Class Action - June '18

Michael R. Wolford ’68 received the Thurgood Marshall Award from the Federal Bar Council of the Second Circuit, and the Bridge Builder Award from the Rochester Black Bar Association in Rochester, N.Y. He is managing partner with The Wolford Law Firm in Rochester. Wolford is an emeritus member of the School of Law’s Dean’s Advisory Council and a past recipient of the UB Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for Community Service. He lives in Victor, N.Y.

Alan J. Laurita ’73 received the Industry Leader Award at the Northeast Oil & Gas Awards Dinner in Pittsburgh. He is a partner in the environmental practice group of Hodgson Russ in the Buffalo office. Laurita lives in Hamburg, N.Y.  

Hon. Eugene F. Pigott Jr. ’73, a New York State Supreme Court justice, 8th Judicial District in Buffalo, received the Dean’s Medal at the School of Law’s 129th Commencement Ceremony on May 20. Pigott is a former senior associate justice of the New York State Court of Appeals. He is a member of the national advisory board of the UB School of Law’s Advocacy Institute, a past recipient of the UB Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award and the Edwin F. Jaeckle Award, and an emeritus member of the Dean’s Advisory Council. Pigott lives on Grand Island, N.Y.

Sue S. Gardner ’76 received the 2018 Gordon R. Gross Professional Advisors Award from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. Gardner is a partner with Kavinoky Cook in Buffalo. She is a past recipient of the UB Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumna Award and an emeritus member of the law school’s Dean’s Advisory Council. Gardner is a Buffalo resident.

Margaret W. Wong ’76 received an honorary doctorate of law degree at the School of Law’s 129th Commencement Ceremony on May 20. She also received the Distinguished Alumna Award for 2018 from Western Illinois University at its commencement on May 12. Wong is founder and managing partner of Margaret W. Wong & Associates, an immigration firm based in Cleveland. She is a past recipient of the UB Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award and the Edwin F. Jaeckle Award, the highest honor the School of Law and the Law Alumni Association can bestow. She is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council and a lifetime member of the Law Alumni Association. Wong lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

John J. Aman ’77 received the Charles H. Dougherty Civility Award from the Bar Association of Erie County in Buffalo. Aman is an Erie County Family Court support magistrate in Buffalo. He lives in Amherst, N.Y.

Francis M. Letro ’79 was elected president of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers. In addition, he was appointed to New York State’s Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission. Letro is a Buffalo resident and solo practitioner. He is a past recipient of the Edwin F. Jaeckle Award, the highest honor the School of Law and the Law Alumni Association can bestow, and the UB Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is a lifetime member of the Law Alumni Association and a member of the law school’s Dean’s Advisory Council.

Shelley B. Mayer ’79 was elected to the New York State Senate, District 37, in a special election on April 24. Mayer is a former member of the New York State Assembly, District 90. She lives in Scarsdale, N.Y.

Terrie Benson Murray ’79 was elected president of the board of directors of the Family Justice Center of Erie County in Buffalo. Murray is a partner with Cohen & Lombardo in Buffalo, practicing in estates and trusts, wills and estate planning. She lives in Holland, N.Y.

Maureen O. Helmer ’82, a Delmar, N.Y., resident, was named to the 2018 “40 Change Makers List” by the University at Albany’s Center for Women in Government & Civil Society. Helmer is a partner with Barclay Damon in the Albany, N.Y., office, practicing energy and telecommunications law.

Hon. Mark A. Montour ’83 was appointed to New York State’s Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission. Montour is a New York State Supreme Court justice, 8th Judicial District, in Niagara Falls, N.Y.  He is the first Native American elected to a New York State judicial position. Montour lives in Lancaster, N.Y.

Hon. Matthew E. Auger ’84 was appointed Connecticut Superior Court judge in Danielson, Conn. He previously served as a senior partner with Suisman Shapiro in New London, Conn. He is also a retired captain in the Judge Advocate General Corps of the U.S. Naval Reserve. Auger lives in Groton, Conn.

Gary P. Bluestein ’84 received the Walmart Community Playmaker Award. He was honored by the Food Bank of Western New York in Buffalo for his community service efforts. Bluestein is a partner with Andreozzi Bluestein in Clarence, N.Y.  

George W. Collins Jr. ’84 was named to America’s Top 100 Attorneys in Upstate New York. Collins is a partner with Bouvier Partnership in Buffalo, practicing personal injury litigation. He is a Buffalo resident.

