Spring Brook Lawyers

Robert Michalak represents contractors, owners, and surety companies. His experience includes contract negotiations, bidding issues, project closeout consultation, mechanic's lien and trust fund filings and challenges, and claim prosecution and defense. Mr. Michalak also represents clients in structuring business and shareholder relationships, real estate development and commercial leases. He regularly represents clients in mediation, arbitration, and litigation.

In addition to his Doctor of Jurisprudence, Mr. Michalak has degrees in mechanical and chemical engineering and has held engineering positions in county government and a Fortune 500 company. Mr. Michalak has been a business law lecturer at the University at Buffalo and a...

Michael Reiser is an Associate Attorney practicing in the firm’s Corporate and Business Department, and handles contract formation and enforcement, corporate matters, collections, and property matters.

Mr. Reiser obtained his B.A. in English, with a minor in Political Science, from John Carroll University, in Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Reiser received his Juris Doctor from SUNY Buffalo Law School in 2016, graduating cum laude.

Before joining HoganWillig, Mr. Reiser practiced in real estate, mortgage servicing, mortgage foreclosure litigation, and title resolution.

Jessica B. Smith is an Associate Attorney in the firm’s Real Estate Law Department; assisting buyers and sellers through the closing process. Ms. Smith also handles post-closing issues, property tax challenges and landlord-tenant issues.

Ms. Smith obtained her B.A. in Government from Saint Lawrence University, and received her Juris Doctor in 2013 from Barry University School of Law in Orlando, FL. Ms. Smith is admitted to practice law in both New York & Florida.

Before joining HoganWillig, Ms. Smith provided legal advocacy to clients facing eviction, assisted clients to obtain and retain housing subsidies and representing clients in public and subsidized...

Michael T. Dwan is principal of The Law Offices of Michael T. Dwan. Mr. Dwan handles Real Estate transactions, Estate Planning and Criminal Defense. Mr. Dwan is one of the top trial lawyers in Erie County.

Mr. Dwan is the son of longtime Judge and trial attorney Timothy J. Dwan.

Mr. Dwan received his undergraduate degree from Niagara University, and received his J.D. from the University of Buffalo Law School. He has also served as an adjunct criminal justice professor at Erie Community College and is frequently asked to be a guest lecturer at the University of Buffalo.

We offer quality legal representation along with the personal attention your case deserves. Our firm focuses on areas of real estate, bankruptcy, estate planning & tax law. We understand that each client's case is unique and promise to devote our expertise and attention to getting you the results you deserve and expect.

Mr. Chiari is a partner at Brown Chiari LLP. He is a cum laude graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School and has over 39 years of litigation experience. The focus of his practice is dedicated to those who have sustained catastrophic and life-changing injuries. He currently handles nursing home negligence, product liability, complex premises liability, construction accidents, and automobile accidents. He has tried numerous cases to verdict throughout Western New York, resulting in multi-million-dollar awards and recoveries. Mr. Chiari has been recognized for obtaining the two largest personal injury...

Jonathan Staehr has been practicing for nearly 20 years in the areas of personal injury, lead poisoning, car accidents, slip and fall, animal bite, real estate, estate planning, and employment law. Jonathan created his boutique law firm with his wife as his partner to serve Upstate New York and help those injured due to the negligence of others.

Experienced bankruptcy attorney representing the Buffalo, NY area.

With a robust background in Italian and international law, I bring a wealth of expertise in navigating the complex legal landscapes between Italy and the United States. As a licensed attorney in Italy, I am uniquely positioned to assist American clients with all legal matters pertaining to Italy, from corporate and compliance issues to real estate and immigration law. My legal journey began at the prestigious University of Bologna, where I earned my law degree and developed a deep understanding of Italian legal principles. Over the years, I honed my skills working with top-tier law firms and multinational corporations in Italy,...

Nina Juncewicz, Esq. has 25 years experience in representing those internationally seeking to obtain physical access to the United States market for commercial work and/or family reunification. Her experience was developed early as an outstanding scholar for the agency formerly known as INS at the U.S/Canadian border, and later in its Buffalo District Office’s litigation Department. This experience brought her first-hand knowledge of the technical nuances of complex U.S. immigration law and the government adjudication process which experience she uses for her client’s benefit. She later practiced business and family Immigration in a statewide corporate law firm before opening her...

