1981-1983: Stock Market Analyst at Forstmann Leff Associates.

1983-1991: Senior Vice President and Chief Market Analyst at Prudential Bache Securities.
During his time at Prudential Bache Securities, Feshbach was featured in almost every major financial publication and was a regular guest on financial TV shows. He was one of most widely followed stock market analysts throughout the financial world, and year after year was voted one of Wall Streets top analysts by Institutional Investor magazine.

1991-1993: Executive Vice President of Shearson Lehman/American Express.

As at Prudential Bache, Feshbach was responsible for formulating stock market strategy for the firm, and traveled all over the world speaking on stock market strategy.

While at Shearson, Feshbach started his own hedge fund, Heatherhil Capital, and managed that into the late 1990s. Feshbach now manages his own funds, with a specialty in foreign currencies.

Feshbach is currently on the board of Jay Williams’ charity of choice, Rising Stars, which helps low income kids achieve academic goals and pave the way to college through basketball.

Joel Simon is a partner at the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.  Joel has more than 30 years of experience as a corporate lawyer handling complex transactions, with deep experience in all aspects of leveraged finance.  He also has represented clients in special situations investing, acquisitions and dispositions of businesses, joint ventures between financial investors and operators of businesses, corporate and financial restructurings, IPOs and general commercial advice. Joel has had wide industry exposure, including media and entertainment, technology, fintech, energy, real estate, building materials, hotels and hospitality, telecommunications, auto parts, aviation, commercial audio, retail, spirits, biotech, industrial machinery and financial services. Throughout his career, Joel has shown a commitment to pro bono work and diversity and has been actively involved with recruiting and mentoring young lawyers.

Joel has lived and worked in New York, London and Paris, giving him experience in a multiplicity of business and regulatory environments, as well as the sensitivity to bridge cultural differences among people of diverse backgrounds.

Joel obtained his law degree from the Cornell Law School in 1985 and a bachelor of science degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in 1982.

Joel’s interests include astronomy; classic film; listening and dancing to music (ranging from swing to 1980s new wave); reading classic novels, biographies of presidents and military history; and debating subjects with passion.  Joel lives in Redding, CT and is a former member of the Boards of Trustees of Ridgefield Academy and Marymount International School of Paris (both non-profit, independent schools).‎ He enjoys spending time with his wife, Beth, and his three daughters, Olivia, Josephine and Luisa, and their dogs, Oscar and Remi.

Hugo Barreca is Chief Financial Officer of National Standard and is a member of the Management Committee.  In additional to Mr. Barreca’s role as CFO, he is a leader in the company’s government policy practice.  In this capacity, Mr. Barreca works with our policy advisors to create and implement various types of economic, social and infrastructure policy plans for our government clients.

His experience includes senior positions in management, finance, and business law with both large public corporations as well as privately held companies. He holds an MBA from New York University, a Juris Doctor of law from the Fordham School of Law, and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from The City University of New York, where he is currently completing his Doctoral Degree in Political Science. Mr. Barreca also serves as director of several New York non-profit foundations. In that capacity he has contributed to the planning and development of urban infrastructure development, zoning law, project management and implementation of smart-city technologies.

Warren S. Bloom is Co-Chair of the National Public Finance Practice and began his legal career with Kaye Scholer in New York City in the mid-1980s specializing in the representation of lending institutions in leveraged buyouts and “going private” transactions. Upon his relocation to Florida in late 1988, Warren began to focus his practice on public finance and the representation of creditor entities in such transactions (e.g., indenture trustees, bondholders, bond purchasers and credit enhancers). Since that time, Warren represents municipal security credit holders in both new and existing distressed transactions in more than half of the United States.

Warren’s experience includes active roles in bankruptcies, foreclosures and consensual restructurings of municipal transactions both in Florida and throughout the nation. His practice continues to include a substantial amount of underwriters’ counsel, bond counsel, purchaser’s counsel and credit enhancers’ counsel roles on new transactions.

