The Foundation

About the Foundation

The Brooklyn Women's Bar Foundation exists to help women across Brooklyn achieve their own personal financial and educational goals.

The Foundation started in 2018 when the president of the Brooklyn Women's Bar Association, Michele S. Mirman, Esq., realized the Bar's dream of establishing its own foundation to help introduce women to the legal profession. Our programs include an educational pipeline to introduce first generation Americans to the legal profession. In 2022, the Foundation is excited to launch the Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix Scholarship.

Board of Directors & Officers

OFFICERS

President - Michele S. Mirman, Esq.

Michele S. Mirman, Esq.

Michele Mirman, Esq., a practicing New York lawyer for over 45 years, is admitted to practice in NY, NJ, Cal, Conn, Fla, DC, the Supreme Court of the United States and the Federal Districts Courts of New Jersey and the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. Ms. Mirman is the senior partner at Mirman, Markovits & Landau and a Past President of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association and the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association. She is the President of the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association Foundation, which she founded.

Ms. Mirman has tried and settled numerous, significant cases, representing thousands of New Yorkers on construction, medical malpractice, fall down, motor vehicle and sexual assault cases. She has also served on the judiciary committees for the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the Brooklyn Democratic Party and the New York State Women’s Bar Association, which rate New York State judicial candidates. Ms. Mirman also gives back to her community. She is the President of Bear Givers, a non-profit that sponsors kindness programs focused on children with disabilities, a member of AllinBklyn, a community of women who make grants to organizations that strengthen Brooklyn, and a longtime supporter of both the Brooklyn Kindergarten Society, which supports preschools in underprivileged areas and The Making Headway Foundation, which raises money for research into brain cancer in children. Ms. Mirman is also a trustee of the Tenement Museum of New York City, which tells the story of the immigrant experience in the United States and celebrates the achievements immigrants have made.

1st Vice President - Angélicque M. Moreno, Esq.

Angélicque M. Moreno, Esq.

Angélicque M. Moreno, a partner and senior trial attorney at Avanzino & Moreno, P.C., has attained many 7 figure verdicts and settlements during her career. She has lectured throughout New York City on a wide range of topics, including New York State Labor Law and Trial Skills. Angélicque has been privileged to serve as a Director on various Boards, is an Officer of the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association Foundation where she serves as Vice President, an Officer of the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association where she serves as Vice President, an Officer of the Brooklyn Bar Association where she serves as Treasurer and an Officer of the New York State Bar Association’s Trial Section where she serves as Secretary. Angélicque also serves on the Grievance Committee for the Second, Eleventh and Thirteenth Judicial Districts and the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary, City of New York. Angélicque is the Past-President of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, the first person of Latino origin to lead the organization and is President-Elect to the Puerto Rican Bar Association.

She has been recognized as a Super Lawyer, New York Metro, 2011, 2013-2022; Top Women Attorneys in Metro New York, 2014–2022; and Top Attorneys in New York, 2013, 2015– 2022. She is proud to have been honored with the Paul Harris Fellow Award, 2021,2015, presented by the Brooklyn Bridge Rotary Club; the Flor de Magda Award, 2019, presented by the Puerto Rican Bar Women’s Committee; the inaugural Amy Wren Award, 2016, presented by the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association and the Brooklyn Service Cornerstone Award, 2016, presented by Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams. Angélicque has also been recognized in the New York Law Journal’s Book of Lists, verdict/total award of $30,300,000.00.

2nd Vice President - Sheri E. Holland, Esq.

Sheri E. Holland, Esq.

Sheri E.Holland is a partner in the New York and New Jersey offices of Fleischner Potash. A trial attorney with more than thirty years experience , her practice areas include NY Labor Law, products liability, motor vehicle /trucking liability, intentional torts/negligent hiring and supervision, and all areas of premises liability.

Ms.Holland began her career as an Assistant District Attorney at the New York County District Attorney's Office . Assigned to the trial division , which included an appointment to the Sex Crimes Unit , she prosecuted hundreds of violent crimes from arrest to disposition. She entered private practice in 1994 when she became an associate at White,Fleischner and Fino defending a variety of tort liability matters both in New York and New Jersey. In 1998 she became a partner at the firm and in 2001, a member. Over the next sixteen years her practice expanded in both New York and New Jersey where she went on to lead a team of lawyers and support staff in the defense of complex personal injury matters.

