Christopher Simone '94
Partner-Shaub, Ahmuty, Citrin & Spratt, LLP.
Christopher Simone, Class of 1994, grandson of Professor Charles
M. Sparacio '34 and son of Samuel F. Simone ’59, believes in
philanthropy and St. John’s School of Law. Recognizing that
the School of Law relies on alumni support to fund student
scholarships, professorships, academic programs, capital repairs
and technology enhancements, Chris serves as his firm’s liaison to
St. John’s for the Annual Law Firm Challenge Campaign. In
this role, he makes the rounds of his fellow graduates at Shaub,
Ahmuty, Citrin & Spratt, LLP, appealing to partners and
associates to reconnect with their alma mater and join him
in financially supporting the School of Law.
All told, St. John’s Law graduates make up about twenty-five
percent of the 40-plus attorneys at Shaub Ahmuty, where Chris is a
partner along with fellow alumni partners William J. Spratt ’77 and
John W. Barker ’91. Since the launch of the Law Firm
Challenge (formerly the Law Firm Solicitation Program), Shaub
Ahmuty has achieved a one hundred percent participation rate by its
St. John’s Law alumni, making it the only firm in the history of
the program to attain participation perfection for four consecutive
years. Chris appreciates the program’s name change, joking
how “it is sometimes a challenge getting alumni to donate”, but
explains how his colleagues generously give when he stresses how
St. John’s provided the foundation upon which they built successful
legal careers.
With both the law and education in his blood, Chris has
regularly taught Continuing Legal Education programs in appellate
practice at the School of Law and other venues since 2000. He
also guest lectures for the Appellate Advocacy course at the
helm of the Honorable Reinaldo E. Rivera ’76, Associate Justice of
the Appellate Division, Second Department. As if following in
Grandpa’s footsteps, Chris enjoys a unique and personal pride in
standing at the podium for Socratic instruction of law
students. He likewise is honored by the Sparacio Criminal
Mock Trial Competition named for his grandfather. “When I
decided to apply to law school, I filled out only one application”,
Chris recalls. Besides his pre-law school links to St.
John's, Law School evokes special memories for
Chris because there he met his wife Kathy ’95, who
in addition to practicing law, is now an undergraduate adjunct
professor at St. John's. They have two young children, or
"future St. John’s Law alumni," as Chris says.
As a third-year law student, Chris served as the Student Bar
Association President. As an alumnus, he is active with the
law school, including serving on its Alumni Association Board of
Directors, and makes it a point to reach out to the law school’s
Career Services each time his firm is in a recruiting mode.
Having St. John’s Law on your resume commands special attention, in
his view. St. John’s School of Law loyalty indeed runs deep
with the Simone family and Shaub, Ahmuty, Citrin and Spratt,
LLP.