Category: News on the Homepage

In a deal that spanned numerous corporate and employment law issues – and even a brief stint in court – CMM successfully closed a stock purchase transaction that enabled a longtime Long Island manufacturing company to begin its next chapter.

Our client was a 50% owner of the company and had become engaged in an arduous battle over control of the company with his business partner. Unfortunately, without an effective Shareholders’ or Operating Agreement in place, long, drawn-out battles among formerly friendly business partners become all too common. As the years go by, many “what happens if” scenarios that were never addressed in good times catch up and become reality.

Hostile negotiations made it seem that this business divorce was destined for litigation (and did in fact include an appearance in the Suffolk County Commercial Division), but CMM continued to push for a more cost-effective solution. After several months of difficult negotiations, the parties agreed to a purchase price, including a long-term facility lease and a note. CMM Corporate Department managing attorney Don Rassiger negotiated the deal with assistance from Vincent Costa, who also worked on the documentation for the deal. Our client bought out his partners’ shares in the company and is now able to move the business forward. This critical step will allow the business to continue to grow and contribute to the Long Island economy.

Though business divorces are never easy, CMM attorneys are adept at untangling owners’ interests from businesses suffering a crisis. Learn more about our Corporate work here.

CMM has vast experience representing transportation providers in accident-related claims alleging personal injury and catastrophic loss. That experience recently led to the dismissal of all claims alleged in federal court against our clients, the out-of-state owners of a trucking/logistics company, in the firm’s latest litigation success story.

CMM represented Georgia residents in a personal injury action brought in federal court in New York by a plaintiff who resided in New York. The plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident involving the defendants’ truck in the trailer yard of Bob’s Discount Furniture in Maryland. CMM Senior Partner Scott Middleton, assisted by litigator Richard DeMaio, moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Essentially, CMM argued that the federal court in New York had no authority to hear a case against Georgia defendants regarding an accident that took place in Maryland; the plaintiff failed to allege that our out-of-state clients had any reasonable expectation that a trucking accident in Maryland would have consequences in New York.

While the plaintiff argued that his residence and medical treatment in New York should be enough to allow the suit to continue, the court was persuaded by CMM’s arguments, finding that there was no basis to exercise jurisdiction over our clients. In a victory for our clients, the court granted CMM’s motion to dismiss and closed the case.

CMM attorneys have decades of experience representing transportation providers including municipal bus lines, coach and school bus companies, fleet carriers, logistics companies, and limousine businesses. We have successfully defended clients insured by numerous major insurance companies across the country in virtually all areas of insurance coverage and defense. Learn more about our Liability Insurance & Insurance Coverage practice here.

CMM Managing Partner Joe Campolo and Cerini & Associates Managing Partner Ken Cerini brought the business and nonprofit communities together on January 29 with a candid discussion about creating win-win partnerships. Over 50 business and nonprofit leaders made new connections and came away with a fresh perspective from the event, “A Conversation About Philanthropy and Business,” held in CMM’s state-of-the-art training room in Ronkonkoma.

Campolo spoke of the need to create long-term partnerships, emphasizing that today’s employers and their teams need to be able to visualize and experience the impact of their charitable giving, not just write a check. Businesses need to remain profitable, Campolo explained, and engaging with nonprofits in a way that brings in business does not dilute their charity; rather, it increases engagement and thus the likelihood of the partnership continuing long after the next golf outing or gala is over. “There needs to be something strategic happening,” Campolo said. “How are we investing time between now and the next event?”

The intimate nature of the event helped foster candid discussion and the opportunity for guests to learn from one another. Nonprofit leaders emphasized that businesses often fail to factor in the administrative costs a nonprofit relies on to function, and discussed how they have had to adapt to an increased number of gifts restricted to specific events or projects, creating a cash flow crunch in other areas.

Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with attendees pointing out the actionable strategies they learned and planned to implement. “This morning’s discussion on philanthropy and business was easily the best event I have attended,” said Kevin O’Connell, owner of Hampton Pest Management. “Thank you for your care and concern for the vulnerable residents of Long Island,” said Jennifer Capezza, Director of Development at L.I. Against Domestic Violence. “There should be more folks out there like you.”

CMM’s goal is to serve as a resource for the Long Island community with forward-thinking events like this one. Sign up for our newsletters to receive updates in your inbox!

