Lecturer Bios
Michael Avi Helfand, Esq.
Professor Helfand is an expert on religious law and religious liberty. A frequent author and lecturer, his work considers how the state treats religious law, custom and practice. He currently serves as the Associate Dean for Faculty and Research Professor of Law at Pepperdine University School of Law and associate director of Pepperdine University’s Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies. His articles have appeared in various law journals, including the Yale Law Journal and the NYU Law Review, as well as in various general audience publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and the Forward.
In addition to his academic work, Professor Helfand is a board member of the Beth Din of America where he has also serves as an arbitrator and consultant. He received his JD from Yale Law School, PhD in Political Science from Yale University and BA from Yeshiva University. Prior to joining the Pepperdine Law faculty, Professor Helfand was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, where his practice focused on complex commercial litigation. Before entering private practice, Professor Helfand clerked for the Honorable Julia Smith Gibbons of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Jordana Mondrow, Esq.
Ms. Mondrow manages the commercial and matrimonial din torah docket and serves as the primary contact point for litigants and attorneys with cases before the Beth Din. She is a graduate of Rutgers University School of Law- Newark and holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a master’s degree in Modern Jewish History from The Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University. Prior to her association with the Beth Din, she practiced real estate and commercial litigation law and worked pro bono for victims of domestic violence.
Rabbi Yona Reiss, Esq.
Rabbi Reiss is the Av Beth Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council, a Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS, and Chaver Beth Din at the Beth Din of America. A Yadin Yadin musmach of RIETS and an attorney who was an associate for six years at the international law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, Rabbi Reiss is a graduate of Yale Law School, where he served as a senior editor of the Yale Law Journal. He was previously the Max and Marion Grill Dean of RIETS, and before that he served as Director of the Beth Din of America. Rabbi Reiss is a member of the editorial board of Tradition, and has published articles in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Law Journal.
Rabbi Shlomo Weissmann, Esq.
Rabbi Weissmann received rabbinical ordination from RIETS in 2001 and advanced rabbinical ordination (Yadin Yadin) in 2014. He is a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. Prior to his association with the Beth Din of America, Rabbi Weissmann worked as an attorney at several prominent law firms, including Debevoise and Plimpton LLP.
Adina C. Levine, Esq.
Adina C. Levine's practice focuses primarily on general litigation matters.
Perspectives. I have been admitted to the new York Bar in 2007.
I received my J.D., Harvard Law School, 2006.
Managing Editor, Harvard Law Record, Negotiation Law Journal, Harvard Defenders
Master's, Education at Azrieli Graduate School for Jewish Education & Administration, 2003
B.A., Yeshiva University, 2002
My Publications are as follows:
- Co-author, M&A and Shareholder Litigation Alert: Resisting Settlement: Delaware Court of Chancery Dismisses Meritless Public Company Shareholder M&A Class Action Suits (Feb. 19, 2014)
- Co-author, Securities Litigation Alert: Supreme Court Grants Certiorari to Address Question Whether Plaintiffs Must Prove Materiality Prior to Class Certification in Federal Securities Fraud Actions (June 15, 2012)
