Cornelius Greaves
Founding partner · Trials and contract disputes
Leads the firm's trials and its contract cases, for the side suing and the side sued.
Civil litigation · Buffalo and Western New York
Four lawyers, and you'll know every one of them
Contract, construction and insurance coverage disputes for owners, builders and family companies, whether you're bringing the lawsuit or answering one, in court or in arbitration. Nobody you haven't met will argue your case.
Who's on the file
A partner leads, and a second lawyer knows the file
Every matter has a lead partner and a second lawyer who could argue its next motion on a day's notice. You get both names, and both direct lines, at the first meeting.
Halina Sobczak
Partner · Construction disputes
Owners, general contractors and trades: pay applications, delay, defects and lien claims.
Fintan Brancato
Partner · Insurance coverage
Denied claims and refused defenses for businesses, and the firm's motions and appeals.
Hiba Qassem
Associate · Discovery and arbitration
Runs document review and depositions across the firm's cases, and is often the second name on a file.
What we take on
The disputes a rebuilding city leaves behind
Buffalo is bringing back buildings it raised a century ago, and every scaffold comes with contracts, change orders and a policy someone expects to pay. These are the cases that follow.
Contract disputes
Supply agreements, purchase deals, non-competes and unpaid invoices between companies that used to trust each other.
About contract disputesConstruction disputes
Payment, delay and defect claims for owners, general contractors and the trades, with mechanic's liens and bond claims.
About construction disputesInsurance coverage disputes
A carrier that denies a business's claim, or won't defend the business in a lawsuit someone else filed.
About insurance coverage disputesTrial and arbitration
Cases headed for a jury, a judge or an arbitrator, including ones another firm started and can't finish.
About trial and arbitration
The practice, counted plainly
What a new client can count on from the first meeting.
4
LawyersThree partners and an associate, in one office
2
Names on every fileA lead partner, and a second who can step in
8
CountiesErie to Chautauqua, the whole Eighth Judicial District
3
Kinds of forumState court, federal court and arbitration
Clients, after the case was over
“We were sure the supplier would outspend us. Halina had our delivery logs in order before their lawyers had finished reading the contract.”
Renata K.Owner, a commercial bakery
“At the first meeting Cornelius told us what a trial would cost and what it could get us. He put it in a letter, and the number held.”
Gil M.General contractor
“Our carrier said the water damage wasn't covered. Fintan went through the policy with us line by line, and we understood our own case for the first time.”
Dorota W.Family business owner
Sample testimonials for this template. Every client's case is different, and what happened in one doesn't predict another.
Papers on your desk with a date on them?
Most lawsuits give you weeks, not months, to answer, and many contracts set their own clock for a claim. Call or write today, and a partner will read what you have and tell you where you stand.