RICHMOND COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

RICHMOND COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

A Message from Our President

Timothy O'Donovan


 70th President

2023 October


Dear Members:


The Richmond County Bar Association joins the Staten Island Legal and Civic Communities In mourning the loss of the Hon Robert J. Gigante.


Following a distinguished career in private law practice and politics, Judge Gigante was elected to the Supreme Court and subsequently to the Surrogate Court of Richmond County. Judge Gigante was universally praised for treating all attorneys and litigants that appeared before him with dignity and respect. He was an extremely knowledgeable jurist with impeccable character.


Judge Gigante allowed attorneys to try their cases and advocate on behalf of their clients. He often complimented lawyers on the record for the quality of their advocacy. Judge Gigante never forgot that he was a lawyer first.


He was also very kind and provided guidance and generosity with his time to our Staten Island Legal Community. Judge Gigante was not only a member but a great friend to the Richmond County Bar Association. For many years, he helped organize and promote the tennis portion of our yearly Golf and Tennis Outing contributing to making it a great success. His charitable efforts inside and outside the Courtroom are well known and documented.


It was a life well lived and our organization is much better from Judge Gigante's contributions. We send our condolences to his family and all those who loved him.


May he rest in peace.



Timothy M. O'Donovan

President

  • 2023 September

    Dear Members: 

    We say goodbye to the summer and the fall weather is upon us. We have a number of important developments which I wish to share with the membership. 



    RECENT PAST EVENTS 


    On September 7th, the RCBA had its inaugural Bocce Tournament at Casa Belvedere. The consensus is that the Event was a tremendous success! Based upon the participation and positive feedback, we plan to keep this event on next year's calendar. Congratulations to “Team DePalma” on their well deserved victory. Special thanks to our Vice President Vincent Albunio for organizing and running the Tournament. Great job Vin! 


    On September 14th, the recently formed New Lawyers Committee held their first event at Flagship Brewery and, later, at the Staten Island Ferry Hawks watching a game from a Suite. Please do not ask me who won the game. It was a great event and we thank Jackie Monier, Alexa Scarfo and Katryna Cordova from the New Lawyers Committee for organizing the event. We look forward to more events from the New Lawyers Committee in the near future. 



    UPCOMING EVENTS 


    Our Golf and Tennis Outing at the Richmond County Country Club is fast approaching. For those who have been living under a rock, it's October 5, 2023. Check out our website for further details. We still have openings for sponsorship opportunities and we can always use players – especially tennis players.


    The RCBA Diversity Initiative Committee will be hosting its first event on October 25th at Pavilion on the Terrace. The event is, among other things, a membership drive, and is free to all members and non members alike. This informal “meet and greet” event will have an open bar and several hors d'Oeuvres. 


    We are also taking the opportunity to recognize a prominent RCBA member, Patricia “Anne” Taylor Carsel, Esq. with our first Trailblazer Award. As many know, Anne is the first African American President of the Staten Island Women's Bar Association as well as the first African American to be a Staten island Commissioner on the NYC Board of Elections. In addition, Anne has been a beloved mentor to many lawyers from our Association. She has also been engaged in many charitable efforts. Please join us for this important event. There will be sponsorship opportunities as well as journal advertisements for members and local businesses. Watch out for our upcoming flyer for further details. 


    The Supreme Court, Civil Practice Committee, will be hosting an event on November 8th at the Staaten. This is also an informal “meet and great” cocktail party with the Judiciary and the Court Attorneys. It is free to our members. One of the many unfortunate byproducts of the pandemic is the lack of interaction between practicing attorneys and those who are in the Court System, including Judges and their Court Attorneys. We hope events like this will bring back some normalcy to our practices and provide some access in an informal setting. 