Hon. Eugene M. Fahey ’84 was honored by the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers at the Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo on May 9. He is associate justice of the New York State Court of Appeals. Fahey is a past recipient of the UB Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for the judiciary. He resides in Buffalo.

Jill L. Paperno ’84 of Pittsford, N.Y., received the Humanitarian Award from the Monroe County Bar Foundation in Rochester, N.Y. Paperno is first assistant public defender in the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office in Rochester and a past president of the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys.

Mitchell J. Banas Jr. ’85 has achieved senior fellow status in the Litigation Counsel of America. Banas is deputy managing member with Bond Schoeneck & King in the Buffalo office, practicing litigation. He lives in North Tonawanda, N.Y.

Roderick J. Quebral ’85 received the Special Service Award from the Bar Association of Erie County in Buffalo. He recently retired as principal counsel with the New York State Supreme Court, 8th Judicial District, Attorney Grievance Committee in Buffalo, where he resides.

Lauren E. Breen ’89 was elected a board member of the Bar Association of Erie County in Buffalo. Breen is executive director of Neighborhood Legal Services in Buffalo. She is professor emerita and past director of the School of Law’s New York City Program on International Finance and Law. Breen lives in Williamsville, N.Y.

Karen L. Nicolson ’89 received the 2018 Lawyer of the Year Award from the Bar Association of Erie County in Buffalo. Nicolson is chief executive officer of the Center for Elder Law & Justice, in Buffalo, and most recently received the UB Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumna Award for public service. She lives in Amherst, N.Y.

Diane R. Tiveron ’89, managing partner with HoganWillig in Amherst, N.Y., was elected to the board of directors of the UB Law Alumni Association. She practices corporate and business law. Tiveron lives in Lockport, N.Y.

Jon P. Getz ’92 was elected president of the Monroe County Bar Association in Rochester, N.Y. He is a partner with Muldoon, Getz & Reston in Rochester. Muldoon lives in Penfield, N.Y.

Elizabeth M. Savino ’92 was elected a vice president of the UB Law Alumni Association. Savino is vice president for human resources with CTG, an IT solutions and services company in Buffalo. She resides in Amherst, N.Y.

Scott C. Becker ’93 was elected president-elect of the UB Law Alumni Association. He is a partner with Kavinoky Cook in Buffalo, practicing property tax assessment litigation as well as wills, trusts and estate planning. Becker lives in Buffalo.

Marianne Mariano ’94 was elected president of the Bar Association of Erie County in Buffalo. Mariano is the federal public defender in the Western District of New York. She is a member of the national advisory board of the School of Law’s Advocacy Institute, a past recipient of the UB Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumna Award for public service and a lifetime member of the Law Alumni Association. Mariano is a Buffalo resident.

Hon. Craig D. Hannah ’95, a Buffalo City Court judge, received the Outstanding Jurist Award from the Bar Association of Erie County in Buffalo. Hannah is supervisor of the Opiate Crisis Intervention Court in Buffalo, the nation’s first opiate intervention court. He is a recent recipient of the UB Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for the judiciary and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council. He is a Buffalo resident.

Benjamin R. Dwyer ’96 received the 2018 Pro Bono Service Award from the New York State Bar Association. He is of counsel with Nixon Peabody in the Buffalo office and lives in East Amherst, N.Y.

Melissa Hancock Nickson ’97 was elected recording secretary of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York. Nickson is a confidential law clerk in New York State Supreme Court, 8th Judicial District, in Buffalo. She is a past president of WBASNY’s Western New York Chapter and a former member of the board of directors of the UB Law Alumni Association. Nickson lives in Orchard Park, N.Y.

Jeffrey C. Stravino ’97 was elected assistant treasurer of the UB Law Alumni Association. Stravino is a partner with Hodgson Russ in its Buffalo office where he practices business and environmental litigation. He is a lifetime member of the Law Alumni Association and a resident of Grand Island, N.Y.

Bridget M. O'Connell ’98 was elected vice president of the Bar Association of Erie County in Buffalo. O’Connell is a confidential law clerk in New York State Supreme Court, 8th Judicial District, in Buffalo, where she resides.

