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Ronkonkoma, NY – Continuing its winning streak in the Leadership in Law Awards by Long Island Business News, Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, a premier law firm with offices in Ronkonkoma and Bridgehampton, announced that two of its attorneys will be recognized at this year’s awards ceremony. Christine Malafi and Donald Rassiger will accept their awards at a gala dinner on Thursday, November 16, 2017 at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury. The Leadership in Law Awards recognize individuals whose leadership has had a positive impact on the legal profession and the Long Island community.

Malafi will be honored in the Partner category. She chairs the Corporate department at CMM, where she focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and complex transactions, and also maintains a busy Labor & Employment practice, serving in a general counsel role for many of the firm’s internationally based clients.  Prior to joining the firm, Malafi earned the distinction of being the first woman and youngest person ever to serve as Suffolk County Attorney, where for eight years she focused on obtaining jury verdicts in favor of the County, enforcing anti-discrimination laws, and protecting children from harm. Today, in addition to her legal work, Malafi focuses on advancing the interests of women and girls.  She serves on the boards of the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County and Natasha’s Justice Project, and is also a longtime Girls Inc. volunteer.  Malafi also serves on the Board of Governors of Touro Law School and the New York State Pro Bono Scholars Task Force.

Rassiger achieved distinction in the Counsel category. Chair of the firm’s Construction department and a member of the Corporate and M&A teams, Rassiger has represented clients on all sides of the table including owners, developers, general contractors, subcontractors, engineers, architects, construction managers, and program managers.  Having served as Chief Legal Officer of four companies and created the General Counsel role at three of them, he understands how management thinks—a unique perspective he brings to all matters he handles. In addition to his professional endeavors, Rassiger serves the community through his longtime involvement with the Joe Namath Celebrity Golf Classic, a major fundraiser for the March of Dimes.  He also serves as a mentor to his CMM colleagues looking to emulate his successful career path, offering them guidance on both legal strategy and career development.

About CMM
Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP is a premier law firm with offices in Ronkonkoma and Bridgehampton, New York. Over the past generation, CMM attorneys have played a central role in the most critical legal issues and transactions affecting Long Island. The firm has earned the prestigious HIA-LI Business Achievement Award and LIBN Corporate Citizenship Award, a spot on the U.S. News & World Report list of Best Law Firms, and the coveted title of Best Law Firm on Long Island. Learn more at www.cmmllp.com.

By Carrie Mason-Draffen
carrie.mason-draffen@newsday.com

Executives seeking information on how to avoid labor law violations shouldn’t fear reaching out to regulators for answers, even if they are uncertain their workplace practices are legal.

“Asking a question will never lead to an audit,” Irv Miljoner, who heads the Long Island office of the U.S. Department of Labor, told executives at a seminar Tuesday at the Hilton Long Island in Melville. “Our purpose is to help you come into compliance and stay there.”

But labor law violations are on the rise, largely because of companies’ failure to pay overtime, Miljoner told the gathering, which was hosted by the Ronkonkoma law firm Campolo, Middleton & McCormick (and sponsored by Citrin Cooperman and Compass Workforce Solutions). The number of cases the office closed out in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 rose to 460, from 380 the year before, Miljoner said.

The underpaid workers are often undocumented immigrants, he said. And while employers “have an obligation” to hire workers who can legally work in this country, labor laws protect undocumented workers.

“There have been Supreme Court decisions that firmly establish that the wage and hour laws still apply to undocumented workers,” Miljoner said.

He was one of four panelists at the breakfast seminar, which addressed several workplace issues.

The use of social media on the job can be tricky unless employers have a written policy spelling out their guidelines, said Christine Ippolito, principal at Compass Workforce Solutions, a Deer Park human-resource-services firm for small businesses.

“You need to lay out for people what are the expectations,” she said.

Ippolito mentioned that a friend who works for a large chemical company complained about some employees’ frequent cellphone use in the workplace, including forklift drivers who text while at the wheel.

“The good news is that it is your network, and it is your internet,” she said of employers. “And because it belongs to you, you can restrict the access to it and what it is used for and when it is used for personal purposes.”

Employers can avoid many legal problems if they have policies about equal opportunity as well as complaint procedures that encourage employees to try to resolve concerns, such as a colleague’s untoward behavior, within the office.

