Brooklyn Boro

The summer is officially over as the Columbian Lawyers mark the start of CLE season

September 14, 2022 Robert Abruzzese Special to the Brooklyn Eagle
Share this:

While many judge the end of the summer by the start of the school year, for attorneys in Brooklyn the summer isn’t over until a bar association hosts its first continuing legal education (CLE) seminar.

The Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn was the first group to officially return from summer break when it hosted Justice Wayne Saitta for a CLE lecture during its monthly meeting at Gargiulo’s Restaurant in Coney Island on Wednesday.

Hon. Frank Seddio and Hon. Janet McFarland. Photo: Mario Belluomo

“You have no idea how excited I am to finally be back here in this room with all of you,” said Salvatore Scibetta, president of the Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn. “I had to drop two crying kids off at school today and it didn’t bother me because that’s how excited I am to be here again.”

Scibetta took over as president of the association this past June after the immediate past president, Christopher Caputo, ran it for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Typically, presidents only serve a single year, however, Caputo helped to lead the association through the pandemic, one of the toughest periods in its history.

Before Scibetta introduced Justice Saitta, he shared a brief poem by William Blake about the association.

President Salvatore Scibetta (right) and the Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn invited Hon. Wayne Saitta to speak during its monthly meeting at Gargiulo’s Restaurant in Coney Island on Wednesday. Photo: Mario Belluomo

“The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship,” Scibetta said. “That poem makes me thing about this association because it has provided me with so many impactful relationships and friendships.”

Scibetta asked members to encourage inactive members to return to the fold, and he made a pitch to bring in new members as well.

“We all know someone who belongs in this association,” he said. “Please invite them to a meeting and ask them to join. This association has done so much for each one of us and we not only want to help other, but we also want to have an impressive crowd during our annual Judge’s Night.”

The Criminal Bar Association raises money for charities during the annual golf outing

Members of the Kings County Criminal Bar Association hosted its annual golf outing at the Marine Park Golf Course in August.

The outing was started by past presidents Michael Farkas and Michael Cibella, and Paul Hirsch in 2016. With the exception of 2020, which was canceled due to COVID, the KCCBA has successfully used the golf outing to raise money for charity each year, which includes a scholarship to a law school student.

The Justice Ruth Moskowitz Memorial Scholarship is worth $2,500 and is given out to a Brooklyn Law School student who is interested in criminal law. Justice Moskowitz is a former judge in the Kings County Supreme Court and the mother of past president Robert Gerson. Justice Moskowitz was known for her work during the civil rights movement and she worked for the Legal Aid Society before she joined the bench in 1976, and eventually the Supreme Court in 1982.

Robert Abruzzese is the former legal editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and director of member services at the Brooklyn Bar Association. In addition to writing this column, he currently attends Touro Law Center and is a legal administrative assistant at Cavallo Law, PLLC. You can reach him via email at [email protected].

Subscribe to our newsletters


Leave a Comment


Leave a Comment