Category: News on the Homepage

Jeffrey Basso is a partner at Campolo, Middleton, & McCormick, LLP (CMM) where he represents business owners, corporations, corporate officers, shareholders, and investors in a variety of litigation matters in state and federal court involving employment, business, and contractual disputes. Basso was selected as one of thirteen attorneys to be featured in LIBN’s Who’s Who Labor Law special edition publication.

Basso has experience prosecuting and defending matters on behalf of clients in actions involving employment contracts, non-compete agreements, trade secrets, fiduciary duty, breach of contract, hour and wage disputes, real estate transactions, investments, and construction matters.

His successful track record in the labor law arena spans numerous industries. Recent representative matters include the defense of a Long Island metal fabrication company in a hostile workplace/discrimination lawsuit (resulting in the dismissal of all claims) and the defense of a large catering company in a wage and retaliation dispute (resulting in the court’s refusal to reinstate the former employees).

As business owners enter 2023, Basso advises they have a procedure in place for documenting poor work performance, insubordination, and other employee misconduct to minimize issues if and when an employee is terminated.

“Too many times, employers make the critical mistake of not documenting instances of poor performance and other issues with their employees,” he said. “Then, if the employee is terminated, litigation often ensues over claims of wrongful termination, retaliation and other related claims, which can be extremely costly and damaging to business owners. “

“If the employer has a procedure in place and documents the employee’s history of poor performance or other misconduct, these claims can often be extinguished before they get started,” Basso said.

Basso is also experienced in representing clients in business divorce matters, including the negotiation of creative strategies to divide assets, as well as business divorce litigation. His litigation practice also includes appellate work.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware and a juris doctor from St. John’s University School of Law.

He is admitted to practice in New York State and before the United States District Court, Southern District of New York and the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York.

View the full Who’s Who book here.

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP is delighted to announce that Lauren Kanter-Lawrence and Nancy Conte have been promoted to Vice Presidents and Kathleen DiLieto has been promoted to Controller, effective January 1, 2023. These senior-level promotions highlight the firm’s role as a destination for top talent in professional services.

As Vice President, Lauren Kanter-Lawrence, Esq. is responsible for CMM’s recruitment, training, marketing and communications, and business development efforts. She creates and implements programs that support the development and retention of the firm’s professionals, spearheads all staffing and talent matters, and oversees CMM’s in-house training programs. She also works closely with the Managing Partner on critical economic development initiatives to help Long Island grow. A graduate of Cornell University and Pace Law School, she joined the firm in 2008 as an attorney and has served as Director of Communications and Talent.

Nancy Conte has been promoted to Vice President of the Strata Alliance, a first-of-its-kind service that manages, connects, and aligns professional service providers working together for business owners and high-net-worth families. She plays a critical role in ensuring that clients have access to premier service providers covering all their needs. Bringing significant operational experience to her new role, Conte ensures that Strata has the resources to provide a superior client experience. In addition to her work with Strata, Conte also oversees the operations at CMM and other strategic business partners. She graduated from Stony Brook University and previously served as Strata’s Director of Operations.

Kathleen DiLieto, CPA, has been promoted from Assistant Controller to Controller. Now head of the accounting department, DiLieto is responsible for all financial reporting, budgeting and forecasting, general accounting, cash and treasury management, internal control assessments, accounts receivable and accounts payable. A CPA with her Accounting degree from St. Joseph’s College, DiLieto has over 20 years of experience in both public accounting and private industry. Her public and private sector experience enables her to analyze issues from all critical angles and work with firm leadership to effectively plan for the future.

Please join us in congratulating them!

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP is delighted to announce that attorneys Vincent Costa and David Green have been elevated to Partners at the firm, effective January 1, 2023.

Vincent Costa is a corporate lawyer with a focus on complex M&A transactions. Working with large corporations and high-net-worth individuals, he has closed countless M&A deals worth billions of dollars. He has successfully negotiated and led the CMM team on a variety of complex corporate matters including business divorces, buy-side and sell-side mergers and acquisitions (asset and stock purchases and sales), and financings, with particular experience in the healthcare, retail, construction, manufacturing, and technology sectors. Serving as the liaison among all the advisors and professional service providers involved in a deal, Costa has an eye for seeing how all the puzzle pieces fit together. By collaborating with clients’ teams of financial advisors, accountants, and M&A advisors, he works to achieve a smooth transaction for the benefit of the client.

