Class Action - December '11

Mary Ellen Borja '66 is a member of the Florida Bar Standing Committee on Professional Ethics and a Florida Supreme Court family mediator. She was previously vice chair of the Florida Bar Standing Committee on Professionalism. Borja is a solo practitioner in Clearwater, Fla., where she resides.

Hon. Samuel L. Green '67, senior associate justice, has retired from the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division, Fourth Department, in Buffalo. He was the first African-American Supreme Court justice to serve the 8th Judicial District and the first African-American outside the New York City area to be named to an appellate division. In addition, he is the longest-serving associate justice in the Fourth Department. Green is a former recipient of the UB Law Alumni Association's Jaeckle Award and Distinguished Alumnus Award. He lives in Buffalo.

Ronald J. Axelrod '69 has opened a business brokerage office, DBM Business Brokers in Williamsville, N.Y. He was previously a solo practitioner, specializing in business law, in Pittsford, N.Y.

David G. Brock '72 has been named to the board of trustees of The Park School in Snyder, N.Y. Brock, a graduate of the school, is a partner in the Buffalo office of Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel and former vice president of the UB Law Alumni Association. He lives in East Amherst, N.Y.

Samuel J. Palisano '72 is named in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 in the employee benefits law category. Palisano, a partner with Harter Secrest & Emery in the Buffalo office, lives in East Amherst, N.Y.

Warren B. Rosenbaum '72 is named in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 in the litigation, banking and finance category. Rosenbaum is a partner in Woods Oviatt Gilman in Rochester, N.Y., where he resides. He practices in corporate, commercial, fiduciary, creditor's rights and bankruptcy litigation.

Paul R. Comeau '73, Mark S. Klein '82, Timothy P. Noonan '99 and Joshua K. Lawrence '0 7 co-authored New York Residency and Allocation Audit Handbook . Comeau is co-chair of Hodgson Russ in Buffalo, practicing tax and estate planning. He lives in Williamsville, N.Y.

James W. Gresens '73 received the 2011 Pro Bono Award from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. Gresens is a partner in Duke Holzman Photiadis & Gresens in Buffalo and an adjunct faculty member at SUNY Buffalo Law School.

Richard M. Tobe '74 has been named Erie County Executive-elect Mark C. Poloncarz's deputy county executive and will take the lead on job creation. An adjunct professor with the Law School, he has served on the City of Buffalo Control Board. Tobe was previously commissioner of the City of Buffalo's Department of Economic Development, Permit and Inspection Services. He is a resident of Buffalo.

Paul S. Groschadl '75 is named in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 in the bankruptcy and creditor debts/insolvency and reorganization law category. He is a partner in Woods Oviatt Gilman in the Rochester, N.Y., office and chair of the firm's secured lending and financial recovery department. Groschadl lives in Fairport, N.Y.

Robert N. Convissar '77 received the 2011 Criminal Justice Act Award from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. He was recognized for his criminal defense work representing indigent defendants in the district court. Convissar is a Buffalo solo practitioner and a former president of the Bar Association of Erie County in Buffalo. He lives in Hamburg, N.Y.

David E. Franasiak '78 spoke at the New York Stock Exchange's Trader Forum in New York City on Oct. 20. Franasiak is a partner in Williams & Jensen in Washington, D.C., concentrating his practice in tax, securities, financial institutions and natural resources. He lives in Annapolis, Md.

John C. Herbert '78 is named in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 in the product liability category. Herbert is a partner in Harter Secrest & Emery in the Rochester, N.Y., office, practicing civil trial litigation. He lives in Rochester.

George M. Williams jr '78 of Ridgewood, N.J., received the 2011 Cornerstone Award from Lawyers Alliance for New York. Williams was honored for his work in assisting federal credit unions in receiving much-needed funds. He is a partner in Dewey & LeBoeuf in the New York City office, practicing corporate, corporate finance, and bank and institutional finance.

Francis M. Letro '79 will receive the 2012 Edwin F. Jaeckle Award, the highest honor SUNY Buffalo Law School and the Law Alumni Association can bestow. Letro, a Buffalo solo practitioner, is a past recipient of the Law Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumnus Award and a member of the Law School's Dean's Advisory Council. In June 2002, he committed $1 million to SUNY Buffalo Law School to establish the Francis M. Letro Courtroom, one of the first functional courtrooms housed in a law school in the nation. He is a Buffalo resident.

Cathy Kaman Ryan '80 is named in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 in the real estate category. She is a partner in Harter Secrest & Emery in the Rochester, N.Y., office.

Craig A. Slater '81, a partner in Harter Secrest & Emery in Buffalo, is named in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 in the environmental law category. Slater lives in Williamsville, N.Y.

