Dems name Family Court candidates

Monroe County Democrats announced two candidates who are running for Monroe County Family Court: Zuleika Z. Shepard and Fatimat O. Reid.

If elected, they will be the first women of color to be elected to Family Court.

Shepard

Shepard is a Deputy County Attorney for the Monroe County Law Department working on paternity and child support cases in Family Court.

Previously, Shepard was an Assistant Monroe County District Attorney where she prosecuted domestic violence cases, misdemeanors and violations.

She also served as staff attorney for the Capital District Women’s Bar Association: The Legal Project, where she represented women in domestic violence cases in state Supreme Court, helping them to obtain divorces from batterers, and in Family Court, representing them in child custody and support, and family offense cases.

Reid is a litigator and transactional attorney and administrator now in the position of chief of staff of the Rochester City School District.

Previously, Reid worked as an associate counsel in the Rochester City School District’s Department of Law, managing the district’s contracts and litigation.

Reid previously served as a municipal attorney for the City of Rochester Corporation Counsel’s Office, overseeing the contracts and litigation.

Reid

Reid began her career as a litigation associate in private practice at Davidson Fink LLP and Wolpoff & Abrahamson LLP.

Reid received The Daily Record’s 2013 Top Counsel Award, The Daily Record’s 2017 Top Women in Law Award and the Rochester Business Journal’s 2017 40 Under 40 Award.

She was recognized in February as a “Woman to Watch” by the Democrat and Chronicle.