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95 Lippes Mathias Attorneys Recognized in the 2026 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America®

August 21, 2025 | Press Releases

Lippes Mathias LLP today announced that 95 of the firm’s Albany, Buffalo, Clarence, Cleveland, Jacksonville, New York City, Rochester, Syracuse, Washington, D.C., and West Palm Beach-based attorneys have been listed in the 2026 editions of The Best Lawyers in America®, The Best Lawyers in America: Lawyer of the Year, and The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch. Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer review publication in the legal profession, compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys based entirely on peer review.

Attorneys recognized as “Lawyer of the Year” in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America and their practice areas include:

Buffalo, N.Y.

Gary P. Bluestein – Tax Law
Amy Habib Rittling – Mediation
Kevin T. Merriman – Insurance Law
Jennifer C. Persico – Litigation – Municipal

Rochester, N.Y.

Amy L. Reichhart – Environmental Law

Syracuse, N.Y.

Michael J. Compagni – Health Care Law

Lippes Mathias attorneys and their respective practice areas who have been named to the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America include:

Albany, N.Y.

Conor E. Brownell – Commercial Litigation
Matthew L. Hosford – Health Care Law
Keith R. Jacques – Government Relations Practice; Labor Law – Union
Anoush Koroghlian-Scott – Health Care Law
Lawrence H. Schaefer – Labor Law – Union
David E. Siegfeld – Elder Law
Karl J. Sleight – Commercial Litigation

Buffalo, N.Y.

Scott S. Allen, Jr. – Commercial Litigation; Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Brian J. Bocketti – Banking and Finance Law; Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships); Commercial Finance Law; Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Kevin J. Cross – Commercial Litigation
Jillian E. Deck – Banking and Finance Law
Thomas J. Fennell – Real Estate Law
Raymond L. Fink – Banking and Finance Law; Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Bankruptcy
John J. Flynn – Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Nisha V. Fontaine – Immigration Law
Scott E. Friedman – Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships); Corporate Law
Thomas J. Gaffney – Commercial Litigation; Construction Law; Litigation – Construction
Steven S. Grieco – Corporate Law
Amy Habib Rittling – Employment Law – Management; Labor Law – Management; Mediation
Hon. Carol E. Heckman (Ret.) – Appellate Practice; Arbitration; Commercial Litigation; Mediation; Native American Law
Margaret A. Hurley – Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Real Estate
Gregory T. Ivancic – Corporate Law
Elizabeth M. Klarin – Immigration Law
John J. Koeppel – Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Venture Capital Law
Brendan H. Little – Commercial Litigation
Christian M. Lovelace – Corporate Law
Brian C. Mahoney – Commercial Litigation
Eileen M. Martin – Immigration Law
Kirstie A. Means – Commercial Litigation
Kevin T. Merriman – Insurance Law
Paul A. Mitchell – Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Johnny A. Mueller – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Litigation – Bankruptcy
Michael L. Nisengard – Real Estate Law
Helen Osgood – Commercial Finance Law; Real Estate Law
Jennifer C. Persico – Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Municipal; Litigation – Real Estate; Municipal Law
Brendan J. Rich – Corporate Governance Law; Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Meghann N. Roehl – Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
Paul J. Schulz – Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Blaine S. Schwartz – Real Estate Law
Ryan V. Stearns – Real Estate Law
Lauren A. Suttell – Health Care Law
Courtney Donahue Tasner – Trusts and Estates
Charles E. Telford, III – Trusts and Estates
Dennis C. Vacco – Commercial Litigation; Corporate Compliance Law; Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Paul F. Wells – Real Estate Law
Alan S. Wexler – Real Estate Law
Andrew M. Wilson – Immigration Law

Clarence, N.Y.

Gary P. Bluestein – Litigation and Controversy – Tax; Tax Law
Daniel F. Brown – Commercial Litigation

Jacksonville, Fla.

