HOME ABOUT RESOURCES SERVICES IN THE NEWS MORE ABOUT US EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT CLARE J. DEGNAN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR For 29 years, Ms. Degnan has served LASW as Associate Counsel, Senior Associate Counsel, Deputy Bureau Chief, Mount Vernon Bureau Chief, Deputy Chief Counsel of Local Courts, and Acting Executive Director. In July 2015, the LASW Board appointed Ms. Degnan as the first female Executive Director in LASW’s history. Ms. Degnan is on the Board of the Chief Defenders Association of New York. She is a delegate for the 9th Judicial District for the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) of the House of Delegates. Ms. Degnan is a member of the NYS Bar Criminal Justice Section as Co-chair of the Villages, and Justice Courts Sub-Committee Wrongful Convictions Sub-committee, Mandated Representation, and Family Court Section of the NYS Bar Association. Under her leadership, LASW received grants from the Offices of Indigent Legal Services to fund and develop the Regional Immigration Assistance Center and the Assigned Counsel Resource Center. In 2019, the NYSBA Mandated Representation Committee awarded Ms. Degnan the NYSBA Excellence in Mandated Representation Award. SHERRY LEVIN WALLACH DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Sherry Levin Wallach is the Deputy Executive Director of The Legal Aid Society of Westchester County and Secretary of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA). In January 2020, Sherry was elected President Elect of NYSBA to take office on June 1, 2021. She will assume the role of NYSBA President on June 1, 2022. She was a coach for the Pace Law School National Trial Team for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years. Sherry is a member of the Board of Directors of the Westchester County Bar Association. She is on the NYSBA Task Force on Parole Reform, where she co-chairs the subcommittee on supervision and is a member of the NYSBA House of Delegates. She is also a member of the NYSBA Committee on Professional Discipline and the NYSBA LGBTQ People and the Law Committee which is now the newest NYSBA section. In 2018-2019 she co-chaired the NYSBA Task Force on Incarceration Release Planning and Programs. At the Legal Aid Society of Westchester County, Sherry concentrates her practice on Criminal Defense. Prior to joining the Legal Aid Society, Sherry was Of Counsel Bashian P.C. (formerly Bashian & Farber, LLP), from November 2017 to September 2019, where she practiced criminal defense, general civil litigation and trusts & estates. She was also Of Counsel to Hutchinson & Brown, LLP, from July 2017 to September 2019, where she represented the City of New York in hearings and motion practice. From 2003 through 2017, Sherry a principle and partner of her law firm, Wallach & Rendo, LLP, where she practiced in the areas of criminal defense, real estate, trusts & estates, and general civil litigation in State and Federal Courts. Sherry began her career as an Assistant District Attorney in Bronx County from 1995-1999. She is admitted to practice in the Courts of the State of New York, the New York Southern and Eastern District Federal Courts, and the United States Supreme Court. Sherry is a Past Chair of the New York State Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section, the Immediate Past Vice President from the 9th Judicial District to the New York State Bar Association Executive Committee, Immediate Past Chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Membership Committee, and she is serving her third four-year term in its House of Delegates. In addition, Sherry is co-founder of the NYSBA Young Lawyers Section's Trial Academy, where she continues to serve on its faculty as a team leader and has lectured on cross examination for the past seven years. She is a frequent lecturer and organizer for continuing legal education programs for the New York State and Westchester County Bar Associations on criminal and civil trial practice, ethics, and DWI. She has