Attorneys
Our Attorneys. Click the link to the left to see their short bios. .... etc content needed here.
JOHN P. CONNORS, JR.
JOHN P. CONNORS, JR. is admitted to practice in the State and Federal Courts in the States of New York and New Jersey and the District of Columbia. Mr. Connors is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and Georgetown University College of Arts and Science. Prior to joining Connors & Connors in 1984, Mr. Connors was an Assistant District Attorney assigned to the Supreme Court Trial Bureau of the Kings County District Attorney's Office.
At Connors & Connors, Mr. Connors is responsible for firm management, the discovery and trial of the firm's most significant cases and the assignment of cases to all attorneys. Professionally, Mr. Connors is the immediate past President of the Richmond County Bar Association, a Chair of the Executive Committee of the House of Delegates of the New York State Bar Association, a past chair of the New York State Bar Association, Trial Lawyers Section, Chair, appointed by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, of the Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commission for the Second Judicial District and a member of the Judicial Screening Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. In the past Mr. Connors has served as the Chair of the RCBA Committee on Continuing Legal Education and was a Republican candidate for a New York State Supreme Court Judgeship for the Tenth Judicial District (Kings and Richmond counties) for which he was approved by the Committee on the Judiciary of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Mr. Connors has lectured at the New York State Bar Association and New York County Lawyers Association on the topics of premises liability, negligent security, civil practice, jury selection, insurance coverage and cross examination of an expert witness.
HAROLD J. SIEGEL
HAROLD J. SIEGEL is admitted to practice in the State and Federal Courts of the State of New York. Mr. Siegel is a graduate of St. John's University Law School and the Citadel. Prior to joining Connors & Connors, Mr. Siegel was the chief Assistant for the Criminal Courts Bureau of the Richmond County District Attorney's Office. Since joining Connors & Connors in 1975, Mr. Siegel has defended thousands of cases from pleadings through jury verdict, earning the trust and confidence of experienced attorneys and judges.
Mr. Siegel has been a director of the Richmond County Bar Association and President of the Staten Island Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Siegel was a member of the Richmond County Bar Association Judiciary Committee and a member of the Judicial Screening Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
LOUIS RASSO
LOUIS J. RASSO is admitted to practice in the State of New York. He is a graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Brooklyn Law School. Mr. Rasso was admitted to the bar in 2000 and thereafter worked for the City of New York until joining the firm in November of 2003. At Connors & Connors Mr. Rasso is teamed with Susan Shaughnessy assisting in the discovery phase of complex litigation. He has also defended hundreds of no fault claims assisted by medical providers. As such Mr. Rasso has become quite familiar with both the Statutory & Substantive defenses to said claims.
MICHAEL B. KELLY
MICHAEL B. KELLY is admitted to practice in the State Courts of
New York and New Jersey, the Southern and Eastern District of New
York and the District Court of New Jersey. Mr. Kelly is a graduate
of St. John's University Law School and Denison University.
Prior to joining Connors & Connors in August of 2000, Mr. Kelly was
a partner in Fisher, Fallon and an associate in Martin, Clearwater
& Bell concentrating in the defense of medical malpractice cases.
Since joining Connors & Connors, Mr. Kelly has been responsible for
complex case management and has recorded an impressive string of defense
verdicts.
NICHOLAS REALE
NICHOLAS REALE is a Magna Cum LAUDE GRADUATE OF St. John's University and a 2003 graduate of New York Law School. Having joined Connors & Connors P.C. in the Spring of 2004, Mr. Reale immersed himself in the defense of no fault claims pursued by health care providers.
As such he became familiar with the statutory and regulatory defenses to such claims. In addition, Mr. Reale has assisted in the drafting of motions for summary judgment, document production and discovery and overall file management. Mr. Reale is licensed to practice in the State of New York and is a member of the New York State Bar Association.
DOMINICK DeSANTIS
DOMINICK DESANTIS is admitted to practice in the State of New York. Mr. DeSantis is a graduate of New York Law School and St. John's University. He joined Connors & Connors in June, 2000 and since that time has become a reliable member of our legal staff.
At Connors & Connors, Mr. DeSantis is teamed with Robert J. Pfuhler assisting in discovery and has conducted over 100 depositions.
ROBERT PFUHLER
ROBERT PFUHLER is admitted to practice in both the State and Federal Courts in the States of New York and New Jersey. Mr. Pfuhler is a graduate of Fordham Law School and New York University. Since joining Connors & Connors in 1994, Mr. Pfuhler has tried a number of complex matters to verdict while managing a caseload including multimillion dollar personal injury and property damage claims. Mr. Pfuhler is also the primary author of the firm's newsletter and co-chair of the Negligence Committee of the Richmond County Bar Association.
SUSAN E O'SHAUGHNESSY
SUSAN E O'SHAUGHNESSY is admitted to practice in both the State and Federal Courts in the States of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Ms. O'Shaughnessy is a graduate of Albany Law School of Union University and the State University of New York at Binghamton. Prior to joining Connors & Connors in 1993, Ms. O'Shaughnessy was associated with the law firm of Spencer H. Gaines specializing in commercial and transactional litigation.
