Officers
Amanda K. Rieben
Amanda Rieben is an Associate in the Family and Matrimonial Law Department at Abrams Fensterman, LLP. She focuses her practice on family and matrimonial law, including divorce, custody/visitation, paternity, child support, neglect, as well as post and prenuptial matters. Based out of the Firm’s White Plains office, Ms. Rieben represents clients in the Family and Supreme Courts in Westchester County, as well as other counties within the 9th Judicial District and in New York County. She has helped organize and moderate various Continuing Legal Education programs for the WWBA on topics related to family and matrimonial law.
Immediately prior to joining Abrams Fensterman, Ms. Rieben was the Director of the Walk-In Legal Clinic, a program at the Pace Women's Justice Center that she helped launch and develop. The Clinic, which she managed for over 4 years, provides pro bono legal assistance to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and elder abuse primarily in the areas of family and matrimonial law. Prior to this, Ms. Rieben was an associate at one of the largest family law firms in Connecticut. Earlier in her career, she worked as a Staff Attorney at Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, in the organization’s domestic violence unit. She was also a Staff Attorney at the Center for Family Representation, Inc., where she represented parents in child protective proceedings in New York County Family Court.
Ms. Rieben served as the President-Elect of the WWBA this past year and was previously a Recording Secretary of the WWBA. She’s currently Co-Chair of both the WWBA’s Families, Children and the Courts and the Annual Dinner Committees. She also served on WBASNY’s 2023 Convention Committee. In addition to her WWBA commitments, Ms. Rieben is a member of the Westchester County Bar Association. Ms. Rieben also serves as the legal liaison on the Management Board of the St. Luke's Parish School in Darien, Connecticut.
Ms. Rieben is admitted to practice in the States of New York and Connecticut. She earned her Juris Doctorate from New York Law School and her Bachelor of Arts Degree, Magna Cum Laude, from Colby College. Additionally, she was a general course student at the London School of Economics.
Ms. Rieben and her husband recently celebrated their eleventh wedding anniversary, and she is the proud mother of three daughters. In her free time, Ms. Rieben enjoys spending time with her family, playing tennis, running, and cooking.
Sherry A. Bishko
President-elect
sherry@rosemarklaw.com
Sherry A. Bishko has been a partner in Rosenthal & Markowitz, LLP since January of 2016, and has worked at the firm since 2006. Sherry is involved in all practice areas 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. She is a long-time and passionate member of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association where she is co-chairperson of membership, served as recording secretary, vice president and is now the president-elect. Sherry is also a member of the Orange County Women’s Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association and the Westchester County Bar Association. Her 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 was in charge of 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 practiced corporate law in Rye, NY and 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.
Sherry is actively involved in the Westchester Women’s Bar Association and co-founded and launched the successful WWBA “Mentorship Program” which pairs young lawyers and law students with seasoned lawyers throughout Westchester County. She also has assisted Legal Services of the Hudson Valley in efforts to train staff on uncontested divorce preparation.
Sherry resides in the Village of Tuxedo Park, New York in Orange County, 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.
Deborah Farber-Kaiser
Vice President
deborahfk@gmail.com
Deborah is honored to serve as a Vice President of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association. She is co-Chair of the Awards Committee and has previously served as Treasurer and a State Director. She also sits on the Board of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association Foundation. Deborah is proud of the work that the WWBA and WWBAF do and enjoys working with such motivated, intelligent and caring individuals.
Deborah is an associate at Cohen, Soloway & Wooldridge, P.C., a prominent trusts and estates boutique law firm in Westchester County that serves New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. She focuses her practice on estate administration matters and handles many aspects of trust and estate administration cases.
Prior to joining the firm, Deborah worked in finance, and guided her clients to make well-informed decisions and attain their financial goals. Before that, she focused her legal work on various aspects of guardianship and health law. Deborah is a graduate of Wellesley College and Boston University School of Law.
JILL OZIEMBLEWSKI
Vice President
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.
JULIE P. PASSMAN
Vice President
passmanspecialed@gmail.com
Julie P. Passman, Attorney at Law, has a private practice devoted to special education advocacy. Building on a passion developed in law school, Ms. Passman is committed to ensuring that children with special needs receive a free appropriate public education. Ms. Passman provides legal counsel to parents of children with special needs, and she is a New York State impartial hearing officer for special education matters.
Ms. Passman graduated from Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University in 1990 and was a member of the Cardozo Law Review. She is the author of “Retroactive Reimbursement: The Standard of Review for a Parent’s Unilateral Placement Under the Education For All Handicapped Children Act”. Ms. Passman is admitted to practice law in New York and Connecticut.
Ms. Passman is a co-chairperson of the Education Committee of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association (WWBA) and a Vice President of the organization. She is an active member of the Title IX & Education Committee of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY). Ms. Passman also serves on the Executive Council of the Lower Hudson Special Education Task Force. Ms. Passman hosts programs on current issues in Education and Special Education Law for the WWBA, WBASNY and the Task Force.
Christine Paska is currently an associate at Most & Schneid, P.C. She handles matrimonial and family law matters, including divorce, custody/visitation, child support, neglect and post and prenuptial matters. Christine handles cases in the Family and Supreme Courts in Westchester County, as well as other counties within the 9th Judicial District and within New York City.
Prior to joining Most & Schneid, P.C. Christine served as an ADA in the Special Prosecutions Division of the Westchester County District Attorney's Office where she handled misdemeanor and felony domestic violence, child abuse, sex abuse, elder abuse and human trafficking cases. Christine began her legal career at the New York City Law Department where she spent 12 years as a juvenile delinquency prosecutor. Christine started as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Bronx Office and was a member of both the major case unit and the special victims unit. After being promoted to Assistant Borough Chief she was transferred to the Kings County Office to supervise the special victims unit. Christine was then promoted to the Deputy Chief of Training for the Special Victims Unit where she was responsible for developing and conducting CLEs and trainings and running the second chair program.
Christine served as the recording secretary this past year. Christine is also a co-chair of the mentorship committee.
Christine is admitted to practice in New York State and was admitted to the United States Supreme Court in 2018. She received her J.D. from Pace University School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Delaware.
Jennifer L. Gray
Corresponding Secretary
jgray@kblaw.com
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.
Megan Lundin
Recording Secretary
mlundin@abramslaw.com
Megan Lundin is an Associate at Abrams Fensterman, LLP, working out of the firm’s White Plains office. She concentrates her practice in elder law, estate, and special needs planning, estate administration and guardianships.
During law school, Ms. Lundin interned at Abrams Fensterman and the Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division, Second Department with the Hon. Jeffrey A. Cohen.
Ms. Lundin earned her Juris Doctorate from Fordham University School of Law. While in law school, Ms. Lundin served as an Associate Editor of the Fordham Law International Law Journal. She also gained valuable alternative dispute resolution skills through Fordham Law School’s Mediation Clinic, mediating various small claims court cases.
Ms. Lundin received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she graduated cum laude. Ms. Lundin is admitted to practice in the State of New York. In addition to the Westchester Women’s Bar Association, Ms. Lundin is a member of the Westchester County Bar Association, Westchester Society of Irish American Lawyers and Westchester Columbian Lawyers.
