The Executive Board

Hon. David J. Kirschner is a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court in Queens County, Criminal Term. Previously, he served as a Judge of the New York City Criminal Court in both Bronx and Queens Counties. Before the bench, Justice Kirschner was the principal law clerk to two New York State Supreme Court Justices.

Justice Kirschner also practiced criminal defense and served as a senior assistant district attorney in New York City, where he prosecuted white-collar crimes, including racketeering, enterprise corruption, extortion, usury, gambling, fraud, and public corruption, supervised the arrest, intake, and arraignment process, and specialized in the direction of covert investigations and electronic surveillance. He frequently writes and speaks on criminal law and procedure issues for the bench and bar, focusing on topics such as search and seizure, electronic surveillance, and bail and discovery reform.

Academically, Justice Kirschner is an adjunct assistant business law professor at the City University of New York at Queens College, having served in the same capacity at Touro College until 2017. He has also been a trial advocacy instructor at Hofstra Law School’s National Institute for Trial Advocacy and Cardozo Law School’s Intensive Trial Advocacy Program, director of the high school mock trial programs at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Mesivta Ateres Yaakov. He often serves as a judge in the New York Statewide High School Mock Trial Tournament.

Professionally, in addition to serving as the Brandeis Association chairperson, he also serves as secretary of the Queens County Supreme Court Justices’ Association, co-chair of the Judicial Security Committee for the Association of Supreme Court Justices of the State of New York. Communally, Justice Kirschner is an international officer of Alpha Epsilon Pi, president of the Jewish Community Baseball League of Queens and Long Island, and past president of Congregation Ahavas Yisroel.

Before joining the judiciary, Justice Kirschner served as a director of the Association of Law Secretaries to Justices of the Supreme and Surrogate Courts, co-president of the Kew Gardens Hills Civic Association, director of the Queens County Jewish Community Council, and served on the advisory boards of the Queens District Attorney’s Jewish Community Advisory Council, and the Jewish Child Care Association’s Kew Gardens Hills Youth Center.

Justice Kirschner earned his Juris Doctor from Hofstra University (1989), where he served as Managing Editor of the Property Law Journal, and a Bachelor of Science with Honors from Florida State University (1985).

Jacqueline Harounian is the Managing Partner and sole shareholder of Wisselman, Harounian Family Law, P.C. The firm was established in 1976 and is a recognized leader in the field of matrimonial and family law for nearly 50 years. Jackie began with the firm as a law student. Jackie is recognized as AV Preeminent 2024 by Martindale Hubbell, the highest possible rating for ethics and professionalism. The firm’s lawyers were recognized as 2024 “Best Lawyers” by US News and World Report, and as a 2024 “Tier One” Law Firm.

Her educational background includes Columbia College (BA 1991); Hofstra Law School (JD 1994). Jackie’s unique multidisciplinary and multicultural background, including a graduate degree in Psychology and Family Systems Therapy enables her to adeptly handle complex divorce and custody matters with a holistic and compassionate approach. Although she is an experienced trial and appellate advocate, she believes that a negotiated settlement is almost always the best strategy, especially if there are minor children and co-parenting is desired. Jackie speaks Farsi and Hebrew, and has extensive experience in Eastern and Middle Eastern religious and cultural divorce matters. Since 2021, she has served as co-Chair of the Matrimonial and Family Law Committee of the New York Women’s Bar Association. She is also on the Board of JALBCA (Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert), as well as the Brandeis Bar Association.

Jackie and her husband Maurice have four adult children and reside in Nassau County, New York.

Etan Hakimi is a licensed associate real estate broker as well as a licensed attorney in the State of New York. Prior to joining Mitra Hakimi Realty Group, Etan practiced law at a prominent Manhattan law firm where he handled real estate related matters including the purchase and sale of residential and commercial real estate, office leasing, coop and condo matters, landlord-tenant disputes, IRC §1031 like-kind exchanges, development projects, and triple net (“NNN”) leased properties. Etan’s legal background and experience enables him to offer a unique and incomparable set of skills when consummating a real estate transaction. Etan routinely assists his clients in addressing complex and intricate challenges arising from estate and probate matters, foreclosures/short sales, rent regulation laws, evictions & title issues.

Etan received his Bachelor of Science degrees in Marketing & Finance from the State University of New York at Albany School of Business and studied International Marketing while studying abroad in Florence, Italy during his junior year. Etan received his Juris Doctorate degree from St. John’s University School of Law where he was a member of the Journal of Legal Commentary and also contributed to the annual updates to the New York Condominium and Cooperative Lawbook as a research assistant to the book’s author.

