Meet the Staff
Partners:
Elizabeth Koob
Joan Magoolaghan
Associates:
Office Manager:
To view the biographies of former staff members click here.
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Elizabeth L. Koob is a 1976 law graduate of New York University School of Law and admitted to practice before the following bars: State of New York, the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Western, Southern and Northern Districts of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. Ms. Koob is a founding member of KOOB & MAGOOLAGHAN, founded in 1987. Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Koob worked in Bronx Legal Services, first as a Staff Attorney and then as a Senior Attorney in the Special Litigation Unit which was responsible for all impact litigation commenced by the program. From 1980 through 1985, Ms. Koob additionally served as the elected President of the Union of Legal Services workers in New York City, and participated in the negotiation of city-wide union contracts, numerous contract disputes, labor board hearings and employment related arbitrations. Ms. Koob received her undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Barnard College of Columbia University, has served as a member of the Public Interest Committee of the New York State Bar Association and given talks to Judicial committees and various organizations concerning both employment rights and prisoners rights. At the recommendation of Professor Martin A. Schwartz, the author and editor of the treatise Section 1983 Litigation: Claims, Defenses and Fees, Ms. Koob has recently been appointed editor of the next edition of Volume 2 of the treatise, addressing the issue of attorneys’ fees under 42 U.S.C. §1988. (E-Mail Elizabeth Koob)
Joan Magoolaghan graduated from Hofstra University Law
School in 1979 and has been admitted to practice before the following bars:
State of New York, the United States District Courts for the Southern, Northern
and Western Districts of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. Ms. Magoolaghan's entire
professional career has been dedicated to civil rights and public interest law
issues. From January 1979 until May 1982, Ms. Magoolaghan was a staff attorney
at Westchester Legal Services and subsequently attorney-in-charge of the Housing
Unit of the Senior Citizen Law Clinic at Pace University School of Law. While
employed at Westchester Legal Services Ms. Magoolaghan was engaged in state and
federal litigation, including trial and appellate work. From 1982 until 1984 Ms.
Magoolaghan was the Managing Attorney at Bronx Legal Services, one of the
largest legal services offices in the country. Ms. Magoolaghan entered private
practice in 1984 as a sole practitioner, and subsequently, in 1987, with
Elizabeth L. Koob, formed the firm of KOOB & MAGOOLAGHAN. Additionally, for the
past five years Ms. Magoolaghan has been retained by New York's Committee on
Pattern Jury Instructions, Association of Supreme Court Justices to draft model
jury charges. Ms. Magoolaghan also was selected by the Office of Court
Administration to serve on its faculty at the 1994 Judicial Seminar.
(E-Mail Joan Magoolaghan)
Mr. Reinert is a 1999 law graduate magna cum laude of New York University School of Law and has been admitted to practice in the following bars: the State of New York, the United States District Courts for Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Prior to joining KOOB & MAGOOLAGHAN as an associate in November 2001, Mr. Reinert clerked first for Judge Harry T. Edwards of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and subsequently for the Honorable Justice Stephen G. Breyer of the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Reinert received dual bachelor’s degrees in Human Biology and American Civilization from Brown University in 1994. He serves by appointment as the Young Lawyer’s representative to the Executive Committee of the American Judicature Society, a national organization dedicated to enhancing the administration of justice through legal reform. (E-Mail Alexander A. Reinert)
Zenida Gonzalez joined KOOB & MAGOOLAGHAN as a receptionist in 1987, the year the firm was founded. Thereafter Ms. Gonzalez obtained an Associate Degree in Paralegal Studies from the New York City Technical College, and since 1998 she has worked in the dual capacity of office manager and paralegal.