Our Board

Vladeck, Raskin & Clark, PC

Susan J. Walsh is a career trial and appellate lawyer who represents individuals in employment and criminal defense cases, often against large corporations or the government. Susan began her career as a public defender, transitioned into private practice, where she serves both private and court appointed clientele, and devotes substantial efforts to promoting law reform. She balances vigorous advocacy against formidable adversaries with a keen sensitivity to her clients’ life experiences and multi-faceted needs.

Susan understands that litigation can be an overwhelming ordeal for clients and that an effective lawyer must display compassion, empathy, and strength. Having tried dozens of cases, Susan knows how to build or deconstruct a case and argue winning positions in the courtroom. Equally important, Susan’s experience as a skilled appellate advocate complements her trial skills enabling her to effectively apply the law at the trial phase and establish the strongest possible record for appellate review when necessary.

Highly regarded by her peers, Susan receives the majority of her employment matters through referrals from other colleagues in the criminal defense bar. They know her work and judgment, and trust her with their clients and friends seeking employment representation. Former adversaries in criminal defense or employment litigation also refer clients to Susan, sometimes even after she has bested them in a matter. Courtroom professionals, judges and other members of the bar know Susan by reputation. For a trial lawyer, credibility means everything – no matter the area of practice. 

Susan is highly committed to pro bono service to the legal profession and the community. (https://www.vladeck.com/community-engagement) Strongly believing that every lawyer should call out systemic injustice and promote on-going legal reform Susan has devoted a significant amount of her career to that end. She has held leadership positions in local and state bar associations, contributed to changing Fourth Amendment privacy law on the state and national levels through her amicus (friend of the court) legal work, and led numerous efforts to end abusive plea practices and promote sentencing reform. Susan currently serves as the Second Circuit representative to the United States Sentencing Guidelines Practitioner Advisory Group and as a liaison to the ABA Task Force on Sentencing. During the Obama administration clemency initiative, Susan secured sentence commutations for seven pro bono clients, all of whom were serving extremely long prison sentences. Susan maintains that her greatest satisfaction comes from the notes or holiday cards from former clients who have successfully moved on from their legal challenges and are now thriving.

Sher Tremonte LLP

Ms. Harris is a partner at Sher Tremonte LLP representing clients in a wide variety of high-stakes criminal matters complex regulatory proceedings. She has served on the CJA panels of the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York since 2010. Prior to joining Sher Tremonte LLP, Ms. Harris was a partner and co-founder at Colson & Harris LLP. From 2001 to 2010, she was an assistant federal defender at the Federal Defenders’ office for the Eastern District of New York. Her experience also includes an associate position at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP. Ms. Harris is a graduate of Columbia Law School and Harvard College, and clerked for the Honorable Eugene H. Nickerson.

Lisa Hoyes is the Assistant Dean for Public Service at NYU School of Law, where she directs the Public Interest Law Center. Lisa serves on the Boards of the Center for Appellate Litigation and Still She Rises, Tulsa.

Prior to joining NYU Law School, Lisa was an Assistant Federal Defender in the Eastern District of New York, a Supervising Attorney and member of the Advanced Felony Trial Unit at the Bronx Defenders, and an NYU Fellow at the Equal Justice Initiative.

After graduating from NYU Law, Lisa was a Soros Justice Postgraduate Fellow at the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Division and The Door’s Legal Services Center, where she provided civil legal services to young people involved in the criminal justice system and their families.

While in law school, Lisa was a Root-Tilden-Kern Sinsheimer Service Scholar, a member of BALSA, an Associate Editor of NYU Law Review, and a participant in the Juvenile Rights clinic. Lisa received a BA in Language and Culture and Political Science from SUNY Purchase.

Karim is the President and CEO of Genesis Companies, a top multifamily developer he founded in 2004. A leader in affordable housing development, Hutson brings over 20 years of experience in development, finance, and asset management to foster sustainable communities. Under Karim's leadership, Genesis has completed over $1 billion in development activity, showcasing his expertise as an urban real estate investor dedicated to creating and preserving mixed-income communities in underserved neighborhoods.

Karim has been honored as a Notable Black Leader by Crain’s New York Business. He actively contributes to various nonprofit and civic organizations, including the Harvard Divinity School Dean's Council, the NYC Independent Budget Office, the Vera Institute of Justice, and the Citizen Budget Commission. Karim has served on the boards of The Dalton School and Habitat for Humanity NYC. He holds a B.A. in Economics and Philosophy from Amherst College, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and an M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School. 

Squire, Patton, Boggs

Corrine Irish is an experienced litigator and strategic advisor, effective in successfully resolving high-stakes legal matters. Her practice spans a variety of subject matters, including contract disputes, business torts, intellectual property enforcement and defense, constitutional law, and employment matters. Corrine also has significant experience representing companies and individuals in creative industries, including beauty, media, publishing and the arts.

