August 1, 2023

Related Professionals: Charles Avalli , Kerri Lee Cappella , Carla Schiff Donnelly , Adam J. Garret , Kenneth Horoho, Jr. , Lorraine W. Mervan , Robert D. Weinberg

Business and Commercial Litigation Firm Adds Family Law and Estate Administration/Orphans’ Court Practice

AUGUST 1, 2023 – Two established Pittsburgh law firms have agreed to merge, bringing a highly-experienced family law and estate planning, administration, and litigation practice to a nationally-recognized business and litigation firm.

Effective August 1, 2023, Gentile, Horoho & Avalli, P.C (GHA) will merge with Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP (Pietragallo). All seven GHA attorneys, well-known for their experience in complex and high net-worth divorce and custody disputes as well as intricate estate/trust cases will now join Pietragallo, a multi-disciplined business and commercial litigation firm, with offices in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Sharon, PA, Steubenville, OH, Weirton, WV, and Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

The merger comes on the heels of Pietragallo’s expansion into Palm Beach Gardens in 2022. Pietragallo’s clients range from Fortune 200 and large privately-held companies to municipal entities and entrepreneurial businesses in a broad diversity of industries and business sectors.

Gentile, Horoho & Avalli brings to Pietragallo more than 30 years of experience in providing exceptional legal counsel in the areas of family law and estates and trusts as well as complex orphans’ court litigation.

“We are excited to engage with these outstanding practitioners in a new sphere of domestic-business litigation,” said Pietragallo chairman William Pietragallo II. “Our practices share a common commitment to achieving results.”

“The lawyers at Pietragallo have distinguished themselves as leaders in our profession and in the communities they serve,” said Kenneth J. Horoho, Jr. “The blending of our two firms will provide our current clients with experienced business litigation attorneys who are known for problem-solving and results.”

The family law/estate litigation attorneys joining Pietragallo include:

• Kenneth Horoho, Jr., Partner
• Charles Avalli, Partner
• Kerri Lee Cappella, Partner
• Carla Schiff Donnelly, Partner
• Lorraine W. Mervan, Special Counsel
• Robert D. Weinberg, Associate
• Adam J. Garret, Associate

Several of these attorneys are past and present officers in the family law sections of the Allegheny County and Pennsylvania Bar Associations and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and frequently write and lecture on matrimonial law issues. Some were instrumental in developing the Pennsylvania Divorce Code and have participated in drafting the latest amendments to the code.

Other distinctions include:

• Ken Horoho is past-president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and was appointed by Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell to the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice, a special panel created to investigate the causes of one of the most extraordinary cases of judicial corruption in state history. He has been named one of the Best Lawyers in America 15 times in the practice of family law.
• Chas Avalli served for six years on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Orphans’ Court Rules Committee which redrafted procedural rules that were adopted by the Supreme Court in 2016. He was the Vice-Chairman of that committee for two years. He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in the areas of family law, trusts and estates, and trusts and estates litigation for the past 15 years.
• Kerri Lee Cappella became a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) in 2009 and currently serves as President of AAML Pennsylvania Chapter. Ms. Cappella was a Top 50 Attorney in Pittsburgh in 2023, was listed among the Best Lawyers in America Women of Influence in Family Law, and has been recognized by Best Lawyers in the area of Family Law since 2011.
• Carla Schiff Donnelly was the 2021 recipient of the Lynnette Norton Award given to attorneys who excel in litigation and demonstrate leadership in mentoring female attorneys. She has been named one of the Best Family Law Attorneys in Pennsylvania by the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys. She has extensive experience in interstate and international custody cases.

The GHA attorneys will be joined by Pietragallo attorneys Peter St. Tienne Wolff, Michael O. Bethune, Rebeca Himena Miller, and William Pietragallo in the creation of the firm’s new Family Law Practice Group and Estate Administration and Orphans’ Court Practice Group, based in Pittsburgh.

 
**Photos by Jen Worley Photography.

About Pietragallo

Founded in 1987, Pietragallo is a multi-disciplined business and litigation firm with six offices located in Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, and West Virginia from which it represents clients across the United States and the District of Columbia.

The firm’s headquarters are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.