Our Business
Respect.Dignity.Fairness.
These are the traits that we bring to our clients to meet their needs no matter how big or how small.
Personal attention has always been the key to our success and our clients deserve nothing less.
Our Lawyers
THOMAS R. AUGELLO, ESQ.
A partner in the firm, received his J.D. from the University of
Buffalo Law School in 1978 and became associated with Little &
Burt, counsel to Buffalo Savings Bank. Little & Burt
later merged with Saperston & Day and continued as counsel to
Goldome Bank. During this period, Mr. Augello was primarily
responsible for residential real estate closings, commercial real
estate closings and title work. In 1980, Mr. Augello took a
position with Block & Colucci, P.C., where he continued to
concentrate in the real property area. He performed
residential and commercial closing services for Fleet Mortgage
Corp., Chase Lincoln First Bank, N.A., Manufacturers and Traders
Trust Company, Central Trust Company and Manufacturers Hanover
Trust Company. These commercial transactions included Erie
County Industrial Development Agency bond closings, as well as
construction loan closings for developers, and commercial real
estate closings. Mr. Augello became a partner in 1982, and
Senior Partner and Chairman of the real estate department in 1984,
at which point he was responsible for hiring, training and
supervising closing attorneys in the firm's offices across New York
State. In September of 1988, he joined Augello &
Matteliano, LLP as partner where he continues to concentrate in
commercial and residential real estate and banking law. The
firm has represented The Chase Manhattan Bank, Norwest Mortgage,
American Home Funding, Inc./Charter One, and Bank of America, among
others, as well as M&T Bank for commercial real estate
transactions. Mr. Augello is a member of the Western New York
Advisory Board of Directors of Ticor Title Insurance Company, and
is a member of the Erie County Bar Association Real Property
Committee. Mr. Augello has participated as guest lecturer in
the continuing Legal Education Real Property seminars and has
authored several articles for The Buffalo News Homefinder. He
is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Alumni
Association for the Faculty of Law and Jurisprudence of the State
University of New York at Buffalo.
JOSEPH A. MATTELIANO, ESQ.
A partner of the firm and heads the litigation department. The
firm's clients include Travelers Insurance Company, United America
Insurance Group, Kaleida Health Systems, Inc., Erie Insurance
Company, and Vermont Mutual Insurance Group. Mr. Matteliano has
over thirty-nine (39) years of trial and appellate experience,
specializing in the defense of Labor Law, medical malpractice,
products liability, premises liability, automobile and construction
matters. In addition, he has appeared on behalf of physicians and
other medical providers before the New York State Department of
Health and Office of Professional Conduct. Mr. Matteliano has
extensive appellate experience and has argued numerous appeals in
the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, New York State Court of
Appeals, and the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Matteliano was a partner in the firm of Block & Colucci,
P.C. from 1985 until 1988 and was in charge of the litigation
department. Representing insurance carriers and many major private
and public corporations including Royal Insurance Company, Sun Oil
Co., Southland Corporation and the Niagara Frontier Transportation
Authority, Mr. Matteliano was responsible for all insurance defense
matters as well as commercial and regulatory litigation throughout
New York State. From 1981 to 1985, Mr. Matteliano was associated
with the firm of Damon & Morey where he principally handled
medical, dental and podiatric malpractice litigation and other
insurance defense matters including asbestos, lead paint, premises,
automobile and construction accidents.
Mr. Matteliano, as a prosecutor in the Erie County District
Attorney's Office between 1977 and 1981, tried numerous felony
cases and was later named Deputy Chief of the Appeals Bureau. As an
associate with Bouvier O’Connor from 1976-1977, Mr. Matteliano
defended and tried cases for Nationwide Insurance Company, Utica
Mutual, Hanover and State Farm Insurance Company.
Mr. Matteliano, a 1976 graduate of the University of Buffalo Law
School and a senior editor of and published in the Buffalo Law
Review, is admitted to the New York State Bar and the Federal
Courts for the Eastern, Western and Southern Districts of New York
and the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District and the Second
Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a member of the New York State,
American Bar and Erie County Bar Associations, and is a former
Director of the Erie County Bar Association, a former Board Member
and former President of the Western New York Trial Lawyers
Association and was recently selected to the New York State Bar
Executive Committee of the Trial Lawyers Section. Mr. Matteliano
regularly lectures in New York State Bar CLE civil litigation
seminars and is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell.
DANIELLE K. CROWLEY, ESQ.
An associate in the firm, graduated
from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1998 with a
Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management with
concentrations in marketing and global management. She also
attended the American University Washington Semester Program where
she interned with the United States Department of the Treasury. In
2001 she received her Juris Doctor from the University of
Pittsburgh School of Law. While in law school, Ms. Crowley was a
volunteer law student clerk for Judge William M. Skretney of the
United States District Court for the Western District of New York
and interned for Judge William F. Cercone of the Superior Court of
Pennsylvania. During her third year of law school, she was a
teaching/research assistant for the Masters of Legal Studies Legal
Writing Course. She was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2002.
Ms. Crowley began her practice with the law firm of Berrigan,
Perlman & Gabriele where she worked in numerous areas of law,
primarily focusing on real estate and estates. Thereafter, Ms.
Crowley joined the law firm of Augello & Matteliano, LLP and is
assigned insurance related matters in the fields of Labor Law
liability, premises liability, automobile, and personal injury. Ms.
Crowley also devotes part of her practice to real estate and
estates. She is a member of the Erie County Bar Association and New
York State Bar Association and is admitted to practice in Federal
Court.
JENNIFER L. RODGERS, ESQ.
An associate with the firm, obtained her Juris Doctor from Ohio
Northern University College of Law in 1998 and received her
bachelor’s degree in English from State University of New York at
Fredonia in 1995. Since her admission to the New York State Bar,
she has practiced in the Buffalo area starting at Giardino &
Schober in 1998 where she was introduced to insurance defense work
as well litigating construction contracts, environmental litigation
and federal employment discrimination. She was associated with the
firm Kenney, Shelton, Liptak & Nowak from 1999 until 2003
defending automobile accidents, premises liability cases,
construction accident claims, drafting of appellate briefs and
arguing appeals. She also participated in the Erie County Aid to
Indigent Prisoner Program as assigned counsel for criminal defense.
When she joined Damon Morey LLP as a senior associate in 2003, she
continued defending personal injury claims for various insurance
carriers, including Vermont Mutual Insurance Group, Kemper/Unitrin,
Tokyo Fire and Marine, third-party administrators including
Gallagher Bassett, and self-insured clients including NVR d/b/a
Ryan Homes. She handled complex litigation matters for these
clients, such as products liability claims on behalf of
international clients, and construction law claims, commercial
trucking claims, and some automobile accidents. She has conducted
50-h hearings and represented the interest of municipalities in a
number of personal injury cases as well as trying litigation cases
to verdict with success. In 2009, Ms. Rodgers joined Burden,
Guilisano & Hickey , LLC and continued her defense work. Ms.
Rodgers joined Augello & Matteliano, LLP in 2012 focusing her
practice on insurance related claims such as Labor Law defense,
products liability, premises liability, automobile and personal
injury claims. She is admitted to the United States District Court,
WDNY and is a member of the Bar Association of Erie County and New
York State Bar Association.