President
Louise Lingat
Office of Court Administration (OCA)
Louise M. Lingat is a Senior Court Attorney with the Office of Court Administration (OCA). She is currently Court Attorney to the Honorable Adetokunbo O. Fasanya in Queens County Family Court.
Prior to being a court attorney, Louise previously worked for the child protective agency of New York City, known as Administration for Children’s Service/NYC Children’s Services (ACS) as an agency attorney handling child abuse and neglect cases.
Louise obtained her J.D. from Maurice A. Deane School of Law, Hofstra University and obtained her B.A. in Political Science and Theology from Fordham University.
President Elect
Kristine Itliong
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP
Kristine Itliong is a litigation associate at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP and has been a member of FALANY since 2019. Kristine maintains an active pro bono practice, with an emphasis on housing justice and equity in education.
Kristine graduated cum laude from Fordham University School of Law, where she was a board member of the Dispute Resolution Society, a member of Moot Court, and a research fellow and student advisory board member of the Urban Law Center. She was a national semi-finalist in the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition in 2018. Kristine also was a judicial intern for the Honorable Paul G. Gardephe, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Upon graduating, she received the National Association of Women Lawyers Award. Before law school, Kristine was a financial management consultant at KPMG LLP and earned her B.S. in Finance and Economics from New York University.
Kristine is currently a member of Fordham Law’s Women’s Leadership Institute Committee.
Immediate Past President
Johan E. Tatoy
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Johan is an Associate in the Litigation Department at Paul, Weiss, and has litigated a wide variety of complex civil and criminal matters in both federal and state courts, including matters involving allegations of securities fraud, environmental damage, and price fixing, in all stages of litigation.
Johan also maintains an active pro bono practice, representing clients in asylum applications, housing actions, and challenges to criminal convictions. Through his pro bono practice, Johan has assisted in drafting amicus briefs and petitions for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court and state supreme courts, including an amicus brief in support of affirmative action in United States v. Fisher, and in opposition to the addition of a citizenship question in Dep’t of Commerce v. New York.
Johan served as a law clerk to the Hon. Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the Northern District of California. He obtained his B.A. in Classical Studies and History, summa cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010, and his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2013. While at Columbia, he served as a managing director for the Columbia Human Rights Law Review.
Currently, Johan also serves as a co-chair for the Minorities in the Profession Committee of the NYC Bar Association.
Recording Secretary
Caitlin C. Ramiro
Brown Rudnick
Caitlin Ramiro is an associate in the Firm’s Brand & Reputation Management group. She was previously a summer associate with the Firm.
Prior to joining Brown Rudnick, Caitlin served as a judicial intern to the Hon. Denny Chin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
While at Fordham Law, Caitlin was a criminal defense clinic legal intern with the Lincoln Center Legal Services. She also held different leadership positions, including vice president of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, captain for the National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition, and associate editor of the Fordham Urban Law Journal.
Membership Secretary
Kirsten Tamayo
Kings County District Attorney’s Office
Kirsten J. Tamayo is currently an Assistant District Attorney at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office and was formerly an Assistant Corporation Counsel at the New York City Law Department’s Family Court Division. She attended the City University of New York School of Law and Manhattanville College. She currently resides in the Bronx with her partner, two birds, and a rabbit.
Communications Secretary
Nicole Gaviola
Flicker, Garelick & Associates LLP
Nicole is an associate at Flicker, Garelick & Associates LLP where she focuses on Defense Base Act, War Hazards Compensation Act, and Workers Compensation claims. Nicole previously worked as an Assistant District Attorney at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office where she prosecuted a variety of misdemeanor and felony cases.
Nicole received an LL.B (Hons) from The University of Edinburgh and a J.D. from Emory University School of Law.
Nicole is fluent in Tagalog and Kapampangan and conversational in Cebuano.
Treasurer
Jenna Agatep
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
Jenna is an associate with the Labor and Employment team at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP and has been a member of FALANY since 2020. Jenna has experience on both the management and worker sides of the industry, as well as non-profit entity formation.
Jenna received her law degree in 2021 from Northeastern University School of Law, where she was an editor of the Northeastern University Law Review and member of the Community Business Clinic. Jenna was also a judicial intern for the Honorable Denise J. Casper, U.S. District Judge for the District of Massachusetts. During law school she received Northeastern’s Denise Carty-Bennia Memorial Award, the Asian American Law Fund of New York’s Public Interest Scholarship, and FALANY’s Robin Mangaser Tizon Memorial Scholarship for her volunteer work with the Asian community. Ms. Agatep received her master’s in Fashion Law (with an emphasis on workers rights) from Fordham University School of Law in 2017 and graduated cum laude from Marist College in 2014.
