The Commission staff operates out of offices in New York City, Albany and Rochester. Click on Office Locations for contact information.
Although the Commission is authorized for 55 full-time employees, the Administrator has capped the number at 49, in view of the financial constraints on all of state government. In addition, under the terms of a retirement incentive made available to state employees in 2010, one of the 55 positions was permanently ceded upon the retirement of a long-time employee.
ADMINISTRATOR'S OFFICE
Robert H. Tembeckjian, Administrator & Counsel
Edward Lindner, Deputy Administrator for Litigation*
Karen Kozac, Chief Administrative Officer
Mary C. Farrington, Administrative Counsel
Shouchu (Sue) Luo, Finance/Personnel Officer
Beth Moszkowicz, Public Information Officer
Richard Keating, Principal LAN Administrator
Latasha Johnson, Executive Secretary to Administrator
Wanita Swinton-Gonzalez, Senior Administrative Assistant
Amy Carpinello, Senior Administrative Assistant
Laura Vega, Assistant Administrative Officer
Magenta Ranero, Administrative Assistant
Miguel Maisonet, Senior Clerk
Stacy Warner, Receptionist
♦ ♦ ♦
CLERK OF THE COMMISSION
Jean M. Savanyu*
♦ ♦ ♦
NEW YORK CITY OFFICE
Mark Levine, Deputy Administrator in Charge
Pamela Tishman, Principal Attorney
Roger J. Schwarz, Senior Attorney
Brenda Correa, Senior Attorney
Kelvin Davis, Staff Attorney
Alan W. Friedberg, Special Counsel (Part-Time)
Ethan Beckett, Investigator
Frank DeBiase, Investigator
Joanna Kliger, Investigator
Lee R. Kiklier, Senior Administrative Assistant
Laura Archilla-Soto, Assistant Administrative Officer
Kimberly Figueroa, Secretary
Daphny Lazarus, Secretary
♦ ♦ ♦
ALBANY OFFICE
Cathleen S. Cenci, Deputy Administrator in Charge
Jill S. Polk, Senior Attorney
Thea Hoeth, Senior Attorney
S. Peter Pedrotty, Staff Attorney
Donald R. Payette, Senior Investigator
David Herr, Senior Investigator
Ryan T. Fitzpatrick, Investigator (On Military Leave)
Lisa Gray Savaria, Assistant Administrative Officer
Linda Dumas, Assistant Administrative Officer
Letitia Walsh, Administrative Assistant
Emily Taaffe, Secretary
♦ ♦ ♦
ROCHESTER OFFICE
John J. Postel, Deputy Administrator in Charge
M. Kathleen Martin, Senior Attorney
David M. Duguay, Senior Attorney
Stephanie A. Fix, Staff Attorney
Rebecca Roberts, Senior Investigator
Betsy Sampson, Investigator
Vanessa Mangan, Investigator
Linda Pascarella, Senior Administrative Assistant
Terry Scipioni, Secretary
Kathryn Gaudioso, Secretary
Michael O'Neill, Intern
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Administrator's principal office is in New York City.
Mr. Lindner is based in Albany.
Ms. Savanyu is based in New York City.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIOGRAPHIES OF COMMISSION ATTORNEYS
Robert H. Tembeckjian, Administrator and Counsel, is a graduate of Syracuse University, the Fordham University School of Law and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where he earned a Masters in Public Administration. He was a Fulbright Scholar to Armenia in 1994, teaching graduate courses and lecturing on constitutional law and ethics at the American University of Armenia and Yerevan State University. Mr. Tembeckjian served on the Advisory Committee to the American Bar Association Commission to Evaluate the Model Code of Judicial Conduct from 2003-07. He is on the Board of Directors of the Association of Judicial Disciplinary Counsel and previously served as a Trustee of the Westwood Mutual Funds and the United Nations International School, and on the Board of Directors of the Civic Education Project. Mr. Tembeckjian has served on various ethics and professional responsibility committees of the New York State and New York City Bar Associations, and he has published numerous articles in legal periodicals on judicial ethics and discipline. He was a member of the editorial board of the Justice System Journal, a publication of the National Center for State Courts, from 2007-10.
