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Malafi and Rassiger Both Honored with Leadership in Law Awards

Posted: October 17th, 2017

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.

CMM Business Breakfast: “Master the Emotion and Psychology of Negotiation” Presented by Joe Campolo

Posted: October 16th, 2017

Event Date: November 16th, 2017

Whether you’re negotiating the release of hostages, negotiating with your toddler to try a new food, or something in between, the common thread is that all negotiations are based on human interaction. To succeed in any negotiation, you must understand the psychological and emotional principles at play and how to use them to your advantage.

At his last presentation on the art of negotiation, Joe Campolo, a former Marine and the managing partner of Campolo, Middleton & McCormick – whose negotiation skills have taken him to the top of the business world – covered the basic building blocks that all negotiators need. Now, join Joe for an advanced seminar exploring the psychological and emotional side of negotiation, and how mastering these concepts will lead to success. At this seminar, you’ll learn:

  • The value of preparation and how to do it effectively
  • The critical role of empathy, how to distinguish it from sympathy, and how to put it to work
  • How to identify the forces that hold you back in high-stress situations and strategies to overcome them
  • How to use psychological principles to diffuse the tension in difficult negotiations, engage with your adversary, and uncover more win-win possibilities

No matter your industry, negotiation style, or personality, you will undoubtedly face difficult negotiations in your professional and personal life. This presentation will train you in the emotional and psychological forces at work in your own mind during a negotiation – and how to recognize them in your adversary to steer any negotiation in your favor.

LOCATION:

Stony Brook University, Southampton Campus
Chancellor’s Hall
39 Tuckahoe Rd, Southampton, NY 11968

AGENDA:

8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. – Registration and Breakfast
9:00 a.m. – 10 a.m. – Presentation

REGISTER HERE.

Hosted in part by the Stony Brook University Alumni Association

Thank you to our sponsor Markowitz, Fenelon & Bank, LLP

CMM Wins Appeal, Paving the Way for Just Compensation for Our Client

Posted: October 15th, 2017

When a court decision threatened to deprive our client of the compensation she deserved after an accident, CMM got to work appealing it.

We argued in the Appellate Division, Second Department before a panel of justices that while the driver of the other car may have largely contributed to the accident, that didn’t mean the driver of the car our client was riding in hadn’t also played a role. The justices agreed, reversing the decision that had let that driver out of the case. Our hard-fought victory paves the way for our client, a minor, to receive adequate compensation for her injuries. Learn more about our zealous advocacy for personal injury clients here.

CMM Labor & Employment Breakfast Spotlighted in “Execs Advised on Workplace Issues” in Newsday

Posted: October 11th, 2017

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.

Malafi quoted in Newsday Q&A column “Who Pays When Part-Time Worker Receives Jobless Benefits?”

Posted: October 11th, 2017

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

DEAR CARRIE: I am a manager, and my question concerns an employee who works two days a week for a total of 16 hours. She had been unemployed, and still receives unemployment benefits from her previous employer. But now my payroll office is telling me that we have to pay $175 toward her unemployment plus pay her wage. This does not seem right to me. I feel like we are getting penalized for hiring her. Is this correct? — Doesn’t Compute?

DEAR DOESN’T: Not likely, said a local attorney.

Her previous employers should be the only ones liable for the unemployment benefits, said Christine Malafi, a partner at Campolo, Middleton & McCormick in Ronkonkoma.

“In New York, an employer that hires someone who is already receiving unemployment benefits, and will continue to receive unemployment benefits while working part-time for the employer, is generally not liable for the payment of that person’s unemployment benefits,” she said.

In the scenario you described, the employer was not a previous employer, “so no contribution should be due from the employer to pay those benefits,” Malafi said.

When someone files for unemployment insurance benefits, a “base period,” which looks at the person’s previous employment record, determines whether or not he or she is eligible for benefits.

The person’s prior employers before the claim is made will be charged proportionately, based on the person’s wages for each employer during the base period, Malafi said.

While you’re not responsible for paying her benefits at this point, your company’s current unemployment insurance rates will be affected because the employee joined your staff.

Here’s why:

Nearly all employers must pay into New York State’s Unemployment Insurance Fund. (Some notable exceptions include nonprofits, governmental entities, and American Indian tribes.) Part of the contribution rates take into account a company’s unemployment insurance experience, such as its ability to make timely payments, its account balance, and the amount of wages being paid, Malafi said.

“The employer is responsible for the payment of its contributions to the unemployment insurance fund based on the inclusion of the new employee into the calculation,” Malafi said.

In addition, employers must pay a percentage of their employees’ total wages into a re-employment service fund, which is used by the state to provide services to unemployed workers, such as job placement, résumé preparation and workshops, she said.

 

DEAR CARRIE: If the owner of a limited liability corporation sells the company and is asked to stay on as an employee of the acquiring company for a short transition period of a month or two, would she qualify for state unemployment benefits at the end of the transition period? — Benefits Here?

The time the person worked as an owner wouldn’t count toward benefits because owners of New York limited liability companies are not eligible for New York State unemployment benefits, she said.

Therefore, the former owner would become eligible for unemployment benefits when the transition ends only if her wages earned and hours worked during the transition meet the eligibility threshold for unemployment benefits, Malafi said.

Read it on Newsday.

November 8 – Campolo Moderates “Get in the Head of a CEO” Panel

Posted: October 5th, 2017

Event Date: November 8th, 2017

Get in the Head of a CEO 

Hear from the recipients of HIA-LI’s 23rd Annual Business Achievement Awards.

Whether you’re a CEO or looking to meet CEOs, this Executive Breakfast attracts industry leaders across Long Island!

Moderator: Joe Campolo, Esq., Managing Partner, Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP

Panelists:
Chris Valsamos, President/CEO – Castella Imports, Inc.
Karen J. Frank, Vice President – The Omnicon Group
Gregg Schor, CEO – Protegrity Advisors, LLC
Paula Fries, COO – Association for Mental Health and Wellness

Date: Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Location: Stonebridge Country Club, 2000 Raynors Way, Smithtown

Time: 8:00 – 10:00 a.m.

Register here.