Donelli Rejoins the Firm as Counsel in our Matrimonial and Family Law Group

We are pleased to announce that Kathleen Donelli, who was a partner of the firm for many years, has rejoined the firm as counsel. Kathleen is one of Westchester’s best known and most respected lawyers in Matrimonial and Family Law, and is a member of our Matrimonial & Family Law, Collaborative Law, Mediation & Arbitration Practice and Appellate Practice groups. Kathleen continues to be an active member of the legal community, which includes her work as an adjunct professor of Law at Elizabeth Haub School of Law of Pace University and her participation in various committees of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association and the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York.

McCarthy Fingar’s “Super Lawyers”

Six of our lawyers have been selected Super Lawyers in the New York Metropolitan area. Gail M. Boggio has again been selected in the fields of Estate & Trust Litigation/Estate Planning & Probate/Elder Law. Kathleen Donelli has again been selected in the field of Family Law. Dolores Gebhardt has again been selected in the field of Family Law. James K. Landau has again been selected in the fields of Commercial Litigation and Appellate, and has again been selected for the Top 25 in Westchester County for Super Lawyers. Frank W. Streng has again been selected in the fields of Estate & Trust Litigation and Estate Planning & Probate. Douglas S. Trokie has again been selected in the fields of Business/Corporate, Closely Held Business, Real Estate, Business and Civil Litigation. Super Lawyers is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have been recognized by their colleagues as having the highest degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

McCarthy Fingar’s “Super Lawyers”

Nine of our lawyers have been selected Super Lawyers in the New York Metropolitan area. Dina M. Aversano has been selected in the areas of Estate & Trust Litigation, Commercial Litigation and Appellate. Gail M. Boggio has again been selected in the fields of Estate & Trust Litigation/Estate Planning & Probate/Elder Law. Howell Bramson has again been selected in the fields of Estate Planning/Tax and Corporate Business. Joseph Brophy has again been selected in the fields of Personal Injury/Medical Malpractice, General, Estate & Trust Litigation. Kathleen Donelli has again been selected in the fields of Family Law/Collaborative Law/Appellate. Dolores Gebhardt has again been selected in the fields of Family Law/Collaborative Law/Appellate. James K. Landau has again been selected in the fields of Commercial Litigation and Appellate. Frank W. Streng has again been selected in the fields of Estate & Trust Litigation and Estate Planning & Probate. Douglas S. Trokie has again been selected in the fields of Business/Corporate, Closely Held Business, Real Estate, Business and Civil Litigation. Super Lawyers is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have been recognized by their colleagues as having the highest degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

“Super Lawyers” at McCarthy Fingar

Eight of our lawyers have been selected Super Lawyers in the New York Metropolitan area. Dina M. Aversano has again been selected in the areas of Estate & Trust Litigation, Commercial Litigation and Appellate. Gail M. Boggio has again been selected in the fields of Estate & Trust Litigation/Estate Planning & Probate/Elder Law. Howell Bramson has again been selected in the fields of Estate Planning/Tax and Corporate Business. Joseph Brophy has again been selected in the fields of Personal Injury/Medical Malpractice, General, Estate & Trust Litigation. Kathleen Donelli has again been selected in the fields of Family Law/Collaborative Law/Appellate. Dolores Gebhardt has again been selected in the fields of Family Law/Collaborative Law/Appellate. Frank W. Streng has again been selected in the fields of Estate & Trust Litigation and Estate Planning & Probate. Douglas S. Trokie has again been selected in the fields of Business/Corporate, Closely Held Business, Real Estate, Business and Civil Litigation. Super Lawyers is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have been recognized by their colleagues as having the highest degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Aversano, Boggio, Bramson, Brophy, Demouchet, Donelli, Gebhardt, Streng & Trokie Selected as Super Lawyers