“If they are willing to come to you, 99 percent of the time you will figure it out and stop it,” Ippolito said.

The panel also talked about how millennials have changed some workplace customs, such as views on tattoos.

“To be competitive and remain competitive . . . organizations have had to relax some of their standards regarding tattoos,” said panel moderator Joe Campolo, the law firm’s managing partner.

Ippolito said the presence of so many tattooed employees in the hospitality industry used to bother some of her restaurant clients until they realized some were a customer draw.

“For bartenders it was actually good for business,” she said. “For their customers it was something to talk about.”

And she added, “I always look at the work environment as, ‘Manage people based on their performance. And if it’s not interfering with their performance, so what?’”

Campolo moderated a panel that included Miljoner, Ippolito, Arthur Yermash, Esq. of Campolo, Middleton & McCormick and Thomas Walsh of Citrin Cooperman.

Read it on Newsday.

Solidifying its reputation as a go-to M&A firm across a wide range of industries, Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP represented the buyer in the acquisition of Butter Beans, Inc. and Butter Beans Wellness, Inc., innovative companies offering nutrient-rich meals and fact-filled wellness initiatives to promote healthier lifestyle choices. Butter Beans also brands nutritional and locally sourced meals through a centralized kitchen concept. The terms of the deal, which closed in early summer 2017, were not disclosed.

Purchaser and CMM client Patrick Persons is the founder and President of Impetus Capital. He has successfully led business integrations of acquired companies within the middle market sector while enhancing sales and marketing, operational, financial, and back-office efficiencies.

Queens-based Butter Beans was founded to address the challenges that busy parents face in providing their children homemade, delicious, and healthy meals to bring to school every day. Seeking to provide healthy food for bodies and minds, Butter Beans offers lunch programs for schools that wish to offer hot lunch to their entire student body and wellness education programs inside and outside the classroom. Butter Beans meals are made by trained chefs with local, seasonal, and organic ingredients. Learn more at http://butterbeanskitchen.com/.

Ronkonkoma, NY – Joe Campolo, Managing Partner of Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP, a premier law firm, has been recognized by the business community with a Long Island Business News ICON Award. ICON winners hail from diverse backgrounds in the corporate world, the healthcare industry, the creative and performing arts and beyond, but all share the keen ability to motivate and teach others – hallmarks of Campolo’s leadership style. Campolo will be honored at an awards ceremony and breakfast on September 18, 2017 at 8:00 a.m. at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.

Consistently voted Best Lawyer on Long Island by the business community, Campolo is described by the press as “a fearless lawyer willing to tackle big and complex cases.”  Under his leadership as Managing Partner at CMM, the firm has grown from two lawyers to a robust and highly respected team of over 30 lawyers servicing clients in a wide range of legal practice areas.  CMM’s commitment to excellence has earned the firm many accolades from the business community. In 2017, CMM was again voted the Best Law Firm on Long Island, prevailing over a field that included many larger and long-established firms. The firm has also been awarded the prestigious Business Achievement Award from HIA-LI and Corporate Citizenship Awards from LIBN and Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS), as well as a spot on the U.S. News & World Report list of Best Law Firms.

Campolo dedicates his time to a variety of philanthropic causes, including the Tourette Association of America, HIA-LI, UCP Long Island, the American Red Cross on Long Island, and the Long Island High Technology Incubator. An avid supporter of the arts, Campolo also serves on the advisory board of the Staller Center for the Arts. Prior to starting the firm, Campolo served honorably in the United States Marine Corps.

Campolo is a member of St. George’s Golf & Country Club in Stony Brook.  In addition to his legal work and community involvement, he is also an Executive Producer of “Tribute,” an award-winning short film.

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP has secured another municipal victory with its representation of the Town of Smithtown in a successful effort to replace the leadership at the Town’s animal shelter due to serious safety concerns for shelter employees, the animals in their care, and the public.