Mark S. Klein '82, Paul R. Comeau '73, Timothy P. Noonan '99 and Joshua K. Lawrence '07 co-authored New York Residency and Allocation Audit Handbook . Klein also wrote Guidebook to New York Taxes, 2012 . He is a partner with Hodgson Russ in Buffalo in the state and local tax and tax dispute resolution practice groups and lives in East Amherst, N.Y.

Steven Kurlander '82 is a writer for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Opinion column. He is a resident of Lake Worth, Fla.

Ronald J. Mendrick '83 is named in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 in the education law and labor and employment law category. Mendrick is a partner in Harter Secrest & Emery in the Rochester, N.Y., office. He lives in Honeoye Falls, N.Y.

James E. Metzler '83 of Rochester, N.Y., received The Daily Record's 2011 Leaders in Law Award. He is a partner in Boylan Code in Rochester, practicing commercial litigation, employment matters and intellectual property disputes.

Andrew M. Thaler '83 of Garden City, N.Y., has been appointed to the New York City Bar Committee on Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization of the Association, Class of 2013. Thaler is founding partner in Thaler Gertler in East Meadow, N.Y., focusing on bankruptcy, bankruptcy litigation, mediation and real estate.

George W. Collins Jr. '84 is named in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 in the personal injury litigation-defendants category. Collins is a partner in Bouvier Partnership in Buffalo and lives in Amherst, N.Y.

Patrick J. Higgins '84 has been named in the 2012 Best Lawyers in America in the plaintiff's medical malpractice category and Super Lawyers 2011. He has also been named as the statewide chair for the New York State Bar Association seminar "Handling Tough Issues in the Plaintiff's Personal Injury Practice." Higgins is a partner in Powers & Santola in Albany, N.Y., where he resides.

William E. Nowakowski '84 has joined Magavern Magavern Grimm as counsel in Buffalo. Nowakowski practices litigation, bankruptcy, tax and real estate law. He is also a court-designated foreclosure referee and serves as an outside counsel for the Erie County Department of Social Services in Buffalo, where he resides.

Jill L. Paperno '84 received The Daily Record's Nathaniel Award. She is second assistant public defender in the Monroe County Public Defender's Office in Rochester, N.Y. Paperno lives in Pittsford, N.Y.

Susan Schultz Laluk '85 received The Daily Record's 2011 Leaders in Law Award. She is a partner in Hiscock & Barclay in the Rochester, N.Y., office, practicing corporate, employment and intellectual property law, and a past president of the Monroe County Bar Association. Laluk lives in Fairport, N.Y.

Brian V. McAvoy '85 is named in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 in the trusts and estates category. He is a partner in Harter Secrest & Emery in Naples, Fla., where he resides.

Peter H. Abdella '87 is named in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 in the construction law category. He is a partner in Harter Secrest & Emery in the Rochester, N.Y., office, practicing commercial and construction law. Abdella lives in Rochester.

Donna L. Burden '87 spoke recently at the 2011 Arkansas Trucking Seminar, "A Litigator's Approach to Preparing & Litigating Brain Injury Cases." Burden is a founding member of Burden Gulisano & Hickey in Buffalo, focusing on defending catastrophic transportation accidents. She is a resident of Williamsville, N.Y.

Brenda A. Mattar '92 has become special counsel with Magavern Magavern Grimm in Buffalo, specializing in estate planning and probate and elder law. She lives in Lockport, N.Y.

Jeffrey F. Baase '94 has become a member of the Council on Litigation Management. He is a partner in Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham & Coppola in Buffalo, practicing insurance coverage and defense litigation and products liability and subrogation. Baase lives in East Aurora, N.Y.

Kevin E. Raphael '94 authored the chapter "The Expanding Scope of, and Strategies for, Health Care Litigation in the Fraud, Abuse, and Waste Arena" in the 2011 edition of Inside the Minds: Health Care Litigation Strategies. He has also been named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer for 2011 in the area of health care. Raphael is a partner in Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti in Philadelphia and co-chair of the firm's health care litigation practice group. He lives in Flourtown, Pa.

Wendy A. Marsh '95 was elected to the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Foundation's board of directors in Syracuse, N.Y. She is a partner in Hancock Estabrook in Syracuse, practicing environmental, zoning and land use, health care, education and municipal, and labor and employment law. Marsh lives in Liverpool, N.Y.

Hilary C. Banker '96 is named in the 2011 New York Super Lawyers Upstate Edition. Banker is a partner in Burgio Kita & Curvin, practicing civil litigation and insurance defense law in Buffalo, where she resides.