Nine of our lawyers have been selected Super Lawyers in the New York Metropolitan area. Gail M. Boggio has again been selected in the fields of Estate & Trust Litigation/Estate Planning & Probate/Elder Law. Howell Bramson has again been selected in the fields of Estate Planning/Tax and Corporate Business. Joseph Brophy has again been selected in the fields of Personal Injury/Medical Malpractice, General, Estate & Trust Litigation. Kathleen Donelli has again been selected in the fields of Family Law/Collaborative Law/Appellate. Dolores Gebhardt has again been selected in the fields of Family Law/Collaborative Law/Appellate. Frank W. Streng has again been selected in the fields of Estate & Trust Litigation and Estate Planning & Probate. Douglas S. Trokie has been selected in the fields of Business/Corporate, Closely Held Business, Real Estate, Business and Civil Litigation. Preston C. Demouchet and Dina M. Aversano have been selected as Rising Stars: Preston, in the areas of Estate Planning & Probate; and Dina, in the areas of Estate & Trust Litigation, Commercial Litigation and Appellate.  Super Lawyers is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have been recognized by their colleagues as having the highest degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Boggio, Bramson, Brophy, Donelli, Gebhardt, Miller & Streng Selected as Super Lawyers

Seven of our lawyers have been selected Super Lawyers in the New York Metropolitan area. Gail M. Boggio has again been selected in the fields of Estate & Trust Litigation/Estate Planning & Probate/Elder Law. Howell Bramson has again been selected in the fields of Estate Planning/Tax and Corporate Business. Joseph Brophy has again been selected in the fields of Personal Injury/Medical Malpractice, General, Estate & Trust Litigation. Kathleen Donelli has again been selected in the fields of Family Law/Collaborative Law/Appellate. Dolores Gebhardt has again been selected in the fields of Family Law/Collaborative Law/Appellate. Judge Sondra Miller has again been selected in the fields of Appellate/Family Law. Frank W. Streng has been selected in the fields of Estate & Trust Litigation and Estate Planning & Probate. Super Lawyers is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have been recognized by their colleagues as having the highest degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Boggio, Bramson, Brophy, Donelli, Gebhardt & Miller Selected as Super Lawyers

Six of our lawyers have been selected Super Lawyers in the New York Metropolitan area. Gail M. Boggio has been selected in the fields of Estate & Trust Litigation/Estate Planning & Probate/Elder Law. Howell Bramson has again been selected in the fields of Estate Planning/Tax and Corporate Business. Joseph Brophy has again been selected in the fields of Personal Injury/Medical Malpractice, General, Estate & Trust Litigation. Kathleen Donelli has again been selected in the fields of Family Law/Collaborative Law/Appellate. Dolores Gebhardt has again been selected in the fields of Family Law/Collaborative Law/Appellate. Judge Sondra Miller has again been selected in the fields of Appellate/Family Law. Super Lawyers is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have been recognized by their colleagues as having the highest degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Boggio, Donelli & Gebhardt Elected Directors of Women’s Bar Association of State of New York

Gail M. Boggio, Kathleen Donelli and Dolores Gebhardt were elected and then sworn in as directors of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York.

The Constitionality of New York’s Grandparent Visitation Statute in Light of Troxel v. Granville (27 Westchester Bar Journal 19, May 06, 2000)

Landmark Decision Removes Burden from Parent Needing to Relocate (Legal Notes, Fall 1996)

The Drafting of Relocation Clauses and the Challenge It Presents (The Matrimonial Strategist, Vol. XIV, Number 4, May 1996)

Dirks v. SEC: New Guidelines for Tippee Liability under Rule 10b-5, 4 Pace Law Review 631 (1984)

Mitarotonda v. Mitarotonda, 171 A.D.3d 1040, 96 N.Y.S.3d 868 (2d Dep’t 2019)

Kristen Mackay Pennessi, Kathleen Donelli

Our matrimonial lawyers often represent clients on financial issues relating to child custody. Here, Kristen Pennessi & Kathleen Donelli won an appeal in the Appellate Division in which the lower court denied a post-divorce judgment motion, brought by the noncustodial parent (the “father”), to stop paying the custodial parent (our client, the “mother”) child support based on constructive emancipation. Under the doctrine of constructive emancipation, New York courts have held that child support payments may be suspended where the “custodial parent unjustifiably frustrates the noncustodial parent’s right of reasonable access.” Kristen and Kathleen successfully argued that our client, the custodial parent, did not deliberately frustrate or actively interfere with the father’s relationship with his children. Therefore, the court ordered that the father continue to pay child support even though his children refused to have meaningful contact with him.