Lourdes M. Ventura ’98 was elected corresponding secretary of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York. She is a partner with Ahmuty Demers & McManus in Albertson, N.Y. Ventura is a past president of the Queens County Women’s Bar Association in Kew Gardens and an emeritus member of the law school’s Dean’s Advisory Council. She lives in Richmond Hill, N.Y.

Marc W. Brown ’99 was elected president of the UB Law Alumni Association. Brown is a partner with Goldberg Segalla in the Buffalo office, practicing business and commercial litigation. He is a lifetime member of the Law Alumni Association. Brown lives in Williamsville, N.Y.  

Daniel E. Sarzynski ’99 was elected to the board of directors of the UB Law Alumni Association. Sarzynski is a partner with Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham in Buffalo, counseling clients regarding banking and collections, construction law and corporate law. He is a resident of Amherst, N.Y.

Jaime C. Gallagher ’02 of Orchard Park, N.Y., was elected treasurer of the UB Law Alumni Association. She is associate counsel with the New York State Liquor Authority in Buffalo.

Nicholas J. DiCesare ’04 was elected to the board of directors of the UB Law Alumni Association. DiCesare is a partner with Barclay Damon in Buffalo, handling cases regarding commercial litigation, labor and employment, and construction and surety matters. He lives in Elma, N.Y.

Ericka N. Bennett ’05 was elected to the board of directors of the UB Law Alumni Association. She is associate general counsel with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, where she resides. Bennett is a past president of the Minority Bar Association of Western New York, in Buffalo.

Anne E. Joynt ’05, a junior partner with Lipsitz & Ponterio in Buffalo, was elected assistant secretary of the UB Law Alumni Association. Joynt is the immediate past president of the Western New York Chapter of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York. She lives in East Amherst, N.Y.

Jennifer R. Scharf ’05 received the Ken Joyce Excellence in Teaching Award at the School of Law’s 129th Commencement Ceremony on May 20. Scharf is co-director of the school’s Trial Advocacy Program, an adjunct instructor and a lifetime member of the UB Law Alumni Association. She is also a health care attorney with the Erie County Medical Center Corp. in Buffalo. Scharf is a resident of Williamsville, N.Y.

Katherine E. Courtney ’06 was elected president of the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys in Rochester, N.Y. Courtney is an attorney adviser with the Social Security Administration in Rochester and a member of the UB Law Alumni Association’s Rochester Chapter steering committee. She lives in Spencerport, N.Y.

Jennifer A. Beckage ’07 was named to Cybersecurity Docket’s 2018 “Incident Response 30.” She is the only attorney from upstate New York on the list. Beckage is a partner and data security and privacy team leader with Phillips Lytle in the Buffalo office. She is a member of the national advisory board of the School of Law’s Advocacy Institute. Beckage lives in Lancaster, N.Y.

Elizabeth A. Kraengel ’07 was elected a vice president of the UB Law Alumni Association and has become a board member of the Bar Association of Erie County in Buffalo. She is a partner with Duke Holzman Photiadis & Gresens in Buffalo, where she resides. Kraengel is a past president of the Western New York Chapter of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York. She is a lifetime member of the Law Alumni Association.

Michael L. Nisengard ’07 has joined Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman as a senior associate in the Buffalo office. He counsels clients regarding real estate law, including real property title matters. Nisengard is a Buffalo resident. 

James M. O'Keefe ’07 was elected to the board of directors of the UB Law Alumni Association. O’Keefe practices with William Mattar Law Offices in Williamsville, N.Y., handling auto accident cases. He is a past president of the Law Alumni Association’s GOLD Group and a lifetime member of the Association. He lives in West Seneca, N.Y.

Jason G. Ulatowski ’07 was elected a vice president of the UB Law Alumni Association. He is associate general counsel, sensors, with PCB Piezotronics in Depew, N.Y.

Jeffrey P. Gleason ’08 has become assistant general counsel for gaming with Delaware North Cos. in Buffalo. Gleason was previously a partner with Woods Oviatt Gilman in Buffalo. He is a past president of the UB Law Alumni Association’s GOLD Group. Gleason is a resident of Amherst, N.Y.

Michael J. Hecker ’09 was elected to the board of directors of the UB Law Alumni Association. He is a partner with Hodgson Russ in the Buffalo office, practicing environmental law. Hecker is a past president of the Law Alumni Association’s GOLD Group. He lives in Clarence Center, N.Y.

