Blank Rome's Ahmed Joins Community Association's Rising Leader Mentorship Program

ADIL SYED AHMED

Adil Syed Ahmed, a real estate associate at Blank Rome, has been selected to join the 2017-18 class of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey's (HCDNNJ) inaugural Rising Leaders Mentorship Program. The 12-month program, which launched on Sept. 26, is designed to forge strong connections within the community development field and foster the next generation of leaders. It will prepare diverse mid- to senior-level professionals who demonstrate the necessary passion and potential for advancement into positions of responsibility. The rising leaders class will be matched with experienced mentors in the field and, over the course of one year, rising leaders and mentors alike will build capacity in both personal and professional ways through one-on-one meetings, professional development trainings, and networking events. This year's mentors include Patrick Morrissy, former executive director of HANDS; Betsey Hall, former president of Homeless Solutions; Darlene Robinson, PNC Bank; Mark McBride, TD Bank; and Alle Ries, M&T Bank. Based in Blank Rome's Philadelphia office, Ahmed counsels real estate investment funds, privately held and publicly traded companies, and financial institutions in all aspects of their acquisition, disposition, financing, and leasing of real estate. Ahmed serves as a member of The Indus Entrepreneurs–Philadelphia and the Fordham Law Entrepreneurial Law Advisory Council. He  also serves of the board of Global Emergency Response and Assistance, a nonprofit organization that assists refugees in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania adjust to life in the U.S.

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice Adds Four Board Members

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) in Montclair has announced the addition of four trustees with deep experience in the legal profession and a history of public service and pro bono work in New Jersey. The new trustees are former Essex County Assignment Judge Patricia K. Costello, now of counsel at Chiesa, Shahinian & Giantomasi in West Orange; William Krovatin, senior vice president and assistant general counsel, intellectual property, at Merck & Co., Inc., in Kenilworth; Mary Frances Palisano, a partner at Gibbons in Newark; and Geoffrey Rosamond, a partner at McCarter & English in Newark.

Costello served for more than 25 years as a New Jersey Superior Court judge, including 10 years as Essex County's assignment judge. Previously, she served on the Hudson County Superior Court. She concentrates her practice on mediation and arbitration of civil, chancery and matrimonial matters, including probate, commercial litigation, and labor and employment disputes.

 

Krovatin, who heads the intellectual property group in the general counsel's office at Merck, handles a wide range of matters, including

patent procurement, licensing of intellectual property, litigation and trademarks. As a VLJ volunteer, he has handled bankruptcy matters, often for people whose medical bills have become too large.

 

 

 

Palisano is a litigator who focuses on criminal defense, juvenile, school discipline and special education matters. A longtime VLJ

volunteer, Palisano handles expungement, special education, Sandy Superstorm and other matters. She serves as chair of the Gibbons firm's Pro Bono Committee, as the firm's pro bono coordinator, and as co-leader of its Child Advocacy Group.

Rosamond practices criminal defense and commercial litigation, representing corporations and individuals in a broad array of criminal and regulatory investigations and proceedings. He is former chairman of the Pro Bono Committee at McCarter & English.

GEOFFREY ROSAMOND

He is a longtime VLJ volunteer and has been recognized in that role for his groundbreaking work with VLJ's Trafficking Victims Legal Assistance Program and VLJ's re-entry program, ReLeSe.

Meyner and Landis Raises Funds to Provide Newark Kids with School Uniforms

UNIFORM FUNDRAISER: Catherine P. Kelly (on right), presents a check to Madge Wilson (on left), board member and Outreach Coordinator at New Community Corporation, on July 25 in Newark.

Catherine P. Kelly, an associate at Meyner and Landis in Newark, presented a check to Madge Wilson of New Community Corporation (NCC) on July 25 to help purchase school uniforms for school children in Newark. NCC provides a range of youth services to the community, including ongoing assistance to more than 1,100 children in early learning, after school and summer programs.

Norris McLaughlin Associate Kim Joins NJ Supreme Court Special Civil Part Practice Committee

RAYMOND KIM
Photo credit: Lynn Goodwin.

Raymond Kim, an associate with Bridgewater-based Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, has joined the New Jersey Supreme Court Special Civil Part Practice Committee. The committee issues reports and provides the Supreme Court with rule, nonrule and statutory recommendations. Kim focuses his practice on consumer financial services and real estate-related litigation. He represents financial institutions in connection with commercial business litigation, compliance, and regulatory matters. Kim has defended national title insurance underwriters in matters involving complex quiet title disputes, title irregularities, and title defects. Prior to entering private practice, Kim served as a dual law clerk for bothWalter Koprowski Jr., presiding judge of the General Equity Division in Essex County Superior Court, and for the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts, Office of Foreclosure. He earned his B.A. from the State University of New York at Binghamton and his J.D. from Rutgers University Law School, where he was a Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Law Fellow and Horace Wu and Kate King Wu Fellow in Immigration Law. Additionally, he served as a U.S. chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee extern. Prior to attending law school, Kim worked in molecular biology and genetic research at an international research institution.