THE ABWA BOARD

ABWA Board Members 2010-2011

S. Jeanine Conley, President
B. Shea Owens, Vice-President
Yomi Ajaiyeoba, Secretary
Margo Ferrandino, Treasurer
Jamila D. Smoot Burrell
Candis Clark
Leslie Jones-Thomas
Robin Nunn
Donna B. Temple

Biographies (in alphabetical order):

Abayomi O. Ajaiyeoba ("Yomi") Ms. Ajaiyeoba has been an ABWA member since 2005, serving as the Chair of the Community Service Committee from 2009 to 2010. In addition, she was a 2004 recipient of the Ruth Whitehead Whaley Scholarship for Public Service. Ms. Ajaiyeoba is a certified mediator and experienced litigator, specializing in administrative law, bankruptcy, and real estate. She started her legal career at the New York City Law Department, where she served as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Administrative Law Division. She is currently an Agency Attorney with the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings ("OATH")/Environmental Control Board ("ECB") where she works under the direction of the Managing Attorney to direct the legal operation of the administrative tribunal, including, but not limited to, managing staff productivity and acting as legal advisor to administrative personnel. She was recently promoted to this position after serving as a per session Administrative Law Judge.

She is committed to empowering and servicing the community through her involvement in various organizations: she has chaired the Nigerian Lawyers Association’s (“NLA”) Legal Clinic committee, served as a mentor for the Practicing Attorneys for Law Students Mentoring Program, a volunteer mediator with the Institute for Mediation and Conflict Resolution, Inc., provided pro bono services to: Changer, Inc., Brooklyn Bar Association’s (“BBA”) Volunteer Lawyers Project, and InMotion, Inc. In addition, she was recently elected President of the NLA, serves on the New York State Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section’s Diversity Committee, BBA’s Part 137 Fee Dispute committee, and serves as a volunteer arbitrator in Small Claims court.

Ms. Ajaiyeoba has a featured essay in the publication, Conquering the Bar Exam, Insight for First-Generation and Minority Law Students and Graduates, and has written several articles for US Immigration News.

Ms. Ajaiyeoba is a graduate of Rutgers School of Law-Newark in May 2004. During law school, she worked as a Judicial Intern for Supreme Court Justice Debra A. James. She earned her B.A. from Connecticut College, graduating cum laude with distinction in Psychology and a Helen Lehman Buttenweiser scholar.

Jamila D. Smoot Burrell (formerly Jamila Smoot) – Mrs. Burrell has been a member of ABWA since 2003, serving as Treasurer from 2005 – 2007, Vice President from 2007-2008 and President since October 2008.

Mrs. Burrell currently works for Morgan Stanley as an ISDA Negotiator for the Fixed Income Division’s Institutional Securities Documentation Group. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mrs. Burrell worked as an associate in the Securitization and Structured Finance Department of Sidley Austin LLP. She also clerked for the Honorable Samuel G. Wilson, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

Mrs. Burrell is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia College of Arts and Sciences with a B.A. in Mathematics and Spanish.

S. Jeanine Conley – Ms. Conley has been an ABWA member since 2003 and has served on the board for two years. She is secretary of the Committee on Minorities in the Profession of the City Bar. Ms. Conley has worked as an active member of several community groups and currently is on the advisory board of the Urban Assembly School for Criminal Justice.

Ms. Conley began her career as a litigation associate at Arnold & Porter, LLP before clerking for New Jersey U.S.S.D.C. Judge William G. Bassler from 2005-2006. She joined the law firm of Baker & Hostetler LLP in 2006 and practices in the areas of white collar and corporate criminal matters and general commercial litigation.

In 2007, Ms. Conley received the Stakeholder 100 Award, which was awarded to top performing minority attorneys from law firms across the country. This year, Ms. Conley was selected as a 2008 Council of Urban Professionals ("CUP") Fellow. The CUP Fellows Program is dedicated to training and developing minority political and civic leaders. Ms. Conley is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Margo Ferrandino – is a graduate of Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations and New York University School of Law. Ms. Ferrandino concentrates her practice in labor and employment law matters. Ms. Ferrandino also provides employment-related training to executives, managers, supervisors and employees. In conjunction with advising on labor and employment matters, she also assists clients with complex issues involving E-Discovery and E-Verify. Prior to joining Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC, Ms. Ferrandino was an associate at Kaye Scholer LLP. Ms. Ferrandino is a member of the New York State Bar, the Capital Region Human Resource Association and the Society for Human Resource Management. From 2004 through 2007, Ms. Ferrandino served as Secretary for the Committee on Recruitment and Retention of Lawyers, The Association of the Bar of the City of New York. In 2005, Ms. Ferrandino was a recipient of the InMotion, Inc. Commitment to Justice Award.

