Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University to Honor Three Distinguished Professionals and Rising Stars at the 28th Annual Law Leadership Awards Dinner

The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University announces that it will honor three distinguished professionals and a group of alumni rising stars at its 28th Annual Law Leadership Awards Dinner to be held on March 7, 2023 at the Westchester Country Club.

The Law Leadership Dinner is the signature fundraiser for Haub Law. This annual celebration provides the setting for the presentation of the Distinguished Service Award, which honors individuals or organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the legal community, the Law School, or the practice of law. Additionally, the Haub Impact Award will also be presented, which was given for the first-time last year. The Impact Award recognizes a person who has gone above and beyond to impact students, faculty, and the entire law school community.

This year, there are two recipients of the Distinguished Service Award, Susan S. Brown, a 1987 graduate of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, and Co-Founder and Of Counsel, at Glassman & Brown LLP and Anna Marciano Romanella, a 2000 graduate of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University and VP, Sustainability Zone North America Nestle, General Counsel & Head of Sustainability Nespresso USA. The recipient of this year’s Haub Impact Award is John T. O'Connor, a 1986 graduate of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University and a Partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.

Susan S. Brown is a co-founding member of the law firm of Glassman & Brown, LLP; she is now Of Counsel to the firm practicing primarily in the areas of Guardianship, Elder Law and Estates and Trusts. Ms. Brown was the first woman admitted to the partnership of the McCarthy Fingar, LLP law firm where she started her legal career. She is the immediate past President of the Board of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association Foundation and has served as a Vice President of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association and as co-chair of its Estates and Trusts Committee. Ms. Brown taught courses in estate administration, will drafting, advanced estate planning, retirement asset planning, contested guardianships, and elder law ethics for the New York State, Westchester County and Westchester Women’s Bar Associations and for the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University’s Continuing Legal Education programs. Ms. Brown also serves on the Zoning Board of Appeals of the City of Rye, NY. “Throughout her career, Susan Brown has broken the glass ceiling for women,” said Dean Horace E. Anderson Jr. “As a top graduate from Haub Law in 1987, to making partner at a prestigious firm when it was nearly unheard of for a woman to do so, to founding her own successful firm. Susan has served as a mentor to many Haub Law students and paved the way for countless others. We are grateful for Susan’s continued dedication and support of Haub Law and the Westchester community.”

Anna Marciano Romanella is VP, Sustainability Zone North America, General Counsel & Head of Sustainability for Nespresso USA. She joined Nestlé five years ago, first at Nestlé Waters North America advising on legal and sustainability, and more recently as the Division General Counsel for Nestlé Premium Waters and Nespresso USA. Recently, she was promoted to her current position. Prior to Nestlé, Anna was with Heineken USA where she served as Deputy General Counsel. Prior to that, she was the division General Counsel of Euro RSCG Worldwide and with Cadbury/Snapple for eight years, serving in various capacities, including as Assistant General Counsel for the North American division of the confectionary company. Ms. Romanella is an active board member of both the Fairfield/Westchester Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel and Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, and on the Advisory Board of the Sustainable Business Law Hub at Elisabeth Haub School of Law. “Anna graduated from Haub Law in 2000 and the impact that she has had in the field of sustainability has been tremendous,” said Dean Anderson. “We are fortunate to not only be able to call her an alumna, but also a trusted member of our Advisory Board on our newly launched Sustainable Business Law Hub. We are proud to be able to honor Anna as a Distinguished Service Award recipient.”

John T. O’Connor is a Partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. He has more than 30 years of experience counseling clients on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, equity financings and general corporate matters. His practice primarily involves representing corporate issuers and private equity investors. Mr. O’Connor has worked with clients across a wide range of activities, including acquisitions and divestitures, contested transactions, proxy contests, portfolio investing, equity and mezzanine debt financings, and other commercial arrangements. He currently represents issuers and private equity investors in the technology and retail and consumer products sectors, and has represented clients in the energy and financial services sectors in a broad range of domestic and cross-border transactions and in bankruptcy-related mergers and acquisitions. “John has established himself as a leader in his field, but what really stands out to us at Haub Law is his ongoing dedication to his alma matter,” said Dean Anderson. “John has established himself here at Pace as a mentor, friend, and long-time Pace University trustee. We are so grateful for his continued support and commitment of his time.” In 2005, at the Law School’s Annual Leadership Awards Dinner held that year, John received the Distinguished Service Award recognizing his ongoing support.

In addition, this year, Haub Law will celebrate the four alumni recipients of the annual Rising Star Award. The Rising Star Award is given annually in recognition of a legal professional who has impacted the field of law during the first fifteen years of the recipient's legal career. The Rising Star Awardee will have demonstrated a commitment to Haub Law, the legal profession, and an ingenuity of thought that has the potential for having substantial and lasting influence upon the legal profession. This year’s Rising Star recipients are: Jonathan Campozano ‘17, Staff Attorney, Neighbors Link Community Law Practice, Hana Heineken ’10, Senior Attorney, Climate and Energy Program, Center for International Environmental Law, Najia S. Khalid ‘09, Partner, Wiggin and Dana LLP, Shamik N. Trivedi ‘08, Special Counsel, Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Chief Counsel.

The Law School inaugurated its Leadership Awards Dinner in 1995.  Through sponsorships and a journal produced for the event, funds are raised that help to underwrite the law school’s academic programs, faculty and students. At last year’s annual Leadership Awards Dinner, Mayo Bartlett, a 1992 graduate of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, Principal Attorney at the Law Offices of Mayo Bartlett, PLLC and Brian S. Hermann, a 1991 graduate of Pace University’s Lubin School of Business and a current Partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP were honored with the Distinguished Service Award. The inaugural recipient of the Haub Impact Award last year was John C. Lettera ’99, Founder & CEO, RealFi Financial, LLC. Last year’s Rising Star Award recipients included Cherie Phoenix-Sharpe ’07, General Counsel to Connecticut Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, Fatima Silva ’08, Managing Attorney at Silva Law and Co-Host of Reasonable Doubt on Investigation Discovery at Discovery Inc., Michael Bauscher ’10, Partner at Carter Ledyard, Kevin Sylvester ’14, Chief of Police at Ossining Police Department, and Cayleigh Eckhardt ’15, Attorney-Advisor at US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Learn more about this year’s Leadership Awards Dinner and purchasing sponsorships.

About Elisabeth Haub School of Law

Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law offers JD and Masters of Law degrees in both Environmental and International Law, as well as a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) in Environmental Law. The school, housed on the University’s campus in White Plains, NY, opened its doors in 1976 and has over 9,000 alumni around the world. The school maintains a unique philosophy and approach to legal education that strikes an important balance between practice and theory. Haub Law launched its Environmental Law Program in 1978, and it has long been ranked among the world’s leading university programs, with a current #1 ranking by U.S. World and News Report.