In 2017 Ms.Holland joined Burns and Harris, a high volume plaintiff's personal injury firm. In 2018 she became a partner of the firm assigned to lead a team of lawyers and litigation support staff in the prosecution of cases from inception to resolution. Because of her years of trial experience, Ms.Holland selected countless juries and took numerous verdicts during her tenure with the firm.

In 2021, Ms.Holland joined Fleischner Potash where she intends to utilize her vast experience in tort liability both as a member of the defense bar and plaintiff's bar. Having amassed the substantive knowledge of tort law as well as the leadership skills, her focus is on the development of early strategies towards cost effective resolution.

Ms. Holland currently sits on the board of directors for the NYS Academy of Trial Lawyers, is a member of the executive advisory board of the Multicultural (Re) Insurance Association , is on the Foundation Board for the Brooklyn Woman’s Bar Association and is a member of the Bronx County Bar Association and National Bar Association .

Secretary - Alecia Walters-Hinds, Esq.

Alecia Walters-Hinds, Esq.

Alecia Walters-Hinds is a partner in the New York and Hartford offices of Lewis Brisbois and a vice-chair of the General Liability Practice. She is also a trial attorney and the President of New York City American Board Of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). Her practice focuses on defense of claims in a variety of areas. She specializes in the handling of high exposure and catastrophic injuries that range from general liability to medical malpractice claims. Ms. Walters-Hinds represents physicians, nurses, dentists and pharmacists. In addition, she also represents hospitals, outpatient medical facilities, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and long-term care providers. She has defended municipal and social service agencies. She also supervises a team and handles wrongful deaths, construction, labor law, dram shop, toxic tort, premises, motor vehicle (personal and commercial), and property damage claims. Ms. Walters-Hinds has prior experience defending municipal and social service agencies against employment discrimination and labor law claims.

Ms. Walters-Hinds has obtained many defense verdicts and verdicts involving awards of low amounts in cases in Brooklyn, New York, Bronx, Queens, Nassau, and in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. In addition, she has mediated and handled the negotiation of favorable settlements both before and during trial.

She has tried over 100 cases and taken over 50 verdicts. She began her career at the New York City Law Department Corporation Counsel, and then went to one of the largest insurance defense firms in New York. She has handled a lot of high exposure cases resulting in favorable verdicts or favorable resolutions through mediation or during trial.

She specializes in catastrophic injuries and those cases where plaintiffs rely upon sympathy for large awards. She enjoys meeting with clients and prepping them for trial.

Treasurer - Claire Rush, Esq.

Claire Rush, Esq.

Claire Rush is a trial attorney who specializes in the defense of high exposure personal injury actions. She has received a Preeminent AV rating of 5.0 / 5.0 from Martindale-Hubbell and has been identified as one of the top personal injury defense attorneys in the Metro New York area by Super Lawyer Magazine, ALM, and Martindale -Hubbell. Ms. Rush has been recognized by the Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers, the New York Times and AVENUE Magazine as one of New York City’s top women lawyers in the area of trial practice.

Ms. Rush has successfully defended public and private entities against bus, truck, auto, railway, construction, premises, elevator, escalator, environmental, security, police and 42 U.S.C. §1983 actions for the last 25 years. She has tried more than 100 jury cases to verdict in New York State.

Ms. Rush began her career at the MTA/New York City Transit Authority in 1984. She was assigned to a trial unit in 1985 and began trying catastrophic injury claims and death actions shortly thereafter. She tried over 75 jury cases to verdict while at the MTA. Ms. Rush was made an Assistant General Counsel in 1989 and served as a supervisor in the Bronx Trial Unit and the Chief of the Major Case Unit in New York County.

During her tenure at the MTA Ms. Rush developed an interest and expertise in the discovery and prosecution of insurance fraud. While at the MTA she commenced a civil fraud action against a prominent New York law firm and obtained a pre judgment attachment thereby securing the recoupment of more than $3,000,000 in fraudulently obtained judgments and settlements.