Cathleen S. Cenci, Deputy Administrator in Charge of the Commission's Albany office, is a graduate of Potsdam College (summa cum laude) and the Albany Law School of Union University. In 1979, she completed the course superior at the Institute of Touraine in Tours, France. Ms. Cenci joined the Commission staff in 1985. She has been a judge of the Albany Law School moot court competitions and a member of Albany County Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
John J. Postel, Deputy Administrator in Charge of the Commission's Rochester office, is a graduate of the University of Albany and the Albany Law School of Union University. He joined the Commission staff in 1980. Mr. Postel is a past president of the Governing Council of St. Thomas More R.C. Parish. He is a former officer of the Pittsford-Mendon Ponds Association and a former President of the Stonybrook Association. He served as the advisor to the Sutherland High School Mock Trial Team for eight years. He is the Vice President and a past Treasurer of the Pittsford Golden Lions Football Club, Inc. He is an assistant director and coach for Pittsford Community Lacrosse. He is an active member of the Pittsford Mustangs Soccer Club, Inc.
Edward Lindner, Deputy Administrator for Litigation, is a graduate of the University of Arizona and Cornell Law School, where he was a member of the Board of Editors of the Cornell International Law Journal. Prior to joining the Commission’s staff, he was an Assistant Solicitor General in the Division of Appeals & Opinions for the New York State Attorney General. He has been a Board Member and volunteer for various community organizations, including Catholic Charities, The Children’s Museum at Saratoga, the Saratoga Springs Public Library and the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation.
Mark Levine, Deputy Administrator in Charge of the Commission's New York office, is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo and Brooklyn Law School. He previously served as Principal Law Clerk to Acting Supreme Court Justice Jill Konviser and Supreme Court Justice Phylis Skloot Bamberger, as an Assistant Attorney General in New York, as an Assistant District Attorney in Queens, and as law clerk to United States District Court Judge Jacob Mishler. Mr. Levine also practiced law with the law firms of Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
Mary C. Farrington, Administrative Counsel, is a graduate of Barnard College and Rutgers Law School. She previously served as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, most recently as Supervising Appellate Counsel since 1993. She has also served as Law Clerk to United States District Court Judge Miriam Goldman Cederbaum, and as an associate in private practice with the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in Manhattan.
Pamela Tishman, Principal Attorney, is a graduate of Northwestern University and New York University School of Law. She previously served as Senior Investigative Attorney in the Office of the Inspector General at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Ms. Tishman also served as an Assistant District Attorney in New York County, in both the Appeals and Trial Bureaus, where she prosecuted felonies and misdemeanors.
M. Kathleen Martin, Senior Attorney, is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and Cornell Law School (cum laude). Prior to joining the Commission's staff, she was an attorney at the Eastman Kodak Company, where among other things she held positions as Legal Counsel to the Health Group, Director of Intellectual Property Transactions and Director of Corporate Management Strategy Deployment. She also served as Vice President and Senior Associate Counsel at Chase Manhattan Bank, and in private practice with the firm of Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle.
Roger J. Schwarz, Senior Attorney, is a graduate of Clark University (Phi Beta Kappa) and the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School (honors), where he served as editor of the Law and Society Review and received the Erie County Trial Lawyers' award for best performance in the law school's trial practice course. For 23 years, Mr. Schwarz practiced law in his own firm in Manhattan, with an emphasis on criminal law and criminal appeals, principally in the federal courts. Mr. Schwarz has also served as an associate attorney for the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society in New York City, clerked for Supreme Court Justice David Levy (Bronx County) and was a member of the Commission's staff from 1975-77.
Jill S. Polk, Senior Attorney, is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo and the Albany Law School. Prior to joining the Commission staff, she was Senior Assistant Public Defender in Schenectady County. Ms. Polk has also been in private practice, served as Senior Court Attorney to two judges, and was an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York.
David M. Duguay, Senior Attorney, is a graduate of the State University College at Buffalo (summa cum laude) and the University at Buffalo Law School. Prior to joining the Commission's staff, he was Special Assistant Public Defender and Town Court Supervisor in the Monroe County Public Defender's Office. He served previously as a staff attorney with Legal Services, Inc., of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
Thea Hoeth, Senior Attorney, is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and Albany Law School. After practicing law with Adams & Hoeth in Albany, she served in public sector posts including Executive Director of the New York State Ethics Commission, Special Advisor to the Governor for Management and Productivity, Deputy Director of State Operations, and Executive Director of the New York State Office of Business Permits and Regulatory Assistance. She has lectured and written on public sector ethics and taught legal ethics at The Sage Colleges. She is a former member of the Advisory Committee of Albany Law School’s Government Law Center and has extensive not-for-profit management experience.
Brenda Correa, Senior Attorney, is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Pace University School of Law in New York (cum laude). Prior to joining the Commission staff, she served as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan and was in private practice in New York and New Jersey focusing on professional liability and toxic torts respectively. She is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association.
Stephanie A. Fix, Staff Attorney, is a graduate of the State University of New York at Brockport and Quinnipiac College School of Law in Connecticut. Prior to joining the Commission staff she was in private practice focusing on civil litigation and professional liability in Manhattan and Rochester. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Monroe County Bar Association Board of Trustees, and the Bishop Kearney High School Board of Trustees. Ms. Fix received the President’s Award for Professionalism from the Monroe County Bar Association in 2004 for her participation with the ABA “Dialogue on Freedom” initiative. She is a member of the New York State Bar Association and Greater Rochester Association of Women Attorneys (GRAWA). Ms. Fix is an adjunct professor at St. John Fisher College.
Kelvin S. Davis, Staff Attorney, is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Virginia Law School. Prior to joining the Commission staff, he served as an Assistant Staff Judge Advocate in the United States Air Force and as Judicial Law Clerk to a Superior Court Judge in New Jersey.
S. Peter Pedrotty, Staff Attorney, is a graduate of St. Michael's College (cum laude) and the Albany Law School of Union University (magna cum laude). Prior to joining the Commission staff, he served as an Appellate Court Attorney at the Appellate Division, Third Department, and was engaged in the private practice of law in Saratoga County and with the law firm of Clifford Chance US LLP in Manhattan.
* * *
Alan W. Friedberg, Special Counsel, is a graduate of Brooklyn College, the Brooklyn Law School and the New York University Law School, where he earned an LL.M. in Criminal Justice. He previously served as Chief Counsel to the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the Appellate Division, First Department, as Deputy Administrator in Charge of the Commission's New York City Office, as a Senior Attorney at the Commission, as a staff attorney in the Law Office of the New York City Board of Education, as an adjunct professor of business law at Brooklyn College, and as a junior high school teacher in the New York City public school system.
* * *
Karen Kozac, Chief Administrative Officer, is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Brooklyn Law School. Prior to re-joining the Commission staff in June 2007, she was an administrator in the nonprofit sector. She previously served as a Staff Attorney at the Commission, as an Assistant District Attorney in New York County, and in private practice as a litigator.
* * *
Beth Moszkowicz, Public Information Officer, is a graduate of Brandeis University, the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University and the Syracuse University Law School. Prior to joining the Commission staff in April 2008, she was a reporter for the New York Law Journal, the Journal News (Westchester) and the Observer-Dispatch (Utica).
* * *
Jean M. Savanyu, Clerk of the Commission, is a graduate of Smith College and the Fordham University School of Law (cum laude). She joined the Commission’s staff in 1977 and served as Senior Attorney until being appointed Clerk of the Commission in 2000. Ms. Savanyu teaches in the legal studies program at Hunter College and previously taught legal research and writing at Marymount Manhattan College. Prior to joining the Commission staff, she was a travel writer and editor.
* * *
RECENT STAFF
Jean Joyce served as a Senior Attorney in the Commission's Manhattan office from September 2006 to September 2011. She graduated cum laude from New York Law School, where she was Executive Notes and Comments Editor of the Law Review, and received a B.A. in Russian Studies from Hamilton College. She was previously the Senior Principal Law Clerk to Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye of the New York State Court of Appeals, and served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx County District Attorney's Office. She also served as a Law Assistant to the Honorable Robert P. Patterson, Jr., Chair of the Attorney Grievance Committee for the United States District Court, Southern District of New York. Ms. Joyce is currently a member of the New York City Bar Association's Professional Responsibility Committee and from 2003-2006 was a member of the Association's Criminal Advocacy Committee. She is also a member of the Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York, the Association of Judicial Disciplinary Counsel and the Brooklyn Bar Association. Ms. Joyce has been a CLE panelist on criminal procedure and capital punishment issues and is the author of Francis Miles Finch, in The Judges of the Court of Appeals: A Biographical History, edited by the Honorable Albert M. Rosenblatt.