Brooklyn shines bright with the return of local bar associations

After taking a brief hiatus during the summer, the local bar associations will return to action this week and, appropriately, the Columbian Lawyers Association will kick off the return to action.

The Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn is one of the most influential local bar associations and that was on display this past June when Mayor Eric Adams was on hand to personally oversee the transition from outgoing president Salvatore Scibetta to incoming president Yolanda Guadagnoli.

Even the judge who performed the ceremony, Hon. Carl Landicino, a past president of the Columbian Lawyers Association, has since been elevated to the Appellate Division, Second Department.

Guadagnoli and the Columbian Lawyers kick off the new year of legal events at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night, Sept. 6, at Gargiulo’s Restaurant in Coney Island where the group will host Hon. Jeffrey Sunshine as the continuing legal education lecturer.

Justice Sunshine, the Statewide Coordinating Judge for Matrimonial Cases, is a past president of the Brooklyn Bar Association and a frequent lecturer at most of the local bar associations. Last April, he addressed the Bay Ridge Lawyers Association on a variety of topics related to matrimonial law.

The presentation, titled “Matrimonial Law: From a Statewide Perspective,” covered subjects including the harmonization of Supreme Court and Matrimonial Rules, Joint Divorce Pilot Programs, and an essay he wrote on the impacts of COVID-19 on future custody determinations.

Justice Sunshine has been instrumental in creating the virtual evidence courtroom and the uncontested joint divorce pilot project in response to the COVID-19 pandemic….