Seruya v. Seruya, 107 A.D.3d 972 (2d Dep’t 2013)

Kathleen Donelli

Representation of Wife in Successfully Imputing Income to Husband For Purposes of Calculating Child Support & Maintenance

Kristen Mackay Pennessi, Kathleen Donelli

Our matrimonial lawyers represent clients on contested Pendente Lite applications. Where the husband dissolved his business and voluntarily stopped working and the wife earned $45,000 per year, Kristen Mackay Pennessi & Kathleen Donelli successfully argued that the Court should impute $150,000 of income to the husband in calculating pendente lite support obligations. Here, the husband had not been paying child support, spousal support or any of the household expenses. The Court ordered the husband to pay pendente lite support in the amount of $5,310 per month, and to make direct monthly payments of  the mortgage, HELOC, real estate taxes and homeowners insurance.

Representation of Wife in Successfully Imputing $100,000 in income to Husband in Calculating Pendente Lite Child Support

Kristen Mackay Pennessi, Kathleen Donelli

Our matrimonial lawyers often represent clients on contested Pendente Lite applications. Where the husband claimed to earn only $10,000 per year working as the CEO in his family’s company, Kristen Mackay Pennessi & Kathleen Donelli successfully argued that the Court should impute $100,000 in income to the husband for purposes of calculating pendente lite child support.  Specifically, the Court held that, where the family business was paying for most of the husband’s expenses (he was residing at the marital residence in Scarsdale and his statement of net worth showed expenses of more than $10,000 a month), the husband’s account of his own finances was not credible. Thus, the Court found that imputing income in the amount of $100,000 per year for pendente lite child support purposes was reasonable and appropriate.

Representation of Mother in Successfully Opposing Father’s request for Unsupervised Child Visitation & Interim Custody of Children

Kristen Mackay Pennessi, Kathleen Donelli

Our matrimonial lawyers often deal with issues on child visitation and child custody. Here, Kristen Mackay Pennessi & Kathleen Donelli successfully argued that supervised visitation between the father and children should continue. After a hearing, the Court held that based on the credible testimony from the son’s therapist, the testimony from the children’s uncle, prior reports of Child Protective Services and the “rehearsed and forced” testimony of the Father and his witnesses,  supervised visitation between the Father and the children should continue.

Representation of Father in Successfully Enforcing Stipulation allowing Father to Make Final decisions on Child’s Religious Upbringing

Kristen Mackay Pennessi, Kathleen Donelli

Our Matrimonial & Family Law lawyers are often retained to enforce a client’s rights under a settlement agreement made by the client and his or her ex-spouse. Here, the parties had entered into a stipulation giving the father the final decision making authority on a child’s religious upbringing. Kristen Mackay Pennessi and Kathleen Donelli successfully argued in Family Court that the mother violated the stipulation when she refused to allow the child to attend Bar Mitzvah classes.

Representation of Wife in Successfully Arguing that Forgiveness of a Loan to Husband is Considered Income When Calculating Maintenance

Kristen Mackay Pennessi, Kathleen Donelli

Our matrimonial lawyers often represent clients post-judgment for purposes of enforcing or modifying support obligations. Where the husband was required to pay the wife maintenance each year based on a calculation of his income, Kristen Mackay Pennessi & Kathleen Donelli successfully argued that where the husband received an unsecured loan from his employer in the amount of over $5 million, the portion of the loan forgiven each year was constitutes income to the husband for purposes of calculating his maintenance obligation.

Representation of Husband in Successfully Settling the Marital Portion of Husband’s Partnership Interest

Kristen Mackay Pennessi, Kathleen Donelli

The value and marital portion of a spouse’s business interest are often essential issues in a divorce action. Kristen Mackay Pennessi and Kathleen Donelli successfully argued that the wife was entitled to only 25% of her husband’s partnership interest, if and when he actually receives any monies for his partnership interest. In this case, it was proven that the wife had only negligible and indirect contributions to the husband’s business partnership.

Representation of Husband in Successfully Opposing Wife’s Claim For Spousal Support Because She Was Allegedly Unable To Work

Kristen Mackay Pennessi, Kathleen Donelli

A spouse’s ability to find and maintain employment is an important issue in divorce actions. Where the wife claimed that she was entitled to spousal support because she allegedly had a mental condition and was unable to work, Kristen Mackay Pennessi and Kathleen Donelli successfully argued that the wife should be ordered to submit to a mental examination to determine whether she was able to work. Ultimately, no mental condition was found and the wife did not receive spousal support.

