[Fredslist] Gotham Profiles: Laurel Scarr-Konel & John Gonzalez Co-Chairs Gotham Hispanic Group

[Fred Klein]

Don’t miss our 5th Annual Golf Outing as the cocktail hour is being hosted
by our vibrant Hispanic Group with a “Cinco de Mayo” theme. This vibrancy
is being fueled by the two new “live wire” Chairs of the Group: Laurel
Scarr-Konel and John Gonzalez.

I recently “interviewed” them and learned the following:

Laurel is the managing partner of the law firm of Grant, Herrmann, Schwartz
& Klinger LLP, a firm specializing in servicing Latin American and other
foreign clients in such areas as real estate, estate & trusts, tax planning
and commercial transactions, with fluency in Spanish, Portuguese, French
and Italian. The firm also has a domestic practice in these areas.

Laurel tells me her love of foreign language began as far back as 3rd grade
where her teacher, Mrs. Kleinfeld, would teach the class Spanish words.
Her favorite song had something to do with the "ventana" and the "bandera"
(she does not to this day know if it is a real song or just an attempt by
Mrs. Kleinfeld to teach the language but if it is real and anyone knows the
lyrics, please let Laurel know!).

Growing up, family vacations were also fun, especially those trips to
Montreal and Quebec (parlez-vous francais?) as well as those to Puerto Rico
(para hablar espanol).  Laurel always knew that she wanted to use language
in whatever profession she practiced - and if she did not become an
attorney she would have taught languages at the high school level.

Laurel graduated in 1982 from Georgetown University where she majored in
French and minored in Spanish and Business. She graduated in 1988 with a JD
from Hofstra University Law School and with an MBA from Hofstra University
School of Business. Laurel is a member of the Advisory Board of the NYU
School of Continuing Education and this Spring she will be teaching
Advanced Real Estate in the Paralegal Studies Division. Even though she did
become an attorney, her thoughts of teaching still exist and now she will
have the chance to teach as well as counsel!

Laurel lives in Plainview, Long Island with her husband and three daughters
- ages 13, 10 and 4-1/2 - who keep her just as busy as her office and her
new Gotham responsibilities!


John is a financial advisor with the wealth and risk management firm of New
American Partners, LLC. which offers fee-based financial plans designed to
increase wealth and protect assets for families and business owners .
John’s career began in investment banking where he developed expertise in
debt and capital markets as well as financial advisory services. He is an
alumnus of Bank of America, Société Générale and Barclays Capital.

John is originally from Bogotá, Colombia; was raised in Great Neck, NY. He
received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of
Massachusetts, Amherst and a Masters degree in Pacific and International
Affairs (MPIA) from the Graduate School of International Relations and
Pacific Studies at the University of California, San Diego. John is
bilingual in English and Spanish, and conversant in Portuguese.

John is married, has two children and resides in Sea Cliff, New York. He is
the Founder of the Long Island Hispanic Business Roundtable, Treasurer of
Profesionales y Estudiantes Colombianos en el Exterior (PECX), a fraternal
organization for Colombian expatriates and Co-Chairman of Gotham Hispanic a
leading business networking group in New York City. For those interested in
the sporting life, John played both high school and college
lacrosse,(Midfielder) and is a former All Long Island high school lacrosse
player. He is currently a youth league lacrosse coach, as well as a member
of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst men's lacrosse alumni
committee.

Thank you both and we look forward to seeing you at the Golf Outing where
we are going to play, sing and dance at the cocktail hour or as they said
“Vamos a Jugar, cantar y bailar en el Cocktail Hour”.
__________________________________
Fred C. Klein
Klein, Zelman, Rothermel & Dichter, L.L.P
485 Madison Avenue, 15th Floor
New York, NY 10022
(212) 935-6020
fklein at legal.org
http://www.kzrd.com
http://www.gothamnetworking.com
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