���ҹ�����

The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at ���ҹ����� is pleased to announce that four new members have joined its Board of Visitors. All four members, Jerome Abelman’93, Westchester District Attorney Susan Cacace ’89, Lauren Enea ’16, and Sapna Palla ’98, are distinguished ���ҹ����� Haub Law alumni.

“We are honored to welcome four exceptional alumni and legal professionals to the Board of Visitors,” said Dean Horace E. Anderson Jr. “Jerry, Susan, Lauren, and Sapna each bring a deep commitment to justice and a strong belief in the power of legal education. Their insight and leadership will help guide ���ҹ����� Haub Law in the years to come and their unique expertise will be invaluable as we prepare the next generation of legal advocates.”

is currently a partner with White & Case. Sapna concentrates her practice on Intellectual Property litigation matters and has spent over two decades representing clients in the Life Sciences and Technology industries in high-stakes patent, trademark, copyright, and complex commercial matters, including successfully litigating disputes in federal and state courts in a range of jurisdictions. She also has extensive experience with alternative dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation. In addition, Sapna counsels and represents a variety of US and international clients regarding US intellectual property rights. Notably, she also counsels clients about patent law in Asia, including China and India. Sapna is an inaugural member of Judge Janet Bond Arterton's Intellectual Property American Inns of Court. She has also served as adjunct professor at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at ���ҹ�����. She received her JD from ���ҹ����� Haub Law and her undergraduate degree from ���ҹ����� as well. Sapna has lived and studied in both India and Tanzania and she is fluent in Hindi and Marathi and conversant in French.

serves as the District Attorney of Westchester County, where her leadership is defined by her unwavering commitment to justice, public safety and community well-being. Judge Cacace began her distinguished legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Westchester County. In this role, she managed numerous felony trials and secured indictments in over 500 cases. She also made history by leading Westchester’s first dedicated animal cruelty unit, advocating for the welfare of voiceless victims and setting a precedent for innovative prosecution methods. Following nearly 15 years as a prosecutor, Judge Cacace transitioned briefly into private practice alongside her husband before being elected as a Westchester County Court Judge in 2005. Over nearly two decades on the bench, she presided over significant felony cases and established herself as a leader in the specialized courts. Notably, she presided over the county’s first Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) part and became the longest-serving presiding judge of the Sex Offense part in Westchester County history. Judge Cacace earned her JD from ���ҹ����� Haub Law and her undergraduate degree from ���ҹ�����. She remains an active member of several professional organizations, including the Yonkers Lawyers Association, the Columbian Lawyers Association, the Westchester County Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association. Additionally, she supports community initiatives through her involvement with the Yonkers Lions Club and the Enrico Fermi Scholarship Fund.

Jerome (“Jerry”) Abelman ’93 was appointed as Group General Counsel and Director, Legal and External Affairs in May 2015 after joining the British American Tobacco (BAT) Management Board as Director, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs in January 2015. After 11 years as General Counsel, Jerry retired at the end of 2025. In his capacity as General Counsel, Jerry provided leadership to and oversight of a global department of approximately 1,000 lawyers and security professionals in over 100 countries. Prior to his appointment to the Management Board, Jerry held various roles including Regional General Counsel, Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong and Area General Counsel, Australasia, in Sydney. Before joining BAT, Jerry was with the law firm Chadborne & Parke LLP in New York and London. Jerry also served as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Reynolds American, Inc. from February 2016 until July 2017 when it was acquired by the BAT Group. Jerry received his JD from ���ҹ����� Haub Law and his undergraduate degree from Tulane University.

is a partner at Enea, Scanlan & Sirignano, LLP. She concentrates her practice on Wills, Trusts and Estates, Medicaid Planning, Special Needs Planning and Probate/Estate Administration. In addition to her client successes, Ms. Enea plays a key role in the firm’s growth and recently led Enea, Scanlan & Sirignano, LLP’s expansion into a second office in Somers, NY. An active member of the local bar associations, Ms. Enea was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Westchester County Bar Association (WCBA) Trusts and Estates Section. She is also the co-chair of the WCBA New Lawyers Section, a member of the Board of Directors of the Columbian Lawyers Association of Westchester County, and chair of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Elder Law and Special Needs Section Publications Committee and co-editor of the NYSBA Elder Law and Special Needs Section Journal. Ms. Enea was awarded the Outstanding New Lawyer Award in 2020 by the Westchester County Bar Association and the 2025 Shining Star Award from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at ���ҹ�����. She was also named to the 2021–2025 Super Lawyers Rising Stars list and the 2023–2026 Best Lawyers Ones to Watch list. Ms. Enea was recognized at Westfair Communications' 2019 Millennial Awards and as a 2022 Westchester Wunderkin by 914INC. She serves on the ���ҹ����� Women’s Justice Center's Friends of Gail Advisory Board and is a board member of the Italian American Forum and Opengate Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to empowering people with disabilities through compassionate care, meaningful support, and opportunities to thrive. She received her JD from ���ҹ����� Haub Law and her undergraduate degree from Quinnipiac University.