Costa joined CMM in 2014 and worked his way up to Associate and Senior Associate before being named Partner. He graduated from Stony Brook University and Touro College – Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. He lives in Sayville with his wife and two young sons.  

David Green, based in our Westbury office, represents all types of businesses and individuals in various areas of litigation. He achieves results for his clients by utilizing all available legal strategies to help them navigate a complicated legal system. Green has spent many years in courthouses successfully fighting for his clients. His experience includes complex discovery, trials, appeals, securing settlements, and alternative dispute resolution. His unique background allows him to successfully represent companies and individuals in a wide range of industries including technology, publishing, fashion, import/export, construction and development, education, transportation, and healthcare. Green’s experience inside and outside the courtroom allows him to craft creative and effective solutions that help his clients save critical time and resources.

Also a Trustee of the Sea Cliff Village Library, Green joined CMM in 2018 as an Associate.  He was promoted to Senior Associate in 2020 before being named Partner. He graduated from the University of Delaware and the University of Miami, School of Law. Green lives in Sea Cliff with his wife and three sons.

Costa and Green’s elevation to Partner is a milestone professional achievement for them and the firm. We are so pleased to congratulate them!

Even in the post-Grumman era, Long Island continues to be a world leader in the aerospace industry. Campolo, Middleton & McCormick represents several clients in this space and has guided them all the way through from when they launched their businesses through landing very lucrative and successful exits. CMM recently facilitated a multi-million-dollar stock purchase transaction for our client Northeast Aero Compressor (NEACO), a leading aerospace repair business. The acquisition was made by Jet Parts Engineering, a leading designer of proprietary OEM-alternative parts and repair services for the commercial aerospace industry and a portfolio company of Vance Street Capital.

CMM’s Donald Rassiger led the transaction team with significant support from Vincent Costa, Zachary Mike and paralegal Cailey McByrne. The team worked with Managing Partner Alan Sasserath of Sasserath & Co. CPAs to close the deal.

View the press release below or here.

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JET PARTS ENGINEERING ACQUIRES NORTHEAST AERO COMPRESSOR
November 30, 2022 | Source: Jet Parts Engineering

Seattle, WA – Jet Parts Engineering (JPE), a leading PMA parts and engineered repairs provider, today announced the acquisition of Northeast Aero Compressor (NEACO), a certified 145 repair station and industry leader specializing in the maintenance of complex pneumatic, hydraulic, fuel, and electro-mechanical systems while incorporating DER repair and PMA capabilities.

The acquisition of NEACO by JPE creates a diversified leader in PMA parts, DER repairs, and component repair/overhaul capabilities to offer a broad array of aftermarket services to their commercial, cargo, regional and military aircraft customers. JPE plans to invest significantly in NEACO’s Bohemia, NY facility to expand their technical resources and meet high market demands for aftermarket repairs.

“Jet Parts Engineering is thrilled to partner with NEACO and continue to deliver high quality solutions in the aftermarket. Linda and Mike Gibson have built a terrific team,” said Anu Goel, CEO of Jet Parts Engineering. “NEACO is a huge opportunity to add a highly complementary portfolio of component repairs to our existing PMA and DER offerings.”

NEACO was founded in 1989 with the mission of becoming a preeminent aerospace industry leader. For over three decades, NEACO has remained dedicated to continually building a knowledge base and new aviation capabilities. The team at NEACO have rigorously reviewed and audited their procedures over the years, ensuring their fast and accurate service exceeds the expectations set by their customers and the FAA.

The transaction was overseen by Vance Street Capital, a middle-market private equity firm focused on investing in highly engineered solutions businesses across the aerospace and defense, industrial, and medical markets. JPE is a Vance Street Capital portfolio company.

“The Gibson family built a valuable business founded on the principles that Vance Street prioritizes in all investments: customer-first attitude, high quality standards and humility,” said Nic Janneck, Partner at Vance Street. “We are excited to continue to support the JPE team on their fourth add-on under Vance Street ownership.”

Congratulations to our client Pure Property Group LLC! CMM recently guided the company through its purchase of the property management division of a South Fork business. PPG manages residential properties on Long Island’s East End, and this acquisition provides the company with new clients as well as a platform for their further growth in the area.

CMM’s Don Rassiger and Vincent Costa efficiently handled the deal, illustrating CMM’s ability to successfully close deals large and small across a wide range of industries. Learn more here about CMM’s Mergers and Acquisitions practice.

