Our Team

Jess Penkoff is Senior Counsel at Sedreddine & Whoriskey, LLP.  Prior to joining SedWho, Jess served as Senior Staff Attorney with the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, a multi-entity organization focused on supporting and protecting home ownership throughout New York State.   In this capacity, Jess managed legal compliance and oversight with respect to a broad range of issues for the Center, with highlights including developing and managing the Homeowner Assistance Fund, a $550 million public-private partnership designed to support homeowners seeking mortgage relief,  and launching the Black Homeownership Project and the Generation-to-Generation Estate Planning Program, which connects homeowners with free legal services to increase the preservation of intergenerational wealth within marginalized communities.

Jess graduated from Fordham Law School in 2012, where she was the recipient of Fordham’s Public Interest Award and Legal Writing Award. She received her BA in International Development Studies from UCLA, graduating with honors. Jess founded the New York Nonprofit In-House Counsel Network, which brings together attorneys across New York City monthly to discuss practice matters and issues affecting the sector.  She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association’s Nonprofit Organizations Committee.  Jess is admitted to practice law in New York and California.

Ryan McCarthy is Senior Counsel at Sedreddine & Whoriskey, LLP. Prior to joining SedWho, Ryan spent over ten years providing counsel on governance, transactional and general corporate matters to executive teams and boards of directors. He began his career at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, in the firm’s Corporate and Capital Markets practice groups, before transitioning to in-house roles at Fluent, Inc. and SeatGeek, Inc. Ryan brings a thoughtful, measured approach to his work, taking care to appropriately weigh legal risks associated with organizational initiatives and working collaboratively with relevant stakeholders to find optimal solutions.

Ryan graduated with a JD from Duke University School of Law in 2015, where he served as Senior Staff Editor for the Duke Journal for Constitutional Law & Public Policy and Senior Notes Editor for the Duke Forum for Law and Social Change, as well as a Legal Extern at Disability Rights North Carolina. He received a BS in Mathematical Business from Wake Forest University in 2012. Ryan is admitted to practice law in New York.

Rachel Dobkin is an associate at Sedreddine & Whoriskey, LLP.  In her work with SedWho, Rachel leverages her substantial and varied experience serving in a variety of capacities in the nonprofit sector.  Prior to joining the firm, Rachel worked as a Staff Attorney at Legal Aid Chicago, followed by a decade of experience working in fundraising, communications and strategy for nonprofit organizations.   She has also served as an independent consultant advising nonprofit organizations on legal issues and in-house pro bono attorney at Lawyers Alliance for New York.

Rachel graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College with departmental honors in Political Science and earned her JD from the University of Michigan Law School. Rachel is admitted to practice in New York.