Board Members

2012-2013 GRAWA Board of Directors

President: Kimberly F. Duguay
President Elect: Melanie S. Wolk
Immediate Past President: Kari A. Smoker
Secretary: Julie R. Bielecki
Treasurer: Pamela Reynolds
Program Committee Co-Chairs: Elaine Z. Cole and Meghan Lynch
Nominating Committee Chair: Hon. Dandrea L. Ruhlmann
JEC Committee Co-Chairs: Michele Romance Crain and Jodie L. Ryan 
Media Committee Chair: Anita L. Pelletier
Legislative Committee Chair: Jill Paperno
Membership Committee Chair: Nora A. Jones
CLE Committee Chair: Cara Waldman
Diversity Committee Chair: Josie Sheppard
WBASNY Delegate: Denine K. Carr and L. Courtney

JULIE R. BIELECKI, Secretary, is an associate at Harris Beach PLLC in Pittsford, where she is a member of the life and asset planning group and health services group. Julie received her bachelor's degree in finance from Florida State University, magna cum laude, and both her J.D. and MBA, with distinction, from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is a past co-chair of GRAWA's Newly Admitted Women Attorneys committee and a past WBASNY delegate for GRAWA. Julie served as a member, secretary and chairperson of the board of directors of CURE Childhood Cancer Association. She is also a member of the New York State Bar Association. Julie resides in Victor with her husband and son.(Back to Top)

DENINE K. CARR, WBASNY Delegate, is of counsel to Connors & Corcoran, PLLC and has a sole practice which has a focus in the area of employment law. Denine received her B.A. from the University of Iowa and her law degree from Loyola University of Chicago Law School. Denine serves on GRAWA's Nominating, Membership, Judicial Evaluation and Family & Careers Committees. She is a past President and has chaired GRAWA’s Membership and  Family & Careers Committees. In 2003, she was given the President’s Award. Before becoming active with GRAWA, Denine served as Secretary, Vice President and PAC Chair for the Rochester Area National Organization for Women. Denine has also served as Co-Chair of the Monroe County Bar Association’s Disability, Labor & Employment Committee. She received the William E. McKnight Award in 2002. Denine served as a community member of the YWCA of Rochester Nominating Committee from 2009 until recently. She is a member of the New York State Bar Association and was a member of the Gender Equity Task Force and Committee on Women and the Law. She lives in (Back to Top)

ELAINE Z. COLE, Program Committee Co-Chair, was GRAWA's 13th President.  She graduated from Catholic University Columbus School of Law in 1977. She was the District Tax Attorney at the New York State Department of Taxation for over 22 years, having just retired from this position. She is a past chair of GRAWA's nominating and CLE committees, and has served on the JEC. Last year, she received the Crennell-Branch Award. She is an active member of the MCBA, having been a Trustee, and chair of the Fee Arbitration and Strategic Planning Committees. She has chaired the Jazz for Justice event for 2 years. She is a member of the Irondequoit Public Library Board. (Back to Top)

MICHELLE Y. CIMINO, Program Committee Co-Chair, received her B.S. in Business Administration, cum laude, from Nazareth College. At Syracuse Law School, Michelle received the Justinian Honorary Law Society Award and was the technical editor for the Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce. After graduating with her J.D., cum laude, Michelle started her own practice concentrating in employment litigation. In 2004 - 2008, Michelle joined Chamberlain D'Amanda LLP as a Senior Litigation Associate where she handled a broad range of civil matters including personal injury, employment, commercial transactions, family law, and bankruptcy. Michelle has now formed a law practice concentrating on family and employment matters. Michelle actively participates as a pro bono attorney with the Volunteer Legal Services Program and previously served on the Judicial Evaluation Committee for the Monroe County Bar Association. (Back to Top)

L. COURTNEY, WBASNY Delegate, worked as a registered nurse after graduating from Central Michigan University. She put herself through Syracuse Law School while raising her five children, graduating in 1981. After law school, Courtney worked as a staff attorney for Monroe County Legal Services and as a supervisor at Park Hope Nursing Home on evenings and weekends. In May of 1984, she joined the Monroe County District Attorney's Office where she remained until February 2012. Since her "retirement," Courtney has matriculated at the Colgate Divinity School in Rochester, New York, and is thinking of studying Hebrew in the Fall. (Back to Top)

