Cole, Sorrentino, Hurley, Hewner & Gambino, P.C.

Focus and practice areas

The firm runs a general practice serving Buffalo and Western New York. The about page states it was founded over 45 years ago. It keeps three offices, in Buffalo, Hamburg and Batavia, which places staff in both the city and the surrounding counties.

The practice covers a wide set of civil matters. The site lists workers' compensation, family law, real estate, wills and estates, personal injury, business law, civil litigation and taxation. In my opinion the mix reads like a firm built for the everyday legal needs of a household or a small business, such as a property closing or a custody question.

That breadth shapes how a client picks a lawyer. A single firm across several areas can keep related matters under one roof, so a real estate purchase and a will go to people who already know the file. It also saves a client from briefing a new lawyer every time a fresh matter comes up. The pages here name enough distinct fields to suggest that is how the work is organized.

How the partners divide the work

The attorneys page names three partners: Richard H. Cole, Thomas F. Hewner and Donna L. Haslinger. Each one lists a different focus, and together they cover transactions, disputes and estates.

Backgrounds and fields

Richard H. Cole holds a B.A. from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a J.D. from Cleveland Marshall College of Law. His work covers real property sales and purchases, civil litigation and personal injury. That combination places him across both closings and courtroom disputes.

Thomas F. Hewner earned a J.D. from Albany Law School of Union University and an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester, and he is a Certified Public Accountant in New York. His practice covers probate, estate planning, business law and bankruptcy. The accounting credential is worth noting, because estate and business matters often turn on tax and balance-sheet questions as much as legal ones.

Donna L. Haslinger holds a B.A. from the State University of New York at Fredonia and a J.D. from the University of Buffalo. She works in family law, appellate practice and real property. Appellate practice is a distinct skill, and keeping it in-house means the firm can carry a family or property matter past the trial court when it needs to.

The associates and wider bench

Beyond the partners, the site lists five more attorneys: Keith R. Rosso, Tyler I. Wood, Marc A. Cangé, Teresa M. Cappiello and Joel A. Geles. The firm names eight attorneys in total.

Keith R. Rosso earned his J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law in 2018, where he graduated cum laude, and holds a B.A. in History and Political Science from Canisius College. His work covers real estate law, estate planning, wills and probate, and landlord-tenant matters. That set overlaps with the partners' real estate and estate work, which suggests the attorneys work as a connected team.

Marc A. Cangé also attended the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law and practices with the firm in Buffalo. The site lists Tyler I. Wood, Teresa M. Cappiello and Joel A. Geles as attorneys without further detail. As a reviewer I read the roster as a firm with a clear partner tier and several attorneys carrying the day-to-day caseload.

Real estate and family matters

Real estate is one of the firm's stated strengths, and the site splits it into residential and commercial work. Residential closings involve title review, contract terms and the lender's paperwork, and they run to a calendar set by the purchase contract. Commercial deals add layers such as zoning, leases and entity ownership. With two partners and an associate all listing real property, a closing can be staffed inside the firm.

Family law is the other high-volume area. The firm handles separation, divorce, child custody and child support. In New York these matters move through Supreme Court for a divorce and Family Court for custody and support, and they often involve financial disclosure, parenting schedules and sometimes an appeal. Haslinger's appellate experience applies directly to that last stage.

Child support and custody questions can return to court as a child grows or a parent's income changes. A firm that handles the original divorce and stays available for later modifications gives a client one point of contact over several years. The firm's family list reads that way.

Injury, workers' compensation and civil disputes

The firm handles personal injury, and the site names car accidents, truck accidents and slip-and-fall accidents among the matters it takes. These cases generally open with an insurance claim, and they can proceed to a lawsuit if the parties stay apart on the amount. Cole's listing puts personal injury next to his litigation work, so a claim that turns into a suit can stay with the same lawyer.

Workers' compensation is a separate track. In New York these claims go through the Workers' Compensation Board rather than the regular courts, and they turn on medical evidence, wage records and hearing testimony. The Board sets its own deadlines and forms, and a missed step can delay benefits, so early handling matters. Listing workers' compensation alongside personal injury means the firm can sort a workplace injury into the right process from the start.

Under civil litigation, the site names contract disputes, wrongful discharge and debt collection. These are the disputes a person or a small company runs into, and they can head to negotiation, a demand letter or a filed case depending on the amount and the other side. The firm groups them under one heading, so a client with a contract problem knows which team to call.

Business, tax and what the record shows

For businesses, the firm lists business law and taxation next to its litigation work. Hewner's accounting background and business focus give the tax and business side a defined place on the roster, which helps when a matter mixes legal filings with financial detail. Wills, trusts and estates round out the personal side, and Rosso and Hewner both list estate work.

Estate work runs from a simple will to the administration of an estate after a death. Probate in New York moves through Surrogate's Court, where the court confirms the will and oversees the executor. Hewner's probate and estate-planning focus, together with his accounting training, fits the tax side of larger estates, and Rosso's wills and probate work covers the day-to-day drafting. A client can set up a plan and later come back to the same firm when it needs to be carried out.

The record here is what the firm publishes about itself: three partners, five more attorneys, three offices and a practice list that reaches across most of the civil work a person or a small business needs. In my opinion the most useful signal is the overlap between the lawyers' stated fields and the firm's practice areas, because the advertised services line up with the people on staff. The site does not list a founding year beyond "over 45 years," so a prospective client would do well to ask about specific experience and recent results in a first meeting. The Buffalo, Hamburg and Batavia offices give Western New York clients more than one place to begin.