NJSBA Day at the Races

Presenters

Salvatore DeBunda

Archer and Greiner, P.C., Philadelphia

is a Partner in Archer & Greiner P.C. in the firm’s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, office, and has a diverse practice that spans a number of industries. He represents many of the firm’s corporate, healthcare and media clients, private and family-owned companies, non-profit organizations, and certain horse ownership, racing and interest and trade associations. As counsel for the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association, an organization that represents trainers and owners at Philadelphia Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, he was the primary drafter of the horsemen’s sections of the Pennsylvania Slot Bill, signed in July, 2004.

Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and before the United States Supreme Court, Mr. DeBunda is Past President of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and a member of the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations. He also serves as Vice President of the National Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and was appointed to the new Pennsylvania Racing Commission and Governor-Elect Tom Wolf’s Department of Agriculture’s Transition Committee. Founder and Executive Producer of the television show Let’s Go Racing, which appears weekly on Comcast Sportsnet, he has been listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law and other Who’s Who publications.

Mr. DeBunda received his B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Raymond J. Lesniak, Esq

Raymond J. Lesniak Esq., Elizabeth

is founder and President of the Lesniak Institute for American Leadership, Kean University, in Union, New Jersey, which strives to develop the next generation of American leaders by teaching and celebrating the principles of effective advocacy. He is a former Senator in the New Jersey State Legislature, serving Legislative District 20 from 1984-2018, and had District Offices in Union and Elizabeth, New Jersey. He has been an attorney with Weiner Lesniak and served in the General Assembly from 1978-83 before being elected to the Senate in 1983.

Senator Lesniak has been Chair of the Economic Growth Committee, Vice Chair of the Commerce Committee and a member of the Judiciary Committee. Early in his tenure, he sponsored landmark environmental policies including the Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act (ECRA), the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Pesticide Control Act, making New Jersey the first in the nation to tackle such issues. Senator Lesniak sponsored the law to legalize sports wagering at New Jersey casinos and racetracks, and has pushed to allow casinos in Atlantic City to expand their operations into intrastate Internet wagering. He sponsored the repeal of the death penalty, sponsored legislation to reform the criminal justice system, and has worked with the New Jersey Humane Society and other animal rights advocacy organizations on bills to prevent animal cruelty, including legislation banning the trade of ivory products, banning trophies of endangered species from entering New Jersey, ending the sale of shark fins in the state and ending the use of wild and exotic animals in traveling animal performance acts. Past Chair of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, he was also at the forefront of efforts to allow same-sex couples to marry in New Jersey.

Senator Lesniak is the author of The Road to Abolition: How New Jersey Abolished the Death Penalty and co-author, with Loretta Weinberg, of What’s Love Got to Do With It?: The Case for Same-Sex Marriage. He founded The Road to Justice and Peace, a non-profit organization devoted to promoting social justice causes in New Jersey and abroad, and Democrats for the Soul, a social charity. Senator Lesniak is working to ban puppy mills and gestation crates; end the bear hunt, killing contests, and unethical deer population management strategies; and establish a Courtroom Animal Advocacy Program (CAAP) in New Jersey. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Public Service Award from the Jewish Education Center, the Paul L. Troast Award for Distinguished Public Service from the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, and Legislator of the Year from the Medical Society of New Jersey.

Senator Lesniak received his A.B. from Rutgers University and his J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law. He served as a Specialist Fourth Class in the United States Army from 1967-69.

Steven M. Tarshis, Esq.

, Bridgewater

is an equine attorney at Equilaw, LLC in Pittstown, New Jersey. He focuses his law practice and his life on entrepreneurial, closely held businesses, commercial real estate, commercial financing and litigation, while enjoying ample time to ride, train and compete up and down the East Coast and Wellington, Florida for the winter season. He also served as Mayor of Franklin Township in 2008, where he worked with other leaders and members of the community in preserving thousands of acres of farm land and open space.

Mr. Tarshis is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York, and before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the United States Supreme Court. He is a Trustee of the United States Equine Rescue League, Inc. and Riding With Heart Therapeutic Riding, Inc., and affiliated with the United States Dressage Federation, the United States Equestrian Foundation and the United States Eventing Association.

Mr. Tarshis received his B.S. from Queens College, City University of New York, and his J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law.

Christina Vassiliou Harvey, Esq.

Lomurro Munson, LLC, Freehold

is a Partner in Lomurro, Munson, Comer, Brown & Schottland, LLC (Lomurro Law) in Freehold, New Jersey. She focuses her practice in appellate matters, personal injury litigation, disability matters, attorney ethics and horseracing law, and has experience litigating personal injury case for both the plaintiff and defense sides, medical malpractice cases for plaintiffs, commercial disputes, and prosecuting and defending insurance brokers and attorneys in claims of professional negligence.

Ms. Harvey is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania at the trial and appellate levels, and before administrative agencies. A former Trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Association, she has been a member of the New Jersey Law Journal’s Young Lawyer Advisory Board and is Past Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division. Having served as President of the Mercer County Women Lawyers Caucus, she is a founding board member of the Community Justice Center, a non-profit organization that assists disabled veterans in obtaining disability benefits.

Ms. Harvey has authored articles for the New Jersey Lawyer newspaper, NJ Esq., The Affiliate, The Young Lawyer and the New Jersey State Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Newsletter. She has lectured for ICLE on professional responsibility as part of the Skills and Methods course and for the NJSBA and other organizations on ethics, collections and client relations. She has received three "Star of the Quarter" awards and one “Star of the Year” award for her work in the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division and was the recipient of the Service to the Bar Award in 2009 and the Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award in 2013 from the NJSBA-Young Lawyers Division.

Ms. Harvey received her B.A. from Douglass College, Rutgers University. She was a contract specialist for the United States Navy before attending Rutgers University School of Law and receiving her J.D. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Dorothea O’C. Wefing, Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.