MICHELE ROMANCE CRAIN, Judicial Evaluation Committee Co-Chair, is a Senior Deputy County Attorney with the Monroe County Law Department. She is a 1982 graduate of the University of Rochester (cum laude) with a dual major in political science and economics. She is a 1985 graduate of the SUNY Buffalo Law School. Upon graduating she became a litigator with the law firm of Bayer and Smith, concentrating her practice in insurance defense work. In 1990 she took a position with Wausau/Nationwide Insurance where she continued to practice in the field of insurance defense litigation for the next 13 years. In 2003 she joined the Corporation Counsel's Office for the City of Rochester as a litigator where her area of practice expanded to include civil rights litigation, assessment and contracts. She currently handles civil rights litigation and personal injury litigation for Monroe County where she has been employed since 2011. Michele has served on GRAWA's Judicial Evaluation Committee for the past 5 years. She is an active member of Third Presbyterian Church in the City of Rochester where she has served as a member of the Nominating Committee, a member of the Children’s Ministry Committee, a Trustee, a member of the East Avenue Grocery Run Committee, a Sunday school teacher, a co-chair of the Mom’s Group and co-director of the Qabats program for the children of the church. She is also active with the Pittsford Panthers Youth Football Program. She is a past member of the board of the Rochester Oratorio Society and the board of Moms in Motion. She lives in Pittsford with her husband Will, their two sons, Liam and Schuyler and their dog, Lukie. (Back to Top)

KIMBERLY DUGUAY, President, received her B.A. in Psychology from the State University at Buffalo in 1988. She received both her J.D. and Masters of Social Work from the University at Buffalo in 1992. Kim worked as a staff attorney at Legal Services, Inc., in Chambersburg, PA. from 1993 until 1996. She returned to work in 1998 as a medical social worker with Via Health Homecare after taking some time off to be home with her three children. Kim continues to work per diem as a medical social worker for Lifetime Care (formerly Via Health Home Care). Kim worked as a mitigation specialist in both federal and state, capital and non-capital cases from 1999 until 2007. In addition to her other employment, in 2001 Kim began working for Gary Muldoon as an associate attorney practicing in the areas of criminal, family, elder and appellate law. She remained with Gary, whose firm has since become Muldoon and Getz, until 2007. Since November 2007, Kim has been an Assistant Public Defender in the appeals bureau of the Monroe County Public Defender Office. Kim chaired GRAWA's Legislative Committee for three years from 2006 until 2009, and chaired GRAWA’s Women's Health Committee for three years from 2005 until 2008. She lives in West Irondequoit with her husband, David and three children, Ben (age 19), Eli (age 17) and Dan (age 15). (Back to Top)

NORA A. JONES, Membership Committee Chair, received her BA in English, and then taught school briefly before earning her JD degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. An attorney/editor position at Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company brought her to Rochester in 1980, soon after she passed the Ohio bar exam. During the next 20 years, she advanced through several management positions with the legal publishing company before venturing into newspaper publishing with The Daily Record in 2001. She left the newspaper to gain non-profit experience as Executive Director of BOA Editions, Ltd., a small poetry publisher. Serving on the GRAWA board from 2004-2006, Nora was honored with the GRAWA President's Award (2005 and 2012) and the Crennel-Branch Award (2006). She recently retired from BOA, but is active on the board of Literacy Volunteers of Rochester and participates in a variety of other community activities. (Back to Top)

MEGHAN M. LYNCH, Program Committee Co-Chair, is an associate at Harter Secrest & Emery LLP in Rochester, where she works in the labor and employment practice group. Meghan received her bachelor's degree in history and computer applications from the University of Notre Dame, magna cum laude, and her J.D. from Boston College Law School. She has been a member of the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys (GRAWA) since 2006.  Meghan previously served on GRAWA's board of directors as its WBASNY delegate, and has participated in GRAWA's Judicial Evaluation Committee for several years. She is a board member of the Rochester Oratorio Society. Meghan is also a member of the New York State Bar Association. (Back to Top)

