Our Attorneys

Bio

Ms. Myers has successfully represented clients in both federal and state courts in a variety of litigation matters, with a focus in the areas of general, business and employment litigation. Ms. Myers is also experienced in mediation, arbitration and the resolution of business disputes without resorting to litigation.

Ms. Myers is actively involved in the community, receiving a number of awards for her contributions. In 2015, she won the Forty Under 40 Award from the Rochester Business Journal, in May 2011 she won the Emerging Bar Leader Award from the Monroe County Bar Association, and in July 2010 she won the Up and Coming Attorneys’ Award from The Daily Record.

While at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Ms. Myers served as an Articles Editor for the Buffalo Law Review, and the Executive Editor of the Buffalo Environmental Law Journal. Ms. Myers also received her M.B.A. while attending the University at Buffalo with a concentration in management consulting.

Bio

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Shepard served as a law clerk to the Honorable Michael A. Telesca in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, where she handled a broad range of civil matters, including: employment discrimination claims, class action lawsuits, civil rights claims, ERISA claims, FLSA claims, FDCPA claims, securities and antitrust claims, trademark and copyright litigation, appeals from federal agencies, habeas corpus petitions, and diversity actions involving various state law claims.

Ms. Shepard began her career as an associate at Ropes & Gray LLP, in New York City, where she represented large-scale investment firms as well as national health care companies in both litigation and corporate matters.

Ms. Shepard earned her law degree, summa cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School in 2009, where she was an Articles Editor for the Buffalo Law Review as well as a research and writing tutor. Ms. Shepard attended Colgate University, earning a B.A., cum laude, in International Relations and French.

Ms. Shepard is a member of the Monroe County Bar Association and is also a member of the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys. Ms. Shepard is a member of the Board of Directors of Epilepsy-Pralid Inc. Ms. Shepard is a Council Member for the University of Rochester’s George Eastman Circle and its Philanthropy Council, philanthropic groups dedicated to supporting the University of Rochester. Ms. Shepard formerly served as the Vice President of the Board of Trustees for the Montessori School of Rochester. Ms. Shepard also served as an Associate Board member for Gilda’s Club Rochester, a national cancer support group, from 2010-2014.  

Ms. Shepard has been recognized as a 2019 Super Lawyers Rising Star.

Bio

Paul V. Ciminelli has almost four decades of successful and wide-ranging legal, business and government experience. During his professional career, he has been responsible for the start-up of successful businesses in the Western New York region including manufacturing, family entertainment, real estate development and consulting. Mr. Ciminelli is an accomplished attorney with extensive litigation and business law experience. Paul began his legal career as a prosecutor in the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office quickly, rising to the Major Felony Bureau. He is joining us from a firm bearing his and his brother’s name. Paul currently serves as Counsel to the Sheriff of Monroe County. Prior to assuming his current duties with the Sheriff, he dedicated the significant percentage of his practice to representing small business owners and their families in every facet of business from start-up to disposition. In recent years Paul’s practice has involved numerous 2nd Amendment and Pistol Permit cases. He has been a regular practitioner in Courts throughout the State protecting individuals’ rights to keep and bear arms. He is admitted to and practices before New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia Courts as well as, the United States Supreme Court, Federal District Courts of Western New York and New Jersey, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

Paul Ciminelli served in the United States Army for thirty years achieving the rank of Colonel in 2005 and retiring in 2011. In those thirty years, Colonel Ciminelli served in positions of increased command and staff responsibility from Platoon Leader to Battalion Commander and Chief of Civil Military Operations, 8th Army Republic of Korea. He has served overseas more than a dozen times including multiple combat tours. He is an expert on multi-national, interagency, and joint operations.
Mr. Ciminelli is serving or has served on numerous professional organization and not-for-profit boards throughout the region and nation. Today, Mr. Ciminelli focuses much of his volunteer efforts on Veterans’ issues affecting the more than fifty thousand Veterans in his community. In 2010, he was appointed by the County Executive to serve as Chairman of the Monroe County Veterans Advisory Board. In 2012 Paul was instrumental in the start-up of the Rochester Police Foundation, Inc. and served on that Board until 2019. In 2011, Paul Ciminelli was awarded the inaugural Veterans Business Champion Award by the Rochester Regional Veterans Business Council. In 2013 he received the Excellence in Law-Unsung Legal Heroes Award for his pro-bono work for Veterans in Western New York. In 2014, he was awarded the Veterans Service Award by the Vietnam Veterans of America.

Mr. Ciminelli received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Rochester, a Master of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College and a Juris Doctor Degree from Rutgers University. Additionally, Mr. Ciminelli has completed numerous courses in national security policy, senior leader crisis management, and multinational operational planning, to name a few. He has served on the faculty of the NATO School, teaching throughout Eastern and Western Europe, adjunct faculty of the United States Army Command & General Staff College, adjunct professor in the Homeland Security Management Institute at Monroe Community College lecturing on Terrorism and Homeland Security issues and as a guest lecturer at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Hartwick College and Nazareth College.

Paul is a lifetime member, Certified Firearms Instructor and Chief Range Safety Officer for of the National Rifle Association. He is a qualified Utah Concealed Firearm Permit Instructor. He has served on the advisory legal team for Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network and the United States Concealed Carry Association. He is an active member of Gun Owners of America.

Bio

Kim served in law enforcement for over 25 years. During which time he maintained a small private practice concentrating on estate matters and residential real estate. Upon retirement from law enforcement, Kim started working with Paul Ciminelli, Esq. specializing in residential real estate and evictions, estate matters, contract matters, and personal injury litigation.

In recent years, Kim has taken a role in teaching and tutoring law at both Everest Institute and Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY. Kim also has extensive, continuously growing, knowledge in law enforcement training spanning back to the 1980’s.

Kim has received numerous awards and recognitions during his service with the Rochester Police Department including but not limited to; Excellent Police Service Award in both 1999 and 1998, and also numerous Chief of Police Letters of Recognition (1991-1996)

Bio

The Honorable Patricia Marks (ret.) is a national consultant and educator on treatment court design and operations. She is Co-Chair of the NYS Criminal Jury Instructions Committee.

Judge Mark’s career spans over 40 years, including work as Monroe County (NY) Assistant District Attorney from 1976 to 1984, and as a Monroe County Trial Court Judge from 1985 until 2011. Judge Marks was a pioneer in the development of treatment courts within the Seventh Judicial District, where she served as Supervising Judge from 1994 until her retirement in 2011. Judge Marks was founder and presiding judge of the Monroe County Mental Health Court from 2003 until 2011, and of the Monroe County Veterans Court from 2009 until 2011. She was also presiding judge for the Rochester Drug Treatment court from 2007 to 2009, and the felony Judicial Diversion Drug Court 2009 to 2011.

Judge Marks has a special interest in veterans, recently serving as Interim Executive Director of the Veterans Outreach Center, where she has been a member of their board of directors since 2011. She has also served on the Veterans Committee of the Monroe County Bar Association, and as a consultant for the US Department of Justice’s Veterans Treatment Court Planning Initiative, related to the implementation of veteran’s treatment courts throughout the country. 

In recognition of her outstanding work, Judge Marks has received numerous awards. These include the 2009 Vietnam Veterans Community Service Award, the 2010 NYS Bar Association Excellence in Public Service Award, the 2011 Rochester Institute of Technology Contribution to Justice Award, the 2013 Monroe County Bar Association Humanitarian Award, and the 2015 Spirit Award from the Veterans Outreach Center.