Our founding member and principal, Russel Morgan has concentrated in commercial and contract litigation, trust and estate planning, business and personal asset protection, wealth preservation and dynasty succession planning. Russel has also assisted clients with all forms of commercial and personal transnational work, including the preparation, re-structuring and litigation of various types of contracts. Our estate law office also includes; Eldercare planning, nyc healthcare proxy, beneficiary in a Will, Medicaid planning trusts, mltc plan, Medicaid planning strategies, help with drafting wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts. Russel Morgan was raised in Brooklyn, New York and has remained loyal to his origins...

Over a span of more than three decades, Chris O'Brien has emerged as a distinguished advocate, unwaveringly dedicated to championing the cause of personal injury victims in Western New York. As a founding partner of O'Brien & Ford, PC, Chris, alongside John Ford, has etched their mark by effectively settling or trying more than 25 million- or multi-million dollar cases, garnering widespread acclaim for their relentless commitment to justice. Chris is not merely a seasoned Buffalo personal injury lawyer but a nationally recognized figure and educator, generously imparting his trial skills across the United States and Canada. His significant impact is...

Diane Tiveron is a Partner and the Chairperson of the Corporate & Business Law Department at Tiveron Law PLLC. With over 29 years of legal experience and a educational background in economics and business administration, Ms. Tiveron assists clients with business formations (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporations, and limited liability companies), acquisitions, sales or dissolutions, as well as the preparation of any commercial document/contract, ranging from an employment agreement to a lease. She counsels non-for-profit organizations on nonprofit law and governance, obtaining and maintaining tax-exempt status and 501(c) classifications. Ms. Tiveron also advises individuals and businesses with bankruptcy issues (Chapter...

Were you injured in an accident? Did your loved one die due to the negligent or wrongful actions of another person or party? Turn to the personal injury team at Richmond Vona, LLC for reliable legal representation and compassionate, one-on-one counsel. Based in Buffalo, the firm serves clients throughout Western New York. Over the course of more than two decades of combined experience, the firm’s partners have secured more than $150 million for their clients, including over $17 million in jury verdicts. They have the skills, tenacity, and resources to advocate for you.

Because Richmond Vona, LLC takes on fewer...

Michael A. Ponterio is a founding partner of Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford, LLC. Since 1985, Mr. Ponterio has represented families who have suffered injuries as a result of exposure to asbestos. He also practices in the areas of catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice, defective products and motor vehicle accidents. Mr. Ponterio has dedicated his practice to securing justice for clients who have suffered catastrophic and life-changing injuries. Since 1985, Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford has obtained over one billion in settlements or verdicts on behalf of the firm’s clients. Mr. Ponterio has been representing people suffering from mesothelioma caused by asbestos for...

As Managing Partner at Tully Rinckey PLLC, Anthony relies heavily on his vast leadership experience in overseeing the daily operations of the Buffalo office and its staff. As a military leader, having served over 22 years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, Anthony brings decades of leadership training and experience to the Buffalo office. Anthony has previously served as a senior drill sergeant, a combat intelligence advisor to the New Iraqi Amy, and a first sergeant and acting commander to a combat engineer drill sergeant company. Anthony is currently serving in a brigade-level staff sergeant major position. Anthony has...

Jeffrey Tyrpak, an Amherst native, attended Fordham University and obtained his BA in International Political Economy in 2010. In 2013, he earned his JD at UB Law School with a concentration in Finance Transactions.

He started practicing law at a small firm in New York City before returning home and joining our team in December of 2016. While working in New York City, Mr. Tyrpak handled litigation in federal court regarding collective bargaining agreements and ERISA for employee benefit funds. He also worked on government compliance matters under the Affordable Care Act and ERISA.

Currently, Mr. Tyrpak resides in HoganWillig's Real Estate...

I was born and raised on the east side of Buffalo, NY. After graduating high school, I served in the United States Marine Corps, and then became a City of Buffalo Police Officer. I completed my B.S. and J.D. while working full-time as a police officer. I left the department in 2005 to start practicing law. After a long stent with a local law firm, I partnered up with another attorney from the same firm to form Richmond Vona, LLC. Our firm extensive experience handling asbestos cases (Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer), as well as other...

Jed Dietrich Esq. has settled 31 cases for 1 Million Dollars or more since 1999.

Jed Dietrich Esq. has personally obtained over 150 Million Dollars for the injured since 2007.

Jed Dietrich Esq. has been named a New York Superlawyer from 2010 to the present.

