Professor of Designated Services, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University; Managing Attorney, Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, Inc.; Executive Director, John Jay Legal Services, Inc.

Let’s jump right in, what drew you to the practice of law?

As cliché as this may be, from childhood I was always very interested in logic and debate. My parents encouraged that – often letting me debate all aspects of my life from a very young age. Perhaps for that reason, I became a philosophy major and ultimately ended up at law school. Litigation was a natural and perfect fit for my reasoning and advocacy skills developed in my youth.

You practiced law for nearly 17 years before switching gears to academia – what was practicing like and how did you transition to academia?

I started off in general commercial litigation at a big NYC firm. Although I was never quite the hours-grinder that other associates were, it was still a lot of dedication of my time. When my wife and I were expecting our first child (about 7 years after I started at the firm), I made a decision based on two things: 1) I wanted to have more time at home with my family and 2) I wanted a career in something I could explain to a 3-year old. That brought me to environmental law at the Attorney General’s office. My father was a college professor his whole life, so my drive to teach was always there, but became even stronger after hosting some town halls and really enjoying the instructional presentation format that provided. When an opportunity at Haub Law came up, it was an absolute perfect fit for me – litigate environmental cases on the “clean” side and also teach. I couldn’t say no.

Why environmental law in particular?

Very simply, it is one of the best ways to create a positive and lasting change in the world. I hope to always be working toward improving the human condition for the better.

You have been managing attorney of the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic since 2016 – what has that experience been like?

The clinic represents not-for-profit environmental groups when they sue. Those suits can be against polluters (generally citizen suits under federal environmental statutes), state actors (generally municipalities for failure to conduct sufficient environmental review), or agencies (DEC or EPA when they fail to do something required by law). The students lead the cases, but I oversee, edit, and review everything that gets filed or sent to the clients or opposing counsel. We’ve done some very interesting and significant cases, and I’ve really enjoyed it.

More recently, you were appointed Executive Director of John Jay Legal Services (JJLS) – what vision do you have for JJLS?

In this administrative role, I oversee all the applications and placements in the clinic, along with deciding awards for clinical work and making decisions about how the office is run and structured. Our clinics do a great job at serving underserved communities, I would like to see this expanded even further. There is no shortage of a need for pro-bono representation in all areas of law, especially environmental, immigration and criminal work. Each clinic and externship director has been great about looking at ways to expand the reach and impact of our clinical offerings. I hope to help contribute to that.

What is the most rewarding part of your work at Haub Law?

When a former student reaches out to say, “I’m working now, and I put the skills you taught me to work every day.” The concept that all the work we are doing leads to better lawyers in practice is very rewarding.

What advice do you have for law students once they graduate?

Take the opportunities you are given. It’s hard to go to work directly in your dream job from law school. Learning to be a great lawyer can take several stages – just like my career did. From general litigation, to working for the state, to working for a plaintiff-side environmental firm, to this. I learned something at each step, so I would say open your eyes to all opportunities. If you wait long enough, everything always seems to work out for the best. At least it does if you are putting positive things out into the world. So, focus on that, and the rest will follow.

Are you working on any research projects or upcoming publications?

I have been toying with the idea of writing an Environmental Skills textbook. There isn’t much out there that is truly current. I plan to explore that.

Aside from law, how do you spend your spare time?

I enjoy hiking, snowboarding, chess, and (when I can) listening to live music. But the real answer is: driving my kids around to sports and other activities.

From the moment she could speak, Catherine Cioffi ’12 knew that she wanted to be a journalist. “I always loved to write and engage with people. At my core I was, and still am, a storyteller,” said Catherine. While at Fordham University, Catherine majored in Communications and Journalism and minored in Political Science. “I was interested in government, but at that point, law school was not at all on my radar.” When she was an undergraduate student at Fordham, she worked at WFUV 90.7 FM as an on air reporter and that eventually expanded to other stations in the New York market. “I always assumed I would be a print journalist, but I was captivated by the intimacy and immediacy of radio and never looked back,” she said.

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After graduating from Fordham, Catherine’s career in the broadcast industry took off. “I moved to Rhode Island to be a broadcast reporter and was there for about nine months. I decided at that point that I wanted to go back to New York and look for a job. Soon after, I got a job at WCBS 880 as a reporter. I was only 23 and it was rare at the time to be so young and on a commercial station in New York.” Thrilled with the ability to be in her home city again and pursuing her passion, Catherine remained at WCBS 880 for nearly a decade covering some of the biggest stories of our time. “It was an incredible experience. Being a reporter in the field, you see society at every level and you’re so close to the grit you can smell it. It was an education in humanity and also in myself, it forces you to take a deep look inside.”