Jenay Nurse Guilford is a Bronx native who has devoted her entire legal career to representing indigent clients. She spent nearly a decade as a public defender at the Bronx Defenders. There, she established the Adolescent Defense Project where she directed a highly effective team of defense attorneys, social workers, housing and family court attorneys working to holistically represent juvenile clients being tried as adults by not only defending their criminal cases, but also assisting them with education, benefits, mental health and addiction support, housing advocacy and immigration defense. She then spent seven years as a senior attorney in Squire Patton Boggs’ Public Service Initiative (“PSI”), where she litigated death penalty and federal habeas cases for indigent clients with a focus on vindicating the innocent, remedying purposeful and harmful constitutional violations, and wrongful infliction of the death penalty. Some of Jenay’s accomplishments during her tenure in PSI include winning parole eligibility for an intellectually disabled client in Georgia who spent 37 years on death row. As well as securing the release of two incarcerated clients in Louisiana who each spent more than three decades in prison. One client was initially sentenced to death at 16 years old and the other was sentenced to life in prison without parole as a teenager.

She has served on various boards and committees, including the New York City Department of Corrections Adolescent Advisory Board. In this capacity, Jenay collaborated with the Deputy Commissioner of Youthful Offender and Young Adult Programming and various city agencies to reform the conditions at the young adult facilities of Rikers Island. Jenay also served on the New York State Bar Association Criminal Law Committee. She received the Legal Aid Society 2011 Pro Bono Award for her work on Amador v. Andrews and was featured in the New York Magazine article: “New York’s Women Leaders in the Law.” Jenay received her J.D. cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law and her B.B.A. in International Business and Consulting from Emory University.

Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel

Earl S. Ward has thirty-eight years of experience as a criminal defense and civil rights attorney. He is a partner at the law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel. Mr. Ward began his career with the Legal Aid Society Criminal Defense Division and from there he worked as a staff attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union. Prior to entering private practice in 1996 he was a supervising attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem. From 1997 until 2003 Mr. Ward served as a commissioner on the Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent oversight agency established in New York City in 1993 to investigate allegations of police misconduct. Mr. Ward is presently the Chairperson of Board of the Bronx Defenders, an indigent defender organization, the Chair of the Board of Housing Works, an organization committed to helping homeless men and women with HIV/AIDS, and formerly chair of the Board of Esperanza, an alternative to incarceration program for at risk adolescents.

J.D. 1985, New York University School of Law; B.A. 1982, Rutgers University

212-577-2523, ext. 505  |  mzeno@cfal.org

Mark Zeno has been at CAL since its founding, having previously served as appellate counsel at The Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Appeals Bureau and, before that, practicing civil litigation.  A frequent advocate in the New York Court of Appeals, Mark’s clients’ cases have advanced the rights of criminal defendants in the areas of forensic evidence (e.g., People v. Williams, 35 N.Y.3d 24 (2020) (successfully challenging the introduction of advanced DNA testing by the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner on reliability grounds)); jury trial guarantees (e.g. People v. Suazo, 32 N.Y.3d 491 (2018) (recognizing that immigrant New Yorkers were guaranteed jury trials by the Sixth Amendment, even when charged with class-B misdemeanors)); drug-law reform (e.g. People v. Pratts & Paulin, 17 N.Y.3d 238 (2011)(extending eligibility for reduced sentences under the Rockefeller Drug-Law reforms to parolees)); double jeopardy (e.g. People v. Williams & Rodriguez, 14 N.Y.3d 198, cert. denied sub. nom., New York v. Williams, 562 U.S. 947 (2010)(striking down, on constitutional double jeopardy grounds, statewide practice of correcting offenders’ sentences by adding periods of post-release supervision)); and limitations on homicide offenses (e.g., People v. Suarez, 6 N.Y.3d 202 (2005)(reformulating the elements of New York's depraved indifference murder statute, dismissing client's second-degree murder conviction)). His commitment to protecting the rights of immigrant New Yorkers led to his spearheading the work of our Immigrant Justice Project and his continued supervision of all direct appeals of our noncitizen clients.

A Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School, Mark co-teaches CAL’s Criminal Appeals Externship.  

Mark is an active member of the New York City Bar Association, having served on its Board of Directors, and Judiciary and Criminal Law Committees.

The New York County Lawyer's Association has recognized Mark for his contributions to the community with its Public Service Award. 

Mark received his J.D., cum laude, from Western New England University, School of Law, where he was the Notes & Comments Editor of the Law Review.  He received his B.A. in American History from SUNY Albany.