Officers
SHERRY A. BISHKO
President
sherry@rosemarklaw.com
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Sherry A. Bishko is the incoming President of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association (WWBA). She is a long-time and passionate member of the WWBA where she has served as Recording Secretary, Vice President and President-Elect. Sherry has also served as co-chair of the WWBA Membership Committee and as a member of WBASNY’s Membership Committee. In addition, Sherry co-founded and launched the WWBA’s Mentorship Program with the Honorable Judge Kim Berg and the Honorable Judge Christine Sproat. The WWBA’s Mentorship Program pairs member attorneys with student mentees and is a tremendous success.
Sherry has been a partner in the law firm of Rosenthal & Markowitz, LLP since January of 2016, and has worked at the firm since 2006. She is involved in all practice areas of the firm including estate planning, estate settlement and real estate but concentrates primarily in matrimonial and family law. Sherry is a trained mediator and collaborative law attorney.
Sherry’s road to becoming a practitioner in matrimonial and family law was a bit circuitous but inevitable, given her sustained community involvement and interest in and desire to help people. Sherry graduated from Colgate University in 1990 and went straight to graduate school at Tufts University where she received an MA in Environmental Policy. Upon graduating from Tufts, she began working at the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Regional Office in New York City. Sherry worked in the Office of Policy and Management and lead former President Clinton’s Project XL initiative. Project XL is a program in which corporations and government agencies are given regulatory flexibility in exchange for achieving better “bottom-line” environmental results. Her experience with Project XL required a working knowledge of federal environmental statutes and regulations and prompted an interest in law school.
Sherry began her second career as a lawyer in 2000 when she entered Pace University Law School. She graduated Cum Laude with a Certificate in Environmental Law from Pace in 2003. After graduation, she founded a citizen’s action group in her then hometown of Sleepy Hollow, NY to monitor the re-development of the General Motor’s site located on the Hudson River and began working at Rosenthal & Markowitz, LLP.
Sherry is actively involved in the WWBA and credits her passion for the organization and continued commitment to her mentors and partners Kathy N. Rosenthal, Esq. and Linda Markowitz, Esq. Kathy and Linda are past WWBA Presidents and devoted to the WWBA as is her entire firm at Rosenthal & Marowitz, LLP.
Sherry resides in the Village of Tuxedo Park, New York and has served as a member of the Village’s Planning Board. Her family is a “founding family” having resided in the Village since the late 1800s and she is passionate about the history, residents and natural beauty of Tuxedo Park.
JILL OZIEMBLEWSKI
President-elect
jill_oziemblewski@yahoo.com
Jill Oziemblewski graduated from Brown University (1999) and Brooklyn Law School (2004). She began her career as an assistant district attorney in January 2005 in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, where, after serving assignments in the complaint room/arraignments, a general trial bureau, and the Domestic Violence Bureau, she transferred to the Appeals Bureau in February 2009, serving there for over ten years, finding engagement and intellectual challenge in appellate practice. Jill moved to Westchester in May 2019 and currently works in the Appeals and Special Litigation Division at the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, where she handles appeals and various applications in state and federal courts.
Jill will be grateful for the opportunity to serve under President Amanda Rieben in the role of Vice President, after having just completed two fulfilling years as Corresponding Secretary. The WWBA, its members and mission, continues to inspire, and there is much meaningful work that can be done in the year ahead.
SHARI GORDON
Vice President
shari@srgesq.com
Shari R. Gordon, incoming Vice President, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from SUNY at Stony Brook in 1982 and attended Union University at Albany Law School, where she earned the Gabrielli Best Brief Award before graduating with her Jurist Doctorate in 1985, and admission to the New York State Bar in January 1986. Ms. Gordon has been practicing law in excess of 35 years and is currently a member of the Law Offices of Shari R. Gordon located in Yorktown Heights and Mahopac, New York. Ms. Gordon is also admitted to the Eastern and Southern District Courts as well as the United States Supreme Court.
Ms. Gordon assisted in the preparation of, and was acknowledged by the author of the four volume treatise, “New York Matrimonial Law and Practice”, by Timothy M. Tippins, Esq.