Jed Dietrich Esq. is a highly competitive person who was a 14 time National Champion in the sport of rowing.

It is Jed’s passion to represent the seriously injured to the very best of my ability.

The Dietrich Law Firm P.C., has been established to FIGHT for our clients to obtain MAXIMUM COMPENSATION for every person that we...

As a father of six children and eight grandchildren I understand and appreciate what it means to serve our family and communities. As a trial attorney, I also enjoy the task of righting the wrongs that happen to innocent people. I also pride myself on winning cases and leveling the playing field so that the rich and powerful corporations and insurance companies do not win the battle due to their wealth and power over the average citizen. Having over 35 years of experience and the track record of supervising over 2 billion dollars in settlements for our...

I am the founding member of Kelleher Patent Law. During and after engineering school, I had several contract engineering positions, which included product development, manufacturing process improvements, failure analysis. This experience has helped me better understand the development hurdles a client will see while developing, testing and manufacturing their product. As a strategic and tactical thinker, I am able to better understand the variations that clients’ products may undergo which has allowed me to produce better patent applications. I have successfully prosecuted a variety of patent applications and trademark registrations. I feel that the inventions, technology and new businesses created today...

Sandra K. Cassidy practices in HoganWillig’s Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice, and Criminal Defense departments, she brings with her extensive experience as a former criminal prosecutor for the Erie County and Genesee County District Attorney’s office. Ms. Cassidy also served as legal counsel for the famous environmental advocate Erin Brockovich, investigating complaints of chronic cancers in two separate towns in New York, one of which involved the cross-border dumping of illegal toxins. Prior to joining HoganWillig, Ms. Cassidy also practiced law in the Western New York area for several years under her established law practice. Ms. Cassidy has a passion for guiding young...

Brett Tokarczyk currently practices in multiple areas at HoganWillig, including personal injury, medical malpractice and litigation. Mr. Tokarczyk assists a wide range of clients across these matters and works extensively on appellate proceedings, one of his particular specialties. Mr Tokarczyk's, admitted to practice in the State of Georgia in 2011 and State of New York in 2013, received his Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia Law School. He was an associate at Brick, Brick and Elmer, P.C. where he dealt primarily with family law and estate planning matters; upon joining HoganWillig, he brought his experience in family law to clients...

John P. Comerford is a Senior Partner at Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford, LLC. He grew up in Lewiston, New York, a small historic town near the Canadian border. He grew up in the shadows of Love Canal and personally observed the consequences of environmental pollution. He attended Cornell University and studied Environmental Science. Mr. Comerford devotes the majority of his time to asbestos personal injury matters. He has litigated cases throughout Upstate New York in cities which include Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany and Binghamton. Over the course of his career, he has helped hundreds...

JEREMY RICHARDS is a licensed lawyer in the United States, and a Foreign Legal Consultant with the Law Society of Ontario, who devotes his legal practice to US Immigration Law and related matters. He has successfully handled immigration matters for businesses of all sizes and citizens from countries all over the world. He has a broad understanding of US immigration and nationality laws, and can assist with most US immigration law matters, having successfully handled immigration matters for medical professionals, students, professors, individuals, families, employees, small to large businesses, international corporations, colleges and universities, and others. Prior to attending law school...

John Ned Lipsitz is a founding partner of the Buffalo, New York law firm of Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford, LLC. He has represented workers suffering from industrial diseases, including asbestosis and mesothelioma, since 1985. From 1981 through 1985, Mr. Lipsitz served on the clinical faculty of the Buffalo Law School of the State University of New York, where he instructed students in professional legal representation of consumer debtors, occupational safety and health law, constitutional rights and habeas corpus, and where he taught Research and Writing and Legal Ethics. Between 1979 and 1981, he was a staff attorney at the...

A skilled trial lawyer, Craig Small has been practicing law since 1995, and in the State of New York and Buffalo, New York since 1998. Craig Small's law firm, Small Law Firm, focuses its attention on representing injured people. Small Law Firm helps with injuries caused by car accidents, nursing home abuse, nursing home pressure or bed sores, fall-downs, biking, boating, and traumatic injuries including brain injuries, paralysis, fractures, and herniated discs. Craig Small has settled significant cases and has won verdicts throughout Western and Central New York. Small Law Firm is a small law firm...

