Lecturer Bios
Winnifred Noel-Charles, Esq.
Winnifred Charles, Esq. is a 2005 graduate of New York Law School and has more than 12 years of immigration law experience. Ms. Charles was a district adjudications officer with the New York City District Office of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Pery D. Krinsky, Esq.
Pery D. Krinsky is the principal of KRINSKY, PLLC, where he focuses his practice on ethics-based defense litigation. Before forming his own law firm, Mr. Krinsky was associated with the law firm of LaRossa & Ross, and then the Law Offices Of Michael S. Ross.
Mr. Krinsky’S ethics-based defense litigation practice focuses on:
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Federal & State Attorney Ethics Matters, including: representing attorneys and law firms under investigation by disciplinary authorities and other government agencies; providing guidance to lawyers concerning the day-to-day practice of law; representing disbarred and suspended attorneys seeking reinstatement; and assisting law school graduates in the admissions process.
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Federal & State Criminal Defense Matters, including: defending clients against law-enforcement actions such as claims of securities fraud, antitrust, investment advisory fraud, health care fraud, tax issues, money laundering, RICO, and narcotics trafficking, among others; helping conduct internal investigations; addressing compliance issues; and responding to regulatory inquiries.
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Art Law Ethics & Litigation Matters, including: allegations of business fraud; art-related disputes; fraudulent transactions; provenance and authenticity; fraudulent inducement to sell; and sales tax evasion.
Mr. Krinky is a frequent lecturer on topics involving ethics in litigation, personal and professional responsibility and academic integrity, including at: the N.Y. State Judicial Institute; the Appellate Divisions, First and Second Judicial Departments; the N.Y. State Bar Association; the N.Y. City Bar; the N.Y. County Lawyers’ Association; the N.Y. State Academy of Trial Lawyers; the N.Y. State Trial Lawyers Association; the Practicing Law Institute; the Bay Ridge Lawyers Association; the Queens County Bar Association; Sotheby’s Institute of Art; and law schools such as Brooklyn Law School, Columbia Law School and Fordham Law School.
Mr. Krinky serves as the Chair of the Ethics Committee of the Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Section of the N.Y. State Bar Association; and the Chair of the Committee on Professional Discipline of the N.Y. County Lawyers’ Association. Mr. Krinsky serves on the Board of Advisors of the N.Y. County Lawyers’ Association Institute of Legal Ethics; and is a Member of the Institute’s Task Force to advise on the “ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20.” Mr. Krinsky is also a Member of: the Brooklyn Bar Association; the N.Y. State Bar Association’s Committee on Attorney Professionalism; the N.Y. City Bar Association’s Professional Responsibility Committee; and the N.Y. County Lawyers’ Committee on Professional Ethics.
Lindsay A. Curcio, Esq.,
Lindsay A. Curcio has been practicing immigration law since 1990. She has had her own office in Brooklyn, New York since 2000, and handles all types of immigration law cases. Lindsay has been an adjunct professor at New York Law School since 2002. She teaches an immigration law survey course and co-teaches the advanced immigration law seminar with Professor Lenni Benson. She also supervises law students in externship placements at law firms, non profits and government agencies. Lindsay has been Co-Director of the Safe Passage Immigration Project with Professor Lenni Benson since 2007. With Lenni Benson and Veronica Jeffers, she is co-authoring Immigration and Nationality Law: Problems and Strategies, with publication by Lexis/Matthew Bender anticipated in 2011. She is an active member of the national and New York chapters of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and a Fellow at the Center for International Legal Studies in Austria. Lindsay has a bachelor's degree in Spanish from Northwestern University, a juris doctor degree from Chicago Kent College of Law and a master's degree in business administration from Fordham University. You may reach her at: lindsay@uneedavisa.com.
Jerard A. Gonzalez, Esq.
Jerard A. Gonzalez manages our Hackensack, New Jersey Office and is the partner responsible for the firm's immigration practice. Mr. Gonzalez has served as the Chair (2007-2009) and Vice Chair (2005-2007) of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association ("AILA"). He previously served on the AILA National Liaison Committee to the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (2009-2010). Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Gonzalez was partner with Meyner & Landis LLP, Newark & Hackensack, New Jersey where his practice concentrated exclusively in the areas of immigration and criminal law (2001-2009). Mr. Gonzalez is a former Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor (1993-1997) and a former Assistant District Counsel with the United States Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service in Newark, NJ (1998-2001). As Assistant District Counsel, Mr. Gonzalez handled asylum cases, criminal alien cases and complex cases of national security before the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the Federal District Court of New Jersey. Mr. Gonzalez also served as the Assistant Public Defender and Prosecutor for the Borough of Ridgefield, New Jersey.
Mr. Gonzalez' practice has a special emphasis on providing a defense in removal proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Federal Courts. In addition to handling criminal cases, Mr. Gonzalez has successfully consulted with other defense counsel in negotiating pleas in criminal court that would permit the respective foreign national client to legally remain in the United States. Mr. Gonzalez has successfully vacated convictions of foreign nationals who were not properly apprised of the immigration consequences of their guilty pleas. Mr. Gonzalez has lectured on the immigration consequences of criminal activities on behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Federal Bar Association, the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education ("ICLE"), the New Jersey Hispanic Bar Association and the Bergen County Bar Association.
In addition to criminal & removal defense, Mr. Gonzalez represents victims of crimes and domestic violence. He also handles employment- based immigration and employer sanction matters.
Mr. Gonzalez was voted a 2006 Rising Star and a Super Lawyer in the area of Immigration Law by New Jersey Monthly Magazine consecutively since 2009. In 2013, Mr. Gonzalez was also listed as a top lawyer in Bergen County in the area of Criminal Law in (201) Magazine.
Mr. Gonzalez is fluent in Spanish
David A. Lewis
David A. Lewis advises individual lawyers and law firms on all aspects of professional ethics and risk management. David serves as "go-to" outside ethics counsel for a diverse range of clients. He represents lawyers before disciplinary committees, legal malpractice cases, bar admission matters and counsels clients with respect to any and all aspects of the law governing lawyers.
Mr. Lewis' practice includes, but is not limited to, advising clients on:
- Attorney-client privilege and client confidentiality issues
- Bar disciplinary complaints
- Bar admissions and reinstatements
- Cross-border legal practice issues
- Disqualification and withdrawal motions
- Fee disputes
- Issues surrounding conflicts of interest
- Lateral movement by lawyers
- Law Firm Risk Management
- Legal advertising
- Litigation conduct
- Partnership agreements
- Sanctions and contempt proceedings
Professional Background
Mr. Lewis was formerly a partner and general counsel of a national, New York-based AmLaw 200 law firm. Before that, he was an attorney with an international, New York-based AmLaw 100 law firm and a member of its Office of the General Counsel.
Mr. Lewis has served as an adjunct professor of law, and has taught legal ethics and professional responsibility.
Professional Affiliations
- New York City Bar Association, Professional Responsibility Committee, Chair (2011–2014)
- New York State Bar Association, NYSBA Task Force on Nonlawyer Ownership, Vice-Chair
- New York State Bar Association, Committee on Standards of Attorney Conduct (COSAC), Member
- New York State Bar Association, Special Immigration Committee, Ethics Advisor
- New York County Lawyers’ Association, Ethics Institute's Board of Advisors, Founding Member