JILL PAPERNO, Legislative Committee Chair, is the Second Assistant Public Defender in the Monroe County Public Defender's Office. Jill graduated from the State University of New York at Albany in 1981, and Buffalo Law School in 1984. She was a staff attorney for Prisoners' Legal Services of New York from 1984 until 1987, representing state prison inmates in state and federal court on prisoners' rights matters. She has worked for the Monroe County Public Defender's Office since 1987. She trained and supervised attorneys in the City Court and Parole sections of the office for ten years as the City Court Supervisor, and since 2009 has supervised felony staff as the Second Assistant Public Defender. She has tried numerous felony cases, including homicides and sex offenses. Ms. Paperno assisted in developing the training program for Monroe County Public Defender's Office attorneys, and has presented CLEs on numerous topics over the years. In 2010 she was awarded the Jeffrey A. Jacobs Memorial Award for outstanding trial work. In 2011 she was named a Rochester Daily Record Leader in Law and awarded the Rochester Daily Record Nathaniel Award. Jill contributed a chapter on handling sex offenses in Strategies for Handling Sex Crimes, and is writing a book for beginning criminal defense attorneys and criminal law clinic students due out later this year.  (Back to Top)

ANITA L. PELLETIER, Media Chair, is Counsel at Nixon Peabody LLP and concentrates on matters related to tax-exempt and nonprofit organizations, their corporate governance, fundraising, state regulation, and taxation. Anita has lectured and worked on issues such as tax exemption and private foundation status, and unrelated business income tax (UBIT). She advises clients on corporate governance, from the creation of the corporate entity to its dissolution. She has received numerous awards for her commitment to pro bono service. In 2003, she received the William E. McKnight Award from the Monroe County Bar Association. In 2005, she received the Legal Aid Society of New York City Pro Bono Award. Anita is the recipient of Nixon Peabody's Rodman Peabody Pro Bono Award, winning in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. She received her J.D., summa cum laude, from Syracuse University, College of Law. Anita's volunteer involvement includes board member of the YWCA of Rochester and GRAWA. (Back to Top)

PAMELA REYNOLDS, Treasurer, is an associate attorney in the Rochester office of Littler Mendelson, P.C., a U.S. based international law firm exclusively devoted to representing management in every aspect of labor and employment law. There, she counsels clients in a broad range of labor and employment matters from discrimination claims to wage and hour obligations. Pamela received her Bachelor of Arts degree in history, with a minor in mathematics, from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and her J.D. from the University of Richmond School, cum laude. Pamela is also a member of the New York State Bar Association, where she serves as Secretary of the Committee on Women in the Law and is a past co-chair of the Membership Committee of the Monroe County Bar Association, Young Lawyers Section. (Back to Top)

HON. DANDREA LYNN RUHLMANN, Nominating Committee Chair, has been a presiding judge in Monroe County Family Court since 2004 and currently serves as an Acting Supreme Court Justice. Judge Ruhlmann is dedicated to enhancing court practices and improving the administration of justice in family court. Judge Ruhlmann serves as the Lead Judge of Monroe County Family Court's Enhanced Court Practices Collaborative and the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute's Center for Juvenile Justice Reform Cross Over Youth Practice Model emphasizing best practices and improving outcomes for children. Judge Ruhlmann also established the Babies Can't Wait, Teens Won't Wait court based educational series providing training to child welfare and legal professionals on the health and permanency of children statewide. Judge Ruhlmann has also been and instructor for the Assisting Children through Transition (ACT) program.  The ACT program is designed to educate parents of the effects of divorce or separation on children.

She received her B.A. from Grove City College (summa cum laude) and her J.D. from Washington & Lee University School of Law. After graduating law school, she served as Judicial Law Clerk to Justice Henry H. Whiting in Supreme Court, Virginia's highest Court. Judge Ruhlmann also formerly served as a Special Matrimonial Referee and Confidential Law Clerk to the Honorable David D. Egan and in private practice as a litigation attorney in both Rochester, New York and Washington, D.C.

