DerOhannesian & DerOhannesian

Focus and practice areas

The firm runs as a general practice in Albany, New York, and its site traces that work back to 1953. It handles both criminal and civil matters, and it appears in state and federal courts. That combination lets one office cover cases that might otherwise pull a client toward two or three separate firms. A general practice of this age has usually seen local court rules and personnel change many times over.

Eight practice areas appear across the home and practice pages: criminal law, white collar crime, election law, personal injury, medical malpractice, products liability, estates and estate litigation, and civil litigation. The list leans toward litigation, the work of preparing and arguing disputes in court. In my opinion the pairing of criminal defense with civil claims is the clearest thread running through it. Both sides of that work draw on courtroom procedure and evidence rules that overlap more than they differ.

Personal injury cases the firm takes

On the injury side, the site names a specific set of case types. These cover auto accidents, trucking accidents, motorcycle accidents, bus accidents and boating accidents. The firm also lists premises liability, slip and fall incidents, and wrongful death claims. Listing the categories this plainly helps a reader match a situation to the firm's stated work.

The site notes that New York law entitles an injured person to compensation where another party was negligent. That framing matches how most personal injury claims proceed. A claimant has to show a duty of care, a breach of that duty, and a link between the breach and the harm. New York also runs a no-fault system for many auto cases and applies comparative negligence, which can reduce an award by the injured person's share of fault. Insurers usually enter early, and many claims settle before a trial date arrives.

Wrongful death claims follow their own path in New York. A representative of the estate brings them, and damages focus on the losses to survivors. Trucking and bus cases can bring extra layers, since commercial carriers and their insurers often have counsel involved from the first days. The spread of vehicle types on the firm's list suggests it takes both routine and heavier collision matters.

How the team is built

The Attorneys and Staff page names five attorneys: Paul DerOhannesian II, Stephanie Andrews, Kristin Bruno, Dina Aversano DiBlasi, and Paul DerOhannesian. The firm describes its team as including attorneys, administrators and investigators. Investigators on staff can matter in criminal and injury work, where the facts often turn on witness accounts, timelines and physical evidence. Having that capacity in house means the firm can chase down detail on its own timetable.

The site gives a full background for Paul DerOhannesian II. He earned a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University in 1975 and a J.D. from Albany Law School of Union University in 1978. He served as an Assistant District Attorney in Albany County from 1979 to 2001, and he wrote a book titled "Sexual Assault Trials." His own practice covers criminal law, white collar crime, election law, personal injury, medical malpractice and products liability.

The firm credits its wider staff alongside the named attorneys. Administrators handle the scheduling, filing and client contact that keep litigation moving day to day. That support structure is common in firms that run trials, where a single case can generate a heavy paper record. The named member's documented record gives a reader a concrete starting point for checking the firm against public court and bar sources.

Experience behind the criminal practice

Two decades as a prosecutor give one of the firm's members a long view of how prosecutors charge and try criminal cases. A former Assistant District Attorney has usually seen how the other side builds a file and where a case can weaken. As a reviewer, I read that background as relevant to both the criminal law and the white collar listings. Authorship of a trial-focused book points to time spent on the mechanics of proof in the courtroom.

White collar work belongs to that same criminal practice. These matters often involve financial records, grand jury steps, and civil exposure that runs alongside the criminal case. Election law, another named area, turns on tight statutory deadlines and petition rules that shift with the office in question. Both areas reward close reading of procedure well before any hearing.

Estates, malpractice and civil disputes

The firm pairs estate work with a broader civil litigation practice, and the two often meet in court. Estate matters in New York run through the Surrogate's Court, which handles wills, the administration of an estate, and disputes among heirs. Estate litigation starts when someone contests a will or challenges how an estate is being managed. These cases can carry real feeling, since family and money meet in the same file.

Medical malpractice and products liability, both named on the site, fall within the civil work and usually depend on expert testimony. A malpractice claim has to show that care fell below an accepted standard and that the lapse caused harm. Products cases examine design, manufacture or warnings. Both types tend to move slowly, with extended discovery and motion practice before a trial ever begins.

General civil litigation covers the wider set of disputes that reach state and federal court, such as contract fights and claims between businesses. A general practice can carry a matter through pleadings, discovery, motions and, where needed, trial. That continuity means one team holds the history of a case as it develops. For clients, keeping the file in one place can cut the handoffs that slow a dispute down.

Where the firm works

The office is in Albany, and the firm says it serves clients across New York State. The footer names nearby towns: Cohoes, Latham, Delmar, Rensselaer, East Greenbush and Selkirk. That places the firm in the Capital Region with reach into the surrounding communities. The state and federal courts it names are within reach of that base.

The firm keeps active profiles on X (formerly Twitter), on LinkedIn, and on YouTube. A video channel points to public-facing material beyond the main site. The two facts with the most documentary weight are the 1953 start date and the named member's service as an Assistant District Attorney from 1979 to 2001.