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP, a premier law firm with offices in Westbury, Ronkonkoma, and Bridgehampton, has made a generous ten-year gift commitment in the amount of $450,000 to the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University. This gift was made because of the leadership and generosity of CMM Managing Partner Joe Campolo, a Stony Brook University alumnus, Alumni Association Past President, and valued member of the Staller Center Advisory Board. This new pledge solidifies the firm’s dedication to the arts and the University as a whole.

The firm’s gift will continue their support as an annual Major Corporate Supporter of the Staller Center for the Arts Live Season and Stony Brook Film Festival, toward a new modern sound system for both the main stage theater and recital hall to enhance live performances at the Staller Center, for the Alumni Association Past President’s Scholarship, and for the Joseph N. Campolo Award for Legal Studies. The firm’s support of the Staller Center under the leadership of Joe Campolo is in addition to the firm’s longtime significant support of Stony Brook Athletics, spearheaded by CMM Senior Partner Scott Middleton, for whom the Middleton Family Student Athletic Alumni Award is named.

Philanthropy is a critical component of CMM’s DNA. In 2018, the firm launched CMM Cares, a volunteer initiative to benefit the community with donations of time, dollars, and support. As a Long Island business leader, Chairman of the HIA-LI Board of Directors, and Staller Advisory Board member, Joe Campolo also serves on the Board of Directors of the Long Island High Technology Incubator, also based at the University. Scott Middleton is a member of the SBU Intercollegiate Athletic Board and Stony Brook Children’s Hospital Task Force among many other prominent board associations.

Outside of NYS allocated funding, nearly 70% of support for Staller Center for the Arts comes directly from private donations through the generosity of corporations, individuals, and foundations. Funds raised directly impact the caliber of performers the Staller Center brings in, keep ticket prices affordable, and benefit critical arts and education outreach to the Long Island community. The new sound system that CMM funded for the Staller Center was a much-needed upgrade to both theaters and creates a new sleek look and dynamic sound performance. The Staller Center for the Arts is extremely thankful to Joe Campolo and his CMM colleagues for their unwavering dedication to helping keep the arts thriving.

When business partners can no longer work together, sometimes the best option for all parties to keep moving forward is a “business divorce.” CMM recently earned praise from a client for the firm’s successful navigation of both the legal and emotional issues that arose when the partners of a closely-held family business parted ways.

CMM represented the majority shareholder of a family-owned real estate company that owns and leases over 600,000 square feet of commercial and industrial properties throughout Long Island. Contemporaneous out-of-state divorce proceedings and estate planning issues for the high net worth family complicated the business breakup, but CMM remained focused on maximizing our client’s investment of time and money in the family business. The creative lawyering and business acumen of CMM attorneys Donald Rassiger and Vincent Costa successfully avoided litigation (a tremendous cost savings) and resulted in a positive outcome for our client, who shared after closing, “I want to thank you for your efforts on behalf of my family. It was a great team effort.”

CMM has extensive experience handling stock/equity purchases and sales when one or more partners buy out the other(s). The firm is adept at untangling owners’ interests from corporations, LLCs, and partnerships in crisis. Learn more about how we devise personally tailored solutions to help clients overcome challenging situations and achieve their business goals here.

Ronkonkoma, NY – Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP, a premier law firm with offices in Ronkonkoma, Bridgehampton, and Westbury, is delighted to announce that CMM attorneys Arthur Yermash (pictured left) and Jeffrey Basso have been elevated to Partners at the firm, effective January 1, 2019.

Arthur Yermash counsels clients in all areas of labor and employment law. He advises on compliance with federal, state, and local laws affecting the workplace and routinely negotiates a variety of employment-related documents and agreements. His practice also includes the defense of corporations and employers in discrimination claims, wage and hour disputes, and investigations by regulatory and government agencies. In addition to his extensive employment practice, Yermash has drafted and negotiated hundreds of contracts for various business-related matters and also has significant experience negotiating on behalf of clients in commercial real estate matters.

Yermash joined CMM in 2007 as a law school intern and worked his way up to Associate and Senior Associate before being named Partner. Born in Ukraine, Yermash immigrated to the United States with his family at age seven. He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School, Baruch College (CUNY – Macaulay Honors College), and Touro College – Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two young daughters. As of February 2019, Yermash will be based in the firm’s new Westbury office.

