DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr, LLP

Focus and practice areas

The firm names ten practice areas on its website. These cover banking law, commercial finance, commercial litigation, corporate law, and employment law. The list continues with government relations, land use and zoning, leasing, real estate, and trusts and estates.

The firm also handles construction matters. The mix leans toward business clients and property work, and it holds both litigation and transactional practice. In my opinion the range fits a firm that handles company deals and the disputes that businesses and property owners run into.

Employment law and government relations sit on the business side too. Employment work covers the rules between companies and the people who work for them. Government relations work deals with how private plans meet public bodies and local rules.

Where the areas overlap

Several of these fields connect in daily practice. A commercial finance deal often touches banking law and corporate law at the same time. A property purchase can bring in leasing and land use questions before the papers close.

How the practice is organized

The firm describes its practice groups as integrated. In plain terms, attorneys from different areas can work on the same matter together. A property deal might pull in a corporate lawyer and a land use lawyer at once.

That structure suits matters that cross more than one field. A commercial real estate project can touch financing, zoning, and leasing within a single file. The firm states that it has worked on real estate development projects, commercial transactions, and legal proceedings in the region.

For a client, one benefit of this setup is a single point of contact on a mixed matter. A business owner selling a building may need advice on the sale, the lease of new space, and the plan for the proceeds. A firm with these groups in one office can take those threads together.

How the team is built

The website lists 22 attorneys. Their titles include managing partner, partners, senior counsel, and associate attorneys. Alfred E. Donnellan holds the managing partner role.

The partners named on the site include Catherine S. Campbell, Ann F. Carlson, Peter S. Dawson, Steven P. DeRicco, Janet J. Giris, Diana Bunin Kolev, Eric J. Mandell, and David A. Newberg. Brian J. Donnellan and Anne E. Kline are listed as associate attorneys. Bernard S. Gordon is listed as an attorney.

As a reviewer, I read the range of titles as a sign of a firm with both senior and junior lawyers on staff. A managing partner and a group of partners point to a settled leadership structure. The associate titles show a place for less senior lawyers within the firm.

Senior counsel and support

The site also lists senior counsel among the titles. In many firms that role marks a lawyer with long experience who advises alongside the partners. The presence of the role adds another layer to the firm's staffing.

Whom the firm serves and where

The firm represents individuals, businesses, entrepreneurs, and institutions. Its work reaches Westchester County, the Hudson Valley, and the surrounding parts of the greater New York City region. The office is in White Plains.

That footprint covers a busy stretch of suburban and small city development north of New York City. Property, zoning, and business matters tend to stay steady in such areas. The firm's practice areas line up with that kind of local work.

The firm maintains a LinkedIn company page. Its client base spans single owners and larger institutions. That span asks a firm to move between small filings and complex deals.

How the named matters generally proceed

Land use and zoning work usually moves through local government. In New York, a zoning application often goes before a planning board or a zoning board of appeals, with public hearings along the way. Approvals can take several rounds before a project moves ahead.

Real estate development runs on a similar track. A project can involve title review, financing, and municipal sign-off before construction starts. Trusts and estates work tends to run through probate court and estate filings, which is a separate process from the deal work.

Commercial litigation follows the court calendar. A dispute can pass through pleadings, discovery, and motion practice before it reaches trial or a settlement. This is general background on how such matters proceed, and it matches the areas the firm names.

Employment disputes

Employment matters can start with a workplace complaint or a contract question. Some go to state or federal agencies before any court filing. The path depends on the claim and the parties involved.

What the firm's history shows

The firm dates to 1995 and was founded in Westchester. Its site marks more than 30 years of practice and a 30th anniversary. That span gives a sense of continuity in one region.

A firm that keeps the same core name for three decades tends to hold a steady client base. In my opinion the length of practice is the clearest fact on offer, and it comes straight from the firm's own record. The firm has practiced from Westchester since 1995 and lists 22 attorneys across its practice areas.