Representation of Husband In Successfully Opposing Wife’s Egregious Fault Claim

Kristen Mackay Pennessi, Kathleen Donelli

Generally, during a deposition in a Matrimonial matter, questions are limited to the finances of the parties. However, Kristen Mackay Pennessi and Kathleen Donelli successfully argued that questions pertaining to alleged abuse were appropriate at the wife’s deposition where egregious fault was at issue.

Representation of Parents in Successfully Opposing a Grandparent Visitation Petition

Kristen Mackay Pennessi, Kathleen Donelli

Matrimonial & Family Law litigation sometimes involves applications for visitation or other relief by grandparents of a minor child. Kristen L. Pennessi and Kathleen Donelli successfully opposed a petition for grandparent visitation where both parents were fit and loving parents and the grandparents had little to no contact with the child.

Representation of Husband In Successfully Opposing Wife’s Order To Show Cause Seeking Pendente Lite Relief

Kristen Mackay Pennessi, Kathleen Donelli

Pendente Lite applications – seeking financial support from the other spouse during the divorce action – is an important tool for Matrimonial & Family Law lawyers. Kristen Mackay Pennessi and Kathleen Donelli successfully opposed the wife’s Order To Show Cause for pendente lite relief.  The wife was awarded zero in pendente lite support and zero in legal fees.

Amari v. Molloy, NYLJ 8/8/00, p. 23, col. 5 (Kings Co. Sup. Ct. 2000), aff’d, 293 A.D.2d 431 (2d Dep’t 2002)

Kathleen Donelli

Matrimonial & Family Law – Appellate Practice – Child Custody

Sometimes, child custody issues cannot be resolved by the parties without a trial. In this case, Kathleen Donelli persuaded the trial court and appellate court to award child custody to her client.

Amari v. Molloy, 180 Misc. 2d 664 (Kings County Sup. Ct. 1999)

Kathleen Donelli

Matrimonial & Family Law – Child Custody – Bifurcation of Custody and Divorce Action

Matrimonial cases are often won or lost based upon a trial lawyer’s success or failure on procedural issues. In Amari, Kathleen Donelli persuaded the trial court to bifurcate the issues of divorce and child custody.

Tropea v. Tropea, 87 N.Y.2d 727, 665 N.E.2d 145, 642 N.Y.S.2d 575 (1996)

Kathleen Donelli

Matrimonial & Family Law – Appellate Practice – Child Relocation

Custody of minor children is sometimes an issue that continues after the parents obtain their divorce and have reached agreement on visitation issues. Sometimes, the custodial parent seeks to change his or her location, and the noncustodial parent cries foul and seeks to prevent or oppose that relocation. In Tropea, Kathleen Donelli prevailed in a child relocation case in New York’s highest court, the New York State Court of Appeals. Tropea established the prevailing law in New York on relocation.

Frayne v. Frayne, 234 A.D.2d 545 (2d Dep’t 1996)

Kathleen Donelli

Matrimonial & Family Law – Appellate Practice – Child Relocation

One of the most satisfying things our Matrimonial & Family Law lawyers do is to get a favorable outcome for a client on a child custody issue. Kathleen Donelli won the landmark New York State Court of Appeals decision on child relocation in Tropea v. Tropea, and has frequently lectured on child relocation issues. In a child relocation case, Kathleen successfully persuaded the Appellate Division, Second Deparment, to permit her client, the custodial parent, to relocate.

Route 22 Associates v. Cipes, 204 A.D.2d 705 (2d Dep’t 1994)

Kathleen Donelli

Business Litigation – Appellate Practice – Real Estate Easements

Having prevailed in the lower court, Kathleen Donelli persuaded the Appellate Division, Second Department to affirmed the trial court’s decision, declaring the validity of an easement.

1185 Avenue of the Americas Associates v. The Resolution Trust Corp., 22 F.3d 494 (2d Cir. 1994)

Kathleen Donelli

Business Litigation – Appellate Practice – Landlord/Tenant Issues

After prevailing in the Federal District Court, Kathleen Donelli successfully convinced the US Court of Appeals, for the Second Circuit, to affirm the District Court’s denial of landlord’s claim for $7 million in unpaid rent.

Jaffer v. Miles, 134 A.D.2d 572 (2d Dep’t 1987)

Kathleen Donelli

Business Litigation – Appellate Practice – Real Estate Contract

In this case, Kathleen Donelli persuaded the Appellate Division, Second Department to reverse the trial court’s denial of summary judgment to seller, finding that the memorandum between the seller and purchaser was not an enforceable contract.