon graduation, and received her JD from NYU School of Law.