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The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University is pleased to announce that Janene Marasciullo, an experienced trial attorney and a veteran of FINRA and the Department of Justice, will join the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University as the Director of its Fairbridge Investor Rights Clinic and an adjunct professor. In 2021, Haub Law received a generous five-year grant to name its Investor Rights Clinic (formerly the Securities Arbitration Clinic) after Fairbridge Asset Management.

Professor Marasciullo brings over 25 years of public and private sector litigation experience to the role. In addition to representing parties in FINRA arbitrations and enforcement proceedings, she has litigated complex securities, commercial, and civil fraud cases in federal and state courts across the country and at the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”). In 2020, she joined the AAA’s Roster of Commercial Arbitrators. Prior to entering private practice, Janene served as a Trial Attorney at the Department of Justice and as Senior Enforcement Counsel at NASD, the forerunner to FINRA. She began her career as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. D. Brooks Smith, while he was a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

"The Fairbridge Investor Rights Clinic offers students a truly unique opportunity to develop their advocacy skills by representing real clients during arbitrations and mediations at FINRA Dispute Resolution,” said Professor Marasciullo. “I am honored to join Haub Law’s distinguished experiential learning program. I look forward to working with the students and the Haub Law community.”

“The Fairbridge Investor Rights Clinic is recognized across the country as a leader in securities arbitration and mediation and is considered one of the most unique experiential learning opportunities at Haub Law,” said Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University Dean Horace E. Anderson Jr. “Professor Marasciullo’s expertise and background in complex litigation and ADR will serve to bolster the student experience even further. We are thrilled to have her join us.” Under faculty supervision, student interns at the Fairbridge Investor Rights Clinic represent modest means investors in securities arbitrations and mediations administered by FINRA Dispute Resolution. Students interview and counsel clients, investigate facts, evaluate claims, research legal issues, and draft legal memoranda, and may conduct an arbitration or mediation, or negotiate a settlement. In the weekly seminar, students explore the substantive law of broker-dealer regulation, arbitration theory and practice, and lawyering skills.

Professor Marasciullo received her JD with honors from George Washington University Law School, where she was a member of the George Washington Journal of International Law & Economics. She received her BA from Franklin & Marshall College.

Associate Professor of Economics Veronika Dolar, PhD, was quoted in Marketplace on how much a country's economy influences its performance in the Olympic Games. Read more about how economics impact gold medal wins on Marketplace's website.

The interview caught attention and was mentioned in an amusing Instagram post by an editor at Marketplace.

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced the appointment of, and swore in, Robert S. Tucker, 1996 graduate from The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, as the 35th commissioner of the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY). In addition to graduating from Pace, Tucker also serves on the university’s Board of Trustees.

“Robert Tucker is an incredible member of Pace’s Board and New York City is lucky to have him serving in such a critical role at the FDNY,” said Rob Sands, chairman of Pace’s Board of Trustees. “We applaud Mayor Adams’ selection of Robert and look forward to seeing him spread Pace’s motto of Opportunitas.”

Tucker brings decades of public safety experience to the FDNY, previously serving as a special assistant to the Queens County district attorney and, most recently, as chairman and CEO of T&M Protection Resources, a globally recognized leader in security solutions and cyber intelligence. As FDNY commissioner, Tucker will oversee the day-to-day administration of the agency’s 17,000 employees and a $2 billion budget.

In 2017, through Tucker’s generous support, Pace’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law created the Robert S. Tucker Prize for Prosecutorial Excellence. This honor is awarded annually to an individual or a group of individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of criminal prosecution and who demonstrate excellence in prosecutorial practice. Honorees are selected each year by a jury comprised of former prosecutors and faculty members from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law. The award ceremony brings together Assistant District Attorneys from across the region and state, civic leaders, members of the judiciary, New York City government and the Haub Law community to recognize these distinguished individuals for their work.

“Public safety has been my life’s work. I’ve had a long career in the public and private sector and being appointed commissioner of the FDNY is the biggest honor of my life,” said Tucker. “I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity to apply so many of the lessons that I learned at Pace, both as a student and as a member of the Board, on behalf of the people of New York City and the FDNY.”

Among his many professional, civic and philanthropic affiliations, Tucker currently serves as secretary of the FDNY Foundation and as an honorary fire commissioner, a member of the Board of Trustees and treasurer of the New York City Police Foundation and an honorary police commissioner, and past president of the Associated Licensed Detectives of New York state. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of White Plains Hospital and a former member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, Metro Chapter.

About Pace University

Since 1906, Pace University has been transforming the lives of its diverse students—academically, professionally, and socioeconomically. With campuses in New York City and Westchester County, Pace offers bachelor, master, and doctoral degree programs to 13,600 students in its College of Health Professions, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Lubin School of Business, School of Education, Sands College of Performing Arts, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems.

Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Melvin Williams, PhD, was quoted in Vox on the topic of celebrity endorsements and how that affects decision-making at the polls.

He said, “Political candidates are heavily leaning on celebrities as a mechanism to attract the attention of this cycle’s youngest voting demographic: Generation Z.”

Read more about the influence of celebrity endorsements on the Vox website.

In March 2024, I traveled to Vienna, Austria for the first time to represent Haub Law on the “Verein,” known more formally as the “Association for the Organization and Promotion of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot.” The Vis Moot is the world’s largest international commercial arbitration student competition, with teams from hundreds of law schools and countries around the world. Held in Vienna each spring, the Vis Moot has expanded over the years to include the annual Vis Moot East in Hong Kong, as well as dozens of “Pre-Moots”—practice competitions—all over the world.

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The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University has a strong and historical connection to the Vis Moot. A Haub Law professor, Dr. Eric Bergsten, founded the Moot, and ran it for many years before the Verein officially took over. Professor Willem Vis, after whom it is named, was a preeminent international arbitration scholar, Haub Law professor, and founding director of the Institute of International Commercial Law at Pace University (IICL). And Pace Professor Al Kritzer was founder of the IICL and published the CISG Database—an online database of decisions by international arbitration panels interpreting and applying the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Every year, the Vis Moot problem has one procedural issue drawn from a rotation of the rules of various international arbitration providers, and one substantive issue based on interpretations of the CISG.

My experiences at the 31st Vis Moot deepened my perspective on international commercial arbitration. I observed Haub Law’s outstanding student team compete in a few of its rounds, and I served as an arbitrator for other rounds. I marveled at the wonderful mentorship, coaching and nonstop cheerleading of our team provided by Professor Linda Wayner and “Vis Mootie” and Haub Law alumna Bryn Goodman ‘11. I participated in the meeting of the Verein to debrief this year’s competition and discuss planning for next year. I attended the festive (and packed) Opening Ceremonies, at which Professor Bergsten, who passed away last summer, was honored and remembered fondly. I also attended the annual Bergsten lecture, delivered by Professor Patricia Louise Shaughnessy, Associate Professor at Stockholm University, Law Department and President of the Vis Moot Association, who addressed the topic: “Arbitration and the Rule of Law: delivering justice in a consent-based, private process.”

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Not only did I learn about international commercial arbitration while in Vienna, I also availed myself of the opportunity to learn about foreign perspectives on the broader field of international conflict resolution. To that end, on a visit to the Jewish Museum in Vienna I learned more about the history of Jewish life in the city and fortuitously stumbled across a temporary exhibit at the museum called “FRIEDEN/PEACE.” [Frieden is the word for peace in German.] The exhibit was put together in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and was finalized around the time of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The exhibit “recalls the idea of peace as an achievement of civilization and may be seen as a contribution to a culture of peace that is still defective.”

The thought-provoking and moving exhibit was quite relevant to my teaching of conflict resolution. As my students know, I preach the value of developing negotiating skills as a lawyer. So, no surprise here: I was drawn to what was called “The Negotiating Table.” As pictured here, in the middle of the exhibition room was a round table with eight chairs, with origami birds, an international symbol of peace, strung over the table resembling a childhood mobile. The mobile resulted from a kids’ activity: children were asked to write out what “peace” meant to them on a round piece of paper which was then hung next to the origami birds.

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Imprinted on the table in front of each chair was the word for “peace” in eight different languages: Frieden, shalom, salam, mir, pokòj, ahimsa, he ping, pax, and eirene. The exhibit explained: “peace has many, often metaphorical, meanings and is understood differently depending on the historical, religious, or cultural context. The ideas and concepts about peace are correspondingly diverse. We have collected the main ones here on our ‘negotiating table.’”

The exhibit also explained that “peace is not just the absence of war. This negative definition is contrasted by peace researchers with positive peace, which also includes the absence of structural violence and is linked with the concepts of justice, democracy, human rights, and international law.” The notion that peace is not just the absence of war resonated deeply with me, as eliminating war cannot be the only goal of peace talks. Rather, peace talks need to address the warring countries’ underlying interests, needs and desires.

The notion that peace is not just the absence of war resonated deeply with me, as eliminating war cannot be the only goal of peace talks.

When I returned to campus, I shared my experiences of the exhibit with my Survey of Dispute Resolution Processes class. After reminding students how we explored various aspects of conflict in the first class of the semester, I then asked them (and now ask readers) to ponder what the Exhibit forcefully asked its visitors: What does peace mean to you?