Faculty and Staff

Mark Geller, Esq., director of National Paralegal College, began his legal career in 1981 at the law firm of Shea & Gould, one of the top ten law firms in New York. Early in his legal career, he established himself as a specialist in legal procedure and law office management. With his experience in big-firm litigation, Mr. Geller launched Legal Data Systems, Inc. ("LDS"), a company that specialized in automated litigation case management systems for the law firm. In 1983 Mr. Geller sold LDS to The New York Law Publishing Company, publishers of The New York Law Journal, National Law Journal, Law Journal Seminars Press, Jury Verdict Reporter and many other legal newspapers throughout the United States. As vice president of the New York Law Publishing Company, Mr. Geller headed Law Journal Information Systems ("LJIS"). Mr. Geller’s software has become the industry standard for cutting edge case management automation. Mr. Geller's division provided over 200 of the most prestigious law firms in the United States with critical data online via proprietary case management software.

During this time, Mr. Geller personally supervised the training of thousands of paralegals as well. The following is a representative sampling of law firms and organizations whose staff have been trained by Mr. Geller:

Legal Enterprises and Law Firms

• Baer Marks & Upham LLP
• Bragar Wexler Eagel & Morgenstern, LLP
• Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner LLP
• Burlingham Underwood, LLP
• Cahill Gordon & Reindel
• Carter, Ledyard & Milburn
• Chadbourne & Parke LLP
• Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton
• Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells LLP
• Covington & Burling
• Cravath, Swaine & Moore
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder
• Debevoise & Plimpton
• Dewey Ballantine LLP
• Duane, Morris & Heckscher, LLP
• Fischbein, Badillo, Wagner & Harding
• Fixler & Associates LLP
• Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione PC
• Jones Day Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP
• Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Kramer Levin Kurzman Karelsen & Frank, LLP
• London & Doherty LLP
• Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, LLP
• McDermott, Will & Emery
• Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP
• Morrison Cohen Singer & Weinstein, LLP
• Morrison & Foerster LLP
• Naftalis & Frankel LLP
• Ohrenstein & Brown, LLP
• O'Melveny & Myers
• Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
• Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP
• Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison, LLP
• Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, LLP
• Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe LLP
• Proskauer Rose LLP
• Robinson Silverman Pearce Aronsohn & Berman LLP
• Ropes & Gray
• Saretsky Katz Dranoff & Glass, LLP
• Schneider, Kleinick, Weitz, Damashek & Shoot
• Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
• Seyfarth Shaw
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
• Sullivan & Cromwell
• Thacher Proffitt & Wood
• Thelen Reid & Priest LLP
• Warshaw Burstein Cohen Schlesinger & Kuh, LLP
• Zeichner Ellman & Krause LLP

Agencies

• Department of Justice
• Long Island Rail Road New York City Law Department
• New York State Office of the Attorney General
• The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Corporations

• CBS, Inc.
• Kemper Insurance
• Miller Parker, Inc.
• The Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A.

In 1994, Mr. Geller founded the law firm of Geller, Stein & Associates, P.C. The firm specializes in real estate, general and personal injury litigation. Today, the firm boasts a staff consisting of 7 attorneys and 22 paralegals and support staff. Mr. Geller is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, and New York State Courts. He is a member of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, The New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

Avi Katz, president of National Paralegal College, received his MBA degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and has practiced as a certified public accountant. He brings the perspective of the business world to NPC’s curriculum and teaching method. Avi has 20 years of experience in corporate management and software development.

David Cohen, student services director of National Paralegal College, is a graduate of the Management and Technology Program of the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a degree in management from the Wharton School and a degree in computer and telecommunications engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Stephen Haas, Esq., education director of National Paralegal College, graduated from Pace University School of Law, where he ranked in the top three percent of his class and served as a senior member of the Pace Law Review. Recently, Stephen has been practicing in the fields of estate planning and elder law for a New York firm. He has also worked at the United States Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York (federal prosecutor’s office) in White Plains and at the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office.

Stephen has also been teaching college-level business law classes in New York for the past six years. He holds law licenses in New York and New Jersey.

Tiffany Garrick, Esq., assistant education director of National Paralegal College, graduated magna cum laude from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. While in law school, Tiffany served as editor-in-chief of the Southern University Law Review. Tiffany has practiced civil litigation for the last four years and has significant experience in the areas of securities litigation, employment litigation, and municipal law. Prior to joining National Paralegal College, Tiffany was an associate at Greene Espel, P.L.L.P., a Minneapolis law firm. She also served as an adjunct legal writing instructor at the University of Minnesota Law School. Tiffany enjoys acting in her spare time, and can be seen in the upcoming independent movie, 90 Seconds, directed by Randy Luckey.

Jay Lipman, Esq. received his J.D. from New York University School of Law. He practiced as an associate for White & Case, L.L.P., a large Manhattan law firm. Mr. Lipman founded and runs Test Your Best, a leading Connecticut tutoring service dedicated to assisting people with test preparation and college, law school, and business school admission. He has extensive teaching and tutoring experience, including years of experience working for Kaplan Test Prep as an instructor and teacher trainer. Mr. Lipman also served as an adjunct professor for the Legal Studies program at Fairfield University and is actively involved in pro bono work both as an attorney and as a teacher.

Rebecca Rubin, Esq. is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Washington University School of Law. She is an associate at White, Fleischner & Fino, in New York City, and her practice consists mainly of insurance coverage work. She has also served as a pro bono attorney for inMotion, Inc., a domestic violence non-profit organization. As a law student, Rebecca was an executive articles editor of the Global Studies Law Review. Additionally, she was named co-editor of a book titled "Protecting Free Speech and Expression" with Professor Daniel Mandelker of Washington University School of Law. During her free time, Rebecca enjoys traveling, running and taking advantage of all that New York City has to offer.

Melissa Field, Esq. is a graduate of Lehigh University and Pace University School of Law. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Lehigh in International Relations and a J.D. and Certificate in International Law from Pace. As a law student, Melissa served as an Articles Editor of the Pace Environmental Law Review. Melissa is currently an Associate Editor of the Westchester County Bar Journal, serves in various positions with the Westchester County Bar Association, and has been published in the Westchester County Bar Association Newsletter. Melissa looks forward to pursuing a career in insurance law or in international law and trade.

Maggie Probst holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University. She graduated from National Paralegal College in 2004 and was certified by the National Association of Legal Assistants in 2005. Maggie’s writing and research skills have been honed by working as a producer/writer in the film and video business for over 25 years. During her career, she has written and researched nationally televised documentary series and various commercial and corporate productions. From 1999 to 2003 she managed the film and video department for the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee, overseeing projects created for marketing, training, image and instruction. As a producer, she has become a recognized expert in ensuring compliance with legal requirements and contractual issues including intellectual property, unions/guilds and contracts in the video and film industry. Maggie currently works as a freelance paralegal and runs her own video/film production company.

Laya Cohen, assistant student services director of National Paralegal College, earned her BA in humanities from Thomas Edison State College. She has over 12 years of office administration experience. Laya grew up in a military family and has seen much of the world. Her experience, along with her personable nature, allows Laya to meet the needs of our student body and faculty.

Lydia Eickstaedt, a student services associate at National Paralegal College, graduated the Music Composition Program at Arizona State University, with a Bachelor of Music degree. She is the primary liaison for prospective NPC students, and she serves as an advisor for current students as well. Lydia worked with the Grady Gammage Auditorium in Tempe, AZ on numerous Broadway productions for four years. Her experience in the performing arts and interest in musicology, theatre and communication bring a unique perspective to any project on which she works.