Since joining Connors & Connors, Ms. O'Shaughnessy has been responsible for firm management and discovery in complex cases. Ms. O'Shaughnessy also heads the firm's real estate department. Ms. O'Shaughnessy is a member of the Grievance Committee of the Richmond County Bar Association, and the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association, Real Property Section.
RICHARD MUNROE
RICHARD MUNROE is a graduate of Brooklyn College and Thomas M. Coley Law School where he earned his law degree in only 2 years graduating in September 1999.
Prior to joining Connors & Connors, P.C. Mr. Munroe worked as an associate at Jaffe and Nohavicka and Mitzer, Sarowits and Zeris. At both his prior firms and Connors & Connors, P.C. Mr. Munroe defended hundreds of auto liability and general premises liability cases from inception to trial. In addition he successfully drafted and argued summary judgment motions on issues involving allegedly defective premises and allegedly serious injuries. He is a member of the New York State and American Bar Associations.
MICHAEL J. CAULFIELD
MICHAEL J. CAULFIELD was formerly associated with Travelers Insurance Company as attorney of record in New York City for more than 20 years. In that capacity he defended commercial and personal lines insureds in both trial and appellate courts. A graduate of St. John's University School of Law ('78), Jamaica, New York, and Adelphi University ('73), Garden City, New York, Mr. Caulfield has completed the National Institute of Trial Advocacy's Basic, Advanced and Teacher Training courses. Mr. Caulfield is a member of both the New York (1978) and New Jersey (1998) bars. He has been awarded an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. In 2003-2004 he was President of the Defense Association of New York and active in the Defense Research Institute's state and local defense efforts. He has also been a sustaining member, author and lecturer for the New York State Bar Association. At Connors & Connors, Mr. Caulfield is responsible for the discovery, evaluation and trial of our most complex matters.
DAVID S. HELLER
DAVID S. HELLER is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Law. He has been admitted to the New York State and Federal Bars since 1975. For over twenty years Mr. Heller was a senior trial attorney, team leader, and partner in the staff counsel firms representing the Travelers Insurance Company. In those positions, he defended cases involving complex Labor Law, RICO, insurance, and tort matters. He successfully represented individuals and corporations insured by Travelers before the State and Federal Trial Courts, the First and Second Departments of the New York Appellate Division, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the New York Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court, including several notable precedents. Mr. Heller has defended multi-million dollar claims, and, on behalf of Travelers, recovered well over one million dollars in insurance disputes. Mr. Heller is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He has completed courses by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. He has lectured on issues in tort law. He has published in the area as well, most recently as a contributor to the New York State Bar Association's course on Basics of Civil Practice-The Trial. At Connors & Connors Mr. Heller is responsible for discovery, evaluation, motion practice, and appeals in complex matters.
LEONARD A. ROBUSTO
LEONARD A. ROBUSTO has been practicing law since 1973 and joined our firm in January of 2009 after a distinguished career with the in-house counsel of the Hartford. He received his Law Degree (J.D.) from Brooklyn Law, and his Masters of Law (LL.M) from N.Y.U. Graduate School of Law. Mr. Robusto is admitted to practice in NY State the Eastern and Southern District Courts, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the International Court of Trade. During his career, he has handled and tried a wide variety of matters, including medical/dental malpractice, Labor Law and Admiralty cases. He has been recognized by the NY State assembly for his outstanding contribution to Staten Island's civic, charitable and environmental communities. He has been a guest lecturer in law in junior high school, high school, college and law school.
TIMOTHY M O'DONOVAN
TIMOTHY M O'DONOVAN is admitted to practice in both the State and Federal Courts in the States of New York and New Jersey. Mr. O'Donovan is a graduate of St. John's University Law School and has an undergraduate degree from St. John's University. After being admitted to the bar in the State of New York in 1994, Mr. O'Donovan was appointed as an Assistant District Attorney in the Richmond County District Attorney's Office where he prosecuted misdemeanor and felony cases for three years. Thereafter, Mr. O'Donovan has worked as a civil litigator defending a wide variety of cases involving premises liability, product liability and auto liability. Mr. O'Donovan has extensive experience as a trial attorney and is an active member of the Richmond County Bar Association.
ALEXANDRA BYSTRITSKAYA
ALEXANDRA BYSTRITSKAYA is admitted to practice in the State of New York. She is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School with an undergraduate degree from Moscow State Conservatory, Russia. After her admission to the bar in 2007, Ms. Bystritskaya litigated cases in New York Family Court. Ms. Bystritskaya has recently joined Connors & Connors P.C., where she is defending a variety of premises liability and motor vehicle cases. In addition, Ms. Bystritskaya has been successfully assisting our Senior Associates with substantive motions and medical chronologies in high exposure cases.