Amanda Halter is the Managing Partner of the Houston office of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, a global law firm. She is a national authority on environmental & natural resources law and policy, advising domestic and global industrial clients on complex U.S. regulatory and environmental liability matters and effective strategies for managing legal, financial, and reputational risks in the United States. Amanda frequently speaks or writes on emerging environmental and natural resource issues and developments, with topics varying from climate change to natural resource damages to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), among others. She has been featured in the media for her work by outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Law360, Dow Jones Institutional News and Texas Lawyer, to name a few, and was ranked as a “2024 Environmental Lawyer of the Year” in Best Lawyers.

A native and resident of Houston, Texas, she graduated from Rice University with dual degrees in Philosophy and Environmental Policy and a Juris Doctor from The University of Texas School of Law. She previously served on the board of the Alliance for Multicultural Community Services, a refugee resettlement agency, and currently sits on the board of directors for Erthos, Inc., a utility-scale solar technology company.

James Leitner serves as President of Falcon Management Corporation, a family office.

He earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Yale in Economics with an emphasis on Russia and Eastern Europe.  He also holds a Master’s Degree from Columbia University specializing in International Finance and Russian Studies and a JD from Fordham University Law School.

Jim is on the Yale President’s Council on International Activities and formerly served on the Yale Investment Committee and Yale Honorary Degree Committee.
He sits on the Dean’s Council of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, Columbia University Global Leadership Council, Princeton University’s Institute for International and Regional Studies Advisory Council, and the Dean’s Planning Council and the Crowley Advisory Committee at Fordham University Law School.

Board Member of The Marshall Project, nonprofit journalism about criminal justice.
Mission Statement:
The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan news outlet and public forum.  In all of our work we strive to educate and enlarge the audience of people who care about the state of criminal justice.

Board of Trustees Vice President of the Montclair Art Museum.

Chairman of the Montclair Film Festival Capital Campaign.

Board of Visitors of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University.

Established The Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School.
Mission Statement:
The Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School is an innovative Think-and-Do Tank that aims to make international human rights protections an everyday reality for marginalized communities around the world

Established The Leitner Program in International and Comparative Political Economy at Yale University.

In 2009, he received the Columbia University Alumni Medal for his distinguished service on behalf of SIPA.
In 2010 Fordham Law School honored him with the Eugene J. Keefe Award, which is given to the person who had made the most important contribution to the Fordham Law community.
In 2010, he received the Yale Medal which is the highest award presented by the Association of Yale Alumni, conferred solely to honor outstanding individual service to the University.  He is a fellow of Pierson College.

Attorney and entrepreneur, Shareef Malnik, is recognized as a top restaurateur and nightlife empresario, with over 30 years’ experience in the hospitality industry. The Forge, Malnik’s celebrated, award-winning steakhouse has been a part of the Miami Beach culture for over 50 years.

Malnik has spent the last decade in the finance world and is Chairman and Co-Managing Partner of Greyhawk Capital, a lending investment firm, CEO of Forge Legacy Investments, a financial consulting and investment firm, AIM Investment Corp, a hospitality investment firm, and CO-CEO of Sonrisa Rum, a new rum brand in development.

Malnik is Chairman Emeritus of Make-A-Wish Florida, Chairman of the MAW Ball for the last 17 years and Chairman of the MAW Capital Campaign. He considers himself blessed to co-emcee the Ball with his wife, Gabrielle Anwar, who has brought great success to the event in her own right. Under Malnik’s leadership, the Foundation has raised over $80 million. Malnik says, “Make-A-Wish is in my DNA and my top priority is to grant as many wishes to every eligible child as is possible.”

Accolades: Four Keys to the City of Miami Beach; Citizen of the Year; Honorary Police Officer; Hero Award; Police Athletic League Board Member 25 years; Community Police Relations (CPR) Foundation Board member and the Pikler Foundation’s Advisory Board for infant rearing.

Shareef has three degrees from the University of Miami, BBA, JD, MBA. He judges the law school’s annual “Law Without Walls Competition,” has lectured at the Herbert Business School and Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality.

Malnik is a Black-Belt in Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, an avid snow skier, and a fledgling golf student.Malnik resides in Coconut Grove, Florida with his wife, children, and assorted pets.