The Board of Visitors furthers the interests of the Law School by involving alumni and friends in significant issues of concern to the School, and by building a sense of community that fosters pride and participation. The Board is comprised of leaders in the legal community who serve as advisors to the Dean on a variety of issues involving legal education. The Board is also dedicated to fostering a strong interest in the mission of the Law School by helping to recruit outstanding students, hiring graduates, and encouraging financial support from public and private sources. The Board is currently co-chaired by Alfred E. Donnellan '81, Managing Partner, DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr, LLP and Kathleen Donelli ’85, Partner, Goldschmidt & Genovese, LLP.

Image

A team of student advocates from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at ���ҹ����� reached the semifinals of the VI Moot de Derecho Ambiental Científica, a fully Spanish-language international environmental law competition hosted by the Universidad Científica del Sur in Lima, Peru. ���ҹ����� Haub Law was the first American law school to place as a finalist in the competition, finishing third overall in the written submissions and fifth overall in the Competition.

The student team included Nicholas Caicedo, Endy Abreu, Sorangel Liriano, and Matthew Alexander Corrales and was coached by ���ҹ����� Haub Law Alumnus Edgar Aguilar Ramirez. The team competed against international law schools in a simulated proceeding before the Tribunal Interamericano de Justicia Ambiental, held at the Tribunal Constitucional del Perú, one of the country’s highest constitutional courts.

Throughout the competition, the team drafted briefs and developed oral arguments on both sides of a complex environmental law problem, addressing issues including the rights of nature, glacier protection, and state regulatory authority in environmental governance. All advocacy was conducted in Spanish and required careful attention to comparative legal reasoning and institutional context.

���ҹ����� Haub Law student advocate Nicholas Caicedo noted that the work went beyond traditional advocacy skills. “Working on these issues in Spanish required attention not only to doctrine, but also to comparative reasoning,” he shared. “It shaped how I approach legal analysis through language, institutional context, and comparative systems.”

Sorangel Liriano, ���ҹ����� Haub Law student advocate, reflected on the experience’s global impact. “Environmental law is a shared international conversation. Advocating before an international tribunal in my mother tongue on urgent climate issues was both a challenge and a privilege. We built deep team camaraderie and learned alongside students from around the world, leaving Lima not only stronger advocates, but part of a growing international community committed to environmental justice.”

Louis Fasulo, Director of Advocacy Programs and Professor of Trial Practice at ���ҹ����� Haub Law, emphasized the significance of the team’s achievement. “This result reflects the strength of our advocacy training and our students’ ability to operate at the highest level in international and comparative legal settings,” said Professor Fasulo. “Reaching the semifinals in a fully Spanish-language competition in the setting of a constitutional court abroad is an extraordinary accomplishment and speaks to the rigor, preparation, and professionalism of this team.”

For the students, the experience reinforced a shared commitment to international environmental law and public interest advocacy. “Representing ���ҹ����� Haub Law in this setting was both a significant and meaningful professional milestone, and one that affirmed our interest in international law, environmental governance, and compliance,” shared Nicholas.

At the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at ���ҹ�����, the eight-Week Group Wellness Coaching Workshop represents a sustained, skills-based approach to student wellbeing where wellness is a key component of a law students’ professional formation. Launched in 2023 and offered each semester, the Wellness Coaching Workshop is open to all ���ҹ����� Haub Law students, with priority given to 3Ls preparing to enter professional practice. Through guided reflection, goal-setting, and peer collaboration, the program equips students with practical tools to navigate the demands of law school and the transition into the legal profession.

The Workshop was developed through a partnership between Dean for Students Angie D’Agostino and Adjunct Professor Lauren H. Breslow, a nationally certified Health and Wellness Coach. Funded by the Dean of Students Office, the program was intentionally designed to move beyond short-term wellness initiatives and toward a model that supports lasting change.

“Our aim was to create something deeper and more durable than a one-time program,” Dean D’Agostino explains. “We wanted students to leave with an awareness of their own personal wellbeing and concrete skills and tools they can carry with them not only through law school, but into their professional lives.”