    At this event, we will be honoring Angie DePompo with a Trailblazer Award. As a venerable Court Reporter, Angie has been a fixture in Civil Court Practice. Angie has been a role model, for women in particular, in establishing a successful small business for decades. DePompo Reporting became synonymous with excellence. Angie has also been involved in many charitable causes. Please join us in honoring Angie DePompo that evening. Sponsorship opportunities as well as journal advertisements will be available to members and local businesses. Flyer incoming shortly. 



    CLE WEBINARS


    We have a number of CLE Webinars coming up. Special thanks to our CLE Chairs Courtney Begley and Irini Bekhit for all their hard work. We remain committed to providing CLEs to our membership without charge. 


    On October 11th, at 6 pm , there will be a Cybersecurity Webinar that will be hosted jointly by the RCBA and the Staten Island Women's Bar Association. It will be free to memberships of both organizations. Abdul M. Hafiz, Esq., an attorney with the Law Firm of White and Case will be providing the lecture. Mr. Hafiz is a Staten Islander who has previously lectured and developed an expertise in this area of the law. 


    On October 26th, at 1 pm, Irini Bekhit, Esq. will be hosting an update in Matrimonial Law. The speakers will be Justice Paul Marrone, his Court Attorney, Isaac Gorodetski, Esq., as well as Matrimonial Practice Experts , Anne-Louise DePalo, Esq., and Kathleen Garrigan, Esq.


    On November 16th, at 1 pm, there will be a Surrogate Court update hosted by two experts from Surrogates Court, Eve Marie Cusack, Esq and Angelica Montemarano, Esq. In January of 2024, there will be a webinar on implicit bias. The details to follow. 



    JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION


    I am pleased to announce that Richmond County Diversity Initiative Committee will partner with the Richmond Court Supreme Court to celebrate Juneteenth. The event will held on June 13, 2024. I am thrilled to further announce that Chief Justice of the Court Appeals, Rowan Wilson, will be attending and will act as our keynote speaker. In addition, Public Administrator Edwina Martin Esq. and Housing Court Judge Tashanna Golden will be speakers at the Celebration. It promises to be a signature event and more details will follow in the ensuing months. Special thanks to Nadine Johnson, Esq., Chief of Staff and Principal Counsel to Administrative Law Justice Desmond Green, for her invaluable assistance. 



    CONCLUSION 


    That's enough for now. As always, we encourage any members who have any issues which they believe the Association might address to let us know. 




    Timothy M. O'Donovan 


    President



  • 2023 July

    Dear Members: 


    As we enjoy summer, I want to discuss exciting developments for the Richmond County Bar Association, which we hope to benefit our members and attract new members to our organization. 


    I am excited to announce we have launched this new website which will be user friendly and promises to provide more substance and content for our members. While here, head to the store, and purchase our attractive newly designed RCBA mug, which was made in collaboration with On Your Mark. We hope to provide more merchandise in the future. We would appreciate the members' feedback as to what RCBA merchandise would be of interest. 


    We have scheduled our first Bocce Tournament at the elegant Casa Belvedere. The event will be held on September 7 th from 6 to 10 pm. Seating is limited. Please register early to assure participation. We expect this event to attract great interest. 


    We have also scheduled our Annual Golf and Tennis outing at the beautiful Richmond County Club on October 5 th . We returned to the Richmond Country Club last year and it was a great success! We expect to build on last year's event and have an even greater event this year. Please look out for the flyer and plan to be a part of one of our signature events. 


    We are scheduling upcoming CLE events in Cyber Security and Diversity topics, which will be free to our membership. We will be following up with further information in the very near future. We will also be scheduling other free CLEs to our membership. In addition, we will also be having a destination CLE for the first time in five years. We expect the event to be held in the early spring of next year. More details to follow. 


    We will be scheduling informal “mixers” for networking opportunities for our members. Details to follow. 


    There will be an RCBA picnic in May of 2024. 


    That's enough for now but we expect more surprises and developments for the 2023-2024 year. We hope to grow and thrive as an Association. 


    Finally, we encourage any members who have any issues which they believe the Association might address to let us know. 






    Timothy M. O'Donovan, Esq. 


    President

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