News (All) - Page 8 of 161 - Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP

CMM’s Christine Malafi Honored with Leadership in Law Award

Posted: November 16th, 2023

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP is pleased to announce Senior Partner Christine Malafi has been selected by Long Island Business News as an honoree of the 2023 Leadership in Law Awards. This award recognizes dedicated individuals whose leadership, both in the legal profession and in the community, has had a positive impact on Long Island. Recipients of these awards demonstrate outstanding achievements, involvement in their profession and support of the community. Malafi accepted her award at the Leadership in Law Awards Gala at the Crest Hollow Country Club on November 16.

Malafi chairs the Corporate Department at CMM, which Forbes has recognized as a Top Corporate Law Firm in America. She has led the CMM legal team in closing countless M&A deals worth billions of dollars. She has vast experience advising on both buy-side and sell-side M&A transactions in a variety of industries, including technology, manufacturing, education, healthcare, and professional service sectors. Malafi is particularly adept at working closely and strategically with clients’ other professional advisors, including accountants, bankers, and M&A advisors, as well as forging those critical relationships for clients based on the deep network of relationships she has cultivated over years in the business.

Malafi has the unique perspective of being a corporate lawyer who spent the first half of her career as a litigator with extensive experience in municipal, insurance coverage, and fraud issues. She brings her deep understanding of litigation and the court system to all aspects of her corporate work and uses this experience to help protect clients from a variety of critical angles.

CMM Partner Vincent Costa Named Leadership in Law Award Honoree

Posted: November 16th, 2023

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP is pleased to announce Partner Vincent Costa has been selected by Long Island Business News to receive a 2023 Leadership in Law Award. This award recognizes dedicated individuals whose leadership, both in the legal profession and in the community, has had a positive impact on Long Island. Recipients of these awards demonstrate outstanding achievements, involvement in their profession and support of the community. Costa accepted his award at the Leadership in Law Awards Gala at the Crest Hollow Country Club on November 16.

Costa manages the firm’s Corporate department, with a particular 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. Costa has also 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. 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 working and collaborating with clients’ teams of financial advisors, accountants, and M&A advisors, Costa ensures a smooth and transparent transaction for the benefit of the client.

CMM’s Scott Middleton Quoted in Newsday on the 23 Plaintiffs Sickened by Long Island Restaurant

Posted: November 3rd, 2023

By John Asbury, Newsday

A 16th lawsuit has been filed against the now-shuttered Kumo Sushi & Steakhouse in Stony Brook by customers alleging food poisoning.

A Lake Grove family filed the latest lawsuit Oct. 25 against the restaurant’s parent company, MDBL Corp., and SBKU Services. The suit alleges that when the party of 23 held a combination baby shower and 30th birthday party on Sept. 9 at the restaurant, the group of family and friends, including elderly guests and children, were immediately sickened after eating hibachi.

The Suffolk County health department reported Thursday that a total of 54 people complained of getting sick after eating at the restaurant between Sept. 6 and 9.

“These people were put into a horrible situation. They were planning a baby shower for the first grandchild in the family,” said Ronkonkoma-based attorney Scott Middleton, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the family.

“All 23 guests got sick due to the carelessness of this business,” Middleton said. “This was immediate. They were projectile vomiting in the parking lot.”

Members of the party “remained ill for several days after the incident. … As a result of consuming Defendant’s contaminated food products, Plaintiffs incurred medical expenses, and endured great physical pain, discomfort, mental anguish, and suffering, according to the lawsuit.

Read the full article on Newsday’s web site.

CMM Closes Multifaceted Mergers & Acquisitions Deal for an East End Restaurant

Posted: October 10th, 2023

Every M&A deal presents its own challenges. CMM recently closed a multimillion dollar deal for a popular East End restaurant. The business and real estate upon which the restaurant operates were owned by two different corporations, and CMM restructured the corporations into LLCs, and worked with the shareholders in the transfer of the business and real estate into the new LLCs. This included the liquor license transfer, the assignment of the mortgage, and other business transfers. Thereafter, the Buyer, a private equity firm, purchased a portion of certain membership interests in both LLCs, and our client happily retained an ownership interest in both LLCs, while a retiring member was bought out entirely.

Despite these changes, the restaurant will continue to operate as usual, with our client remaining as a manager and continuing to run the business in the future. CMM will continue to play an active role. Stay tuned!

Christine Malafi spearheaded the deal with support from Legal Assistant Taylor Lininger. This multifaceted deal highlights CMM’s ability to navigate the most complex mergers and acquisitions.

CMM Represents Pest Management Company in Acquisition of East End Tree Service

Posted: October 4th, 2023

CMM has closed another successful multimillion dollar deal. The buyer is a longtime CMM client. Almost a decade ago, CMM advised the buyer during its acquisition of its pest control business. After years of hard work, our client turned to us to guide business expansion through the acquisition of a company that provides an array of tree care services to Long Island’s East End, which includes trained and certified horticulturists.

Our work to close the transaction included the creation of a new entity, navigating tax and NYS vehicle transfer issues, and sophisticated financing. The deal team was led by CMM’s Vincent Costa. This transaction showcased CMM’s depth of knowledge in the M&A buyer-side and landscaping space.

For more information on our mergers and acquisitions services, please contact us.

Download Our Guide: Top 5 NY Labor & Employment Law Takeaways for Companies in 2023

In the ever-evolving landscape of labor and employment, staying abreast of the latest legal developments is important for businesses to ensure compliance and foster productive workplace environments. From non-compete agreements to discrimination matters, our informative guide delves into the crucial legal updates that businesses need to navigate.
Download our “Top 5 New York Labor & Employment Laws Takeaways for Companies in 2023” and learn what you need to know in 2023.