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick is pleased to have represented SUNation Energy, a top solar and energy expert throughout the Long Island area, in its acquisition by Pineapple Energy, a leading provider of sustainable solar energy and back-up power to households and small businesses.

Joe Campolo and Vincent Costa led the deal team, which included CMM’s Marc Saracino and Cailey McByrne, as well as Alan Sasserath, Fred Rook, and Sean Laurie of Sasserath & Co. CPAs.

Congratulations and thank you to SUNation’s Scott Maskin and Jim Brennan, who recognized us as “a world class legal team.”

View the full press release below or here.

Pineapple Energy Acquires New York-based SUNation Energy

November 10, 2022 08:15 ET | Source: Pineapple Energy

Acquisition Expected to Triple Annual Revenue
Strong Fit with Pineapple’s Customer-centric Model

MINNETONKA, Minn., Nov. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pineapple Energy Inc. (“Pineapple,” “Pineapple Energy” or the “Company”), a leading provider of sustainable solar energy and back-up power to households and small businesses, today announced the acquisition of SUNation Energy (“SUNation”), a New York-based installer of solar and battery energy storage systems for residential and small commercial customers. The transaction closed on November 9, 2022.

SUNation has served Long Island for 19 years, offering a range of solar energy solutions including residential, commercial, battery storage, and roofing, and currently services over 12,000 PV systems. Over the course of almost 8,000 projects since inception, SUNation has installed over 275,000 solar panels representing 92 MW of clean, carbon-free solar power.

The acquisition reinforces Pineapple’s strategy as a customer-centric company, building long-term customer relationships through its “white-glove” customer experience. SUNation’s commitment to high-quality customer service, which aligns with Pineapple’s customer-centric culture, was an important reason for the acquisition.

Founder Scott Maskin will continue to manage SUNation in New York. Scott will be leveraged to engage current and future acquisitions in core value alignment and be appointed to Pineapple’s board of directors. SUNation’s Chief Growth Officer Jim Brennan will move into a strategic role at Pineapple Energy, leading the corporate development function, where he will help execute the strategic vision for both organic and M&A-driven growth.

“We’re thrilled to announce the SUNation acquisition, which is a fantastic complement to our Hawaii Energy Connection and E-Gear acquisitions which closed alongside our merger into a publicly traded company earlier this year,” said Kyle Udseth, CEO of Pineapple Energy. “This acquisition is an indication of the growth potential inherent in our strategy of consolidating and building a nationwide solar, battery storage and home energy management business. We believe the acquisition will give us more scale, increase our revenue substantially, and move us toward achieving the important goal of reaching cash flow positive in 2023. Further, it expands our footprint into the northeastern United States, a region with strong demand for solar energy. We’re excited to welcome the SUNation team to the Pineapple family and look forward to growing our business as an integrated team.”

SUNation Founder, CEO and Chief Fun Officer Scott Maskin added, “SUNation Energy is elated to join the Pineapple Energy family. Almost 20 years ago we set out to change the way our friends and neighbors powered their homes and businesses. Through the years we’ve seen many companies come and go, mostly because they forgot who was most important, the customer. We are so fortunate to find a team that shares the same core values and goals as SUNation. Dominant, high quality, referral based regional companies are the heart and soul of this industry and Pineapple was quick to recognize the amazing work the SUNation team has accomplished. Together with the Pineapple team we can scale this model nationally while delivering the highest quality customer experience possible The Pineapple team is humble, knowledgeable and aggressive. We are an unstoppable team.”

Pineapple Chief Financial Officer Eric Ingvaldson expanded on the financial and strategic rationale, “SUNation moves us closer to the critical mass we need to accelerate our growth. They generated revenue of $48 million in the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2022, which represents approximately twice the revenue generated by our Hawaii operations. In addition, we are continuing to focus on other acquisition opportunities. We are excited about the potential to enter 2023 with strong business momentum, a growing national footprint, an outstanding team with extensive solar industry knowledge, and positioned to become cash-generating during the year.”