Jay Newman is an American novelist and a former hedge fund portfolio manager. His best-selling debut novel about dark money and global politics, Undermoney, was published by Scribner’s in 2022. Jay spent 40 years in international finance, including 20 years at Elliott Management. His primary focus was managing investments in defaulted sovereign debt, including the debt of Latin American, Eastern European, African, and Asian countries.  He is viewed as “the mastermind” behind a 15-year fight to recover billions of dollars in defaulted debt from the government of Argentina. The Financial Times dubbed settlement of that dispute as “one of the greatest hedge fund trades” in history. He now manages sovereign and private sector international enforcement projects, and writes frequently on sovereign debt and international fiinance for the Financial Times. Jay was born in New York City. He received his B.A. in Economics and History of Art from Yale University, and a J.D. from Columbia University.

Brett A. Paul has served as President of Warner Bros. Television since May 2019.

As WBTV’s top business executive, Brett is tasked with mapping its strategic direction in a multi-platform media landscape. He has direct day-to-day operational oversight of the division’s strategy and business development, original series licensing, talent dealmaking, and physical production, and he shares oversight of divisional legal and finance with Warner Bros. Discovery corporate.

WBTV is one of the entertainment industry’s most respected providers of original scripted programming, producing drama, comedy, and limited series, as well as original television movies for on-demand/streaming platforms, premium/pay and basic cable channels, and the five U.S. broadcast networks. As of December 2023, WBTV is producing nearly 40 live-action scripted series, with hundreds of additional projects in various stages of development.

Brett has personally led or been central to the Studio’s structure and negotiation of a number of high-profile writer/producer/pod agreements, including Chuck Lorre, Greg Berlanti, John Wells, Bill Lawrence, Mindy Kaling, Damon Lindelof (in each case from their original affiliation with the Studio), and many others. He has also overseen the Studio’s highest-profile talent agreements, including Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”), Kaley Cuoco (“The Flight Attendant”), and many more, as well as long-term renegotiation for the casts of “The Big Bang Theory,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Young Sheldon,” “Shameless,” “Smallville,” “Supernatural” and many others. This year, Brett is most proud of the Studio’s proactive, flexible, carefully managed approach to production, license, and talent relations issues posed by the months-long work stoppages.

Brett joined WBTV in 1995 as Vice President, Business Affairs. He has served the company in multiple capacities, including President of the Warner Horizon Scripted Television from May 2014 until its merger with WBTV in August 2020.

Before joining WBTV, Brett oversaw Business and Legal Affairs at All American Communications, and worked as a corporate legal associate at both Cahill Gordon and Reindel in New York City and Hill Wynne Troop & Meisinger in Southern California.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the following organizations: The Forum on Life, Culture & Society (www.folcs.org) since 2008, UCLA Health since 2019, and The Hollywood Radio & Television Society (since 2023).

Brett’s current hobbies include coaching his sons’ (Dean and Emmett) basketball team, taking long walks with his wife (Vanessa) and the family dog (Bodhi), pizza making, sipping reposado tequila, and rooting on his favorite sports teams. Tikkun Olam.

Veronica Relea is a partner in the New York office of the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.  Veronica has 20 years of experience representing sponsors, developers, private equity firms, and commercial and investment banks in connection with the development, construction, operation and financing of energy, oil and gas, and infrastructure projects, as well as leveraged finance transactions, asset-based facilities and cross-border financings in a wide range of industries.  Throughout her career, Veronica has demonstrated a deep commitment to diversity & inclusion and to pro bono work.  Veronica obtained her law degree from Harvard Law School and her BA in Economics (with a double major in International Studies) from Yale University.

A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Veronica went off to college in the States at age 17, and New York City has been her home since 2004.  Fluent in Spanish, and proficient in French and Portuguese, Veronica has experienced brief stints of ex-pat life in Paris, Grenoble, Lisbon and Barcelona.  She enjoys (and is a practitioner of) sound meditation, breathwork, yoga, and the exploration of expanded states of consciousness.  Other interests include cooking, music (singing, dancing, listening, as well as playing Tibetan signing bowls and other overtone-emitting instruments), theater, art, psychedelics and their potential role in facilitating inner healing, the human subconscious, non-fiction, and her Puerto Rican feline rescue Jordi (she’s a cutie). Veronica also serves as Board Chair of The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural & Educational Center, a non-profit arts organization located in the Lower East Side.

