Alumni – FORUM

Reunion 2025

Even with summer storms rolling through, the spirit inside Myron Taylor Hall was bright as Cornell Law welcomed back more than 300 alumni, their families, and friends for a three-day celebration of community, scholarship, and shared tradition. The weekend opened on Thursday, June 5, with a Welcome Reception in the Student Commons, where Jens David Ohlin, Allan R. Tessler Dean and Professor of Law, greeted returning graduates and thanked the many volunteers and donors whose generosity makes the Reunion Campaign possible. He underscored the critical role of alumni support in sustaining Cornell Law’s excellence, particularly in recruiting new faculty as retirements loom, and highlighted naming opportunities in the Student Commons and recently renovated Hub collaborative space.

At the Alumni and Faculty Luncheon on Friday, Ohlin outlined Cornell Law’s strengths in teaching, clinics, and scholarship. He noted that the Class of 2024 led the nation in Big Law placement, with 78 percent entering firms of more than 250 lawyers and 96 percent securing bar-required jobs. Looking ahead, he emphasized the need for endowed professorships to attract and retain top scholars as one-third of the faculty prepares for retirement in the next five years.

The Class of 1975 held its class dinner in the Gould Reading Room of the Law Library.

Later that afternoon, in his annual State of the Law School Address, Ohlin reflected on Cornell’s enduring mission: producing legal scholarship, training “lawyers in the best sense,” and serving society through clinics. He described the expansion of programs in entrepreneurship, environmental law, technology, and democracy studies, citing faculty growth across these fields. Clinical initiatives continue to make national and international impact, from First Amendment litigation in Idaho to human rights advocacy in Panama. Ohlin also introduced a new required 1L Professional Development course, designed to prepare students for successful legal careers with training in professional identity, mentorship, wellness, and communication.

Friday evening, academic reflection gave way to lighter moments as alumni sampled Finger Lakes wines at the Cornell Law Wine Tasting, then gathered for class dinners across Ithaca. Saturday’s schedule balanced tradition and timely dialogue, with a highlight being the Reunion Campaign Celebration over a barbecue lunch. Tallying results from 364 alumni, the Law School raised more than $6,363,268 in cash, new gifts, and commitments, with the Reunion Classes of 1985 and 1995 taking home trophies for contributing more than one million dollars apiece and the Class of 1985 for setting a new 40th Reunion fundraising record.

Alumni also returned to the classroom for a pair of continuing legal education programs. On Friday, Edward Cornell Law Librarian Kim Nayyer examined the promise and perils of generative artificial intelligence in legal research, highlighting how large language models both transform and complicate the practice of law by raising questions of accuracy, bias, and professional responsibility. Later, trade law expert and Cornell Law alumnus Leslie Alan Glick ’70 explored “The Return of Donald J. Trump: Trade and Tariff Implications,” reviewing the former president’s reliance on tariffs as a negotiating tool, their impact across industries from steel to semiconductors, and the legal challenges that continue to surround emergency tariff powers.

Scenes from Reunion 2025

The weekend closed with an all-class buffet dinner and entertainment by the New York Dueling Pianos, where laughter, music, and community filled the tent long into the evening.

New Alumni Leadership

Cornell Law School deeply appreciates the dedicated alumni volunteers who represent and champion the interests of our entire alumni community. Joining the ranks of the Dean’s Advisory Council are Alan Kartashkin ’96 and Mark I. Greene, B.A. ’89, J.D. ’93 UPenn.

Alan Kartashkin ’96 is a partner in the London office of Debevoise & Plimpton, head of the Eastern European practice, and former managing partner of the firm’s Moscow office. His practice focuses on sanctions, securities and mergers and acquisitions. For nearly ten years, he has advised leading U.S., E.U., U.K., Japanese, Chinese and Russian corporations and financial institutions on the application of and compliance with the sanctions imposed by the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union.

Kartashkin also advises boards of directors and special committees of independent directors of public companies on corporate governance issues. He has represented major clients in public equity and debt offerings in the international capital markets, including premium listings on the London Stock Exchange, as well as in a diverse range of financing transactions.

Mark I. Greene, B.A. ’89, J.D. ’93 UPenn, is head of the Corporate Department and leader of the International Practice. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and securities matters, including advising on cross border and domestic transactions, private-equity deals, complex restructuring transactions, proxy fights, takeover defense, and hedge-fund activism. According to clients and the market, Greene has a “mighty reputation in cross border deals” and “outstanding and deep experience in M&A.” He “treats his clients as priority number one” and “takes time to probe and understand his clients’ objectives and is very practical in the legal advice he offers.”

In addition, six alumni were appointed to the Cornell Law School Alumni Board for a three-year term from 2025 to 2028: Ibrahim Barakat ’08; Olga Gutman ’97, LL.M. ’01; Stephanie Holland ’96; Josselin Pitard, LL.M. ’11; Hon. Douglas Rawald ’01; and Gabriel Steffens ’00. A complete listing of the board of directors can be found online at www.lawschool.cornell.edu/alumni/executive_committee.cfm.

