Pappalardo & Pappalardo, LLP

Focus and practice areas

Criminal defense is the center of this White Plains firm's work. It handles misdemeanor and felony charges in both New York state courts and federal courts. Around that core, the firm also takes personal injury, business litigation, real estate, wills and estates, and matrimonial and family law matters. The mix gives a client one office for a criminal charge and for the civil questions that often sit next to it.

The criminal side is the most detailed part of what the firm publishes. Its listed matters run through DWI and DWAI, drug possession and sale, larceny, assault, burglary, robbery, weapons possession, and homicide. White collar work is named too: embezzlement, fraud, Medicaid fraud, and tax evasion. In my opinion the breadth here reads as a general criminal practice that covers both street-level charges and financial cases.

The founding partner and the firm's roots

The firm grew out of a private practice that John J. Pappalardo, Sr. established in Eastchester, New York. By the firm's account, that predecessor practice began more than 50 years ago. He is the senior and founding partner, and the firm carries his name.

His background includes public service before private practice. Carl A. Vergari, the District Attorney of Westchester County, appointed him an Assistant District Attorney, and he was assigned to the Felony Trial Bureau. He tried his first murder case in 1973. That prosecutorial start gives the firm a lawyer who has seen serious charges from the other side of the courtroom.

His credentials are on the record. He earned his J.D. from St. John's University School of Law in 1968 and a B.A. from The George Washington University in 1965. He is admitted in New York and in the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. The site lists these admissions without dates.

How the team is built

The roster mixes family principals with outside counsel. Two partners carry the Pappalardo name, and a senior associate anchors the litigation work. Several of counsel lawyers add reach into family law, estates, and immigration.

Partners and associates

John D. Pappalardo, Jr. is the managing partner. He earned his J.D. from St. John's University School of Law in 1993 and studied at Boston College before that. His practice covers criminal defense, DUI and DWI, real estate, and personal injury. He served as President of the Columbian Lawyers Association of Westchester County from 2015 to 2017.

Jill K. Sanders is the senior associate and a litigator. Her criminal matters include traffic offenses and homicides. She also represents clients who have concurrent family offense and matrimonial cases. Her day-to-day work includes legal research and the preparation of motions, briefs, and legal memoranda.

Jazmine Merino practices criminal defense with the firm. She attended the University of California, Irvine and Pace Law School. Her work focuses on criminal defense, DUI and DWI, and federal crime matters. She speaks Spanish, which helps Spanish-speaking clients follow their own cases.

Of counsel attorneys

The outside counsel bring experience from their own practices. Jo-Ann Cambareri, who practices with Guttridge & Cambareri, P.C., studied at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University and has handled child custody, probate, and estate planning. John C. Guttridge, another Pace Law graduate, concentrates on family law, including divorce and separation. Mary Ann Longobucco Mazzei is a Pace-trained lawyer based in White Plains. Angelo G. MacDonald is a criminal defense lawyer who also practices immigration and general matters through his own office. Joseph M. Albanese and Albert W. Cornachio III complete the of counsel group.

What the criminal defense work covers

The firm's criminal caseload spans state and federal courts. As a reviewer, I read the published charge list as a way to show clients the specific matters the office handles, so a few of them are worth walking through. A felony case in New York usually starts at arraignment, then may go to a grand jury, then through pretrial motions before any plea or trial. The firm's lawyers have handled matters at these stages.

DWI and DWAI cases carry two tracks that run at the same time: a criminal court case and a Department of Motor Vehicles license question. Handling both is part of what a DWI defense involves, and the firm names DWI and DWAI among its core criminal work. White collar matters such as fraud, embezzlement, Medicaid fraud, and tax evasion tend to involve documents and financial records long before any courtroom date, and the firm lists these among the charges it defends.

Sex crimes, domestic violence, and weapons charges also appear on the firm's criminal list. Cases like these often involve protective orders and forensic evidence that shape defense strategy from the first appearance. Juvenile offenses and traffic violations are named as well. The office handles both minor and serious matters, and the founding partner's homicide experience sits at the top of that range.

The civil and family side

Outside criminal defense, the firm keeps a working civil practice. Real estate, wills and estates, and business litigation are all named practice areas. Real estate work in New York generally involves contract review, title checks, and the closing itself. Business litigation covers disputes between companies and their partners, which often begin with contract claims and move into discovery. Estate matters in New York often move through Surrogate's Court, where a will is proved and an estate is administered. Family and matrimonial law is another listed area, and the firm's own attorneys handle custody, divorce, and separation questions.

Personal injury fills out the civil work. These cases usually turn on proving fault and documenting an injury's cost, and many settle before trial. Having this alongside the criminal practice means a client who faces both a charge and a related injury claim can keep the work in one place.

Where the firm practices

The office is in White Plains, and its reach follows the region around it. The firm reaches across Westchester County and the wider New York City metropolitan area, including the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. It also names Rockland, Orange, Putnam, and Dutchess counties among the areas it covers.

Court admissions match that footprint. The firm states that its attorneys are admitted in the federal courts located in New York City and White Plains, and the founding partner's admissions in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York back that up. According to the firm, its attorneys have practiced in Westchester and New York City for more than 40 years.