In addition to her divorce and family law practice, Shari has an extensive background in criminal defense as a former Senior Staff Trial Counsel with the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society, Bronx County. She has been a member of the First Judicial Department felony panel for over two decades and continues to serve in that capacity. She also serves on the felony and misdemeanor panels in Westchester County.
Shari served for two terms as Vice-President of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York and WBASNY co-Chair of Health Law and Reproductive Rights for 14 years. She also served for over 10 years as co-Chair of the Families, Children and Court’s Committee for the Westchester Women’s Bar Association. Ms. Gordon served as an elected state and local director of the WWBA for over a decade. She also served on the Judicial Screening Committee of the WWBA.
Ms. Gordon served as Program Chair for the Summer Justice Academy for Young Women held at Pace Law School from 2009 to 2012. The Academy founded by the Hon. La Tia W. Martin, J.S.C., exposes high school girls from local underserved schools to legal training and critical legal analysis taught by law school professors, judges and lawyers, specializing in areas such as cyber bullying, civil and criminal procedure and criminal law, family law and ethics.
Shari resides with her husband Barry Cash in Lake Mahopac. She has two sons, Samuel and Noah.
CHRISTINE PASKA
Vice President
cpaska@gmail.com
Christine Paska is currently a Supervising Assistant District Attorney in the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Bureau at the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office. In that role she supervises ADAs and handles sex crimes cases, child fatalities and cases involving the physical and sexual abuse of children. Prior to joining the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office Christine was an associate at the firm of Most & Schneid, P.C. in White Plains, NY where she handled all aspects of matrimonial and family law cases. Christine has also served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Special Prosecutions Division of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office where she handled a misdemeanor and felony caseload of child abuse, sex crimes, elder abuse, domestic violence and human trafficking cases. Christine began her legal career as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Family Court Division of the New York City Law Department where she was a juvenile delinquency prosecutor. During her 12-year tenure with the New York City Law Department she held various roles and was a member of both the special victims unit and the major case unit. Christine served as a supervisor in the Brooklyn and Bronx offices and was the Deputy Chief of Training of the Special Victims Unit at the time of her departure.
Christine currently serves as the WWBA’s treasurer and co-chair of the mentorship committee. She was previously the recording secretary and is looking forward to stepping into the role of vice president.
Christine received her J.D. from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University (formerly the Pace University School of Law) and her B.A. from the University of Delaware.
MICHELLE CALVI
Vice President
Michelle.a.calvi@gmail.com
Michelle Calvi is the Principal Law Clerk to the Honorable Helen M. Blackwood, Westchester County Court Judge. In this role she conducts legal research, drafts decisions and orders, analyzes complex legal issues and provides assistance to the Court on a confidential basis. Michelle is passionate about supporting the Judicial Diversion Program and enthusiastically collaborates with the multidisciplinary team to develop and enhance the program, including organizing the first annual Treatment Court Month celebration in May 2023 and procuring a proclamation by Westchester County Executive George Latimer that May is Treatment Court Month in Westchester. She also sits as a member of the Raise the Age working group which facilitates bringing together stakeholders throughout Westchester to coordinate various aspects of Youth Part operations and identifies and addresses issues that arise in the implementation of the Raise the Age legislation and treatment of Adolescent Offenders.
Prior to her appointment as Principal Law Clerk, Michelle was appointed as an Assistant District Attorney by the Honorable Janet DiFiore in 2007 and served in that capacity for over 15 years under four different District Attorneys. She began in the Motions and Appeals Division and was quickly transferred to the Criminal Courts and Grand Jury Division where she was assigned to various local D.A. branches throughout the County, prosecuting misdemeanor and felony criminal cases. Michelle presented hundreds of cases to the Grand Jury, including violent felony offenses, and she transitioned to handling all aspects of felony prosecutions in the Trials and Investigations Division including case assessment and enhancement, negotiating plea agreements, motion practice and conducting trials and hearings. With roots in Yonkers, New York and lifelong commitment to Westchester County, she has proudly advocated for justice through her legal career in government.
Michelle graduated from Loyola College in Maryland magna cum laude with a Bachelors of Business Administration and was awarded the Marketing Medal. She received her juris doctor degree from Pace Law School cum laude and is admitted to practice law in New York and Connecticut.