PIPE Investment Reset

Following market close on November 9, 2022, the Company also entered into an agreement with the Company’s existing preferred stock and warrant holders (the “PIPE Investors”), whereby these investors provided certain waivers to the anti-dilution protections, in return for a reset of the conversion price of the preferred stock to $4.00 and a reset of the strike price on certain of their warrants to $4.00 from $13.60. Following the adjustments, the Company’s $32 million of Series A Preferred Stock preference is currently convertible into approximately 8 million shares of common stock at $4.00 per share and the PIPE Investors hold warrants to purchase approximately 4.0 million shares of common stock at $4.00 per share and warrants to purchase approximately 1.2 million shares of common stock at $13.60 per share. The conversion price Series A Preferred Stock and the conversion price of the warrants and the number of shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants continue to be subject to further adjustment in accordance with their terms. “We believe that this reset will help to clear the Company’s capitalization and provide greater flexibility to the Company to continue its growth through acquisitions,” said Kyle Udseth, CEO of Pineapple Energy.

About Pineapple Energy

Pineapple is focused on growing leading local and regional solar, storage, and energy services companies nationwide. Our vision is to power the energy transition through grass-roots growth of solar electricity paired with battery storage. Our portfolio of brands (Hawaii Energy Connection, E-Gear, Sungevity, and Horizon Solar Power) provide homeowners and small businesses with an end-to-end product offering spanning solar, battery storage, and grid services.

About SUNation

SUNation is a residential and commercial solar installer in the state of New York. SUNation Service is a division of SUNation Energy that provides a wide range of services that are necessary for maintaining a customer’s solar system. For the 13^th year in a row, SUNation has been voted the Best Solar Business on Long Island and the company is at the highest credential level with Tesla, REC, S Energy, Enphase, Sonnen and Span IO.

By Jamie Herzlich, Newsday

The U.S. Treasury Department has issued a final rule that would create a new database containing personal ownership information that an estimated 32 million small businesses must submit. 

The rule’s intended to make it “harder for criminals, organized crime rings, and other illicit actors to hide their identities and launder their money through the financial system,” according to Treasury.

But some experts say the rule, which requires additional guidance, may be burdensome and costly to legitimate small businesses.

“The overall spirit of the rule was something we agreed with, but we also wanted to do it in a way that minimizes the burden of small businesses,” says Will Gardner, a Washington-based director of policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness.

In January 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act, which aimed to improve anti-money laundering enforcement in the U.S., he says. The legislation directs the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to create a new federal database requiring certain businesses to report their beneficial owners and the company applicants of the entity, says Gardner, who provides more insight at https://tinyurl.com/yyjw4msa. See https://tinyurl.com/5y5hbmcc for beneficial owner and applicant definitions.

Christine Malafi, senior partner and chair of the corporate department at Campolo, Middleton & McCormick LLP in Ronkonkoma, agrees, noting, “a lot of small businesses do not have their corporate books in order.”

And while “the purpose of the rule is laudable, I’m not sure the people who are intent on laundering money through a front company are going to report that they are involved in the companies,” she says.

Malafi also expressed concern over the security of the information being submitted, which includes the beneficial owner’s name, birthdate, address and a unique identifying number from a document such as a passport or license.

Read full article on Newsday’s website.

Think municipal law is limited to zoning disputes? You’ll be intrigued by CMM’s latest municipal law success story involving an animal shelter, an arrest for trespass, and an accusation of malicious prosecution.

CMM’s client, a Suffolk County Town, had previously suspended the plaintiff (the supervisor of the Town animal shelter) based upon concerns about her performance. Pending a hearing on the matter, the Town barred her from returning to Town property. Days later, she appeared at the shelter, and Town employees reported the incident. The plaintiff was subsequently arrested for trespassing (charges that were later dropped).

The plaintiff sued the Town in 2017, alleging First Amendment (freedom of assembly) and Fourth Amendment (abuse of process) claims, as well as malicious prosecution. Almost immediately, CMM secured the dismissal of all claims except malicious prosecution, which the Court allowed to proceed through discovery. The plaintiff claimed that the Town (through certain employees and investigators) “initiated” criminal proceedings against her by urging her prosecution and providing false information to the D.A.’s office. After discovery concluded, with these claims debunked, CMM’s Scott Middleton and Richard DeMaio moved for summary judgment (essentially, asking the Court to find that there are no facts in dispute and to rule in our favor).

In a recent decision, the Court granted that motion and dismissed the case. The Court found that the plaintiff failed to establish that the Town employees initiated criminal proceedings; rather, all they did was report a perceived trespass. The Court also found that regardless of whether there was a crime, the Town employees were entitled to qualified immunity.

This outcome was a major win for the Town, finally putting this case to rest after more than five years. Visit our Municipal Liability page to learn more about other successful cases.