Jeff Basso is a member of CMM’s litigation team, representing business owners, corporations, officers, shareholders, and investors in a variety of matters in state and federal court involving business and contractual disputes. An aggressive litigator, Basso’s successful track record spans numerous industries. He has vast experience prosecuting and defending actions involving employment contracts, non-compete agreements, trade secrets, fiduciary duty, breach of contract, hour and wage disputes, real estate transactions, and construction matters. He is also experienced in representing clients in business divorce matters, including the negotiation of creative strategies to divide assets.

A lifelong Long Islander, Basso is a graduate of the University of Delaware and St. John’s University School of Law. He also holds a professional certificate from the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) for trial skills. Basso, who joined CMM in 2012, resides in Commack with his wife and two young daughters.

“On behalf of the senior partners, we’re thrilled to welcome Arthur and Jeff to the partnership,” said Managing Partner Joe Campolo. “Not only is their promotion a milestone professional achievement for them, but also for the firm. We celebrated our 10-year anniversary in 2018, which also marked the first time we welcomed new partners from within the firm’s ranks. Their achievement is a testament to our growth and success.”

In a deal that closed last month, Campolo, Middleton & McCormick represented the shareholder of a premier prosthetics company in the sale of all shares of stock to one of the leading orthopedic solutions providers in the world.

Our client’s company, which has offices throughout New York City, is now part of the second largest provider of orthopedic bracing in the United States. In business for over 70 years, our client has helped generations of New Yorkers live active lives through its wide range of prosthetic, orthotic, and cranial services and treatment. The West Coast-based purchaser provides easy-to-use products, services, technology, and consulting to improve the quality and lower the cost of patients’ orthopedic needs, providing solutions to over one million patients a year.

CMM’s Donald Rassiger and Vincent Costa brought the deal to a swift close, as did the guidance of Protegrity Advisors, the exclusive M&A advisor to the seller. Learn more about CMM’s robust M&A practice here.

The image of the service dog Sully lying next to the flag-draped casket of former President George H. W. Bush, whom Sully had assisted since June, attracted attention around the world last month when the photo went viral on social media.

Just before Christmas, when Sully returned to America’s VetDogs in Smithtown (where he was trained), CMM Managing Partner, HIA-LI Board Chairman, and United States Marine Corps veteran Joe Campolo was on hand at a well-attended press conference covered by the international media to welcome him home. Sully will stay on Long Island briefly before beginning his next assignment assisting military service members at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Joined by America’s VetDogs President & CEO John Miller, U.S. Congressman Lee Zeldin, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, local politicians, trainers, and fellow veterans, Campolo – as the representative of the Long Island business community – told the media that standing by our veterans when they return home is paramount. As a U.S. Marine, Campolo said he was honored to lead the charge so that returning veterans receive proper care and the support of the business community, government, and nonprofit organizations.

Campolo’s delivery of remarks on behalf of the business community at the press conference was the culmination of several intertwined veterans’ initiatives by CMM in 2018, as well as a deeply personal experience for Campolo.

This year, the firm launched CMM Cares, a volunteer initiative to benefit the community with donations of time, dollars, and support. CMM chose to support veterans for the inaugural year of CMM Cares.

Campolo was also invited to deliver the keynote address at the Stony Brook University Veterans Day ceremony last month, where he shared his personal experiences of serving his country and also spoke of the critical importance for the business community to support veterans by hiring, training, and providing opportunities for them to successfully rejoin civilian life with a strong support system.

Delivering remarks on the occasion of Sully’s return to Long Island was particularly poignant for Campolo who, upon the death of Barbara Bush earlier this year, blogged about the unique partnership between the former President and First Lady and his unforgettable experience meeting them in the early 1990s. His personal story appeared in Newsday at the time and was republished this month as one of the editorial team’s selections of a letter that best captured the spirit of 2018. That Sully served one of Campolo’s heroes, President Bush, was an emotional end to year in which Campolo and the firm made critical support for veterans the centerpiece of our philanthropic efforts.

Click here to watch Campolo’s remarks.

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick has just closed another large transaction for a major full-service bank with branches throughout New York City, Long Island, Westchester, and the surrounding metropolitan region.

CMM represented the bank in a multimillion-dollar deal involving lines of credit extended to a well-known professional service firm relocating its New York City headquarters. CMM prepared all loan and credit line documents, reviewed the borrower’s documentation critical to the transaction, and worked to ensure a smooth closing.