A serial entrepreneur, Richard has a diverse business background on both Main Street and Wall Street founding, growing, and financing companies in a variety of industries.

In 1980, he was granted the official license to manufacture printed Tyvek apparel for Major League Baseball, The US Open, The USMC and many other clients. After graduating from The George Washington University, Richard founded Slang Video Distributors, opening over 100 video rental outlets throughout the US. In 1989, he brought Buffalo Wings into the mainstream when he founded Wow Wings® which grew from one restaurant location in NYC to 35 units nationally as well as 1,500 licensed distributorships eventually licensing the brand to Pilgrim’s Pride Corp (NYSE: PPC).

In 1999, Richard founded DataBites, Inc., an inventive computer software company that won various industry awards including “Best of Show” at Internet World 2000®. After selling DataBites, Inc. to divine, Inc. (NASDAQ: DVIN) in May 2001, he joined the company’s Mergers and Acquisitions group as Executive Vice President. During his tenure at divine, Inc. the M&A team acquired over 30 separate companies in under 3 years.

Post divine, Richard co-founded two activist investment advisory firms which generated ideas and strategies in the micro and small cap space for large hedge fund clients. In 2008, he and Macquarie Capital of Australia formed a joint venture where he led an activist investment fund under the banner Arcadia Capital Advisors, LLC.

In 2012, Richard founded SeaMax America, LLC a Light Sport Amphibian seaplane company and in 2015 co-founded Arcadia Chemical & Preservative which was recently sold in 2023. Alongside his ventures, Richard discovered mosaic artist Kevin Champeny who he currently works with helping to manage and grow his career.

Outside of business, Richard has sat on the boards of several companies and non-profits, was finance chair for a congressional campaign and raises funds for a variety of political candidates. He is currently on the advisory board at PragerU and supports FOLCS, Commentary Magazine, The Clarion Project and FDD.org. A licensed pilot and avid boater, Richard lives with his wife in FL and NY.

Thane is a novelist, essayist, and Distinguished Professor at Touro College where he directs the Forum on Life, Culture & Society (“FOLCS”). He is the author of the widely praised novels, How Sweet It Is! , The Stranger Within Sarah Stein, The Golems of Gotham, Second Hand Smoke, and the novel-in-stories, Elijah Visible. His articles, reviews and essays appear frequently in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Slate, Salon, Huffington Post, and Daily Beast, among other national publications. He moderates an annual series of discussions on politics and culture at the 92nd Street Y called The Talk Show.

He serves as the national legal analyst for CBS News Radio. He is the author of Payback: The Case for Revenge and The Myth of Moral Justice: Why Our Legal System Fails to Do What’s Right. He is the editor of the anthology, Law Lit, from Atticus Finch to “The Practice” : A Collection of Great Writings about the Law. His latest book is entitled Saving Free Speech…from Itself.

Diane Sapir was an associate at the law firm of Finley Kumble (and its successors) from 1986-1993 practicing in the areas of securities, general corporate matters and mergers and acquisitions. In 1993 she joined the General Counsel’s office of The Wyatt Company and stayed there until 2000 when her first child turned 2 1/2.

Since then she has been a stay at home mom. She and her husband Michael have two children, one about to graduate college and one in middle school. She and her husband support many charitable causes, including the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Hirshhorn Art Museum and Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC.

John Thomas is a Partner at Hicks Thomas LLP. Thomas’ many professional honors include his recognition among the state’s top business litigation attorneys by the publishers of Texas Super Lawyersand as one of the nation’s leading environmental litigation attorneys by the respected Chambers USA guide. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Western Michigan University and a Juris Doctor from University of Michigan Law School.

Thomas earned a Judicial Clerkship with Honorable Edith H. Jones, Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and has been recognized for the following:

• Texas Super Lawyers – Business Litigation – 2003-present
• Chambers USA Leading Lawyers for Business – Environmental Litigation
• Inside Houston Magazine – Best Environmental Lawyer