Judge Ruhlmann serves on the Society for the Protection of Children, Safe Haven Stakeholder's Group, MCFC Children's Center Board and the Monroe County Bar Association's Memorial Committee. Judge Ruhlmann has been an Advisory Council Member to OASIS, as well as to the Office of the Aging and the Genesee Community Charter School at the Rochester Museum and Science Center. She has also served as a member of the Monroe County Council for Elders and as a volunteer to the American Cancer Society. Judge Ruhlmann is married to Raymond E. Ruhlmann III, Esq. (Col. USMCR) and has two children, Olyvia and Raymond IV. (Back to Top)

JODIE R. RYAN, Judicial Evaluation Committee Co-Chair, is an Associate in the Rochester office at Phillips Lytle LLP. She concentrates her practice in the area of civil and commercial litigation with emphasis on personal injury, products liability, asbestos disease litigation, chemical exposure/toxic torts, professional malpractice and construction litigation. Jodie received her Bachelor’s Degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo, cum laude, and her J.D. from Albany Law School. Currently, she is on the Board of Directors for the Fairport Baptist Homes Caring Ministries Foundation, a member of the Rochester’s Women’s Network and a member of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers. She is a member of the American Bar Association, Monroe County Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association. In addition, Jodie is an active member of GRAWA and has served on its Judicial Evaluation Committee since 2006. In 2009, she was recognized by the Daily Record as an Up and Coming Attorney. Jodie and her husband reside in Walworth, New York. (Back to Top)

JOSIE SHEPPARD, Diversity Committee Co-Chair, is an associate at Harris Beach PLLC, where she practices in the area of business and commercial litigation with municipalities and quasi government agencies. Josie is a new migrant to the Rochester community; as she is originally from Nebraska, which is where she attended the University of Nebraska and earned her Bachelor of Science in Real Estate and Land Use Economics. Thereafter, she headed further east to Michigan, where she earned her Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.  Josie is an active member of the Monroe County Bar Association’s Diversity Committee and the Rochester Black Bar Association’s Programs Committee. Josie is also an avid soccer player, and volunteers with Rochester’s underprivileged youth at Flower City Soccer League.  (Back to Top)

KARI A. SMOKER, Immediate Past President, has a BA in Mathematics/Statistics and Economics from the University of Rochester (cum laude, 1992), a Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University College of Law (cum laude, 2000), and a Master's of Taxation from Golden Gate University's School of Taxation (May 2010). She is an Assistant Professor of Accounting & Finance at SUNY Brockport and a 2009 recipient of the Rochester Business Journal's Forty Under 40 Award, as well as a Democrat & Chronicle's Women to Watch honoree.

She serves on the Finance committee for the Monroe County Bar Association and is a facilitator of a parent support group for low vision children through the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. She is a past-chair of the board of directors of Women Helping Girls, a nationally recognized mentoring, enrichment and college bound program for underserved girls in the Rochester City School District.

Prior to teaching full time, Kari concentrated her practice in the areas of commercial transactions, income taxation and planning, and insurance defense. She served as pro bono counsel in the IRS's Offers in Compromise program for low income taxpayers and has served on various GRAWA committees since 2001. She resides in the City of Rochester with her husband Ken, their two boys (ages 7 and 10), and two dogs. (Back to Top)

CARA WALDMAN, CLE Committee Chair, recently started her own practice representing indigent parties in both family and criminal appeals at the Appellate Division, Fourth Department. Prior to starting her own practice, Cara was an Appellate Court Attorney at the Appellate Division, Fourth Department for three years. Cara also clerked for the trial court in Connecticut for two years. Cara graduated from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She received her J.D., with honors, from the University of Connecticut.  (Back to Top)

MELANIE S. WOLK, President-Elect, is an attorney at the law firm of Goldberg Segalla, LLP, specializing in the areas of commercial litigation, construction litigation, products liability and toxic tort litigation, where she has represented both business entities and insurance carriers since 1999. Melanie's practice encompasses all areas of litigation including, trials, mediations and arbitrations in State and Federal Courts. She is a 2011 recipient of the Rochester Business Journal's Forty Under 40 Award, as well as a Democrat & Chronicle's Women to Watch honoree. Melanie is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Empire Justice Center, Al Sigl Board of Governors, Vice-Chair of the United Way Community Investment Committee, Past GRAWA CLE Chair and immediate past chair of the Monroe County Bar Associations Lawyers for Learning Committee. She also remains very active with the Monroe County Bar Association and New York State Bar Association.  (Back to Top)