On July 25, the Town Board voted to terminate shelter director Susan Hansen, accepting the recommendation of independent hearing officer James P. Clark. Clark reached his conclusions after a four-day disciplinary hearing this spring to address reported filthy conditions and disorganized management at the shelter, which had led to two charges of misconduct and five charges of incompetence against Hansen. CMM’s municipal liability practice group, led by Scott Middleton, Esq., aggressively represented the Town of Smithtown at the hearing, calling numerous witnesses to testify, cross-examining Hansen’s witnesses, and introducing exhibits that clearly illustrated the reasons for the Town’s deep concerns over Hansen’s leadership. The evidence pertained to Hansen’s failure to take corrective action with regard to an inoperative fire alarm, exposure of an employee to a volatile situation in violation of operational policy, and failure to maintain a clean and safe environment for the animals and employees, among other serious issues. CMM’s presentation of the evidence persuasively convinced Clark that while Hansen was “unquestionably a dedicated animal activist, [she] is not suited for the role of Director.”

Middleton said of the Board’s decision to terminate Hansen and seek new leadership at the shelter, “The Town takes safety extremely seriously – that of the public, Town employees, and the animals who reside at the shelter. This is the correct result to further the Town’s safety obligations to all parties involved.”

Many firms tout their economic development services, but Campolo, Middleton & McCormick is unique in that we are actually in the trenches working on critical initiatives to attract investment and development in our region.

CMM Managing Partner Joe Campolo, a board member of the Hauppauge Industrial Association (HIA-LI), recently spearheaded the first ever Economic Impact Study analyzing the critical role of the Hauppauge Industrial Park in the state and local economy.  The study details the Park’s population density, industrial diversity, high employment rate, eco-friendly initiatives, and strong economic impact on the region.  The comprehensive study was developed under the direction of an HIA-LI task force of Long Island business owners, in collaboration with the Suffolk IDA, Regional Plan Association, and Stony Brook University.

“These 11 square miles make up only .0002 percent of New York State in terms of size, yet the sales volume of the Park accounts for approximately 1.35 percent of the gross state product of New York State,” Campolo said.  “The numbers make clear just how critical the Park’s continued growth is to the Long Island and state economy.  It’s the crown jewel of the region.”

Phase One of the Economic Impact Study revealed the following impressive numbers:

• 1,350+ manufacturing, construction and services industry businesses reside in the Park
• 55,000+ individuals employed by Park businesses
• 1 in 20 jobs on Long Island is dependent on the Hauppauge Industrial Park
• $13.4 billion sales volume generated by Park businesses
• $2.897 billion in total combined Park business payrolls
• $64.5 million levied in annual property taxes

Download the Executive Summary of the Economic Impact Statement.

“Over time, we expect that Park infrastructure improvements like the new sewer system and overlay district, combined with innovative development and increased investment, will enable expansion of the Park to include residential and entertainment spaces as well as typical industrial uses,” said Terri Alessi-Miceli, President of HIA-LI.

Potential growth opportunities for the Park include development of rental apartments, walking paths, entertainment venues, an innovation hub, and a buying consortium.

Campolo is leading HIA-LI’s efforts to attract investment and development in the Park.  “We are very aggressively pursuing the dollars and improvements needed to bring the Park into the future.”

After a lengthy and hard-fought case, the CMM healthcare team has prevailed in saving a client’s medical license.

New York State’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) suspended the physician’s license to practice medicine early last year following her convictions for felonies in Dutchess County in a prosecution brought by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, as well as DWI.  CMM immediately commenced the hearing process, which took place over ten appearances in Albany, finally culminating in November 2016.

In April, the Hearing Committee rendered its decision.  The OPMC had sought full revocation of our client’s license, but the Hearing Committee sustained eight counts of misconduct and dismissed six others, including additional charges that the OPMC filed toward the end of the hearing to further delay the case.  In its decision, the Hearing Committee noted that they “ultimately decided that mitigating circumstances exist here that warrant a lesser sanction” than revocation.

Once cleared by an evaluation to declare her fit to practice medicine, the physician will serve five years of probation under OPMC and undergo monitoring of her practice by another physician.  The decision states, “The Hearing Committee believes that if provided with the opportunity to participate in – and complete – an intensive therapy program, the Respondent will be capable of providing safe and proper medical care to patients.”

The CMM team saved the career of a doctor who needed a second chance.  Our attorneys provide aggressive defense not only for physicians, but any licensed professional (including nurses, chiropractors, massage therapists, and accountants) facing the possible loss of their license.  This recent decision further bolsters CMM’s reputation as a go-to firm for this important work.