Catherine “Cat” Gumarin
Law School Liaison
Cat, a recent New York Law School graduate, currently awaits the July 2023 Bar Exam results. Her experience includes legal internships at Tribeca, NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, and California Lawyers for the Arts. Cat also served as an Intellectual Property Student Associate at Miller Korzenik Sommers Rayman LLP and as a Legal Manager for the Asian American International Film Festival.
At New York Law School, Cat held leadership roles including Founding President of the Intellectual Property Law Society, Co-President of the Media, Entertainment, and Fashion Law Association, and President of the Asian American Law Students Association. She also contributed as a Teaching Assistant in Contracts Drafting, Entertainment Law, Intellectual Property, and Licensing and Drafting.
Before her legal studies, Cat worked as a Disney Cast Member in Beijing, China.
Director
Barbara Hayes
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP
Barbara Hayes is an associate in the Real Estate Practice Group, where she assists clients in all phases of acquisition, disposition, development and financing transactions.
Barbara also assists clients in a broad range of real estate matters, including acquisitions, dispositions, sales agreements, joint ventures and other commercial transactions.
Barabara received her B.A. in Communications, cum laude from Boston College and her J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law.
Director
Ariel Risinger
Vroom
Ariel has served on the FALA NY board since 2017 in various capacities. Ariel loves contracts and is a commercial lawyer at Vroom, where she leads the commercial and tech transactions legal operation. Ariel is also a nationally-ranked competitive powerlifter, holding numerous NJ State records. She is also the proud mother of two adopted cats, Baby T and Nat the Cat.
Ariel earned her B.A. in Art History in 2003 from Smith College and her J.D. in 2015 from Seton Hall University School of Law. During her last semester of law school, Ariel clerked at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxemburg for Judge Borg Barthet (ret.) of Malta. Prior to law school, Ariel was a litigation paralegal for eight years.
Director
Lizl Leonardo
Armstrong Teasdale LLP
Lizl Leonardo is a skilled corporate and real estate attorney. She has represented domestic and international clients on numerous legal matters involving mergers and acquisitions, commercial real estate transactions, franchise matters and other general corporate transactions.
Particularly, Lizl has advised, negotiated for and drafted documents for clients in various industries on matters involving sales and acquisitions, regulatory compliance, licensing and distribution, privacy, trademark protection and overall strategic decisions. She has also led and conducted multiple, large-scale due diligence projects and extensive research on organizations in the context of clients’ transactions.
Her background as a financial analyst for a large national insurance broker lends to her understanding of complex transactions and financial forecasting, ultimately benefiting her clients as they pursue development and strategic growth opportunities.
Prior to joining Armstrong Teasdale, Lizl was an associate attorney at another Philadelphia-area law firm. She has past experience as a law clerk and attorney, handling corporate, real estate and franchise matters for another international law firm. She spent seven years as a financial analyst and consultant for a large national insurance company, and four of those years while simultaneously attending the law school’s evening program. While in law school, Lizl held summer apprentice roles at law firms in Manila, Philippines, and spent other summer and winter breaks in Madrid, Spain, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, learning about doing international business in Asia, Europe and South America.
Lizl received her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and her B.S.C. from De La Salle University.
Director
Jonathan Lim
United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Jonathan Lim is currently an Assistant Chief Counsel for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at its Newark, NJ Field Office. Jonathan joined DHS in 2022 after working at the Wolper Law Group. He also managed his own small firm in New York City and served as a Law and Policy Analyst for the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security. He is also a Certified Internet Privacy Professional (CIPP).
Jonathan spent ten years in the United States Army as a Combat Medic, where he deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, among other missions. When not practicing law, he is an active member of several Veteran-centered non-profit organizations, such as the Armed Services Arts Partnership and Team Rubicon. He has been a member of FALA New York for 3 years, and this is his first year serving as a Director.
Jonathan received his B.A. from Rutgers University, and his J.D. from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, magna cum laude. As a law student, Jonathan received a Certificate of Specialized Legal Studies in Cybersecurity and Crisis Management Law, served as a fellow for the Committee on Veterans Affairs of the United States House of Representatives, and was an intern for the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong.
Jonathan is admitted to practice law in New Jersey and New York. He also speaks Tagalog and Mandarin Chinese.