also authored articles on criminal justice issues and trial practice which have been published in the New York Law Journal, The State Bar News, and The New York State Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section Newsletter. Sherry is the author of “Inside the Minds: Strategies for Defending DWI Cases in New York, 2016 ed.” Published by Aspatore Books, a Thomson Reuters business. Vincent DeMarte Senior Counsel/ Chief of County Court vdemarte@laswest.org Dina C. Denlea Chief of Trial Assignment Part dcd@laswest.org Salvatore A. Gaetani Chief of Appeals sgaetani@laswest.org Tamika A. Coverdale Senior Counsel/ Officer of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. tacoverdale@laswest.org Richard Viviano Chief of Grand Jury & CAFA rviviano@laswest.org Jessica Hugel Chief of Trials jhugel@laswest.org Debra A. Cassidy Senior Counsel Appeals dcassidy@laswest.org Anne Bianchi Senior Counsel/ Region Chief/Training Coordinator abianchi@laswest.org Robin J. Bauer Diversion/Mental Health Court rbauer@laswest.org Yvonne Borkowski Youth Part Region Chief yborkowski@laswest.org Netikka D. Seward DV/IDV Courts Region Chief ndseward@laswest.org Allan Focarile First Senior Trial Counsel afocarile@laswest.org Ada D. Medina Region Chief admedina@laswest.org MaryPat Long Region Chief mplong@laswest.org Courtney E. McGowan Region Chief cmcgowan@laswest.org Meghan C. Stelzer Region Chief mstelzer@laswest.org Joanna I. Karlitz Deputy Region Chief jkarlitz@laswest.org Nicholas A. Speranza Trial Counsel nasperanza@laswest.org David Rich Senior Trial Counsel drich@laswest.org Theresa Gugliotta Senior Counsel tgugliotta@laswest.org Kate Wasserman Senior Associate Counsel kw@laswest.org Elizabeth A. Hume Supervising Attorney Criminal/Immigration Eah@laswest.org Venessa Melly Senior Criminal / Immigration Counsel vm@laswest.org Vishakha Patel Managing Attorney Family Court Division vpatel@laswest.org Andrea G. Loigman Senior Counsel Family Court Division aloigman@laswest.org Robert Horne Managing Attorney Of RIAC and Acting Assigned Counsel Administrator rhorne@laswest.org Craig Small RIAC Staff Attorney cjsmall@laswest.org Katrina Ceguera RIAC Staff Attorney Kceguera@laswest.org Darryl L. Albert Associate Counsel dalbert@laswest.org Matt J. Arpino Associate Counsel marpino@laswest.org Christine L. Asch Associate Counsel casch@laswest.org Valissa Bunting Associate Counsel vbunting@laswest.org Erica L. Danielsen Associate Counsel edanielsen@laswest.org Clotelle Drakeford Attorney for Special Litigation cdrakeford@laswest.org Paul J. Hanft Associate Counsel phanft@laswest.org Ken Jones Associate Counsel kjones@laswest.org Daniel M. Harnick Associate Counsel dharnick@laswest.org Carly Lynch-Mcguire Associate Counsel CLMcGuire@laswest.org Richard M. Hoover Associate Counsel rhoover@laswest.org April A. McKenzie Associate Counsel amckenzie@laswest.org Thomas Montella Associate Counsel tmontella@laswest.org Wali Muhammad Associate Counsel wmuhammad@laswest.org Patricia Petrosky Associate Counsel ppetrosky@laswest.org Hannah Robbins Associate Counsel hrobbins@laswest.org Andrew L. Restivo Associate Counsel arestivo@laswest.org Ketienne Telemaque Associate Counsel ktelemaque@laswest.org Lynda S. Visco Associate Counsel lkoenig@laswest.org Julie B. Schechter Associate Counsel jschechter@laswest.org Jennifer Spencer Associate Counsel Jspencer@laswest.org Nicole Zagreda Associate Counsel Nzagreda@laswest.org Mildret Barajas Director of Forensic Social Worker mbarajas@laswest.org Barbara Immediato Forensic Social Worker bimmediato@laswest.org Kristel Ratas Forensic Social Worker krr@laswest.org Selwyn Ellis Forensic Social Worker sellis@laswest.org Jennifer Ledesma Forensic Social Worker jledesma@laswest.org Ashley Bernhardt Forensic Case Manager abernhardt@laswest.org Catherine Fournier Forensic Social Worker cfournier@laswest.org Aundray Jermaine Archer Paralegal/reentry/mitigation member jarcher@laswest.org Disclaimer: The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. 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