The Executive Board
Hon. Gia Morris
Chairperson
Hon. Gia Morris currently sits in Queens County Supreme Court, Criminal Term, as an Acting Supreme Court Justice. Judge Morris was appointed as an Interim Civil Court Judge in September 2011 and was subsequently appointed a Criminal Court Judge in January 2013. Judge Morris started her judicial career in Bronx Criminal Court, before being transferred to Queens County. She is a graduate of Ithaca College’s Roy H. Park School of Communication, and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Morris spent the majority of her career working for several City and State agencies tasked with investigating and prosecuting public corruption. Judge Morris was also an Assistant District Attorney in Kings County and worked in private practice handling commercial litigation matters. Judge Morris was admitted to practice law in New York State by the Appellate Division, First Department in 1996, and is also admitted to practice law in the State of New Jersey, as well as the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey.
Bradley Siegel
President
Mr. Siegel founded the Siegel Law Firm, P.C. 2007. The firm focuses on commercial litigation, real estate, and business transactions, and landlord-tenant issues. Mr. Siegel is a board member of the Jewish National Fund for Lawyers. Mr. Siegel serves on the Interfaith Nutrition Network (INN) Speaker’s Bureau. Mr. Siegel volunteers in the Superstars Basketball Program for special needs children. Mr. Siegel serves as chairperson to the Advisory Council and volunteers in the Volunteer Lawyers Project for Nassau Suffolk Law Services. Mr. Siegel received a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 1987 and a B.S. in Psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is admitted to practice in New York.
Hon. David J. Kirschner
1st Vice President
Hon. David J. Kirschner is a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court in Queens County, Criminal Term, and previously served as a Judge of the New York City Criminal Court in both Bronx and Queens Counties. Prior to the bench, Justice Kirschner was a Principal Law Clerk to two New York State Supreme Court Justices. Before that, he was a senior assistant district attorney in New York City, a criminal defense attorney, and frequently writes and speaks on issues of criminal law and procedure for the bench and bar on topics including search and seizure, electronic surveillance, and bail reform. Justice Kirschner is secretary of the Queens County Supreme Court Justices’ Association, an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law with the City University of New York at Queens College, and has served as director of the high school mock trial program at both the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Mesivta Ateres Yaakov. He is also president of the Jewish Community Baseball League of Queens and Long Island and an international director of the Alpha Epsilon Pi International Fraternity. Prior to his appointment, 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. David earned his Juris Doctor from Hofstra University (1989) and Bachelor of Science with Honors from Florida State University (1985).
Bernard Vishnick
Vice President
Mr. Vishnick is a Senior Partner of Vishnick McGovern Milizio LLP’s Litigation Practice. He has over 50 years of experience in various areas of litigation, with a specific concentration in Trusts and Estates. Mr. Vishnick is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Nassau County Bar Association, and the Queens County Bar Association. He is a former longtime member of the Grievance Committee for the Second Judicial Department. Mr. Vishnick graduated from New York University and received his LLB from New York Law School. He is admitted to practice law in the State of New York and the Federal Courts of the Southern and Eastern Districts, Tax Court, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Hon. Jeremy Weinstein
Vice President
Judge Weinstein has been a constant in the Queens Jewish community for well over 40 years. Judge Weinstein started his legal career in the New York attorney general’s office and was a member of the NY State Senate for 14 years before becoming a judge. Judge Weinstein quickly rose from a civil court judge to supervising judge, to supreme court justice and was the administrative judge in both criminal and civil terms. He retired from the bench in 2019 and currently works with National Arbitration and Mediation (NAM) as a neutral arbitrator.
Elizabeth Forspan
Vice President
Managing Attorney at Leading Elder Law and Estate Planning Firm Frequent Lecturer on Elder Law & Estate Planning Across the United States to Accountants, Private Wealth Professionals and Individuals Named Super Lawyers “Rising Star” for the Last Four Consecutive Years Worked at “Big Four” International Accounting Firm EDUCATION JD from Fordham University School of Law BA from Queens College of the City University of New York, Summa Cum Laude
Heidi Muckler
Treasurer
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.
Gregory Newman
Recording Secretary
Gregory J. Newman is a founding partner of Newman and Newman LLP located in Jamaica, New York. He has over 35 years of experience representing plaintiffs and defendants in the litigation of personal injury matters. He is a past President of the Queens County Bar Association and a member of the NYSBA. He received his BA from Brandeis University and his JD from Brooklyn Law School. He is admitted to the courts of the State of New York and the Eastern and Southern districts of New York.
Etam Hakimi
Corresponding Secretary
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.
Avrohom Gefen
Financial Secretary
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.
Hon. David Weprin
Sergeant at Arms
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.