Nappa, Monterosso & Poznansky, LLP

Focus and the claims the firm handles

The firm works in two connected areas of law: workers' compensation and Social Security Disability. Both deal with people who cannot work, or cannot work as they once did, because of injury or illness. That focus shapes the rest of what the firm does.

Its workers' compensation work covers injuries that happen on the job and illnesses that build over time. The site lists construction site injuries, industrial accidents, and repetitive strain conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome. It also names chemical exposure, asbestos-related conditions, occupational hearing loss, and lung disease. These are the matters that bring injured workers to a comp attorney in New York.

Social Security Disability runs alongside that work. Many people who file a comp claim also apply for disability benefits when an injury keeps them out of work for a long stretch. Handling both under one roof lets a client pursue related claims with the same team.

Denied claims and appeals form a third strand. When an insurer or the Social Security Administration turns down a claim, the case moves into a hearing and review process. The firm names this appeals work as part of what it does.

How these claims usually move

For general context, a New York workers' compensation claim runs through the state Workers' Compensation Board and not a civil court. A worker files a claim, medical providers submit reports, and hearings go before a workers' compensation law judge. Disputes over the degree of disability and the need for treatment are common, and much of the argument turns on medical evidence.

A Social Security Disability claim follows a separate federal track. It starts with an application, moves to a reconsideration stage if the first answer is a denial, and reaches a hearing before an administrative law judge when the earlier steps do not succeed. Knowing which forum a claim belongs in, and how to move it through each stage, is part of the daily work in this field.

How the firm came together

The firm was founded in January 2020. It formed through the merger of two existing practices: Helbock and Nappa, LLP, and the firm of Jonathan Poznansky. Both had represented injured workers before the merger, so the combined firm opened with attorneys already working in the same field.

The firm traces its roots to Robert J. Helbock Sr., a Licensed Workers' Compensation Representative. That lineage runs back further than the 2020 date on the door. In my opinion, the useful signal here is continuity: the attorneys who built the earlier practices carried their comp and disability work into the new firm.

The attorneys behind the work

The firm has four attorneys, and all of them concentrate on workers' compensation and Social Security Disability. Their backgrounds tie them to the communities the firm serves across Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens.

The founding partners

Joe Nappa is a founding partner. He was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Staten Island. He graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1990 and has focused on New York State workers' compensation claims since 1994. He was previously a partner at Helbock and Nappa, LLP, and earlier worked at Helbock, Nappa and Gallucci, LLP. He is admitted to the New York State Bar and belongs to the New York State Bar Association and the Injured Workers Bar Association.

Chris Monterosso is the other founding partner and a lifelong Staten Islander. He attended Xavier High School, Colgate University, and New York Law School. Before this firm formed, he was a Senior Associate at Jonathan Poznansky's firm. He is admitted in both New York and New Jersey and is a member of the Richmond County Bar Association. His practice covers workers' compensation and Social Security Disability, the same two areas the firm centers on.

The associates

Vincent Scamardella is a Staten Island native who works in workers' compensation and Social Security Disability Insurance. He graduated from Marist College in 2007 and New England School of Law in 2010. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2011 and to the Eastern District of New York in 2014. He was named to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list for workers' compensation in 2020 and 2021.

Rolando Cubela was born and raised in Astoria, Queens, and has practiced workers' compensation law since 2017. He earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Hunter College in 2013 and finished law school at Charlotte School of Law in 2016. He is bilingual in Spanish and English and works with Spanish-speaking clients. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2017.

Language access and where the firm works

The firm offers a Spanish-speaking attorney, and Rolando Cubela's bilingual practice supports that. For workers whose first language is Spanish, this matters in a field where medical records, hearing testimony, and benefit forms all turn on precise wording. A client who can describe an injury in their own language has a clearer path through the claim.

The firm keeps a main office in Staten Island and a second office in New York City. That footprint puts it within reach of injured workers across the greater New York City area, which is the client base its comp and disability work is built around.

What the record shows

The firm's own pages line up on one point. Its attorneys spend their time on workers' compensation and disability claims, and the biographies read as a group of lawyers who have done this work for years. Nappa has handled comp claims since 1994, and Cubela since 2017. Both partners came out of practices that did the same work before 2020.

The firm also names the specific injuries it takes on, including carpal tunnel, occupational hearing loss, and asbestos-related lung conditions, which tells a prospective client what kind of case fits here. As a reviewer, I read that concentration as a practical strength: a client with a comp or disability claim reaches attorneys who work these matters every day. All four attorneys work the same two areas, workers' compensation and Social Security Disability, for clients in and around New York City.