Name*

Email*

City*

State*

*Disclaimer: The use of the internet or of this form for communication with the firm or any individual professional or representative of the firm does not establish an attorney-client relationship. No attorney-client relationship exists unless and until a retainer agreement is mutually executed. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through this form. This form and/or the content of this website is not and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter.

I have read and understand the disclaimer.*Sign me up for the newsletter.

Fall Legal Brief: Masquerade Ball, employment law updates and more!

Posted: September 26th, 2023

Amendments to the New York State WARN Act

Posted: September 6th, 2023

By: Vincent Costa, Esq. email

Tags: labor & employment

Amendments to the New York State Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“WARN Act”) adopted in June 2023 are now in effect. The amendments expand the scope of the WARN Act.

The WARN Act requires covered businesses to provide 90 days’ notice prior to mass layoffs or closures to all affected employees and employee representatives, as well as to the Commissioner of Labor and Local Workforce Development Boards. The WARN Act currently applies to private businesses with 50 or more full-time employees in New York. Currently, the Act covers:

Closings affecting 25 or more employees,
Mass layoffs involving 25 or more full-time employees, as long as the 25 or more employees make up at least one-third of all employees at the place of employment, and
Mass layoffs involving 250 or more full-time employees.

The amendments expand the WARN Act in large part as follows:

Employers covered include any business that employs 50 or more employees, whether or not they are full-time.
The scope of employees that counts toward the 20-employee threshold for a “mass layoff” is expanded to include remote employees (in comparison to currently only including the employees “at” the site of employment), both part-time and full-time employees, employees who resign in anticipation of a facility closing, and employees placed on furloughs lasting more than three months (currently only applies to furlough that is for more than six months).
New process by which employers seek an exception from the 90-day notice period requirement. The employer must submit certain required documentation demonstrating eligibility for the exception to the Commissioner of Labor, who will then decide whether an exception is warranted.
The “unforeseeable business circumstances” exception to the notice requirement has been amended to include public health emergencies, such as a pandemic “that results in a sudden and unexpected closure” as an additional situation that may excuse full compliance with WARN.
Notices can be provided electronically.

In addition to the governmental entities that already must receive notice, the employer must also notify (1) the chief elected official of the unit of local government, (2) the school district[s] where the site of employment is located, and (3) the locality that provides police, firefighters, and other emergency services where the employment site is located.

Moreover, employers are now required to give notice even when:

The employer’s actions were due to a physical disaster or an act of terrorism,
The employer was actively seeking capital or business at the time notice was required,
The need for notice was not reasonably foreseeable, and
The closure or mass layoff was due to a natural disaster.

In lieu of notice, severance may be paid to employees, subject to a number of conditions:

There must be an employment agreement or a uniformly applied company policy that requires that the employer give the employee a definite period of notice before a layoff or separation.
The employee must be laid off or separated without the required notice.
The employer must pay the employee a sum equal to the employee’s regular wages and the value of the costs of any benefits, or an amount computed in accordance with a formula based on the employee’s past earnings and benefits costs, for the required period of the notice.

Please contact our office with any questions about labor and employment matters.

Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge Showcases Hundreds of Business Tenants’ Banners

Posted: September 6th, 2023

The 1,400-acre Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge (LI-IPH) – America’s second-largest industrial park – has elevated its brand by installing more than 400 flags bearing its name on light poles throughout the park.

The branding initiative was undertaken by HIA-LI, one of Long Island’s largest business advocacy organizations and steward for the park, formerly known as Hauppauge Industrial Park. The banner program was also supported by the Town of Smithtown, home to the large majority of the business park. Town of Smithtown workers attached the banners to town-owned light poles.

The flags, reading “Welcome to the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge,” are two feet by three feet in size. Customized flags were made available for purchase by individual businesses within the park, which were quickly sold-out.

LI-IPH’s 1,400 businesses employ 55,000 people, accounting for one in 20 jobs on Long Island. The companies’ $13 billion in annual output equals eight percent of Long Island’s gross domestic product. The park is second only in size to Silicon Valley in northern California.

The impetus for the banner campaign arose from a 2019 “Opportunity Analysis” that documented the park’s status as “the center of Long Island’s current and future economy.” The study was prepared by James Lima Planning + Development and funded by the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency and the Regional Plan Association. Among a spectrum of recommendations, the analysis advised the park to elevate its public profile and draw greater attention to its essential role in the regional economy.

“The Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge has no equal when it comes to generating employment and business growth in our region,” said HIA-LI President and CEO Terri Alessi-Miceli. “By reinforcing popular awareness of the park, we help set the stage for new partnerships and new achievements.”

“While the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge already stands as the cornerstone of the regional economy, it also possesses great potential for further growth,” said Carol A. Allen, Chairperson of the HIA-LI board and president and CEO of People’s Alliance Federal Credit Union. “We help engender that new growth when we take steps to strengthen recognition of our identity.”

“By building the park’s brand, we better capitalize on its extraordinary, proven capacity to bring net, new dollars into the region because of the park’s high proportion of tradable businesses,” said Joe Campolo, Managing Partner at Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP in Ronkonkoma and Chair of HIA-LI’s Long Island Economic Development Task Force. “The park’s ratio of revenue-generating, tradable companies is two-and-a-half times that of Long Island as a whole.”

Ms. Alessi-Miceli expressed her gratitude to HIA-LI board member Paule Pachter, CEO of Long Island Cares, Inc./The Harry Chapin Food Bank, for suggesting the flag initiative.