Your initial consultation with an attorney is your time, especially if you are paying for it. The goal of an initial consultation is to have the client leave with all of their questions answered and a game plan for moving forward in the short term.
Getting Started
We start by asking some introductory questions so that we can understand what prompted you to seek legal counsel and to determine what issues need to be addressed first. After we gather enough basic facts, we then give you a “lay of the land” in terms where the law fits in with your situation. We then try to come up with a short-term game plan and address your questions.
It is not unusual for clients to have no or little information about their finances. That is okay. You probably know more than you think. We also have various ways that we can gather that information for you over the course of your case.
What to Bring
As far as what to bring, there is no set list. Most of the time, it is okay not to bring anything. The exception would be if you have been served with papers. In that event, it is a good idea to bring those papers with you.
Some clients bring tax returns, pay stubs, bank account statements and other documents that are concerning to them. Certainly, the more documents you bring the more specific feedback your attorney can provide.
Bring anything with you that you want us to look at, and feel free to bring a friend or relative for moral support.
Fee arrangements
At the end of the consultation, we will discuss a fee arrangement should you decide to retain our services.
A question we are asked frequently is why are our consultations not free. There are a few reasons. Read More
Year-end and the beginning of the New Year are good times to check in on your family law matters. Myriad events might be triggered as the calendar switches over. A little pre-planning can avoid unpleasant surprises or unnecessary emergencies later. We like to remind our clients of a few things, including:
Save and send us your December 31 pay stubs and your Forms W-2 and 1099. Parties are required to report to the Domestic Relations Office any material changes in circumstances with their incomes. Failure to report these changes can result in sanctions at a future support hearing, depending on the impact of these changes on existing support orders.
Assemble and send us documentation of joint expenditures you and the other parent might share, such as: unreimbursed medical expenses; tuition and other related academic fees; activity fees and related expenses. If we need to seek reimbursement for medical expenses, we must do so and provide the documentation before March 31. Though there is no similar rule for other shared expenses, your agreement or order might direct those arrangements.
If your divorce case is still pending, please send us year-end statements from retirement, bank, and investment accounts, especially if they reflect the full year’s activity. This will help us keep up to date on the components of the marital estate.
Consider or confirm what your tax filing status will be, especially if you will still be married by December 31. Some agreements or court orders may direct parties’ filing status or the child tax credit. Check in with your accountant to explain these matters with you.
Determine whether alimony terminates or otherwise changes as the calendar turns. We may need to obtain an order to change a wage attachment, or we may need to notify the other party’s counsel.
Check in on your custody orders – does the New Year direct changes in the holiday or vacation provisions? Read More
Divorce and custody issues can make Christmas and other holidays stressful for parents. Children are very perceptive and will feel your stress. Here are some ways to lower your stress and survive the holidays:
Focus on new traditions. Christmas will never be the same as it was when you were married. Maybe that is a good thing. As I talked about in my Halloween post, focus on your favorite traditions and cut out the ones you went along with for your spouse. So, if you hated spending the day traveling to visit family members, skip it this year. Instead, do something you enjoy like spending the whole day baking cookies, sipping eggnog and listening to Christmas music. Never liked that fake tree, go cut down a real one.
Decide if you can handle spending some of the time together. Sometimes, even in contentious divorces, parents decide to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning together. If you can make it about the children and not be tense, have it. If you have doubts that one or both of you will behave, it is best to divide the time.
Figure out the schedule ahead of time. Do not wait until Christmas Eve to decide who gets the kids when. If you both want Christmas Eve, try to figure out a compromise such as alternating who gets Christmas Eve each year. You can also work in other holidays. For example, you can agree that if you get Christmas Eve, your spouse gets Christmas Day and/or Easter Sunday. Be flexible, your children will thank you.
Coordinate gifts. It is not fair to your children if you both buy them the same thing. Worse yet, focusing on topping the other parent takes the spirit out of the holiday.
Talk to your kids, appropriately. Open and honest communication with children is best. Read More
Halloween has always been a special holiday for children, and parents enjoy reliving it through their eyes. However, divorce can put a damper on things if the parents do not plan ahead and work together. Here are some tips to help things go more smoothly:
Decide who is doing what for the costumes.
It is no fun for kids if their parents are too busy fighting over who is doing what when it comes to the costumes. Take your ego out of it. If the other parent really wants to take the lead on the costume let them and agree you will take the lead next year. Or, if you have more than one child, you each are in charge of one of them.
Determine if you are both going to trick or treat together.
