I was born and raised in Western New York. My father grew up in Cortland, New York as the son of a welder and a corset factory seamstress.  He joined IBM Corporation in the 1960's after working part-time for Ashland Oil during college and as a teacher at Kenmore East High School after graduating. My mother was a registered nurse at Buffalo General Hospital and Buffalo Psychiatric Center who left nursing to stay home and raise four children.

After graduating from Amherst High School, I attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where I earned my Bachelors degree in English and Communications, graduating with distinction. After college, I worked in Ohio for IBM where I learned how to analyze our clients’ business plans and practices in order to provide advice and guidance with regard to how to use IBM products and services to reach their goals. Because I enjoyed the counseling aspect of this position, I decided to enroll in law school back home at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

After graduating cum laude from UB Law School, I was offered a position as an associate with a small law firm where I had worked as a law clerk during school. I began handling various legal matters for the firm, including class action/mass tort litigation, construction accident cases, railroad injury cases, motor vehicle accidents, premises liability claims and workers’ compensation and social security matters. I was one of two associates responsible for the majority of the firm’s motion practice and appellate work, performing all necessary legal research, writing and oral argument. I also assisted our clients with various other legal matters including minor criminal and traffic violations and small claims court proceedings. I tried cases to verdict in Federal and State courts, before both juries and judges. I was named Partner in 2002 and gained the added responsibility of human resource administrator for our office staff.

In 2006, I joined Cantor, Lukasik, Dolce & Panepinto as a Partner, where I have continued representing injured workers, their families and friends in both Federal and State courts.  

Return to Profile List