In recognition of her legal scholarship and advocacy skills, Ms. Rush was frequently called upon to brief and argue appeals at the MTA. As an appellate advocate, she developed an expertise in the area of governmental immunity and was a member of the team that worked on the seminal case of Crosland v. New York City Transit Authority, 68 N.Y.2d 165 (1986).Ms. Rush is frequently called upon by bar associations and private corporations to lecture and publish in the various areas of substantive law and trial practice in which she specializes.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Helene E. Blank, Esq.

Helene E. Blank, Esq.

I have been a litigator for most of my career having tried major personal injury lawsuits for both plaintiffs and defendants. I have also been involved in complex commercial and real estate matters that have included appointments as a Receiver by Judges in both Kings and New York Counties.

I was appointed as the Receiver for the East 51st crane collapse property in Manhattan as well as the Receiver for Commercial property in Brooklyn, which housed a NYC High School and a Board of Education Special School for Problem Students.

I have also handled corporate dissolution actions, sales of businesses, Federal Court PAGA actions, attorney fee disputes, attorney firm dissolutions. I have handled multiple Referee matters, including surplus money cases and realty actions involving matters such as brokers' fee disputes.

For most of my forty four years as an attorney, I have been involved in multiple Bar Associations because I believe they are vital to our profession. I have made it a center-piece of my career to connect to younger attorneys, especially woman - to mentor and guide them.

As an attorney, I have been appointed to numerous Office of Court Administration Committees. I am presently a member of the OCA Civil Practice Advisory Committee. Through that Committee, I wrote an amendment to the CPLR, that our Committee approved and helped advance. It passed the legislature and was signed into law.

Attorneys in New York, like in so many other states, can now subpoena documents for trial to their offices. I have been asked to speak to the bench and the bar frequently and have done so for many organizations. I have lectured for the New York Supreme Court Judges Association, taught classes for Newly Elected Judges, Lectured for Judges of the Civil Court of the City of New York and lectured for the following organizations: the New York State Bar, The Brooklyn Bar, New York County Lawyers, The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Brooklyn Women's Bar Association, and the New York State Trial Lawyers Institute.

I have been appointed by various organizations to be their representative on Judicial Screening Panels. I have been appointed to the Committee of Character and Fitness for the Appellate Division First Department.

Susan Mauro, Esq.

Susan Mauro, Esq.

Susan Mauro is a Partner at Ahmuty, Demers & McManus. Ms. Mauro focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, as well as defending significant premises liability, construction site accidents, property damage, and automobile liability cases for various insurance carriers.

Prior to joining ADM, Ms. Mauro was a partner at a well-known New York City-based full service firm. Prior to that, she gained experience working as in-house counsel and outside counsel for various insurance companies. Prior to receiving her J.D., Ms. Mauro worked as a Paralegal Specialist in the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York where she assisted in the prosecution of major Columbian drug cartels in the Criminal Division’s Narcotics Unit and also assisted in the prosecution of significant white collar crimes.

Ms. Mauro is the President of the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association for 2022-2023.

Hon. Marsha L. Steinhardt (Ret.)

Hon. Marsha L. Steinhardt

Marsha Steinhardt retired from the Supreme Court bench in Kings County on December 31, 2020, after a remarkable thirty year career. She is best known as the Judge presiding in the Medical Malpractice Trial Readiness Part, where she conferenced (and frequently settled) every post-note of issue malpractice case in the borough. Marsha has received numerous honors, from various organizations, including both plaintiff and defendant bar associations. She is currently a mediator/arbitrator with NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) where she specializes in litigation involving medical malpractice. The Judge spends half the year in Boca Raton, Florida, sharing the sunshine with her husband, Jeffrey Feldman and the couple’s little dog, Goldie.

Get Involved

Brooklyn Women's Bar Association Foundation Scholarship
Scholarships
Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix Scholarship

For final-year Brooklyn Law School student with a demonstrated interest in public service and the advancement of women in the law.

Brooklyn Women's Bar Association Foundation Event
The Event
October 26, 2022
6pm - 9pm

Learn more about the foundation, the scholarship and how you can engage.


Brooklyn Women's Bar Association Foundation Donation
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Help Brooklyn Women Achieve

Your donations help empower a new generation of legal professionals.


An IRS 501(c)3 nonprofit affiliated with the Brooklyn Women's Bar Association, a founding chapter of the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY)

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