{"id":337597,"date":"2026-09-04T02:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T02:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/337597\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T02:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T02:54:14","slug":"bba-director-of-operations-shares-vision-and-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/337597\/","title":{"rendered":"BBA director of operations shares vision and plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>BROOKLYN HEIGHTS \u2014 Paul Vaygen, director of operations of the Brooklyn Bar Association, wants to make the most of his tenure, he told the Brooklyn Eagle in an exclusive interview from the BBA\u2019s historic headquarters at 123 Remsen St.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vaygen, who assumed his position in September 2025, wants to strengthen and expand the reach of the association, which was founded in 1872.<\/p>\n

Vaygen sat down with the Brooklyn Eagle for an exclusive interview at the BBA\u2019s historic headquarters at 123 Remsen St.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy vision is for the bar association to be a premier professional home for attorneys in Brooklyn,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to be known for innovation, mentorship, professional development and public service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vaygen is looking for new ways to engage attorneys at every stage of their careers, from law students to judges, and build programs that have a tangible impact on their professions.<\/p>\n

\"Vaygen<\/a>Vaygen has built a legal career spanning more than 30 years. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman\/Brooklyn Eagle<\/p>\n

He discussed two programs he plans to implement at the BBA: The Small Firm Success Academy would help graduating law students and new lawyers start their own firms, and the Law Firm Incubator would provide attorneys who serve underserved communities with business development skills, like technology and AI education.<\/p>\n

As director of operations, Vaygen oversees the association\u2019s day-to-day needs, helping coordinate its extensive calendar of continuing legal education programs, networking events, committee meetings and other activities that support Brooklyn\u2019s legal community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sort of a jack of all trades,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m also involved in marketing, I work with board members on financial and practical matters and engage with sponsors on both technical and personal levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vaygen\u2019s parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1978 from Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, seeking the opportunities they believed the country could offer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere I came from, there was institutional discrimination,\u201d Vaygen said. \u201cMy father didn\u2019t get to go to college, even though he was at the top of his class in math, and he wanted to pursue a career in mathematics and science. He ended up going into the garment industry, working in a large factory in Odessa. He later met my mother, who was in the same industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BBA<\/a>BBA Director of Operations Paul Vaygen. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman\/Brooklyn Eagle<\/p>\n

Vaygen has been interested in computers for as long as he can remember, so he chose to study Information Technology at New York University. However, his career path took an unexpected turn.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my friends at NYU really wanted to go to law school,\u201d Vaygen said. \u201cOne day, we attended a career fair, and there were lawyers there talking about their field and how much money they were making. The experience won me over, but I still wanted to go into IT, my original plan, as I really liked computers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, the same friend was having trouble with the LSAT exam, and Vaygen tried to help him out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was at his house, I said to myself, \u2018Let me try a few questions,\u2019\u201d Vaygen said. \u201cThere was a lot of logic and critical thinking involved, but I saw that I was doing fairly well. Ultimately, I took the LSAT myself, and I got a high enough score to get into law school. I later took the bar, passed it, and I ended up opening my own practice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He earned his law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a bachelor\u2019s degree in Russian literature from NYU, where he minored in history and computer science.<\/p>\n

Vaygen, who currently lives in south Brooklyn, has built a legal career spanning more than 30 years, concentrating on real estate, business law, personal injury and international business matters. <\/p>\n

Throughout his career, Vaygen has represented individuals and businesses in a broad range of legal matters while maintaining a private practice in Brooklyn. He has also served as an administrative law judge with the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Vaygen<\/a>Vaygen said his vision for the BBA is to be a premier professional home for attorneys in Brooklyn. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman\/Brooklyn Eagle
\nThe future of the BBA\u00a0<\/p>\n

The BBA is a professional organization for attorneys, judges and legal professionals dedicated to promoting the legal profession, supporting the judiciary and fostering community engagement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its long-time headquarters in Brooklyn Heights dates back to the 1870s, when it was built as the Charles Condon House. The building spans four stories plus a basement, with more than 14,000 gross square feet, with nearly 10,600 above ground. In April 2026, the association listed the property for $12 million. On July 9, the building was sold to Robin Damaghi through the entity Develv LLC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vaygen said the BBA is still searching for a new home. \u201cWe\u2019re not looking to rush into anything. We want to make sure we select the right location.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019re looking at something \u201ca little smaller and more modest\u201d than the 123 Remsen St. location but will likely stay in the same neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently, we\u2019ve secured temporary offices in Brooklyn Heights,\u201d Vaygen said. \u201cBut we\u2019re looking for a more permanent space. Ideally, we need, besides office space, large enough conference rooms for the board to have their meetings, and event space for CLEs and the like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vaygen hopes to see the organization settled in its new home with a larger range of membership and internal programming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year has been very challenging so far,\u201d Vaygen said. \u201cBut I see the light at the end of the tunnel, and all good things are in store for this organization.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROOKLYN HEIGHTS \u2014 Paul Vaygen, director of operations of the Brooklyn Bar Association, wants to make the most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,10076,100,99,3308,15313,9,24,63,99174],"class_list":["post-337597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-bar-association-bba","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-daily-bulletin","tag-legal-community","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-vli-vertical-lede-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337597","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=337597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}