Earlier this month, Great Neck got a little closer to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Two local attorneys, twin sisters Jackie Harounian and Janet Esagoff, were admitted to practice in front of the country’s highest court as part of a Washington, D.C. trip that included a behind-the-scenes tour of Capitol Hill.
“When Jackie was admitted to practice law in 1995, and I was subsequently admitted in 2009, our mother said, ‘One day you’ll make it to the Supreme Court’. It was such a thrill to make her prediction come true,” said Esagoff in a statement.
“In the event either one of us either one of us had a case that made its way to the Supreme Court, we would have the standing to argue the case,” said Harounian.
To practice before the court, a lawyer has to be sponsored by an already admitted legal professional.
For Esagoff and Harounian, that person was administrative Queens Supreme Court Judge Jeremy Weinstein, a fellow member of the Brandeis Association – a Jewish bar organization.
The Brandeis Association organized the trip, which also saw 10 other attorneys and two judges get admitted before the court.
Esagoff and Harounian, as guests of the court, sat in on oral arguments and saw the nation’s top justices address thorny legal issues.
Harounian, who practices family law as a partner at Wisselman, Harounian & Associates, P.C. in Great Neck, said the experience was an honor.
“As a woman, it was amazing to witness the brilliant minds at work of the three women jurists on the Supreme Court bench (Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Sonia Sotomayer, and Elena Kagan),” she said in a statement. “To see the practice of law at its highest level and to share it with my twin is an experience I will never forget.”
“That was the interesting part – we got to see all the justices pose questions and respond to the attorneys,” said Esagoff, who sits on the Great Neck Library board of trustees and practices foreclosure and real estate law at Stein, Weiner & Roth, P.C. in Carle Place. “I’m a new attorney, only practicing a couple of years. It was definitely challenging to grasp all the arguments.”
The sisters also had lunch in the congressional dining room with Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-Queens) and went on a private tour of the U.S. Holocaust Museum that culminated in a conversation with a survivor of the genocide.
As to whether they will ever get to use their new license to practice in before the Supreme Court, Esagoff and Harounian realize that it is a remote possibility.
But with same-sex marriage in the court’s spotlight, Harounian, who practices martial law, sees a slim chance.
“It’s possible. I guess we’re one step closer now that we’re admitted,” Harounian said. “There’s always the possibility in the area of family law that a case will go the Supreme Court.”
