Columbian Lawyers Association honors former president and welcomes new one at annual dinner dance

June 12, 2017 By Paul Frangipane Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn honored outgoing president Dean Delianites (pictured right with Steve Bamundo) during its annual dinner dance on Friday. Eagle photos by Mario Belluomo

Share this:

The Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn celebrated its 49th annual dinner dance on Friday to honor former President Dean Delianites and to install Linda LoCascio as the incoming president.

“What a year we had under Dean Delianites,” former President Steven Bamundo said, standing between an Italian and an American flag. “From the beginning, Dean put his imprint on this year and I knew we were going to have a great one.”

Delianites became the 49th past president of the association when Bamundo handed him a plaque decorated with a gavel and emblazoned him with the medallion that sported the colors of the Italian flag, a medal worn by all past presidents. “You are now part of a very select group,” Bamundo said to Delianites.

This year, the association celebrated its installation dinner at El Caribe restaurant in Mill Basin, but the group’s history dates to 1966 in the chambers of the late Judge Frank Pino, the former presiding justice of the Appellate Term of the Supreme Court, who founded the association. Now the group holds about 350 members that proudly celebrate their sense of community as Italian-Americans.

The first thing Delianites did after being sworn into the group of past presidents was congratulate LoCascio and assure her that she has his support. “Linda is a wonderful person, great attorney and proud Italian-American, and I know she’ll be an outstanding president,” Delianites said.

LoCascio’s parents immigrated from Italy and settled in Brooklyn. After graduating from Fordham University, LoCascio returned to Brooklyn and attended Brooklyn Law School before finding her niche in the field in the way of topics such as guardianship and real estate. She eventually transitioned to be a court attorney at Brooklyn Supreme Court.

“Linda and her family embody the Italian-American experience and are a shining example of the tremendous success that Italian-Americans have achieved in our great country,” former President Dominic Famulari said as he presented LoCascio to the cheering crowd.

“I am very excited to proudly serve as president,” LoCascio said. “We are going to have a fantastic year.”

LoCascio plans to focus on mentoring new attorneys so that they can have the same opportunities she had and by thanking a laundry list of family, she showed how important community is to her. “Everything I am is because of my family,” she said.

After LoCascio was sworn in and given the honorary gavel to symbolize her installation as president, Dealianites was honored with a citation on behalf of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and a proclamation from Councilmember Vincent Gentile.

Famulari gave the crowd hope for a new year in presenting LoCascio. “The LoCascio family is all about community and family,” he said. “I think that …Linda is going to make us all very proud.”