The determinative question is whether both of you can get along and make it a positive experience for your child. That usually means being willing to leave your new significant other out of the picture. Remember, the focus is on your child and not to make your ex jealous or upset. If you cannot make it a positive experience, it may be better to alternate years.
Determine where you are trick or treating.
If you are both still living at home, this one is easy. If you are now living in separate homes and both neighborhoods trick or treat at the same time, you have to select a location. Think of this from the child’s perspective. Do they have friends in the new neighborhood and feel excited about it? Would they rather spend their first Halloween where it is familiar?
Remember that divorce is an opportunity to create new traditions.
If you do not have your children on Halloween, you can still create new traditions around the holiday and the fall season. Read More
Carla Schiff Donnelly authored “This Might Be Why So Many Celebrities Are Getting Divorced Right Now. Is there really such a thing as divorce season?,” which was published in Huff Post, on October 5, 2023. Read More
We are pleased to announce that a Pietragallo attorney, Adam Garret, are among the 14 attorneys selected to the Allegheny County Bar Association’s (ACBA) Young Lawyers Division Bar Leadership Initiative Class of 2023-2024.
The Bar Leadership Initiative (BLI) is a year-long program which creates a pipeline for the involvement of young lawyers within the area legal community. The goal of BLI is to aid and encourage young lawyers in developing their professional and community leadership skills, and to position themselves to assume a leadership position within the Allegheny County Bar Association. Read More
Pietragallo partner Carla Schiff Donnelly recently spoke on an episode of Law in the Family, a podcast from the Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section, titled, “The Prenuptial Agreement Intake: Laying the Foundation for an Effective Agreement”. The Law in the Family podcast is intended to provide insights for lawyers about the practice of family law in Pennsylvania, in this episode Ms. Donnelly discussed the initial meeting and discussions that come with prenuptial agreements.
The podcast is available below, and can be found on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. Read More
Carla Schiff Donnelly will be speaking at the 2023 Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Commission on Women In the Profession Fall Retreat held November 3-4, 2023 in Hershey, PA. Ms. Donnelly will be speaking the second day of the conference on the panel entitled “Writing Your Way to Success”.
This program will discuss the importance of writing in the legal profession, helping attendees of all skill levels to refine their writing, and avoiding pitfalls that derail success. Ms. Donnelly will be joined on the panel by, Samantha E. Dorn, Esq. of Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and Rhonda M. Fulginiti, Esq. of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC.
More information and registration for the retreat can be found here.
Read More
Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP is pleased to announce that 26 lawyers have been named as 2024 The Best Lawyers in America® and Ones to Watch. In addition, partner Marc Stephen Raspanti have received “Lawyer of the Year” award for his work in Health Care Law in Philadelphia.
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Their process is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The following were chosen as The Best Lawyers in America:
Gaetan Alfano
Bet-the-Company Litigation
Commercial Litigation
Employment Law – Individuals
Employment Law – Management
Litigation – Labor and Employment
Charles Avalli
Family Law
Litigation – Trusts and Estates
Trusts and Estates
Joseph J. Bosick
Construction Law
Pamela Coyle Brecht
Qui Tam Law
Kerri Lee Cappella
Family Law
Robert J. D’Anniballe, Jr.
Litigation – ERISA
Phillip R. Earnest
Construction Law
Insurance Law
Litigation – Construction
Mark Gordon
Insurance Law
Litigation-Insurance
Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers
Kenneth Horoho, Jr.
Family Law
David E. Lamm
Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
James F. Marrion
Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
Shelly R. Pagac
Employment Law-Management
Litigation – Labor and Employment
Richard J. Parks
Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
Corporate Law
Litigation – Real Estate
William Pietragallo, II
Bet-the-Company Litigation
Commercial Litigation
Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Plaintiffs
Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
Francis E. Pipak, Jr.
Workers’ Compensation Law – Employer
Kevin E. Raphael
Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Health Care Law
Marc Stephen Raspanti
Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Health Care Law – Lawyer of the Year
Qui Tam Law
Lourdes Sánchez Ridge
Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Douglas K. Rosenblum
Corporate Compliance Law
Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Eric G. Soller
Commercial Litigation
Litigation – Intellectual Property
Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Plaintiffs
Clem C. Read More
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. Read More
August 15, 2024
Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP is pleased to announce that 27 lawyers have been named as 2025 The Best Lawyers in America® and Ones to Watch.Read More
May 17, 2024
Pietragallo is pleased to announce that 24 lawyers have been named to the 2024 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers and Rising Stars list. Read More
