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Brooklyn Bar Association honors former president Terrelonge at annual awards

September 19, 2022 Robert Abruzzese, Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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The Brooklyn Bar Association held its Annual Awards ceremony on Wednesday where it honored eight people including three who received the inaugural Lynn R. Terrelonge Bridge to Diversity Awards.

Lynn Terrelonge was president of the BBA in 2001 and served the association during the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. She was the association’s first Black president and she died during her term.

Though her term was short, Terrelonge’s impact was large. Joy Thompson, chair of the BBA’s Diversity Committee, and Armena Gayle, the BBA’s immediate past president, helped to create the award to honor Terrelonge.

This year’s inaugural recipients were Charles A. Small, chief clerk for the Kings County Supreme Court, Civil Term, Hon. Raja Rajeswari, acting Supreme Court Justice and Chair of the NYS Unified Court System Advisory Committee on Language Access, and Hon. Carolyn Walker-Diallo, the Administrative Judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York.

The BBA also gave out the Nathan R. Sobel Award to three people: Natasha Pasternack, David O. Polk, and Danny Taveras. The award is given out each year to deserving non-attorneys and courthouse support staff.

From left: Hon. Jeffrey Sunshine, the Statewide Coordinating Judge for Matrimonial Cases, Natasha Pasternack, and Richard Klass.

Two awards given to their own members included the Distinguished Service Award, which was given to Hon. Frank Seddio, a former Surrogate’s Court judge and past president of the association, and the Frieda S. Nisnewitz Award, which was given to Daniel Antonelli.

Recognition was also made to two people most involved with organizing the Lynn Terrelonge Awards when past president David Chidekel gave plaques to Joy Thompson, and Hon. Joanne Quinones, chair of the BBA’s Mentorship Committee.

SABANY and President D’Souza Hosts its annual Gala

Hon. Shahabuddeen Ally, the supervising judge of the New York City Civil Court, was thrilled to represent the Asian American Judges Association of New York as its president during the South Asian Bar Association of New York’s (SABANY) Annual Gala last week.

Paint and Sip with the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association

The Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association is hosting a Paint and Sip event at Fornino Pizza at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6 on Tuesday, September 20, from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. The event cost $45 and includes light fare, beer and wine, painting canvas and materials, and instruction. It is being hosted by the BWBA Young Lawyers and Mentorship committees. Pictured are members of the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association during a Paint and Sip event in Brooklyn Heights in 2019.

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].

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