Dean’s Roundtable Luncheons Bring Prominent Alumni to BLS
Students Get to Know Lawyers from Range of Practice Areas
Jan. 25, 2008 – This semester, Dean Joan G. Wexler will welcome five outstanding Brooklyn Law School alumni to the School through the Dean’s Roundtable Luncheon series, a unique program that brings highly successful graduates back to the Law School to meet with students in an intimate setting.
At each Roundtable Luncheon, 15 to 20 students join Dean Wexler for lunch with a graduate – sometimes two – who shares information about his or her career and accomplishments and answers questions from Brooklyn Law students. The lunches are very popular with students, who gain valuable insight into a variety of areas of the law as well as other careers through the frank discussions with experienced lawyers and other professionals.
The alumni slated for visits in February, March and April hold a variety of legal positions, from a litigation partner in a large, international law firm practicing securities law to a solo criminal defense lawyer representing high-profile defendants, and a general counsel for a professional sports franchise to a general counsel of a non-profit global venture fund aimed at eradicating poverty.
The Roundtable Luncheons are open to all students on a first-come, first-served basis in response to invitations e-mailed about a month before each lunch.
Antonio Yanez Jr. ’96: February 13
Partner, Litigation Department | Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Antonio Yanez Jr. ’96 is a partner in the litigation department of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. He represents issuers, officers, directors, underwriters, and accounting firms in securities class actions, SEC proceedings, and other matters. He also focuses on internal and independent investigations into financial and accounting matters. His major clients in securities class actions have included Molson Coors Brewing Co. in a case arising out of a merger; an accounting firm in a case involving alleged accounting improprieties at Oxford Health Plans; and underwriters in negotiations to settle an action arising out of accounting improprieties at WorldCom.
Yanez, who is fluent in Spanish, frequently speaks to international audiences. For example, he recently spoke in Panama City to the National Congress of Accountants and to the College of Certified Public Accountants about financial fraud. He has also authored and edited publications concerning liability under the Federal Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934 as well as financial reporting.
Jeffrey S. Sherman ’80: February 27
Senior Vice President and General Counsel | Becton, Dickinson and Company
Jeffrey S. Sherman ’80 is senior vice president and general counsel of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD). Headquartered in the U.S., with offices in nearly 50 countries worldwide, BD is a medical technology company that serves healthcare institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, industry, and the general public. BD manufactures and sells a broad range of medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment, and diagnostic products.
Sherman advises the corporation’s board of directors, CEO and other senior executives and is also the primary legal advisor to the company’s constituents, an officer of the corporation, a member of the senior executive team, and an administrator of the corporation’s in-house legal department. Prior to joining BD, Sherman served as vice president and associate general counsel for Wyeth, and as a partner with Shereff, Friedman, Hoffman & Goodman, which was ultimately merged into Bingham McCutchen LLP.
Ann L. MacDougall ’83: March 10
Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel | Acumen Fund
Ann L. MacDougall ’83 is chief administrative officer and general counsel of Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. Acumen Fund, which was incorporated in April 2001 with seed capital from the Rockefeller Foundation, Cisco Systems Foundation and three individual philanthropists, focuses on using philanthropic capital to make investments that will provide affordable, critical goods and services, such as water, housing and energy.
Prior to joining Acumen Fund, MacDougall worked for 17 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers in various senior roles. Most recently, she held the role of global deputy general counsel in Paris. Before joining PwC, she worked at US West and Sage Gray Todd & Sims, a Wall Street law firm in New York.
Jeffrey B. Gewirtz ’94: March 26
Senior Vice President and General Counsel | New Jersey Nets
As senior vice president and general counsel for the New Jersey Nets, Jeffrey B. Gewirtz ’94 oversees all legal affairs for the franchise. He is also helping to bring the Nets to Brooklyn in his role as senior VP and general counsel for Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, a Nets affiliate that handles all of the commercial and sports marketing aspects of the team’s planned relocation to the Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn.
Prior to joining the Nets, Gewirtz served as general counsel and chief legal and government affairs officer to the United States Olympic Committee, where he oversaw all USOC legal matters, including litigation and arbitration; intellectual property issues; athlete and sport national governing body matters under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act; anti-doping; real estate; and sponsorship, media, and licensing transactions. He has also held legal positions at Coca-Cola Company, IOC Marketing and Television Services, and the LPGA Tour. Gewirtz has taught sports law as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School and New York Law School.
Gerald B. Lefcourt ’67: April 10
Attorney | Gerald B. Lefcourt P.C.
High-profile trial lawyer Gerald B. Lefcourt heads his own firm in New York, Gerald B. Lefcourt, P.C., which focuses on criminal defense and complex civil litigation. He has defended clients as diverse as Abbie Hoffman; the Black Panthers; Harry Helmsley; Michael Milken’s co-defendant in one of the nation’s largest securities cases; and Murder, Inc. Records’ founder, Irv Gotti. He currently represents one of the defendants in the federal KPMG tax fraud prosecution.
Lefcourt is a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and of the New York Criminal Bar Association, and is also a founder of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is a frequent lecturer, panelist and author of publications on a wide variety of legal subjects including asset forfeiture, legal ethics, wire-tapping, plea bargaining, subpoenaing of lawyers, and representation of grand jury witnesses.