In 2008, when the economy was taking a turn, Catherine became concerned about her job security. “Many stations were laying off people and I was worried. I decided I needed to create a safety net for myself professionally and decided to go to law school. For years I had covered the courts and was fascinated by the legal process and system. I felt that obtaining a law degree would be an opportunity to, at any point in my life, reinvent myself.” Catherine applied to just one law school, what was then known as Pace Law. “I was familiar with the programs; I knew many people who went there and the school had an incredibly positive reputation. I was sold on the night program also because I did not want to quit my day job. By attending the night program, I could continue working at 880, which I did.”

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For Catherine, attending law school at night and working during the day became her new normal. “Law school was an adjustment. At that point I had been out of the classroom for a significant amount of time, and I was a bit set in my ways when it came to my writing style. Legal writing is very different, and I initially had a hard time accepting it. But, once I did make this adjustment everything fell into place.”

In addition to working through her time at Pace, Catherine also had twins while she was completing her law degree. “I gained so much during my time at Pace. The classes were challenging, and the professors were supportive. Professor Leslie Garfield Tenzer was amazing, she is extremely knowledgeable and willing to share it all with her students and help in any way. It was inspiring for me as a woman to see her and how successful she was. She had a career, and she was a mother, it was exactly what I needed to see at that point in my life.”

Catherine remained at 880 throughout her four years at Pace. Shortly after graduating, she also had her third child. After graduating from Pace, Catherine decided to shift her career path, serving as Director of Community, Government, and Public Relations at Mercy College for nearly five years. Then, in 2018, she was appointed by Westchester County Executive George Latimer to serve as his Communications Director and Senior Advisor.

“My law degree absolutely improved my critical thinking and the way I analyze situations and problems. Law school gives you an innate ability to take complex information and digest it and clearly identify the problems, the issue, and the solution. And, while I am still the storyteller I always was, legal writing has given me a different and useful way to communicate. I use all these skills every day in my career.”

In her current role, Catherine oversees all communications for Westchester County and the County Executive. She leads a team of professionals and together they handle media relations, crisis communications, social media, video productions, special events, internal communications, strategic planning and more. “To a large degree, my job follows the cycle of news. It is a very fast paced environment where things are constantly changing. It is both my favorite part of my job and the most challenging – you just don’t know what the day is going to bring. “

It was during the COVID pandemic that Catherine found herself using her law degree even more. “There was so much information that had to be shared, and we had to figure out the best ways to share it with the community. We had to be very careful not to violate privacy laws and think two steps ahead. There were a lot of moving pieces. I did emergency and crisis communications for many years prior to COVID, we had protocols, assigned roles, and procedures – which all helped. However, in all our practice, everybody is together in one room and all of a sudden that was not possible. It took a lot of creative thinking and analysis, and we not only got the job done but we also significantly raised the bar on crisis communication and communications in general.”

With a law degree opportunities can present themselves that you would never expect, and when those opportunities come you will be ready for them.

Looking back on her educational and career path, Catherine feels that law school added immensely to her professional toolkit. “I would encourage anyone who was thinking about pursuing a law degree to take the leap. When you are in law school soak up anything and everything that you can. Say yes to it all, participate in moot court, take the writing workshop, get to know your professors, and network. With a law degree opportunities can present themselves that you would never expect, and when those opportunities come you will be ready for them.”

Aside from her busy professional life, Catherine is an avid reader, “I recently started an events based book club to bridge my passions: reading, networking, and empowering women to be the best versions of themselves. I think back on deciding to go to law school and to meeting Professor Tenzer and I think of all these connections and opportunities that made me who I am – I want to pay that forward every chance I get.” Catherine, alongside her husband Robert, who is also a graduate of Pace University, resides in Westchester County with their trio of pre-teen sons: Edward, Nathaniel, and Quentin. Their household is further enriched by the presence of Mozzarella, their beloved rescue dog.

Professor of Film and Screen Studies Catherine Zimmer, PhD, authored an article in Avidly (a channel of the LA Review of Books) titled “A Feminomenology of Chappell Roan,” in which she discussed the “phenomenon” of the singer-songwriter, which includes, among other things, “an earnest and passionate longing for the analog,” something Zimmer feels the artist herself embodies.

In Zimmer’s view, Roan’s work is not necessarily about acoustic instrumentation, and it goes beyond nostalgia. It is “inhabitable” and “relational.”

She said, “Analog, in this instance, signals a certain type of materiality and presence. But the self-evidence of the analog includes constant reference to itself within history, within culture, within what phenomenology—a field of philosophy most simply defined by the notion that existence is always situated and relational—would call a ‘lifeworld.’

The 'phenomenon' of Chappell Roan is one that should be recognized as such because she embodies her own talent so well at the same time that it is clear that she is a canvas for performative transformation, cultural interaction, and productive, communal spectatorship.”