Home
Our Firm
Practice Areas
Attorneys
Firm News
Contact Us
 
 
Kathleen Donelli
Partner
Practice Areas: Litigation, Matrimonial and Family Law and Collaborative Law
Email:     kdonelli@mccarthyfingar.com
Phone:    914-385-1010 (direct)
Fax:        914-946-0134
 
Professional Biography

Kathleen is a member of the firm concentrating her practice in the areas of Family and Matrimonial Law, Commercial Litigation and Collaborative Law. In 1996, Ms. Donelli won a landmark New York State Court of Appeals custody decision in Tropea v. Tropea, 87 N.Y.2d 727, 665 N.E.2d 145, 642 N.Y.S.2d 575 (1996). Tropea established that courts should determine if a custodial parent should be permitted to relocate with a child based on the "best interest" of the child. Kathleen is also a founding member of the Association of Collaborative Lawyers of Rockland/Westchester, dedicated to resolving matrimonial and custody disputes without court intervention.

Ms. Donelli is the immediate Past President of Westchester Women's Bar Association and the former President of the White Plains Bar Association. She is the Co-Chair of the Westchester Women's Bar Association's Matrimonial Committee and the Co-Chair of the Westchester County Bar Association's Grievance Committee.

Click at Speaking Engagements for a recent partial list of some of Kathleen’s speaking engagements before various professional groups. Click at Attorney News for items of news for Kathleen published on our web site.
Areas of Experience:
•
Advice on and preparation of Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements;
•
Preparation of all documents incident to an action for divorce, child custody and related matters;
•
Advice and negotiations regarding prospective settlements of contested matters, including counseling the client on tax consequences of any settlement, for which our attorneys in our Taxation practice area are available to offer assistance;
•
Separation Agreements, Stipulations of Settlement and Uncontested Default Divorces for clients at all income and asset levels;
•
Property distributions, maintenance and child support;
•
Litigating all aspects of Family Court Proceedings and Divorce Actions, including Orders of Protection, Temporary Support Awards, Restraining Orders, Exclusive Occupancy of the Marital Residence, Maintenance, Child Support, Equitable Distribution of Marital Property and Establishing Separate Property Claims;
•
Alternative Dispute Resolutions, including collaborative law, mediation and fee dispute arbitration.
Significant Cases:
•
Tropea v. Tropea, 87 N.Y.2d 727, 665 N.E.2d 145, 642 N.Y.S.2d 575 (1996) (New York State Court of Appeals opinion which established the prevailing law in New York on relocation)
•

Frayne v. Frayne, 234 A.D.2d 545 (2d Dep't 1996) (custodial parent permitted to relocate)
•
Amari v. Molloy, NYLJ 8/8/00, p. 23, col. 5 (Kings County Sup. Ct. 2000), aff'd, 293 A.D.2d 431 (2d Dep't 2002) (custody awarded to mother)
•
Amari v. Molloy, 180 Misc. 2d 664 (Kings County Sup. Ct. 1999) (granted wife's request to bifurcate matrimonial action);
•

Jaffer v. Miles, 134 A.D.2d 572 (2d Dep't 1987) (appellate court reversed trial court's denial of summary judgment to seller, finding that the memorandum between the seller and purchaser was not an enforceable contract)
•

1185 Avenue of the Americas Associates v. The Resolution Trust Corp., 22 F.3d 494 (2d Cir. 1994) (Court of Appeals affirmed District Court's denial of landlord's claim for $7 million in unpaid rent)
•

Route 22 Associates v. Cipes, 204 A.D.2d 705 (2d Dep't 1994) (appellate court affirmed trial court's decision declaring the validity of an easement)
Professional and Community Involvement:
•
Co-Chair, Matrimonial Committee, Westchester Women's Bar Association
•
Member, Executive Committee, Family Law Section, Westchester County Bar Association
•
Co-Chair, Grievance Committee, Westchester County Bar Association
•
Recipient, Alumni Leadership Award, Pace University School of Law (2005)
•
Member, Board of Directors, Women's Bar Association of the State of New York, 2005-2006
•
Past President, Westchester Women's Bar Association (2003-2005)
•
Past President, White Plains Bar Association (1998-2000)
•
Former Member, Board of Directors of The Westchester County Association, Inc.
•
Past Vice President, YWCA of White Plains and Central Westchester
•
Fellow, The American Bar Foundation
•
Past President, Saint Bernard’s Center For Learning, Inc.
•
Member, Board of Visitors, Pace University School of Law
•
Articles Editor, Pace Law Review (1984-85)
•
Member, Association of Collaborative Lawyers of Rockland/Westchester
•
Member, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals
•
Member, Hall of Fame, YWCA of White Plains and Central Westchester
Education:
•
J.D., cum laude, Pace University School of Law, 1985
• M.A.T., Manhattanville College, 1980
•
B.A., The City University of New York, 1975
•
Boston University, 1969-70
Journals and Publications:
•
Landmark Decision Removes Burden from Parent Needing to Relocate (Legal Notes, Fall 1996)
•

"The Constitionality of New York's Grandparent Visitation Statute in LIght of Troxel v. Granville, 27 Westchester Bar Journal 19 (2000)
•

Dirks v. SEC: New Guidelines for Tippee Liablity under Rule 10b-5," 4 Pace Law Review 631 (1984)

Admitted to Practice:
•
New York
•
Connecticut
•
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
•
U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut
•
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit