Flaster Greenberg's Women's Initiative: Flaster Greenberg

Women's INITIATIVES at flaster greenberg

Flaster Greenberg’s Women’s Initiative is a forum with the mission of promoting our women attorneys to the highest levels of business development, professional growth, and personal satisfaction.

The consensus was that the best way to achieve this was to increase active participation in the Initiative and use it to provide opportunities for our women attorneys to make the most of our resources in developing career goals.

Exchange ideas
Foster internal relationships
Expand business contacts
Build leadership and rainmaking skills
Develop, expand, and manage client relationships
Train and mentor our young women attorneys in the courtroom and in the boardroom
Bring to light the obstacles that women in the legal industry face and offer practical advice and work on solutions
Identify ways to harmonize the demands of law practice and full-time lives

To help our women attorneys achieve this important balance among all of life’s varied demands, the Initiative provides a place to raise the issues they face, develop solutions, provide support, and strengthen their ability to achieve career success. They work together to overcome statistics for women in the law and provide a support network to help each other so that they can remove the glass ceiling, and no one has to break it for them.

Women’s Advisory Group

Our women attorneys take pride in their exceptional service, outstanding results, and supporting women in business, therefore they expanded the initiative to include the firm's first-ever Women's Advisory Group.

The Women's Advisory Group's mission is to provide a trusted circle of advisors to collaborate with female entrepreneurs in a way that is unique to women. Combining the personal experiences and legal acumen, this group is poised to provide strategic assistance to women business owners and C-Suite female executives with the myriad of legal issues they face. Simply put, they provide practical legal advice from women, for women. Learn more.

Meet Our Women Attorneys

We wanted to acknowledge some of the amazing women here at FG. The value they bring to the firm, our clients and the community is remarkable, and we are proud to have them on our team!

Meet Yoninah Orenstein, Family Law Shareholder

Question: What inspired you to become an attorney?

Answer: My grandmother, Chaike Belchatowska Spiegel, was my inspiration for pursuing a career in law. She not only devoted her life to the ideal of social justice, she risked her life for it. Following the first mass deportations from the Warsaw ghetto in the summer of 1942, she helped circulate a Yiddish-language paper warning Jews that their real destination was Treblinka and that the Nazis were lying when they encouraged volunteers by promising more food and greater freedom. In November of that year, she herself was on a train bound for Treblinka but managed to escape. Back in the ghetto, she joined the Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB), and was one of about 750 members of the Jewish underground resistance who rose up against the heavily armed and well-trained German troops ordered to liquidate the Warsaw ghetto in April 1943. In the postwar world, as she settled into a new life in Canada, she continued to fight for a better and just world for all, and her devotion to family above anything might very well have led me to my particular field – family law.

Meet Mariel Giletto, Corporate Law Shareholder

Question: What inspired you to become an attorney?

Answer:

My family jokes about two-year old me running around saying that I wanted to be a lawyer when I grow up. It probably was not as young as two years old, but from a very young age, I wanted financial security and I understood that a career as an attorney provided a comfortable living. I think my desire for financial security stems from my innate drive to be independent (I was born on the 4^th of July). I knew that I did not want to depend on anyone else for financial support.

Financial security empowers women to make smart choices about their life paths, including their careers and their personal relationships. So often, money is the driver of these decisions because women cannot leave a job because they need the income, or they make relationship choices because their significant other provides for their lifestyle, or they choose not to have children because they cannot afford it. I knew that I did not want money to influence my life choices as I wanted to be able to make choices based on my desires. As I age, I understand that you cannot completely leave money out of the decision-making process; however, it helps that it is not the only factor that is considered.

I also come from a long line of female entrepreneurs and grew up in a family-owned business. It’s no surprise that their hard work and determination inspired me to be a passionate corporate attorney and trusted advisor to my clients, especially to female entrepreneurs.

Meet Meghan C. Moore, Insurance Recovery Law Shareholder

Question: Can you tell us about a woman that has inspired you?

Answer: As a girl growing up in Montana, I was inspired by Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to the United States Congress. She served as a U.S. Representative from Montana beginning in 1916, four years before the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote. She was poised and fearless. She introduced her first bill, the Susan B. Anthony amendment to guarantee and protect women’s suffrage in the Constitution, on her first day in office. Women won the right to vote nationally four years later. While I do not agree with every position she advocated, I admire her determination and commitment to making a difference in the world around her. Jeannette Rankin was a trailblazer and activist, not only for women’s rights, but also for improving working conditions for laborers and health care for women and infants.

Meet Nicole A. Josephy, Insurance Recovery Law Attorney

Question: What advice would you give to the next generation of female attorneys?

Answer: The next generation of female attorneys needs to know that they don't have to show interest in generally male-dominated activities such as golf or fantasy football leagues to connect and build professional relationships with their male colleagues (unless they want to). It is definitely possible to make valuable professional connections through interests other than sports like a love for golden retrievers, Netflix crime documentaries, food, or traveling. My advice is to stay true to your interests and find common ground with male colleagues and other professionals by being authentic. I assure you that being yourself will make you a more confident attorney, facilitate authentic and lasting business relationships, and ultimately be one of the keys to your success.

Meet Jennifer Johnson, Real Estate & Land Use Shareholder

Question: Can you tell us about a woman that has inspired you?

Answer: My husband’s grandmother, Ruth MacDonald, inspires me. “Granny” lost her husband tragically in the early 1950s when she had two small children. She was a registered nurse and returned to nursing during the overnight shift so she could take care of her family during the day. Her dedication and ability to persevere inspires me. I often wonder when she slept! And you know what? She never complained and was always smiling. Granny passed away in 2015 at the age of 102. I think about her all the time. But she is especially on my mind when I am stressed or feel like I have too much on my plate. Thinking about her long life, dedication to her family, and her hard work grounds me. I quickly realize how lucky I am to have my family and colleagues for support. If Granny could be a 24-hour caregiver, I can certainly juggle my professional and personal life with the same patience, grace, and determination as she did. She inspires me to keep going for my family and my clients!

Meet Jennifer Katz, Insurance Recovery Law Counsel

Question: What inspired you to become an attorney?

Answer: Watching my mom thrive in law school and then shine as a lawyer while raising four kids inspired me to become an attorney. My mom showed me that anything is possible for a woman – at any age – and mother. She was in her forties with four tween/teenagers when she embarked on a career in the law. I remember the intense study sessions for law school exams and the bar exams. I even remember when she won the moot court competition and brought home a load of law books as her prize! She continued to shine as a practicing attorney, making partner in the labor and employment department of a prestigious New Jersey law firm. She loved the intellectual stimulation from the law. I have big shoes to fill, but she inspires me every day to thrive as a lawyer and be a fierce advocate for my clients. Becoming a lawyer was not the first career for me. Seeing my mom do it gave me the courage to do it too. It was the right decision.