Daniel J. Henry, Jr. a partner in the firm Villarini & Henry, L.L.P., is a former Erie County Assistant District Attorney who concentrates his practice in Criminal Defense and Personal Injury/Negligence claims. He has extensive experience defending the rights of people arrested and accused of criminal offenses both in State and Federal Court. He is one of a select group of attorneys who is eligible to handle Death Penalty cases. In addition, Mr. Henry represents clients facing Grand Jury investigations; witnesses called before State and Federal Grand Juries; clients charged under the Federal RICO Statute; clients charged with white-collar offenses;...

Barry Covert focuses his practice New York State and federal criminal trials and appeals; constitutional law, including First Amendment, Second Amendment, and civil rights actions; Qui Tam Act, also known as the False Claims Act; defending against allegations of scientific misconduct, scientific fraud, research misconduct, research fraud, plagiarism, and fabrication of evidence; defense of professional licensing, including for attorneys, doctors, and nurses. Mr. Covert has represented numerous professional clients relating to licensing issues and defended a prominent research scientist against allegations of scientific fraud and misconduct involving several federally funded research projects involving the Office of Research Integrity (ORI)....

Jillian Faltyn is an associate attorney primarily focusing her practice in the Corporate and Business Law Department. Jillian’s experience representing insurance carriers to resolve complex coverage disputes gave her a strong understanding of labor laws and personal injury-related claims from a commercial litigation focus. Ms. Faltyn obtained her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from SUNY Buffalo State College. After receiving her Juris Doctorate from the University at Buffalo School of Law, Ms. Faltyn has practiced Civil Litigation and Insurance Defense. Ms. Faltyn takes a hands-on approach to assisting corporate clients in developing strategic and innovative solutions to their most challenging litigation matters. Jillian...

Christopher J. Milne practices in HoganWillig’s Corporate and Business Law department. Mr. Milne has over two decades of experience as a business law attorney, in both law firm and corporate counsel settings. A proven strategic and analytical problem solver, Mr. Milne counsels’ clients in numerous areas related to their business, including corporate formation and restructuring, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, franchise agreements, complex commercial transactions, partnership agreements, and other transactional business-related matters. Mr. Milne received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1999. Mr. Milne has significant experience in the area of veterinary law, and...

Pia Perfetto is an associate attorney at HoganWillig, primarily focusing her practice in the Corporate and Business Practice Group. Ms. Perfetto is also a member of the litigation team who initiated numerous constitutional challenges pertaining to the State of New York’s COVID-19 governmental restrictions. Ms. Perfetto graduated from Canisius College and the University at Buffalo School of Law in 2016 and 2019, respectively. Prior to joining HoganWillig as an attorney, Ms. Perfetto clerked with the firm’s Litigation Practice Group, was a legal intern for the Kinship Care Legal Services Program with the Center for Elder Law and Justice, and worked for...

Jordan C. DiBernardo is an attorney practicing in Tiveron Law's Real Estate, Estate Planning, and Matrimonial and Family Law departments. Mr. DiBernardo received his Juris Doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo and received his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Geneseo in Political Science and International Studies. Prior to joining HoganWillig, Mr. DiBernardo worked for The Law Offices of Randy H. Gugino focusing on helping clients through the estate planning process and closing real estate transactions. In addition, he gained experience working as a law clerk for the Erie County Attorney’s Office. Mr. DiBernardo...

We help nuclear weapons and uranium workers with their Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) and Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) claims. These are two federal programs that pay compensation to nuclear weapons workers and uranium miners, millers, transporters as well as on-site participants (who were on-site for a test of a nuclear weapon either at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) or in the South Pacific and Downwinders (who lived downwind of the Nevada Test Site during the nuclear weapons testing that took place in the 1940s- 1960s. We also assist parents and their children with certain birth injury...

James R. O’Connor, Esq. is a labor and employment law associate in Tully Rinckey PLLC’s Buffalo office, where he focuses his practice on representing clients in federal and private sector employment law claims, including claims involving the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), New York Labor Law, New York Executive Law and Qui Tam claims.

Prior to joining Tully Rinckey PLLC, James was...

Kevin Burke is a Buffalo business attorney focused on the litigation of contract disputes, labor and employment issues, intellectual property protection, and trade secret cases. Kevin has represented both individuals and businesses since he moved home from Washington, D.C. in 1999, where he graduated with honors from Georgetown University and George Washington University Law School. Kevin has tried dozens of major commercial and employment cases to verdict. He regularly handles appeals before the Appellate Division, State of New York and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He frequently writes and lectures on employee mobility issues, including the evolving area of...