Michelle is co-chair of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association Annual Holiday Party & Boutique Committee and is looking forward serving as Vice President under the leadership of President Sherry Bishko. Michelle lives in Mamaroneck with her husband and two school-aged sons. In her free time, Michelle enjoys spending time with her family, volunteering with Grassroots Grocery, traveling and party planning.
JENNIFER L. GRAY
Treasurer
treasurer@wwbany.org
Jennifer L. Gray is a partner at Keane & Beane, P.C. where her practice is devoted to the areas of planning and zoning, and litigation pertaining to land use, municipal and real estate matters. Ms. Gray regularly appears before municipal boards throughout the Hudson Valley on behalf of developers, businesses, franchises, religious institutions and individuals. She also serves as counsel to local planning and zoning boards. Her litigation experience includes matters related to compliance with the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), challenges to local planning and zoning board decisions, disputes concerning real property, as well as both prosecution and defense of zoning and building code violations. Ms. Gray is a lecturer on issues related to land development and zoning for the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation, New York Planning Federation and local bar associations.
Ms. Gray received her juris doctor, cum laude, from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, with a Certificate in Environmental Law, and received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont. Ms. Gray was selected as a “SuperLawyer” Rising Star and one of the New York Metro Region Top Women “SuperLawyers” in the field of land use and zoning. Ms. Gray was also selected by the Business Council of Westchester as one of the County’s 40 Under 40 Rising Stars.
SAKEENA NAQVI
Corresponding Secretary
sakeena@pwscottlaw.com
Sakeena B. Naqvi was born in Philadelphia, PA and grew up in Canada. After obtaining a degree in Psychology and her legal degree from the University of Manitoba, Sakeena moved to New York. With a passion and personal interest in immigration, she started practicing Immigration and Nationality law. Sakeena worked at various immigration law firms in New York before joining the Scott Law Firm as an Associate in August 2022. Her primary areas of practice are employment-based and family-based immigration cases.
As an active member of the New York Westchester Women’s Bar Association, she is Co-Chair of their Professional Development Committee and runs the Women in Professional Transition Committee, where she organizes programming to provide advice, services, and support to committee members. Sakeena also serves as Chair of WBASY's Equal Opportunity in the Profession Committee and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
In her spare time, Sakeena enjoys travelling, martial arts, reading, watching basketball, and time with family and friends.
ANGELA DIBIASI
Recording Secretary
adlawesq@gmail.com
Angela DiBiasi graduated, with honors, from Hofstra University and earned her Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from Pace University School of Law. Ms. DiBiasi has been practicing law in excess of 22 years. She began her legal career as an attorney in the private sector with concentrations in civil litigation and real estate matters. Ms. DiBiasi subsequently committed her career to public service with the New York State Unified Court System, where she presently serves as Principal Law Clerk/Court Attorney to a New York State Supreme Court Justice who presides over civil litigation matters.
Ms. DiBiasi is also a published legal author and editor on several legal topics, including “Scientific Proof versus Junk Science: The Court’s Role as a Gatekeeper for Admitting Scientific Testimony” and “Mommy Dearest: Determining Parental Rights and Enforceability of Surrogacy Agreements”. Her articles have been published in the New York State Bar Association Journal, Westchester Business Journal, and Pace Law Review.
Ms. DiBiasi has a longstanding commitment to the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York, having previously been elected to the positions of Membership Director and President of the Mid-Hudson Women’s Bar Association. She presently serves as a Chair of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association’s Gender Dynamics Committee. She also serves as a Chair of the Westchester County Bar Association’s Diversity Committee where she devotes her time in furtherance of various initiatives to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession. She is a member of the Ninth Judicial District Equal Justice Taskforce and the Career Pathway-Workforce Diversity subcommittee dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion in employment opportunities within the court system. She is also an active member of the Ninth Judicial District Committee to Promote Gender Fairness in the Courts and the student essay writing contest subcommittee which provides scholarship opportunities for high school students throughout the Ninth Judicial District. Ms. DiBiasi also volunteers her time to the Pace Law School externship program as well as local and national mock trial competitions.
Ms. DiBiasi is a 2024 Recipient of the Women’s History Month Award presented by the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce and co-sponsored by the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce. The award honors women who demonstrate significant leadership, achievement, advocacy, and service in support of gender equality, women’s empowerment, women’s history, and cultures of equity and inclusion.
