Presenting the Power 50

When we decided to launch our Power List series, we knew it would be a difficult task to select just 50 power players in the Western New York legal community for our inaugural Power 50 list.

It definitely was. But we are pleased with the makeup of this list of leaders.

The list contains a number of lawyers who are running law firms or regional offices, but it also includes judges, civil legal services leaders, law school deans, bar association directors and more.

Over the rest of the year, we will delve deeper into several practice areas — personal injury, trusts and estates, intellectual property, and litigation — with smaller Power Lists that will allow us to highlight more people who are working to make an impact in Western New York.

Rather than tell you about all of these power players’ accomplishments and accolades, we decided to give them a chance to tell you more about themselves through their answers to a few different questions. For anyone who was unable to complete our questionnaire, we put together a small profile.

The Power 50 is presented in alphabetical order; selecting 50 power players was hard enough without trying to rank them. We are optimistic that the people and organizations listed here will play a large role in helping Western New York recover from the pandemic. We also look forward to seeing who steps up even more over the next year to earn a spot on the 2022 Power 50.

We know that any endeavor such as this is sure to generate lots of opinions, and not everyone will agree with our choices. I welcome any feedback you have at [email protected]

—Ben Jacobs, Associate Publisher and Editor

Aviva Abramovsky
University at Buffalo School of Law

Martha M. Anderson
Nixon Peabody LLP

Duwaine Bascoe
Abrams Fensterman LLP

Craig M. Boise
Syracuse University College of Law

Jody E. Briandi
Hurwitz & Fine, P.C.

T. Andrew Brown
Brown Hutchinson LLP

Brian J. Butler
Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC

Paul Cambria Jr.
Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria LLP

David Colligan
Colligan Law LLP

Greg Connors
Connors & Ferris

Terrence Connors
Connors LLP

Joseph Salvatore Damelio
Law Office Joseph S. Damelio

Cressida Dixon
Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC

Tim Donaher
Monroe County Public Defender’s Office

Sandra Doorley
Monroe County District Attorney’s Office

Hon. Craig Doran
7th Judicial District Administrative Judge and New York State Supreme Court Justice

Hon. Paula Feroleto
8th Judicial District Administrative Judge

Tina Monshipour Foster
Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County

Scott Friedman
Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP

Alana M. Fuierer
Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti PC

Mark Funk
Monroe County Conflict Defender’s Office

Sheila Gaddis
Barclay Damon LLP

Hon. Frank Geraci Jr.
United States District Court for the Western District of New York

Heidi Schult Gregory
Harris Beach PLLC

Mark W. Hamberger
Hamberger & Weiss LLP

Kevin Hogan
Phillips Lytle LLP

John Horn
Harter Secrest & Emery LLP

Edward Hourihan
Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC

Chris Jagel
Harris Beach PLLC

Rick Kennedy
Hodson Russ LLP

James P. Kennedy Jr.
United States Attorney’s Office – Western District of New York

John Larimer
Larimer Law

Mary Loewenguth
United States District Court Western District of New York

Jared Lusk
Nixon Peabody LLP

Anna Lynch
Underberg & Kessler LLP

Peter Marlette
Barclay Damon LLP

Kevin Mulvehill
Phillips Lytle LLP

Hon. James P. Murphy
5th Judicial District Administrative Judge

Anne M. Noble
Erie County Bar Association

Mitchell Nusbaum
Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP

Carla Palumbo
The Legal Aid Society of Rochester NY

Jacqueline Phipps Polito
Littler Mendelson, P.C.

Danielle Ponder
Monroe County Public Defender’s Office

Peter J. Pullano
Tully Rinckey PLLC

Kevin Ryan
Monroe County Bar Association

Rose Sconiers
Greater Buffalo Racial Equity Roundtable, Community Foundation For Greater Buffalo

Donald M. Thompson
Easton Thompson Kasperek Shiffrin, LLP

Jeffrey A. Unaitis
Onandaga County Bar Association

Ronald E. Weiss
Hamberger & Weiss LLP

Craig Wittlin
Harter Secrest & Emery LLP