Grounded in evidence-based behavior change strategies, the Workshop emphasizes intentional reflection, individualized goal-setting, and personal accountability. The program encourages students to define wellbeing on their own terms.

“Wellness in this context isn’t about achieving perfection,” Adjunct Professor Lauren Breslow, who leads the Workshop, explains. “It’s about cultivating self-compassion, making intentional choices, and building habits that support focus, motivation, and resilience over time.”

Wellness in this context isn’t about achieving perfection. It’s about cultivating self-compassion, making intentional choices, and building habits that support focus, motivation, and resilience over time.

—Adjunct Professor Lauren Breslow

Research and experience across legal education show that even the most capable law students often report, by midyear, feeling exhausted, anxious, and unsure how to sustain their wellbeing. Their experience reflects a broader challenge in the legal profession: how to cultivate excellence without sacrificing wellbeing.

Professor Breslow notes that, “research and experience across law schools consistently show that even high-performing students often experience significant stress, anxiety, and exhaustion and are unsure how to sustain their wellbeing.” In response, the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association have urged law schools to make wellbeing integral to legal education. “Many schools, including ���ҹ����� Haub Law, have responded with professional responsibility courses, drop-in mindfulness sessions, and other short-term initiatives,” shared Professor Breslow. “Seeking to go further, the Dean for Students Office set out to pioneer a more sustained, skill-building program to equip students with practical tools and coaching to create lasting wellbeing.” The launch of the Wellness Coaching Workshop is reflective of a growing recognition within legal education that student wellbeing is essential to a successful professional life and sustainable legal career.

For students, the Workshop has been integral as they bridge the time immediately before their professional journey begins. Alumna Gabriela Hasaj ’25 chose to participate during her 3L year as she prepared to enter professional practice.

“I wanted to be intentional about how I approached this next chapter rather than letting it happen to me,” Gabi explains. “I knew that having space for reflection and support would help me navigate that transition successfully.”

Throughout the eight-week program, Gabi found the Workshop’s structure and emphasis on accountability transformative. “We reflected on our goals, how we show up for others, and how we show up for ourselves,” she says. “I left with a clearer understanding of my strengths and a practical roadmap for growth.”

The impact extended beyond the Workshop itself. In a reflection later published in The Balance, the New York State Bar Association’s Attorney Well-Being Newsletter, Gabi described how a course exercise prompted her to reconsider her digital habits, including deleting Instagram, and to reflect on how technology shapes focus, creativity, and connection. Her piece appeared in an issue dedicated to law student wellness, in the same issue with an article written by Professor Breslow on prioritizing wellbeing in law school.

“I think law students and attorneys are exceptionally hard workers, often focused on solving other people’s problems and putting ours on the back burner,” shared Gabi. “We’re in the people business, and that can mean neglecting our own needs until we’re overwhelmed and the pot starts to boil over. As a food law attorney that makes sense to me. You can’t cook the rest of the meal when one pot is spilling over and making a mess. That’s what burnout looks like. This workshop helped me realize that I have to turn the heat down sometimes, take a step back, and make sure I’m tending to everything on the stove. When we take care of ourselves, we show up more focused, compassionate, and effective for the people we serve.”

When we take care of ourselves, we show up more focused, compassionate, and effective for the people we serve.

—Gabriela Hasaj ’25

Current students echo these same themes. ���ҹ����� Haub Law student Christopher Hulbert joined the Workshop seeking both new wellness strategies and opportunities to refine existing routines.

“The experience was amazing and eye-opening,” Christopher says. “What stood out was how practical everything was. From goal-setting frameworks, breathing techniques, and daily self-focus tools – it all helped me manage stress and build forward momentum.”

Christopher also emphasized the program’s broader relevance. “Lawyers are statistically at high risk for burnout and substance abuse,” he said. “This workshop offers students an outlet and a guide to build healthier habits before those patterns take hold.”

For ���ҹ����� Haub Law student James Robles, the Workshop offered a rare opportunity to speak openly about the realities of law school. “Many students approach law school without fully understanding the toll it can take,” James explains. “Having time each week to slow down, reflect, and connect with others experiencing the same challenges was incredibly important.”

James identifies the emphasis on small, achievable goals as particularly impactful. “Breaking big goals into manageable steps helped me feel less overwhelmed,” he says. “This class changed my perspective and helped me believe I can become the lawyer and person that I want to be.”

As Professor Breslow observes, “When students recognize how much control they have over their habits and choices, it’s empowering and those mindset shifts extend far beyond law school.”