Leslie Jones-Thomas - Ms. Jones-Thomas is a former ABWA President and has been an active member of several area bar associations including the Metropolitan Black Bar Association.

Ms. Jones-Thomas is a former prosecutor who served in the Bronx for 8.5 years. She worked for two years with Special Narcotics Prosecutor Sterling Johnson before starting her own legal practice in 2005. The Law Offices of Leslie Jones-Thomas and Associates specializes in litigation, federal and state criminal defense, matrimonial, real estate, estate and elder law, and business. Ms. Jones-Thomas is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center.

Robin Nunn - Ms. Nunn is an associate with the firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. She handles an array of matters with a particular emphasis on pro bono, general litigation, intellectual property and investigations. She joined the law firm as the Pro Bono Fellow, working full time for a year and spending significant amounts of time thereafter on civil rights causes on behalf of indigent clients. Prior to that, Ms. Nunn clerked for the Honorable Barrington Parker on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ms. Nunn is a member of the Federal Bar Council's Public Service Committee and the Legal Aid Society Associates Campaign. She also is an editor of the Federal Bar Council Quarterly.

Ms. Nunn received a J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School, where she was a member of the The University of Chicago Law Review and served as the President of the Black Law Students Association, and a B.A. from Dartmouth College.

Shea Owens – Ms. Owens has been a member of ABWA since 1999. Prior to her current position as an Assistant General Counsel at Ernst & Young LLP, she practiced international transactional law at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton and at Allen & Overy LLP (New York and Hong Kong), where she represented foreign governments, multinational corporations and international financial institutions. Prior to entering firm practice, Ms. Owens clerked for federal District Court Judge Raymond A. Jackson and worked as a human rights fellow at the Center for International Environmental Law in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ms. Owens has co-authored several articles, including "Survey of International Commercial Law Developments: 1999-2000," (56 Bus. Law. 1967-1875) and "NGO Briefing Paper on Africa: Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance" (Global Justice 1-9).

Ms. Owens is a graduate of Columbia University School of Law and Princeton University, and she was a Fulbright Fellow in Kenya and a Center for International Studies Fellow in Brazil.

She serves on the National Women Law Center's Leadership 35 Committee and as the Deputy Chairperson-At-Large of the National Bar Association's International Law Section, is a former director of the Practicing Attorneys for Law Students Program (PALS) and currently serves as a PALS mentor.

Donaldine B. Temple – Donaldine B. Temple, fondly known as “Donna” by family and friends, previously worked as a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP where she represented various financial institutions on large complex corporate transactions.

In 1995, Ms. Temple received her Bachelor of Arts with a double major in History and African-American Studies from Wesleyan University located in Middletown, Connecticut and in 2000, she received her Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School.

Community service is an important part of Ms. Temple’s life. She spends several hours each month volunteering with various non-profit organizations throughout New York City. Her favorite volunteer projects include serving dinner at The Bowery Mission soup kitchen located in Soho and The Food Bank located in Harlem. She also leads job readiness program at the Covenant House for homeless young women. She especially enjoys working with the youth and is passionate about “‘speaking life, hope and possibilities into the lives of young people living in the inner cities.’” During Ms. Temple’s free time, she enjoys taking ballet, modern and ethnic dance classes at the Alvin Ailey Extension School, reading historical fiction, blogging and mentoring teenagers.

Ms. Temple is currently a member of the Association of Black Women Attorneys, the American Bar Association, the North Manhattan Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Wesleyan Alumni Admissions Committee and the Family Partners Board Committee of Habitat for Humanity - NYC. She is also an active member of the congregation at the Greater Allen Cathedral located in Jamaica, Queens.

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