Category: News on the Homepage

Ronkonkoma, NY – Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP, a premier law firm with offices in Ronkonkoma and Bridgehampton, is pleased to welcome Richard A. DeMaio, Esq., to the firm as an Associate. Previously, he was a Summer Associate at the firm in 2016.

DeMaio focuses on litigation in varied subject matter including contract issues, business disputes, Federal Court matters, and landlord-tenant cases. He works extensively on motion practice in commercial litigation matters and also has experience preparing cases for trial including organizing exhibits, drafting trial memoranda, and assisting with trial strategy. DeMaio is particularly interested in the intersection of law and technology, making him a go-to attorney at the firm for issues regarding e-discovery.

The Lindenhurst resident graduated from Hofstra University Honors College magna cum laude and Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law cum laude, where he served as the Notes Editor for Hofstra Law Review. Admitted to practice in New York State, DeMaio is a member of the Suffolk County Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association. Prior to joining the firm, DeMaio worked at the New York State Division of Human Rights while in law school and also served as a legal intern for Judge Arthur Spatt of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

“Richard’s research and writing have already led to successful outcomes and creative litigation strategies for our clients,” said Patrick McCormick, chair of the firm’s Litigation & Appeals practice group. “We’re excited for Richard as he embarks on his legal career and are very happy to have him on board.”

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.

Ronkonkoma, NY – An advocate for the local community, Christine Malafi, a partner at Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP, a premier law firm with offices in Ronkonkoma and Bridgehampton, has been elected to the Board of Directors of Family Service League, a Long Island based non-profit human service organization that provides a safety net for people in need.

Established in 1926, Family Service League (FSL) touches the lives of 50,000 people annually, addressing some of the most prevalent and pressing human needs facing our Long Island communities.  The agency delivers tangible help and crisis intervention across a spectrum of service areas including mental health conditions, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, job training, computer literacy, trauma counseling, and children, family and senior support services. In addition, FSL operates pre-school learning centers and universal pre-K programs.  In all, FSL offers over 60 programs at 20 locations throughout Long Island.

“We are proud to welcome Christine to the Family Service League Board of Directors.  We feel that her integrity and expertise in law and business, combined with her advocacy of social service programs, will be an asset to our organization as we plan for the future,” said Karen Boorshtein, FSL President and CEO.

Malafi’s credentials include chairing CMM’s Corporate department, one of the most robust teams in the New York region. Her practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and labor and employment matters, as well as municipal, insurance coverage, and fraud issues. She represents buyers and sellers in multimillion dollar transactions and serves in a general counsel role for many of CMM’s internationally-based clients.  Prior to joining CMM, Malafi made history as the first woman and youngest person to serve as Suffolk County Attorney.

In addition to her new role with Family Service League, Malafi serves on the Boards of the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County and Natasha’s Justice Project, as well as the Board of Governors of Touro Law School.

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. 

Ronkonkoma, NY – Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP, a premier law firm with offices in Ronkonkoma and Bridgehampton, is pleased to announce that it has successfully closed the asset sale of a prominent scaffolding business to a large private equity-backed company for an undisclosed sum. Brooklyn-based All-Safe, LLC, a provider of turnkey hoisting, scaffolding, shoring, and bracing as well as job site protection solutions for commercial construction projects, retained CMM to guide it through the complicated sale to BrandSafway and SafwayAtlantic, which deliver access solutions in the New York, New Jersey, and Chicago metropolitan markets.

“We look forward to combining our assets and expertise with SafwayAtlantic, a leader in delivering comprehensive, world-class urban access solutions,” said Dan O’Brien, co-owner of All-Safe. “With guidance from Joe [Campolo], Don [Rassiger], and the entire CMM team, we felt confident throughout the entire process and closed on the deal extremely efficiently.”

One of the most robust M&A teams in the New York region, CMM has been involved in helping clients close billions of dollars worth of deals over the past 10 years. CMM attorneys and in-house financial experts work to creatively keep deals moving efficiently toward closing. The M&A team also has access to a critical network of relationships with M&A advisors, bankers, accountants, IDA loan advisors, and other professionals to assist in getting deals done. This background makes CMM the smart and convenient choice for sophisticated businesses who seek an alternative to the expense and anonymity of working with larger NYC firms.

Alan Sasserath, partner at Melville-based specialty accounting firm Sasserath & Zoraian, served as tax advisor to All-Safe on the transaction.

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.”