Daniel D. Akel – Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships); Corporate Law
Edward C. Akel – Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships); Litigation – Trusts and Estates; Litigation and Controversy – Tax; Tax Law
Alessandro A. Apolito – Litigation – Trusts and Estates; Trusts and Estates
Helen S. Atter – Corporate Law
Kathleen H. Cold – Corporate Law; Tax Law; Trusts and Estates
Musa K. Farmand – Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
H. Leon Holbrook, III – Corporate Law
Michael J. Lufkin – Employment Law – Management
Thomas R. Ray – Construction Law; Litigation – Construction
Bethany Ray Reichard – Commercial Litigation
Robert G. Riegel, Jr. – Employment Law – Management; Labor Law – Management; Litigation – Labor and Employment
Christopher A. Walker – Corporate Law

New York, N.Y.

Matthew D. Asbell – Litigation – Intellectual Property; Trademark Law

Rochester, N.Y.

Alan R. Feldstein – Real Estate Law
Kelly S. Foss – Appellate Practice; Commercial Litigation
Svetlana K. Ivy – Appellate Practice; Commercial Litigation
Amy L. Reichhart – Environmental Law

Syracuse, N.Y.

Marc S. Beckman – Health Care Law
Stephen H. Cohen – Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law; Health Care Law
Michael J. Compagni – Health Care Law
Bruce A. Smith – Health Care Law
Laura L. Spring – Litigation – Labor and Employment

Washington, D.C.

Klint A. Cowan – Native American Law
Brendan P. Kelleher – Employment Law – Management; Labor Law – Management
Michael G. Rossetti – Native American Law

West Palm Beach, Fla.

Conrad Damon – Real Estate Law
Michael J Posner – Real Estate Law
Philip H. Ward, III – Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law; Real Estate Law

Attorneys who have been named to the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch list and their practice areas include:

Albany, N.Y.

Juliana E. Piemonte – Labor and Employment Law – Employee
John M. Tuppen – Labor and Employment Law – Employee

Buffalo, N.Y.

Vadim V. Belous – Real Estate Law
Richard R. Capote – Environmental Law; Real Estate Law
Hannah E. Cominsky – Commercial Litigation
J. Tyler Finn – Corporate Governance and Compliance Law; Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Donell L. Gibson, Jr. – Corporate Governance and Compliance Law; Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law
MacKenzie E. Hamill – Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Anthony M. Kroese – Commercial Litigation; Corporate Law; Litigation – Intellectual Property; Real Estate Law
Gregory T. Measer – Health Care Law
Jessica M. Peraza – Elder Law; Litigation – Trusts and Estates; Trusts and Estates
Mitchell J. Ream – Banking and Finance Law; Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships); Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Thomas R. Southard – Commercial Litigation
Carmen Alexander Vacco – Commercial Litigation; Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Caroline R. Vilardo – Corporate Governance and Compliance Law; Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law

Jacksonville, Fla.

Mark D. Canfield – Litigation – Real Estate; Real Estate Law

Rochester, N.Y.

Megan N. Ha – Banking and Finance Law
Alexis B. Telga – Banking and Finance Law

About Lippes Mathias LLP
Lippes Mathias is a full-service law firm with 220-plus attorneys serving clients regionally, nationally, and internationally. With offices in Buffalo, Clarence, Albany, Long Island, New York, Rochester, Syracuse, and Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Greater Toronto Area; Chicago, Ill.; Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, and West Palm Beach, Fla.; Cleveland, Ohio; San Antonio, Texas; Oklahoma City, Okla. and Washington, D.C., the firm represents publicly and privately-owned companies, private equity and venture capital firms, independent sponsors, real estate developers, financial institutions, municipalities, governmental entities, and individuals.

Ranked No. 204 on The National Law Journal’s NLJ 500 list of the largest law firms in the United States by attorney headcount, Lippes Mathias is proud to be recognized year after year by The Best Lawyers in America®, U.S. News - Best Lawyers®, Super Lawyers, and Chambers USA. For more information, visit www.lippes.com.

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