Alum Mae Watson Grote Featured in New York County Lawyer

Mae Watson Grote, Class of ‘99, is the featured member profile in the April 2008 issue of the New York County Lawyer, the membership newspaper of the New York County Lawyers Association.

Mae is the executive director of “The Financial Clinic,” a non-profit that she founded to focus on the finances of low-income individuals. The organization helps clients with everything from consumer credit and bankruptcy to tax and public assistance. “I am also fulfilled to have created an organization that ensures ‘working poor’ people have the same set of comprehensive services—financial planning, tax advice, wealth building—that middle- and upper-middle class families already have access to,” Grote says in the article.

To read the full story, visit: www.nycla.org. On page 1, the story is “teased” in the bottom right corner. The article appears on page 6.

CUNY Law Alum Featured in New York Daily News

Angela Hines, a high school dropout-turned lawyer who graduated from CUNY School of Law in 2005, is featured in the January 24, 2008 edition of the New York Daily News in a story that quotes her husband of two years saying she's a "super mom" and a wonderful human being.

The story notes that Angela "may not wear a cape, but she's as close to a super-hero as you'll find."

Hines, 38, has six children, according to the story. After preparing her three older children for school, Hines would take three city buses to CUNY Law with two toddlers in hand. She read to them on the way - a trip that took two hours - before dropping them off at a day care center. She then attended classes for nearly eight hours, the story says.

Hines would return home to the Ocean Bay Houses in Far Rockaway after 7:30 p.m. Then she prepared dinner.

Hines' children, according to the story, did not even know she was a high school dropout -- she eventually earned her G.E.D. -- until the Daily News interviewed her. Ultimately, Hines regained her focus following her mother's untimely death at age 57, and entered the New York City College of Technology in 1995. She earned a degree in law and paralegal studies. Hines recalled working as a paralegal on a major personal-injury case and realizing she wanted to become a lawyer.

"I did all of the work, and I didn't get credit for it. So I said, 'I can do this,'" she told The News.

Hines, who took out more than $100,000 in loans to fund her education, hopes to open a practice in Far Rockaway specializing in immigration law.

Click here to read the full story.

Alum Paula Bosco Named Rising Star in Compliance Field

Paula Bosco, (CUNY Law ’2000), 34, has been named one of 20 Rising Stars of Compliance by Institutional Investor, a heralded magazine in the business world.

In its 2nd annual Rising Stars of Compliance article, dated Oct. 22, 2007, the magazine presents up-and-coming professionals from various fields of regulatory compliance whose skills, dedication, and industry and academic participation are likely to have an impact on securities compliance.

Bosco, who earned a B.A. in political science at State University of New York and an M.B.A. in finance at Pace University, is the chief investment advisory compliance officer for Lehman Brothers in New York City. She is the only “rising star” who holds both a J.D. and an M.B.A., the magazine said in a press release.

She oversees advisory activities within the private investment management compliance department, which consists of 10 compliance officers. She is in charge of meeting SEC compliance program requirements, including conducting annual compliance reviews. She joined the firm in July 2007.

“In compliance, we struggle with the sometimes competing visions of those we serve, such as our business clients, compliance and legal department colleagues, and external regulators,” Bosco told Institutional Investor. “Creating sustainable partnerships with these groups allows me to understand, interpret and communicate their visions. It also allows me to act as a catalyst for change.”

Nominees come from a variety of financial services firms—large and small—across the United States and the United Kingdom and represent alternative investment managers, clearing firms, institutional and retail broker-dealers, investment advisory firms, and mutual fund companies. The nominees’ specializations include anti-money laundering, audit, financial crime, information technology, international regulation, and risk management.

Other noteworthy points about the 20 “Rising Stars”:

• 55% have a J.D. and 20% have an M.B.A. (including one who has both);
• 50% are chief compliance officers;
• 50% work at investment management firms, including hedge funds and mutual funds, or are in charge of investment management compliance exclusively at a dually-registered broker-dealer;
• 50% work in New York City; 10% in London and 10% in San Francisco;
• 25% of nominees have been employed by self-regulatory organizations or the Securities and Exchange Commission, including a former assistant district attorney;
• 25% are women;
• 10% are fixed-income compliance officers;
• The average age of nominees is 35 (the youngest being 29 and the eldest being 40).

Nominees are solicited from industry peers and honorees are selected by the editorial staff. The “stars” are 40 years old or younger, show a consistent career record and a dedication to promoting and protecting the industry via the work performed in their firms or with regulators and other trade groups, the magazine said.

View an online version of the article here: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ii/20rs-compliance07/index.php

You can turn the pages of the online magazine in the bottom-right corner. Click on an article and it will enlarge or reduce automatically.

Congratulations to all!