Richard J. Morrisroe ’11 was elected to the board of directors of the UB Law Alumni Association. He is city attorney for the City of Dunkirk and has a private practice in Buffalo, where he resides.

Duwaine T. Bascoe ’12 received the President’s Award from the Monroe County Bar Association in Rochester, N.Y. Bascoe is an associate with Abrams Fensterman in the Rochester office, focusing his practice on litigation, including commercial/business, debt collection, workers’ compensation, asset recovery, labor and employment, personal injury and medical malpractice. He lives in Penfield, N.Y.

Laura A. Groschadl ’12 of Amherst, N.Y., was elected to the board of directors of the UB Law Alumni Association’s GOLD Group. Groschadl is principal law clerk for Hon. Eugene M. Fahey ’84, New York Court of Appeals in Buffalo.

Lydia Beebe Safulko ’12 was elected treasurer of the UB Law Alumni Association’s GOLD Group. Safulko is a private client fiduciary adviser with Wilmington Trust in Buffalo, where she resides.

Meghan A. Corcoran ’13 was elected president-elect of the UB Law Alumni Association’s GOLD Group. She is an attorney with National Fuel Gas Co. in Williamsville, N.Y. Corcoran lives in Cheektowaga, N.Y.

Alissa M. Fortuna-Valentine ’13 was elected secretary of the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys in Rochester, N.Y. She is an associate with Phillips Lytle in Rochester, where she resides.

Aaron M. Saykin ’13 was elected president of the UB Law Alumni Association’s GOLD Group. He is an associate with Hodgson Russ in the Buffalo office, practicing business litigation. Saykin lives in Kenmore, N.Y.

Vanessa C. Gabriele ’14 was appointed chair of the Bar Association of Erie County’s Matrimonial Law Committee in Buffalo. She also spoke at the New York State Bar Association’s presentations of “Basics of Matrimonial Law Practice” and “Critical Areas in Matrimonial Law” in Rochester, N.Y. Gabriele practices matrimonial and family law with Bouvier Law in Buffalo, where she resides.

Kerisha H. Hawthorne-Greer ’14 of Buffalo was elected secretary-elect of the UB Law Alumni Association’s GOLD Group. She is a pro bono department staff attorney with the Erie County Bar Association’s Volunteer Lawyers Project in Buffalo.

Henry A. Zomerfeld ’14, an associate with Kenney Shelton Liptak Nowak in Buffalo, was elected secretary of the UB Law Alumni Association’s GOLD Group. He lives in Kenmore, N.Y.

Sarah M. Washington ’16 was elected treasurer-elect of the UB Law Alumni Association’s GOLD Group. She practices with Connors LLP in Buffalo. Washington lives in Lake View, N.Y.

Charles J. Cook ’17 is practicing as an associate with Cohen & Lombardo in Buffalo, where he resides. He handles cases involving corporate, real estate, trademark and entertainment law.

Erin K. Rozewicz ’17 was elected to the board of directors of the UB Law Alumni Association’s GOLD Group. She practices with the Coppola Firm in Amherst, N.Y., counseling clients regarding business and employment law, commercial litigation, personal injury litigation, and trusts and estates matters. Rozewicz lives in Cheektowaga, N.Y.

Donell L. Gibson Jr. ’18 was elected to the board of directors of the UB Law Alumni Association’s GOLD Group. He is an Amherst, N.Y., resident.

Daily Record’s Top Women in Law and Up & Coming Attorneys honorees:

Top Women in Law

• Mindy L. Zoghlin ’84, Zoghlin Group, Rochester, N.Y.
• Amy E. Schwartz-Wallace ’99, Empire Justice Center, Rochester, N.Y.
• Kara M. Addelman ’08, Kenney Shelton Liptak Nowak, Buffalo

Up & Coming Attorneys

• Amanda B. Burns ’11, Ward Greenberg Heller & Reidy, Rochester, N.Y.
• Sarah M. Washington ’16, Connors LLP, Buffalo

New York State Bar Association's 2018 Pro Bono Service Award in the Government Office Category was awarded to the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, Rochester, N.Y.

Congratulations to:

• Hon. James P. Mulley Jr. ’83
• Alan L. Ross ’85
• Lisa L. Paine ’88
• Adam M. Oshrin ’00
• Michael G. Paul ’07
• Andrew M. Dean ’14