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“The Very Best”



Groat and Alpern winners named for 2010



Three ILR graduates will receive ILR's top awards in April.

Laurie Berke-Weiss '71 and Seth Harris '83 will both receive the Judge William Groat Award.   Seth "Yossi" Siegel '74, '78 will receive the Alpern Award. The awards will be made April 20 at The Pierre in New York City.

"Please join me in congratulating Laurie, Seth and Yossi.  They typify the very best of what ILR stands for," said Harry Katz, Kenneth F. Kahn Dean and Jack Sheinkman Professor.

The recipients were chosen on the basis of their contributions to ILR and Cornell and their  professional successes.

Berke-Weiss represents businesses, partnerships, not-for-profit corporations and individuals in connection with commercial disputes and transactions, employment issues and personal concerns.

She appears before federal and state courts and government agencies on litigated matters including breach of contract claims, non-competition agreements, partnership disputes, sexual harassment and other complaints of employment discrimination.

Since graduating from the Fordham University School of Law, Berke-Weiss has been a New York City assistant corporation counsel, a litigator at two Manhattan law firms and a sole practitioner. She serves as a mediator for the Commercial Division of the New York State Supreme Court, New York County, and is a law guardian in custody disputes. She frequently speaks and writes on employment discrimination, law practice management and ethics.

A past president of the ILR Alumni Association, Berke-Weiss is a member of the Cornell University Council and the President's Council of Cornell Women.

Harris is undersecretary of labor, the second highest position in the U.S. Department of Labor.  During the Clinton administration, his policy-advising positions including counselor to the secretary of labor and acting assistant secretary of labor for policy.

Harris, who has served as an ex officio member of the 21st Century Workforce Commission, joined New York Law School’s faculty in 2000.

A graduate of New York University Law School, Harris focuses his scholarship on the economics of labor and employment law, with a particular focus on the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He has also written about the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, worker organizing and employment discrimination laws.

He also produces policy-related programs for New York Law School.  Programs include the Tony Coelho Lecture in Disability Employment Law & Policy.

Siegel was a co-founder and co-chairman of The Beanstalk Group.  In 2006, in order to devote himself to not-for-profit and other business opportunities while still remaining active at the company, he restructured his position and became vice chairman.

A leader in the licensing industry since 1982, Siegel has advised many Fortune 500 companies in the proper secondary use of their trademarks, trade dress and copyrights, and has served as an adviser and/or as the licensing agent for brand owners as AT&T, IBM and Harley-Davidson.

A Cornell Law School graduate, Siegel has lectured throughout the United States and has written for The New York Times Op-Ed page and The Wall Street Journal.  He has also lectured as an adjunct professor at New York University.  Siegel was a producer of the Tony Award-nominated Broadway revival of "Man of La Mancha" and an associate producer of the Emmy Award-winning ABC-TV mini-series "Dinotopia." 

He has served as chairman of the Cornell University Hillel, and sits on the Cornell University Council and the ILR Advisory Council.

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