Ibrahim (“Brahim”) Barakat ’08, is a partner at Holland & Knight in Miami. He advises public and private companies, private-equity funds, and founders on complex corporate and transactional matters, with deep expertise in healthcare and private equity.

Brahim has led deals across a wide range of sectors and geographies—from cardiology and behavioral health to specialty chemicals and manufacturing—guiding clients through mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and founder exits with a focus on value creation and strategic alignment.

He has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America for Healthcare Law (2023–2026) and was named a Rising Star in Florida Super Lawyers for M&A (2017–2018).

Brahim lives in Miami, Florida, with his wife and their three children, whom he has been enthusiastically “brainwashing” to cheer for the Dolphins since they were toddlers. A hopeless optimist, he continues to believe each season might just be the one.

Olga Gutman ’97, LL.M. ’01, is a partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, where she is a member of the Corporate Department. Gutman specializes in hedge funds, private-equity funds, and investment management matters. She regularly represents sponsors of private equity and hedge funds including Apollo Global Management, Citigroup Alternative Investments, Coatue Management, CVC Credit Partners, Deep Track Capital, Grosvenor Capital Management, Intermediate Capital Group, Islet Management, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, New Holland Capital, Palladium Equity Partners, Pomona Capital, Portfolio Advisors, Tiger Management, and Westbrook Partners. She additionally advises clients on strategic investments (including secondary transactions) and M&A transactions executed by asset management firms. She has been recognized as a leading lawyer in Investment Funds: Hedge Funds by Chambers USA and also named a recommended lawyer in The Legal 500 United States and The International Who’s Who of Private Funds Lawyers.

Gutman received her J.D. in 1997 from Cornell Law School, where she was an Olin Scholar, and her LL.M. in International and Comparative Law in 2001, also from Cornell. She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Yeshiva University in 1994, receiving the Wall Street Journal Award for Excellence in Economics. Gutman is a frequent lecturer before professional groups on private investment funds and is on the faculty of Cornell Law School. She currently serves as a member of The Hope Program and Krymov Lab NYC boards of directors.

Stephanie Holland ’96 is retired and continues to do pro bono work in San Francisco. She currently works with La Raza Centro Legal and recently completed a six-year term as a trustee on the Board of Children’s Day School in San Francisco. Before retiring, Holland worked in AT&T’s legal department for fifteen years handling state regulatory litigation. Prior to that, she practiced labor and employment law with Littler Mendelson in San Francisco, with a focus on employment discrimination, wage and hour claims, and collective bargaining matters. Holland received her J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1996 and her B.A. from Stanford University in 1992.

Josselin Pitard, LL.M. ’11, is a director and legal advisor at BNP Paribas in New York. He specializes in banking and financial regulation and focuses on the implementation of market reforms stemming from the 2007 financial crisis in several jurisdictions across the globe. Prior to joining BNPP, Pitard spent eleven years in Singapore and several years in France in law firm and in-house positions. He received his LL.M. from Cornell Law School in 2011, his Master in Finance from Audencia School of Management in 2006, and his Law Maitrise from University Paris II Pantheon-Assas in 2004.

The Hon. Douglas Rawald ‘01 has been an administrative law judge with the U.S. Department of Transportation since 2016. Prior to his current position, he spent one year as a judge with the Social Security Administration. Before assuming the bench, Judge Rawald worked as a trial attorney with the Department of Energy’s Office of Enforcement and the Department of Defense’s Office of General Counsel. Judge Rawald also spent a year in Iraq working on a State Department project to train Iraqi judges. He began his legal career as a judge advocate with the U.S. Air Force. Judge Rawald graduated from Cornell University in 1998 and Cornell Law School in 2001 and served as an adjunct professor at the Law School from 2012 to 2014.

Gabriel J. (“Gabe”) Steffens ’00 is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Mayer Brown. His practice focuses on real estate and related transactional matters including acquisitions, development projects, joint ventures, and the formation and management of real estate private-equity funds and other investment vehicles. Prior to joining Mayer Brown, Steffens served as the general counsel of The Amherst Group, a real estate private-equity firm focused on the single-family residential rental market and as the global head of legal for Nuveen Real Estate, one of the largest owners of real estate assets globally. Steffens is married to Kathy Bell ’01, who is a partner in the Global Finance practice of Paul Hastings. Steffens and Bell have two daughters, Caroline and Penelope, at Corona Del Mar High School in Newport Beach, California. In addition to serving on the CLS Alumni Association Board, Steffens is the vice president of the Corona Del Mar Foundation that seeks to fund unmet needs at CDMHS. When not working or engaged in board activities, Gabe and Kathy spend the majority of their time chauffeuring their kids and attending their many sporting events.