Heidi F. Muckler is a certified public account specializing in business valuations for matrimonial litigation, commercial litigation, and estate planning. She also specializes in forensic accounting, fraud investigations, and damage calculations. Ms. Muckler has lectured extensively on valuations and forensic accounting for various organizations. She has been an expert witness in New York State Supreme Courts, Federal Courts in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and the American Arbitration Association. Additionally, she is often appointed as a neutral appraiser by various courts in New York State.
Ms. Muckler is an Accredited Business Valuator and Certified in Financial Forensics by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She is a Certified Valuation Analyst by the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts, and she is a Certified Fraud Examiner by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
Additionally, Ms. Muckler has been called on to lecture on valuation topics for the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, New York State Women's Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, Queens County Women's Bar Association, Westchester Women's Bar Association Matrimonial Committee, Nassau County Women's Bar Association Matrimonial Committee, New York City Women's Bar Association Matrimonial Committee, Richmond County Bar Association, and conducted various lectures for the National Business Institute, Pace University School of Law, United Jewish Appeal, Estate Planning Council of Rockland & Suffolk Countries, Divorce Financial Planning Network and financial planning organizations., as well as having lectured on fraud & forensic accounting for various groups. Ms. Muckler has published articles on Business Valuation and is trained in collaborative law and mediation.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting/Management from New York University and holds a Master of Business Administration from Hofstra University. She volunteers as President of the Board at The Brandeis School in Lawrence, NY, where she has also served as Vice-President and Treasurer.

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Assembly Member David Weprin, elected to the Assembly in a Special Election on February 9, 2010, has devoted his life to public service and making government more responsive, efficient, and accountable. Weprin represents the 24th Assembly District in Queens, the same district represented by his father, the late Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin, for 23 years and his brother Mark Weprin, for over 15 years. In 2017, Weprin was named Chair of the Assembly Committee of Correction. Prior to serving as the Chair of Committee on Correction, Weprin served as Chair of the Assembly Task Force on People with Disabilities from 2014 – 2016. Weprin was also named Co-President of the National Association of Jewish Legislators in January 2017.

Born in Queens on May 2, 1956, to Saul and Sylvia Weprin, Weprin has lived in the Hollis-Jamaica area his entire life. He is a graduate of Jamaica High School, SUNY at Albany, with a cum laude degree in Political Science, and a law degree from Hofstra University.

Weprin occupied a variety of leadership positions with major financial services firms from 1987 until his election to the Council. He was elected by his peers to serve as Chairman of the Securities Industry Association, for the New York District, for three years.

Weprin's organizational affiliations include or have included Northeast Queens Jewish Community Council, Queens Jewish Community Council, Transitional Services for NY, National Conference of Community & Justice, Respect for Law Alliance, National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education, Greater Jamaica Development Corp., Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, American Jewish Congress, Holliswood Civic Association, Economic Education Foundation of the Securities Industry Association and the Brandeis Association.

Weprin lives with his wife Ronni in Holliswood. They are the proud parents of five children.

Elizabeth Forspan is a Partner at Forspan Klear LLP, a New York-based law firm. Her practice focuses on Elder Law, Trusts and Estates, and Taxation. A recognized authority in her field, Elizabeth lectures across the United States on topics related to Elder Care Planning, Estate Planning, and Tax Law. She is a recipient of the Max Block Award for Outstanding Article in Technical Analysis, presented by The CPA Journal of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Elizabeth has been named a Super Lawyer annually for the past ten consecutive years and has been named to Best Lawyers since 2023. Her insights have been featured in New York Magazine and MarketWatch, and she has been quoted in The New York Times. Her written work has appeared in the New York Law Journal.

Before co-founding Forspan Klear LLP, Elizabeth served as a Tax Manager at Ernst & Young LLP, specializing in Mergers and Acquisitions and Executive Compensation. She earned her Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law and holds a B.A. from Queens College, City University of New York, where she graduated summa cum laude and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

Elizabeth is actively involved in community service and currently serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations.

Avrohom Gefen heads Vishnick McGovern Milizio’s Employment Law and Commercial Litigation practices and is a key member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice.

Mr. Gefen focuses on commercial and employment litigation, with extensive litigation experience representing businesses and individuals in a wide array of matters before federal and state courts and administrative tribunals. These include the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, United States Labor Department, New York State Labor Department, New York State Commission on Human Rights, and New York City Commission on Human Rights.

Mr. Gefen also advises employers on a variety of topics, including drafting and revising employee handbooks, personnel policies, employee discipline, offers of employment, separation agreements, termination decisions, and compliance with federal, state and local statutes including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Mr. Gefen has extensively written about and been interviewed in the press on business and employment matters, including Bloomberg Law, Law 360, News 12 New York, News 12 New Jersey, Newsday, Long Island Business News, Long Island Business, Longisland.com, Queens Bar Bulletin, and Nassau lawyer.

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