Peter W. Beadle '96 has become a partner in LeClairRyan in the New York City office, practicing civil litigation. He is also an arbitrator in the New York City Civil Court, Small Claims Division. Beadle lives in Rego Park, N.Y.

Kelsey DiLapo Lukasik '98 has joined Bernhardi & Lukasik in the Amherst, N.Y., office, as an associate, concentrating on residential real estate, estate planning and estate administration. She lives in Lancaster, N.Y.

Timothy P. Noonan '99, Paul R. Comeau '73, Mark S. Klein '82 and Joshua K. Lawrence '07 co-authored New York Residency and Allocation Audit Handbook . Noonan is a partner in Hodgson Russ in Buffalo and a member of the state and local tax practice group specializing his practice in New York State and city tax issues and tax dispute resolution. He lives in Cheektowaga, N.Y.

Christopher J. Arnold '01 has accepted a position as a global legal talent development specialist at Shearman & Sterling in New York City, where he resides.

Brendan P. Kelleher '01 has become a partner in Hodgson Russ in the Buffalo office. He practices in the education law, labor and employment, employment litigation and municipal law practice groups. Kelleher previously served as general counsel to the City of Buffalo School District. He is a Buffalo resident.

Asker A. Saeed '01 has been named vice president customer business-commercial of International Aero Engines AG in Glastonbury, Conn., where he resides. Saeed previously served as counsel.

Ryan McPherson '02 has been named to the newly created position of chief sustainability officer at University at Buffalo. He will provide leadership and direction for sustainability initiatives as the University works to implement environmental objectives through UB Green and the campus environmental office. McPherson was previously associate vice president for government and community relations. He lives in East Aurora, N.Y.

Nicholas G. LoCicero '04 has joined Cohen & Lombardo as an associate in Buffalo. He practices in the areas of real estate, family/matrimonial, personal injury and civil litigation. LoCicero lives in Lancaster, N.Y.

Scott M. Lupiani '04 has become special counsel in Watson Bennett Colligan & Schechter in Buffalo, practicing in the firm's environmental and criminal law practice groups.

Joseph M. Hanna '05 received the 2011 Community Service Award from the Defense Research Institute. He was recognized for his outstanding commitment to the public as founder and president of Bunkers in Baghdad, a nonprofit organization that collects and ships new and used golf equipment to U.S. soldiers. In addition, he received the 2012 Trailblazer Award-One to Watch from the New York State Bar Association Committee on Diversity and Inclusion and has been named in the Business First and Buffalo Law Journal 2011 "Who's Who in Law." Hanna is a partner in Goldberg Segalla in Buffalo and president of the Minority Bar Association of Western New York, in Buffalo. He resides in Amherst, N.Y.

Elizabeth M. Midgley '06 has been named a co-chair of the Young Lawyers Committee of the Bar Association of Erie County in Buffalo. Midgley is an associate in Anspach Law in the Buffalo office, handling cases dealing with defense litigation, insurance defense, professional malpractice and railroad law. She is a resident of Amherst, N.Y.

Lynn Kwon-Dzikiy '07 has joined Bernhardi & Lukasik in the West Seneca, N.Y., office as an associate. She is team leader of the Social Security department. Kwon-Dzikiy lives in Williamsville, N.Y.

Joshua K. Lawrence '07, Paul R. Comeau '73, Mark S. Klein '82 and Timothy P. Noonan '99 co-authored New York Residency and Allocation Audit Handbook . Lawrence is an associate in the state and local tax practice group in Hodgson Russ in Buffalo, where he resides.

Erin E. McQuiggan '07 spoke at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute's 18th Annual Estate Law Institute on "I Don't Usually Practice in Orphans' Court But …" Her presentation provided tips on the difference between practice in the Court of Common Pleas and the Orphans' Court. McQuiggan is a member of the trusts and estates department in Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel in Philadelphia, where she resides.

Catherine I. Lynch '08 has become associated with Bernhardi & Lukasik in the West Seneca, N.Y., office, practicing Social Security disability and estate law. She lives in Buffalo.

Carrie R. McElroy '08 has joined Brown & Kelly as an associate in Buffalo. McElroy practices civil litigation, including insurance defense and coverage litigation. She is a Buffalo resident.

Nathan W.G. Berti '10 has become an associate in Magavern Magavern Grimm in Buffalo, practicing estates and trusts, estate planning and elder law. Berti is a resident of Amherst, N.Y.

Vincent M. Miranda '10 has joined Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman as an associate in Buffalo. He practices business litigation and employment law. Miranda previously served as an appellate court attorney in the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department, in Rochester, N.Y.