From left to right:
Jason Murphy – Associate Attorney
Shawn Michael Alfano – Associate Attorney
Kristen Buttafuoco – Associate Attorney
Daniel P. Buttafuoco Senior Partner and Founder
Ellen Buchholz – Associate Attorney
James McCarthy – Partner
Mark T. Freeley - Partner and Managing Attorney
 Daniel P. Buttafuoco Senior Partner and Founder
Dan Buttafuoco founded the firm in 1981 after graduating with a Juris Doctor degree from Hofstra University School of Law. His undergraduate studies were at Hofstra University New College, earning his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Dan is currently completing Master’s studies at Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack, NY, with the ultimate goal of obtaining a Master's of Divinity.
His caring and charismatic approach to serving the many Church groups, members and pastors he has as clients, has earned him a solid reputation as a champion of ethics and the law, especially in the Christian community.
Dan has handled over 100 juried and non-juried trials involving all aspects of personal injury, negligence, product liability and medical malpractice cases. Dan has earned for his clients many millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements in these areas.
Dan hosts a weekly radio talk show entitled “Christian Legal Concepts” for radio stations 570AM (WMCA) and 970AM (WWDJ). The program features discussion of listeners’ e-mail and call-in questions about their faith and its connection with the law, specifically, personal injury law.
As a speaker in numerous churches of all denominations (including Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal and others), Dan has shared his ideas on the Bible with many congregations and groups.
Dan’s presence in the Church community can also be felt through his active involvement in the New York City Relief Mission and the Historical Bible Society, which he founded in 2000 to foster the care, preservation, display and education about ancient and historically significant Bibles, important religious Artworks and study of Christian scriptures.
Dan also shares his knowledge of the law and his passion for teaching via his position as an Adjunct Professor of Trial Law in the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (Trial Techniques Program) at Hofstra Law School.
Dan is admitted in all courts of New York and many Federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition he is often admitted pro hac vice in other states. He is a member of The National Board of Trial Advocacy- as a Certified Civil Trial Lawyer since 1989. In addition he is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the New York State Trial Lawyer’s Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and the National Organization of Social Security Claimant’s Representatives
Dan is married with 3 children, one of whom is in law school herself. Dan is also an elder in his church.
FAVORITE QUOTE: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.” – David, King of Israel (Psalm 1:1)
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 Mark T. Freeley - Partner and Managing Attorney
For more than 15 years, Mark has litigated and settled many of the firm’s major motor vehicle and complex construction site accident cases, as well as all other types of serious injury and wrongful death cases. Mark has extensive and diverse experience in pre-trial case preparation, depositions, mediation and arbitration, and trial preparation. He takes pride in carefully preparing each case as if it will go to trial, which typically results in a successful settlement for his clients.
At present, Mark is the Managing attorney for the firm and is responsible for the day-to-day operations, court calendar, trial calendar, and attorney mentoring.
Mark graduated with his J.D. degree from Hofstra University School of Law in 1989. Mark’s undergraduate Bachelor’s Degree in Public Justice was earned from The State University of New York in Oswego. While attending college and law school, Mark interned for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office as well as the Rockland County Public Defender’s office.
Mark is admitted to practice in NY, NJ and FL, as well as in a number of Federal courts. Mark’s professional associations include active membership in the New York State Bar Association- Torts, Insurance and Compensation Law section, and the New York State Trial Lawyer’s Association.
FAVORITE QUOTE: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” –Edmund Burke, 18th century British Statesman
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 James McCarthy – Partner
James graduated cum laude in 1991 with a Juris Doctor degree from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center in Huntington, NY after earning his B.A. in political Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in Stony Brook, NY.
James joined Daniel P.Buttafuoco and Associates as a trial lawyer in 1991 and has tried and litigated many significant medical malpractice, automobile, premises, products liability and construction accident cases. James focuses his practice on the litigation and trial of medical malpractice cases. He has extensive experience in handling all aspects of such cases from initial investigation of potential claims through to trial. Over the years James has obtained millions of dollars for victims of birth injuries, wrongful death, untimely diagnosed cancer, surgical injuries and brain damage caused by physicians' negligence.
From the inception of the case until closing arguments, he zealously fights for the rights of his clients in order to obtain maximum compensation either through settlement or verdict. Given that many of the cases James handles involve wrongful death or total incapacitation, he has extensive experience in all Surrogate Court matters. Unlike many personal injury firms who refer clients to outside Surrogate Court attorneys, James handles all related Surrogate Court matters personally. This saves clients considerable time and money. In a recent case, James obtained a favorable settlement immediately prior to trial for a child who suffered cerebral palsy as a result of obstetrical malpractice. After settlement, a Supplemental Needs Trust was created in order to allow the infant to continue to obtain Medicaid for her disabilities, while retaining all settlement proceeds in a special trust.
James was admitted to the New York State Bar Association in February 1992 and the United States Federal Courts in July 1992. He is a member of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association and the Suffolk County Bar Association.
