students Donoghue, Thomas, Auslander & Drohan LLP







JOHN M. DONOGHUE
LAWRENCE W. THOMAS
JAMES P. DROHAN
DANIEL PETIGROW
STUART S. WAXMAN
ANA I. GONZALEZ
JUDITH C. MAYLE
NEELANJAN CHOUDHURY
SEMIRA ANSARI
LAURA M. DEL GAUDIO
ARON Z. KARABEL
ROCHELLE J. AUSLANDER
VINCENT P. D'ANDREA
NATALIE J. MARSHALL

JOHN M. DONOGHUE has served as general counsel to a large number of municipal governments for the past thirty-nine years. He has negotiated more than 350 collective bargaining agreements and represented clients in arbitrations and litigated matters before state and federal courts as well as in proceedings before the New York State Division of Human Rights and various other administrative agencies. Mr. Donoghue graduated from Fordham University School of Law, and prior to entering private practice, served as an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board. He is accredited as a labor arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association. Mr. Donoghue currently serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Mount Saint Mary College.

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LAWRENCE W. THOMAS has concentrated his practice almost exclusively on school law issues. While he has worked with many of the firm's clients, he has served as counsel to the Yonkers Public Schools for the past eighteen years and has represented the District in several complex cases including the Yonkers desegregation case. He serves as advisor to schools on policy development and implementation, compliance matters and contract issues. He is a member of the National Council of School Attorneys and has taught as an Adjunct Professor of Education Law at St. John's University and currently at Fordham University. He graduated from Fordham University and St. John's University School of Law, where he served as Associate Editor of the St. John's Law Review.

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JAMES P. DROHAN has concentrated his practice on litigation and school law matters. He has extensive experience in grievance arbitration, special education litigation and professional disciplinary matters. He has taught School Law as an Adjunct Professor of Education Law at St. John's University, as well as at Mount St. Mary's College in Newburgh and State University of New York at New Paltz. Mr. Drohan regularly conducts seminars and in-service training for school board members, administrators, teachers, and attorneys on a variety of issues involving public education. Mr. Drohan is a graduate of Georgetown University and Fordham University School of Law. He has served on the Board of Advisors for the "No Child Left Behind Compliance Insider" and the "Special Education Law Insider." Mr. Drohan is a graduate of Georgetown University and Fordham University School of Law.

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DANIEL PETIGROW received his B.A. degree, cum laude, from Brandeis University, and his J.D. degree from Fordham University School of Law. He devotes a substantial portion of his practice to education, special education, public library, labor and employment law. He has represented school district clients in various matters before the Commissioner of Education, State and Federal courts, involving matters such as special education; student residency; boundary disputes; and construction matters. He has taught as an Adjunct Professor of Education Law at Fordham University. He has also presented at numerous seminars and workshops focusing on a variety of legal issues affecting public education. Mr. Petigrow also represents educational clients in real estate and construction litigation, as well as tax certiorari matters.

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STUART S. WAXMAN received his B.A. degree from SUNY Albany and his J.D. degree from Hofstra University School of Law, where he served as Associate Editor of the Hofstra Labor Law Journal. His legal practice focuses primarily on education, labor and employment law. Mr. Waxman has represented school district clients in numerous contract and disciplinary arbitrations, as well as proceedings before PERB; Section 75 and 3020(a) proceedings; as well as various proceedings in State and Federal court, and State and Federal administrative agencies. He has negotiated more than one hundred fifty (150) collective bargaining agreements and is a contributing editor to four legal publications, "The Developing Labor Law", BNA, 1996; "Public Sector Labor and Employment Law", NYSBA, 1997; "Discipline and Discharge in Arbitration" BNA, 1998; "How Arbitration Works, 6th Edition", ABA. Additionally, he is an adjunct professor for the School of Education at the State University of New York at New Paltz, and has been a guest lecturer on various labor and employment law issues for the Association of Towns, Mid-Hudson School Study Council, New York State Association for Superintendents of School Buildings & Grounds, the Public Employment Relations Board, the Cornell University ILR, and the New York State Bar Association.

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ASSOCIATES:

ANA I. GONZALEZ received her B.A. in Literature from Bard College and her J. D. degree from Pace University Law School where she was a member of the Pace Law Review. She has experience in providing counsel on various issues including employment law and discrimination. She has conducted seminars and training on the various employment statutes. Ms. Gonzalez also has experience in real estate transactions.

