Continued

 

 She served, as President of the Black American Law Students Association (BALSA), was a member of the Women’s Law Students Association and various other law school organizations. Upon graduation she was honored with the Outstanding Advocacy Award and the prestigious Ellen Beneke Award for her contribution to the life of the law school. During the summers of her law school education she clerked as a legal intern. After her first year of law school she clerked in the United States Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. After her second year of law school she clerked in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. Upon graduation from Boston University School of Law, she worked in the Bronx District Attorney’s Office for six years; where she handled complex homicide, rape, burglary, robbery, domestic violence and special victim cases all with an outstanding record. Bower & Gardner, the top medical malpractice and lobbying firm in New York State hired her as a trial attorney. She worked for four years until they dissolved. Bower & Gardner was a top firm specializing in medical malpractice, personal injury and premises liability. She experienced a lot of success with the firm until they dissolved in 1994. Contemplating her next career move, she opted to go into private practice. She became a solo practitioner creating a general practice handling a myriad of cases over the years. Her best moment was when she won a million dollar verdict against the New York City Transit Authority in the case of Emma Hanley v. New York City Transit Authority. She is an alumnus of the nationally acclaimed Trial Lawyer’s College, founded by Gerry Spence, which established a revolutionary method for training lawyers for the people. She is a member of several bar associations, including the New York Trial Lawyers, American Bar Association, Coalition of Blacks in the Court, Chair (COBIC), Bronx Black Bar and Queens Bar. COBIC is a collective minority organization that allows several minority organizations to come together as one voice. !!!  She chaired that organization. She was appointed by former New York State Chief Judge Sol Watchler as a Commissioner to The Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission on Minorities. The Commission was named for its first Chair, Franklin H. Williams. The role of the Commission is to look at race in the courts. The Commission identified that race existed in the courts. She has been a music agent and manager to the gospel group Leon’s Inner Voice (LIV). She was a four-letter athlete in high school playing basketball, volleyball and track and field. In college she continued her athletic pursuits playing basketball and fencing. She remained active in sports in law school playing intramural basketball. She is interested in exercising, jogging and bike riding. She enjoys reading and loves to write. She is the author of various published and unpublished articles, “Playing Like Bird,” “A Trumpet for Justice,” “Voter Identification,” “Non-adherence in not Non-compliance.” She creates a newsletter four times a year speaking to the issues of the day. She hosts special events and cultural affairs speaking to finances, real estate, poetry, book readings, women’s issues and taxes. She is a licensed Minister, Notary Public and Real Estate Broker. She likes music, the theatre, museums and culture. She enjoys domestic and foreign movies. She has spent her life representing the injured, the poor, the forgotten, those who did not have a voice. She has been called “a lawyer’s lawyer.” She has tried and won many cases of unsung heroes; the average working man and woman, the neglected immigrant and the stereotyped criminal. She takes cases other attorneys would not take because she believes in the cause and justice rather than the letter of the law.