FAVORITE QUOTE: “The people's good is the highest law.“ - Cicero, Roman author, orator and politician
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 Shawn Michael Alfano – Associate Attorney
Shawn M. Alfano joined the Buttafuoco firm as a trial lawyer in 2000 and has litigated and tried numerous motor vehicle, premises and construction accident cases. Prior to joining the firm Shawn worked as a litigator concentrating in employment law, civil rights litigation, matrimonial law and criminal law. He graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1998 from Touro College where he received his Juris Doctorate Degree, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in
1992 from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Before attending law school Shawn had a career in corporate sales, and also worked as a management associate for Marriott International Corporation. His diverse legal and business background gives him added perspective into the cases he litigates. This experience may best be realized in the process of evaluating, interacting with and selecting jurors, a critical skill for any trial attorney.
Shawn has dedicated his legal career to zealously seek justice for injured clients. Since joining the firm, Shawn has obtained significant plaintiffs' verdicts in various New York State and Federal courts, including Kings County, Queens County, Nassau County and the United States Eastern District Court. Recent examples of compensation he has obtained for his clients include a Suffolk County client who received $250,000 in June, 2005, the full insurance available, for neck injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident; in April 2005 Shawn obtained $550,000 for a Nassau County client who required a total knee replacement as a result of a motor vehicle accident. Shawn is currently preparing for a trial in Brooklyn where he rejected a trucking company's $1,000,000 offer to settle a case involving injuries to his client's knee and shoulder that required multiple surgeries.
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Ellen Buchholz – Associate Attorney
Ellen joined Buttafuoco & Associates in December 2000. She has practiced plaintiff’s personal injury and medical malpractice for more than twenty years.
An experienced and skilled legal writer, she is the attorney in charge of the firm’s appeals and complex motions that arise during the course of litigation. Ellen has successfully briefed and argued a number of cases in the appellate courts of the state of New York. Many of the cases she handled are reported in official case reporters available online and in law libraries. In a recent appeal, Ellen worked with attorney James S. McCarthy in obtaining a new trial and reversal of the decision of the trial court that had dismissed a medical malpractice and wrongful death action where the decedent died of gastric cancer and his physician failed to timely refer him to a gastroenterologist for endoscopy. Ellen’s successes include cases involving personal injury, labor law, medical malpractice, products liability, maritime law, premises liability, motor vehicle accidents, insurance coverage, municipal liability, and commercial litigation.
Ellen graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from New England School of Law in Boston, MA in 1980 after earning her Bachelor’s Degree, cum laude, from the University at Albany.
She is admitted to practice in New York and Connecticut State Courts, the Federal Court for the Eastern District of New York and the United States Supreme Court.
FAVORITE QUOTE: “Justice denied anywhere diminishes justice everywhere.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Jason Murphy – Associate Attorney
Jason graduated from Western New England School of Law in 2006 with a Juris Doctor degree after earning his Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Loyola College in Maryland in 2002. At his law school graduation, Jason received the Snyder Family St. Joseph of Cupertino Ethics Award for his achievements in professional ethics. Jason joined Buttafuoco & Associates in January 2007.
Jason previously worked as a student attorney with the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he handled a diverse range of criminal matters before the Court, and also for a large personal injury law firm in Springfield. In the summer of 2005, Jason was one of only fifty law students in the nation selected as a legal intern with the United States Air Force Judge Advocates General’s Office in Washington, D.C.
In his short time at Buttafuoco & Associates Jason has obtained many significant settlements for his clients, and has taken several cases to trial with successful results. Recently, Jason obtained a six-figure settlement for a client who required multiple surgeries to repair a fractured ankle caused by a pothole, and $100,000, the maximum insurance available, for a client who sustained numerous injuries in a car accident. Jason prides himself on taking an aggressive approach to his cases by preparing them all for trial.
Jason was admitted to the Connecticut State Bar in 2006, the New York State Bar in 2007, and the United States District Court for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York in 2008. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Queens County Bar Association, and the New York State Trial Lawyer’s Association.
FAVORITE QUOTE: “It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.” – Earl Warren
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Kristen Buttafuoco – Associate Attorney
Kristen Buttafuoco is the eldest daughter of the firm’s founder, Daniel Buttafuoco. From a young age Kristen worked in the office and grew up watching her father dedicate his professional life to helping his clients. She saw the integrity and passion with which he conducted his business and knew that one day she would be a part of that.
Kristen completed a four-year undergraduate studies program at Hofstra University in only three years, earning her Bachelor of Arts and graduating cum laude in 2003. From there she went on to study law at the Touro College Jacob. D. Fuchsberg Law Center where she earned CALI awards for achieving the highest grade in some of her classes. She graduated with a Juris Doctor Degree in 2007.
After law school Kristen took and passed the New York State Bar Examination in July 2007. She officially joined the Buttafuoco & Associates team in December 2007 and was admitted to the New York State Bar Association in June 2008.
Kristen has taken over the marketing department of Buttafuoco & Associates, focusing on website traffic and search engine optimization. She also is the first contact for new cases coming in over the internet.
Kristen is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the New York County Lawyers Association.
FAVORITE QUOTE: “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come." – Victor Hugo
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