Commencement Celebration Crosses Generations
L to R: In photo at left is Sam Kelly ’24, who will be handed his diploma by his aunt, Lisa Smith ’78. In photo at right, Helene Fisher Horowitz ’93 is shown with son Spencer, husband Kenneth Horowitz ’92, and daughter Jillian Horowitz ’24. Helene and Kenneth will present their daughter, Jillian, with her diploma.
Commencement at Brooklyn Law School is always a day of celebration. It’s also a family tradition for graduates whose parents, grandparents, siblings, or other family members have preceded them at the Law School. Following a longstanding Law School custom, many of those alumni family members will join their loved ones on stage and present the graduates with their degrees. This year, 18 members of the Class of 2024 and their families will take part in Brooklyn Law School's 123rd Commencement Ceremony on Monday, May 13 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).
Among these accomplished grads and family alums are Jillian Horowitz and her parents Kenneth Horowitz ’92 and Helene Fisher Horowitz ’93, and Sam Kelly and his aunt Lisa Smith ’78, who is also a former assistant professor at the Law School.
Advice from the Family A-Team
By the time Sam Kelly ’24 launched his legal education at Brooklyn Law School, he already had six years of a career in politics under his belt, having worked as an organizer for high-profile campaigns and as Mid-Atlantic finance director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. But in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, with a laugh, “I was alone with my spreadsheets instead of in the D.C. mix, and I wanted to do something more challenging and intellectually stimulating.”
Who better to ask for advice on his next move than his aunt, Lisa Smith ’78, chief counsel for Gender and Family Violence Policy and Planning at the New York State Office of Court Administration’s Office of Justice Initiatives. Smith, who had been an assistant professor at Brooklyn Law School for 28 years and served as director of criminal and judicial externships as well as the Prosecutors Clinic, had made career moves herself, from the Kings County D.A.’s office to private practice to joining the state court system.
“I knew that with most of the things Sam thought about doing, he would be advantaged by a law degree. It offers flexibility and can be used in so many areas, not just for joining a practice,” Smith said.
Smith also advised her nephew that if he wanted to be in private practice in New York City, that he should think about what the city’s most vibrant sectors of the law were—in other words, where would the jobs be? She encouraged him to get involved in externships and clinics, to get hands-on experience, something Brooklyn Law could offer in a variety of areas. “The combination of clinics and externships can create a road map for students. It’s a way to build a viable résumé,” Smith said.
Smith wasn’t the only family member with a relationship to Brooklyn Law who offered Kelly guidance. Her husband, David Dince, senior counsel for the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, is an adjunct professor of clinical law, and their daughter, Rebecca Dince Zifkin ’11, is policy director for the nonprofit World Without Exploitation, which works to end human trafficking and sexual exploitation. “They talked about Brooklyn Law as a school where people come from many different walks of life, and because there are so many areas of study, people are not all competing for the same jobs. It lends itself to a collaborative community,” Kelly said. “They gave me so much advice about career and networking and how to take advantage of being in law school,” he added. “Go to every event, show up, and introduce yourself to everyone. Get a business card. It means a lot.” Also, a running theme among alumni, “take a torts class with Professor Aaron Twerski!”
He took their advice to heart and set his sights on real estate law, participating in the Corporate and Real Estate Clinic (“Professor Debbie Bechtel is the best,” he said), joining the staff of the Brooklyn Journal of International Law, becoming a member of the BLS Real Estate Society, and doing internships with the Hon. Joan Azrack of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and firms that specialize in real estate transactions, including Goldstein Hall, where he was mentored by yet another Brooklyn Law alum, partner Niki Tsismenakis ’11.
Now, Kelly is pursuing a role in transactional real estate, and his family is confident he’ll succeed. “Sam has a very thoughtful and thorough way,” said Smith. “He can dispassionately analyze an issue, put his personal agenda aside, and see both sides. Those are qualities that are most important for a lawyer.”
