{"id":206299,"date":"2026-04-22T18:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T18:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/206299\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T18:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T18:41:10","slug":"amnewyork-law-the-docket-meet-the-new-new-york-state-bar-association-executive-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/206299\/","title":{"rendered":"amNewYork Law The Docket: Meet the new New York State Bar Association executive director"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to The Docket, <a href=\"https:\/\/amny.com\/law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">amNewYork Law\u2019<\/a>s weekly column focused on the movers and shakers in New York\u2019s legal community.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Kathy Suchocki becomes NYS Bar exec director<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/nysba.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">New York State Bar Association<\/a> made it official on April 13, appointing Kathy Suchocki as its executive director after serving in the role on an interim basis for many months.<\/p>\n<p>Suchocki succeeds Pamela McDevitt who led the association for nine years until she passed away in January. The association said Suchocki will be responsible for advancing McDevitt\u2019s mission in recent years, which included introducing a new membership model that provides all members with free continuing legal education programs, e-books and downloadable forms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter forming a working group of past, current and future leaders, we confirmed that the best person to continue Pam\u2019s vision and succeed her is Kathy Suchocki,\u201d said Kathleen Sweet, president of the New York State Bar Association. \u201cNo one is more qualified or deserving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Suchocki was the association\u2019s associate executive director, the number two position in the organization, for the past three years. In that role, she led the association\u2019s revenue-generating departments and strengthened staff engagement. Before that, she was the association\u2019s senior director of continuing legal education and law practice management.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cManaging the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation is an extraordinary opportunity,\u201d Suchocki said. \u201cI thank President Sweet, the working group and the Executive Committee for the faith they have placed in me. I can assure you that our members will continue to be our number one priority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Suchocki is also president of the Association of Continuing Legal Education Professionals, the national organization for CLE professionals. She was president-elect of ACLEA from 2024 to 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Akiva Shapiro joins Holtzman Vogel\u00a0<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-137844894\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/akiva-shapiro-headshot-1-2bwyzd-hanh3d.jpg\" alt=\"attorney Akiva Shapiro\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" title=\"amNewYork Law The Docket: Meet the new New York State Bar Association executive director 2\"  \/>Akiva Shapiro has joined the New York office of Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky &amp; Josefiak PLLC (Holtzman Vogel), a nationally recognized law firm specializing in political law, regulatory matters, and high-profile litigation, as its managing partner.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/holtzmanvogel.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Akiva Shapiro<\/a> has joined the New York office of Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky &amp; Josefiak PLLC (Holtzman Vogel), a nationally recognized law firm specializing in political law, regulatory matters, and high-profile litigation, as its managing partner.<\/p>\n<p>Shapiro will also serve as chair of the firm\u2019s New York Administrative Law and Regulatory Litigation practice group.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>In its April 21 announcement, Holtzman Vogel heralded Shapiro\u2019s arrival as bringing significant depth to its growing New York presence as client demand for experienced constitutional and complex commercial litigation counsel continues to surge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAkiva brings a sharp legal mind, broad first-chair experience in high-profile matters, and a deep understanding across the issues shaping today\u2019s most complex litigation,\u201d said Jill Holtzman Vogel, firm founder and managing partner. \u201cHe has spent his career taking on consequential matters, and prevailing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shapiro has built a national reputation over nearly two decades, appearing regularly before New York\u2019s trial courts, federal and state courts of appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court, with landmark wins spanning property rights, regulatory challenges, First Amendment speech, and religious liberties. He has particular expertise in challenging government action in New York City and State and litigating cases that have a New York regulatory connection.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He is also widely recognized as one of the country\u2019s foremost advocates in the fight against antisemitism, having led numerous impactful pro bono matters on behalf of the Jewish community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI joined Holtzman Vogel because I wanted to help build something in New York and to do work that no other law firm here is doing,\u201d said Shapiro. \u201cThis is a firm that is righting wrongs. It has attracted extraordinary lawyers from the biggest law firms and the highest levels of government.\u00a0 That is a testament to its culture and unique focus. I wanted to be part of a place where the work truly makes a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prior to joining Holtzman Vogel, he was a partner at Gibson Dunn, an amNewYork Law 100 firm, where he was chair of its New York Administrative Law and Regulatory Litigation practice group.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, visit www.holtzmanvogel.com.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>Fox Rothschild partners with Coney Island Prep<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-137844895\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/legalbriefs_2026_04_23_law-rotated.jpeg\" alt=\"Fox Rothschild\u2019s New York City office is helping build brighter futures for the students at Coney Island Prep, a Brooklyn-based public charter school.\" width=\"900\" height=\"1200\" title=\"amNewYork Law The Docket: Meet the new New York State Bar Association executive director 3\"  \/>Fox Rothschild\u2019s New York City office is helping build brighter futures for the students at Coney Island Prep, a Brooklyn-based public charter school.Fox Rothschild<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxrothschild.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Fox Rothschild<\/a>\u2019s New York City office is helping build brighter futures for the students at Coney Island Prep, a Brooklyn-based public charter school.<\/p>\n<p>The firm\u2019s New York team recently hosted a fundraising campaign to benefit Coney Island Prep\u2019s after-school programs, which provide academic support, enrichment activities, mentorship and a safe, structured environment for students beyond the traditional school day.<\/p>\n<p>Fox attorneys Dale Degenshein and Caroline Hymes visited the school to see firsthand how our support benefited scholars.\n<\/p>\n<p>Attention legal eagles! Have you promoted a new partner? Are you giving back in your communities? We want to know about it! Send us your good news by emailing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amny.com\/law\/the-docket-legal-community-04222026\/mailto:\/\/robb@amny.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">robb@amny.com<\/a> and you may be featured in our Docket every week. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to The Docket, amNewYork Law\u2019s weekly column focused on the movers and shakers in New York\u2019s legal&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[81793,81794,5108,81795,81796,81797,81798,81799,81800,81801,81802,81803,9,11,81804,10,49,57300,51,50,81805],"class_list":{"0":"post-206299","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-akiva-shapiro","9":"tag-coney-island-prep","10":"tag-constitutional-law","11":"tag-continuing-legal-education","12":"tag-executive-director-appointment","13":"tag-fox-rothschild","14":"tag-holtzman-vogel","15":"tag-kathy-suchocki","16":"tag-law-firm-news","17":"tag-legal-community-outreach","18":"tag-legal-industry-leadership","19":"tag-legal-careers","20":"tag-new-york","21":"tag-new-york-headlines","22":"tag-new-york-law-firms","23":"tag-new-york-news","24":"tag-new-york-state","25":"tag-new-york-state-bar-association","26":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","27":"tag-new-york-state-news","28":"tag-regulatory-litigation"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}