Neil A. Goldberg ’73

Neil Goldberg.

Neil A. Goldberg ’73 is a co-founding partner of the law firm Goldberg Segalla LLP, which employs about 285 lawyers in 19 offices in the United States and the United Kingdom. He focuses his practice on personal injury, product liability and legal malpractice.

About this Interview

Interview Date(s)

April 5, 2016

Occasion

Distinguished Alumnus Award for Private Practice at the 54th Annual Alumni Dinner, an award shared with Thomas Segalla, his Goldberg Segalla co-founding partner

Interviewed By

Anne Joynt

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About Neil A. Goldberg

Goldberg was born in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. His father was a twin son of a lawyer. He came from a poor background and was an adjudicated juvenile delinquent. But Goldberg wanted to be a lawyer and his family encouraged him to become an “esq.” He attended SUNY Stony Brook for undergraduate school, then earned his UB law school tuition by deferring his admission and working as a buyer for Abraham and Strauss.

Goldberg felt “blessed” by his UB law school experience. Professor Howard Mann was his favorite person. Mann taught his Constitutional Law class, became his mentor, and found him a clerkship that paid him enough to stay in law school.

He met his partner Tom Segalla while on the Buffalo Law Review. They then became associates at the Buffalo law firm Saperston & Day, where they worked for 27 years. They later started their law firm together. “We’ve been together ever since.”

His greatest professional achievement, he said, has been collaborating with Tom Segalla for 45 years and building one of the most dynamic law firms in the county.

Goldberg’s advice to law students: Treat law as a career and not a job. Invest in yourself. “Only you can make yourself great.” Do not waste a single day of your life.

Explore the Class of 1973

  • Neil A. Goldberg ’73
    2/27/26
    Neil A. Goldberg ’73 is a co-founding partner of the law firm Goldberg Segalla LLP, which employs about 285 lawyers in 19 offices in the United States and the United Kingdom. He focuses his practice on personal injury, product liability and legal malpractice.
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    Hon. Thomas M. Van Strydonck ’73, a Supreme Court justice for the 7 Judicial District until 2012, served as chief administrative judge from 2000 to 2010. Appointed by Gov. George Pataki to the Supreme Court in 1998, he previously served as an assistant Monroe County district attorney and worked in private practice.
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    Hon. Eugene F. Pigott Jr. ’73 was nominated by Gov. George E. Pataki as an associate judge of the New York State Court of Appeals in 2006. Previously, he practiced law in Buffalo; was Erie County Attorney; was elected to State Supreme Court; and served as the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, presiding justice. He received the 37 annual Edwin F. Jaeckle Award in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the law, UB School of Law and the people of New York. The Jaeckle Award is the highest honor UB Law and the Law Alumni Association can bestow.
  • Paul R. Comeau ’73
    2/27/26
    Paul R. Comeau ’73, chairperson emeritus and senior partner at Hodgson Russ LLP, helped create the firm’s state and local tax practice. He focuses his practice on high-net-worth clients, tax planning for individuals and businesses, and multistate tax issues.