Discovery in the Courtroom
After graduation, Jillian Horowitz ’24, will be joining the firm of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler as a litigation associate. And while her choice of litigation as a career wasn’t directly influenced by her parents—her father, Ken Horowitz ’92, is associate general counsel at real estate company Sterling Equities Associates and her mother, Helene Fisher Horowitz ’93, is managing director, insurer consulting leader for insurance broker and risk advisor Marsh—the decision to pursue her legal education at Brooklyn Law School was positively colored by their experiences there. “They love Brooklyn Law,” Jillian said.
When she was growing up in Great Neck, Long Island, Jillian said that Ken and Helene would occasionally take the family to Brooklyn, where they strolled around Brooklyn Heights and shared their memories of the neighborhood and the Law School, where they had met while sharing a study table. They later worked together at the grievance committee of New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, Second Department, and fell in love. “I enjoyed the experience at law school and made excellent friends. A highlight was being on Moot Court,” said Helene, who segued from practicing at a legal firm to joining the insurance industry. “When Jillian decided to go to Brooklyn, I encouraged her to take Professor Aaron Twerski’s torts class,” said Ken. “He, of all the professors I had, stood out in my mind.”
“Before law school, I thought of going into politics, with law as a stepping stone,” said Jillian, who graduated with a B.A. in political science from McGill University. “But when I got to law school and engaged with the material, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer.”
Externships with two U.S District Court judges—Hon. Nicholas G. Garaufis in the Eastern District of New York and Hon. Lorna G. Schofield in the Southern District—sparked her interest in litigation. “Sitting in chambers with these distinguished judges, experiencing courtroom behavior, helping to write draft opinions and respond to briefs and memoranda, were the most formative experiences I’ve had,” Jillian said. She also served as a research assistant to 1901 Distinguished Research Professor of Law Neil Cohen in his work on the Uniform Commercial Code, and to Stanley A. August Professor of Law William Araiza in his scholarship focused on a federal statute criminalizing the unlawful reentry of noncitizens. Jillian is an associate managing editor on Brooklyn Law Review, as well as an International Business Law Fellow.
Joining the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot team, initially as a researcher and then as a 3L team member, was also key. “The research skills and oral advocacy experience that I gained from being on the team were so important. Participating in all of the pre-Moots and then finally getting to argue at the actual competition held in Vienna in March, was an amazing culmination.”
“Jillian has surpassed us, in terms of grades and how well she’s done at law school,” Helene said. “We had high expectations for her, and she has far exceeded them. She’s worked tremendously hard and we’re so proud.” (Their son, Spencer, is also graduating in May from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in history.)
“Being able to present Jillian with her degree is exciting,” said Ken. “We feel like we’re coming home.”
In addition to Horowitz and Kelly, the graduates with alumni family members presenting their degrees include:
Zaynah Chaudhury and aunt, Carrie Goldberg ’07
Rebeka Cohan and mother, Nina Shafiroff-Cohan ’78
Andrew Crawford and father, Allyn Crawford ’94
Daniel Elsen-Rooney and wife, Anjani Shah ’23
Caitlyn Genovese and sister, Jacqueline Genovese-Bova ’16, and brother-in-law, Justin Bova ’17
Jordan Gladstone and father, Douglas Gladstone ’95
Matthew Hans and brother, Dylan Hans ’18
Antonia Hatzipetros and father, John Hatzipetros ’87
Megan Henley and fiancé, Noah Sexton ’22
Shannon Herman and father, Hon. Brian Herman ’84
Kyle Hogan and mother, Maria Elena Lagdameo-Hogan ’93
Mackenzie Kramer and mother, Amy Kramer ’90
Callie Kramsky and father, Les Kramsky ’90
Benjamin Landau and father, Shawn Landau ’94
Samuel Reisner and grandmother, Edith Orlian ’83
Logan Rudman and father, Samuel Rudman ’92