McConville Considine Cooman & Morin, P.C.

Focus and practice areas

The firm calls itself full-service, and its published list of practice areas supports that description. On the business side, it handles the formation of corporations, limited liability companies, and non-profits, and it advises on mergers and acquisitions. That work covers a company's early filings and its later sales or mergers.

Beyond business, the firm lists estate planning and administration, elder law, real estate, labor and employment, and general litigation. It also handles bankruptcy and debtor and creditor rights, with filings under Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13. Those three chapters cover liquidation, court-supervised reorganization, and structured repayment.

Estate work and institutional clients

Estate and trust disputes appear as a separate line on the practice list. The firm advises on both drafting an estate plan and contesting one, so a client can bring either side of that work to the same office. Health care provider services and municipal and local government round out the areas aimed at institutions.

Zoning, land use, and development sit within the same institutional group. In my opinion, the pairing of that work with real estate gives the firm a practical reach across property questions for both private owners and public bodies.

How the team is built

MCCM opened in 1979 with four attorneys and two professional staff members. It has grown to more than a dozen attorneys, backed by paralegals and administrative staff. More than four decades of continuous operation give the firm a long track in the Rochester market.

The current roster names Peter J. Weishaar as managing partner. The partner group includes Stephanie M. Campbell, Kevin S. Cooman, Mikal J. Krueger, Michael F. McConville, Lucien A. Morin II, Amy L. Varel, and Daniel S. Williford. Kevin S. Cooman also carries the title of general counsel, which points to an internal advisory role alongside client work.

The firm also lists Letty Laskowski as senior associate, Spencer C. Malone and Kristen M. McCormick as associates, and Richard J. Horwitz as counsel. Publishing each title gives a prospective client a clear read on seniority and on who is likely to handle day-to-day matters. As a reviewer, I find that kind of transparency useful when a directory user is trying to gauge a firm's depth.

Where the firm works

The main office is in Rochester. The firm keeps additional offices, available by appointment, in Penfield, Fairport, and Greece, all within the greater Rochester area. The appointment-only setup points to satellite locations that support the main office.

The client base extends across New York State. The firm names Western and Central New York, Upstate New York, the New York City area, and New England as regions it serves. Clients include manufacturing and service businesses, local governments, and health care professionals, many of them in the counties around Rochester.

That reach across state lines is worth noting for a firm rooted in one metro area. Work in the New York City area and New England often means coordinating with local counsel or handling New York law for clients based elsewhere. The firm's stated spread suggests it takes matters that follow existing business clients into other regions.

What the practice areas involve

Several of the firm's areas run on fixed procedures, and a short outline helps a reader picture the work. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy moves through a trustee who reviews and may sell assets, while Chapter 11 and Chapter 13 build plans that a bankruptcy court must confirm. Coverage of all three chapters means the firm can take on both a simple consumer filing and a business reorganization.

Estate and trust disputes usually reach Surrogate's Court in New York. There, a judge weighs whether a will is valid or whether a trustee met their duties. Because the firm also drafts wills and trusts, the same lawyers who prepare a plan can defend it if a dispute arises later.

Municipal and elder law process

Zoning and land use questions follow a public path. They go before local planning and zoning boards, with hearings and written decisions on the record. The firm's mix of municipal, real estate, and development work places it on both the applicant and the government side of those reviews.

Elder law and estate administration share overlapping ground. Administration moves an estate through probate or, for smaller estates, through simpler filings, and it includes paying debts and distributing property. Elder law adds planning for long-term care and related benefits, which the same estate group can fold into a broader plan.

Labor and employment closes the list of areas the firm names. Set next to business formation, real estate, and litigation, it fills out a practice built to serve the businesses, governments, and individuals MCCM counts as clients: manufacturers, service companies, local governments, and health care professionals.