Trevett Cristo P.C.

A practice with roots in 1926

The firm began as Brown & Zurett, one of three affiliated Upstate New York firms set up in 1926 to serve major insurance carriers. That start in insurance work shaped its early identity. In 2026 it reached its 100th year under the Trevett Cristo name.

The legal entity is Trevett Cristo P.C., and it works out of Rochester, New York. Its lawyers appear before state and federal courts across the region, and they also handle matters before regulatory and administrative bodies. Litigation and dispute resolution form the core of the practice, and the firm treats that courtroom work as its foundation.

From that base the firm grew into both commercial and personal matters. In my opinion, a century of continuous practice tells you something plain: clients kept returning, and the firm kept its doors open through generations of changing law.

Focus and practice areas

The commercial side covers business transactional law, acquisitions and mergers, commercial real estate, tax, and commercial litigation. The personal side covers personal injury, family law and matrimonial work, divorce, criminal defense, bankruptcy, residential real estate, estate planning, and estate administration. The firm also handles insurance defense and offers mediation and arbitration. That spread puts a single office within reach of both a company deal and a family dispute.

One practice group carries the label "Labor Matters." The firm represents public-sector labor unions in contract negotiations and in litigation. Public-sector bargaining in New York runs under the Taylor Law, which sets the rules for how union contracts get negotiated and how disputes reach mediation or arbitration.

That framework shapes much of what a union client meets when a contract comes up for renewal. A negotiation can involve a public employer, a bargaining unit, and a state board if the two sides reach an impasse. Contract disputes can then move into grievance procedures or arbitration before they ever reach a courtroom. The firm's place in that process is to advise and represent the union side.

How the team is built

The site names 17 attorneys, each with a stated area of focus. Louis B. Cristo is a Partner. The firm named Jessica L. Naclerio a Partner, and David R. Coletti joined as a Partner. Those three carry the partner title on the firm's own pages.

Other named attorneys include Steven Beckerman, Colin R. Bruckel, Alan J. De Peters, Daniel P. DeBolt, Eric M. Dolan, Mark A. Drexler, David H. Ealy, Bette M. Gould-Ross, and William N. LaForte. Each carries a stated area of focus on the attorneys page. The roster spreads across the firm's practice groups, which fits a general practice built on both commercial and personal work.

Promoting a Partner from within and bringing in another the same year both point to a firm still building its bench in its 100th year. A general practice of this size needs lawyers across several fields at once, and the roster shows that range. The recent partner announcements read as a firm managing its own succession.

What clients meet in personal matters

Family law and matrimonial cases in New York move through Supreme Court, where a judge handles divorce, custody, and the division of marital property. Custody questions can bring in a law guardian for the children, and support figures follow state guidelines. Many of these matters settle through negotiation before a trial date arrives, and some pass through mediation first. A client working with the firm on a divorce would expect filings, financial disclosure, and often a settlement conference.

Criminal defense work runs through the local and county courts. It starts with arraignment and moves toward either a plea or a trial. Bankruptcy filings go before the federal bankruptcy court, where Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases follow different paths for individuals. As a reviewer, I read the mix of these groups as a sign that the firm means to handle a household's legal needs as readily as a company's.

Personal injury cases turn on proving fault and documenting harm, often through medical records and witness testimony. Insurance carriers usually sit on the other side of these claims, which ties the work back to the firm's defense experience. Residential real estate work covers contract review, title questions, and the closing itself. Estate planning and estate administration cover wills, trusts, and the probate process that follows a death.

Insurance defense and commercial work

The firm's earliest clients were insurance carriers, and insurance defense remains a listed practice today. Defense work of this kind involves answering claims, managing discovery, and representing insurers or their insureds through to a resolution. Much of it plays out in the same state and federal courts where the firm handles its other litigation. That line of work connects the present firm back to its 1926 origins.

Commercial litigation runs alongside the transactional groups. The firm can draft a business deal and then litigate one when it breaks down. The commercial practice also covers tax and commercial real estate, so a business client can bring several needs to one office. That breadth suits companies that want continuity from a single firm.

Mediation and arbitration give the firm two more ways to close a dispute. Both keep a matter out of a full courtroom trial. In mediation a neutral third party guides the talks toward a settlement, while in arbitration that neutral decides the result. The parties choose the forum that fits the disagreement.

Where the firm stands now

Trevett Cristo has announced that it is moving its headquarters to Brighton, New York. The firm reached its centennial in 2026 with Louis B. Cristo among its partners and a roster of seventeen attorneys behind the name.

The commercial and personal groups continue to run side by side, with the litigation practice at the center. A client can reach the firm's news through its links to Facebook and LinkedIn on the contact page.

The move to Brighton is the next marked change on a record that now runs a full century. For a firm that started by defending insurance carriers in 1926, that reach into family law, criminal defense, and commercial deals is a wide turn over one hundred years.