Overview
Elise Bonine is an associate at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP.
Before coming to Cotchett, Pitre, & McCarthy, Elise spent four years as a prosecutor in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in the Domestic Violence and Appeals Bureaus, where she investigated and litigated hundreds of criminal cases and successfully argued in front of the Appellate Division. During her tenure, she was also active on multiple committees created to guide policy decisions of the office regarding the use of prosecutorial discretion and interactions with the broader community.
Elise received her J.D. with a concentration in international and comparative law from Columbia Law School. During law school she interned for the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in the Hague, Netherland where she worked with the prosecutorial team to appeal the verdict in the Stanišić & Simatović case and set new precedent in the field of International Criminal Law. Upon her return to the United States, she represented detained immigrants awaiting final decisions on their asylum claims in an externship with the Legal Aid Society. Elise later joined the Columbia Mediation Clinic where she mediated a wide variety of issues from housing issues to alleged violations of the Equal Employment Opportunities Act, as well as prepared and conducted trainings for members of the United Nations and Judicial Ethics Committees, and supervised and trained other mediators. She also served as a staff editor on the Columbia Journal for Transnational Law.
Prior to attending CLS, Elise worked for the Japanese government in Sapporo, Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher. During this time, she served as President for the Hokkaido Association for Japan Exchange and Teaching where she helped found a volunteer organization designed to facilitate community involvement with Japanese orphanages.
Elise graduated from Tulsa University with honors, receiving her B.A. in Philosophy with a minor in Sociology. During college, she spent a year studying abroad in Viterbo, Italy and upon her return to Tulsa, Oklahoma, founded the Cultural Exchange Coalition- an organization designed to promoting socialization between students of diverse and international backgrounds. She also volunteered as a Big Sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program for the entirety of her time in college.
Honors & Awards
Honors & Recognitions
- Law School: Parker International and Comparative Law Scholar
- Staff Editor, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law
- Undergrad: Dean’s List
Practice Areas
Education
Columbia Law School, J.D.
Tulsa University, B.A.
Admissions
- New York State Bar