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JUDITH CRELIN MAYLE received her B.A. degree from St. Francis College in Pennsylvania, and her J.D. degree from Albany Law School at Union University where she participated in the Association of Trial Lawyers team and Appellate competitions. Ms. Mayle, prior to receiving her J.D. degree, had nineteen (19) years experience in municipal government as a Town Supervisor, Councilwoman and Planning Board member. She has first hand experience with employment and labor management issues, labor negotiations and government operations. Ms. Mayle has also been a guest lecturer on a variety of topics including labor, employment issues, and collective bargaining for the Association of Towns and the National Business Institute. Ms. Mayle has represented clients before the Public Employment Relations Bureau ("PERB"), in arbitrations and Section 75 discipline hearings. Ms. Mayle provides counsel on various issues, including labor, employment and collective bargaining.

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NEELANJAN CHOUDHURY received his B.A. degree from the University of Rochester and his J.D. degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he was a member of the school's moot court. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Choudhury worked for a firm that focused on premises liability litigation. Since starting work at the firm, Mr. Choudhury has been involved in matters concerning student discipline, public works contracts, litigation, and various other areas involving education law.

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SEMIRA ANSARI received her B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, and her J.D. degree from Albany Law School of Union University. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Ansari lived in Morocco where she worked on complex legal issues and drafted national policies relating to women's rights. Ms. Ansari also worked for a firm while in law school that focused on labor, employment and municipal law. Since beginning with Donoghue, Thomas, Auslander, & Drohan, Ms. Ansari has provided counsel on various issues including employment discrimination, labor arbitrations and various aspects of education law.

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ARON Z. KARABEL received his B.A. in Psychology and Political Science from Arizona State University and his J.D. from Albany Law School at Union University, where he was a member of the Journal of Science and an intern to the Honorable Thomas McAvoy, United States District Court Judge. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Karabel worked with a firm that specialized in labor and employment law. His current legal practice focuses on education, labor and employment law. Mr. Karabel is admitted to practice law in the State of New York, and in the Southern and Northern Districts of New York.

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LAURA M. DEL GAUDIO received her B.A. and M.A. degrees from American University in Washington, D.C. and her J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she was the Public Interest Research Fellow. Prior to joining Donoghue Thomas Auslander & Drohan, Ms. Del Gaudio worked for several universities and education non-profit organizations in offices of general counsel, admissions and recruiting, financial aid, and career services. Since beginning with the firm, Ms. Del Gaudio has worked on matters including labor disputes and arbitrations and various areas of public and higher education law.

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OF-COUNSEL ATTORNEYS:

ROCHELLE J. AUSLANDER is a graduate of Boston University and The Fordham University School of Law. She has extensive experience in negotiating contracts and in grievance arbitration. She has litigated before state and federal courts and agencies on issues concerning bidding, prevailing wage rates, contract interpretation, discrimination, residency, tenure and employee discipline. Ms. Auslander regularly lectures to administrators on a wide variety of education and labor issues. She is a contributor to "Public Sector Labor and Employment Law," NYSBA, 1997. She has served as a guest lecturer for the National Business Institute, Inc., the Mid-Hudson School Study Council, and the New York State Association for Superintendents of School Buildings and Grounds.

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VINCENT P. D'ANDREA is a graduate of Pennsylvania Military College (now Widener University) and Albany Law School at Union University. After clerking for a New York State Supreme Court Judge, he entered the general practice of law with a concentration in trial work and pre-trial discovery. Mr. D'Andrea represented the Mount Vernon School District for many years and has extensive experience in litigation in Federal and State Court on issues such as Title VII, Title IX, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Federal Voting Rights Act, and personal injury matters.

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NATALIE J. MARSHALL formerly Vice President for Administrative Services of Vassar College, A.B. Vassar, Ph.D., J.D., Columbia University. Mrs. Marshall concentrates her practice in employment law, administrative law and the law of higher education. Mrs. Marshall has negotiated collective bargaining agreements with private sector unions and is uniquely familiar with economic analysis of local fiscal conditions and wage and employment benefit patterns. She is accredited as a labor arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

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