Our Attorneys

Adolph Koeppel - In Memoriam.

April 11, 1923 - March 14, 2009

Education

New York University, School of Law (L.L.B. 1948, L.L.M. 1953). Admitted to the New York State Bar, 1948.

Professional Experience

Senior Deputy Nassau County Attorney in the Real Estate Tax Review Division (1962-1963); Village Attorney for the Incorporated Village of Lake Success (1968-1979); Hofstra Law School faculty member in the Real Estate Law, Advanced Practice Institute (1978-1986); Institute of Property Taxation (Tax Law Committee Chair: 1984-1986); Chairman of tax certiorari seminars at the Practicing Law Institute (1987-1992); Special tax assessment counsel to the City of Yonkers (1978-1982); Village of Port Chester (1978-1983) and the Town of Rye (1978-1983).

Publications

"The Seagram Case" (May, 1964); "Real Estate Tax Review in Nassau County", Nassau County Bar Journal (November, 1964); "Sample Condemnation Clauses for Various Leases", New York State Bar Journal (August, 1969); "Inequality in Real Property Tax Review", 19 Buffalo Law Review 565 (1970); "Property Tax Assessments: Contract Rent is Fair Market Rent, Or Is It?", Real Estate Law Journal (1973); "Judicial Remedies for Property Tax Inequalities", N.Y.U. Institute on State and Local Taxation (1982); "Challenging Ad Valorem Real Property Assessments in Florida", The Florida Bar Journal (co author) (1983); "Computer Software and Sales Taxation", Journal of State Taxation (co author) (1984); "Where Were You When the Contract Rent Fell Below Market?", Journal of State Taxation (1986); "Discovering 'Discovery' in Real Property Tax Review", Journal of State Taxation (1986); "The Illegal Residential Assessment Roll In Nassau County, New York", 5 Hofstra Property Law Journal 139 (1992).

Professional Affiliations

Member Nassau County, Suffolk County and New York State Bar Associations.

Michael R. Martone

Admitted to the New York State Bar, 1959; U.S. District Court, Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, 1968; Florida, 1983; U.S. Tax Court, 1983; Washington, D.C., 1984.

Education: Lehigh University (B.S. 1956), New York Law School (L.L.B. 1959, J.D. 1968), Adelphi University (Qualified - Real Estate Appraising and Valuations 1963).

Managing Partner of Koeppel, Martone & Leistman, L.L.C.; Senior Deputy Nassau County Attorney in Charge of Condemnation and Tax Certiorari and Real Estate (1969-1971); Commissioner of Public Safety of the City of Glen Cove (1970-1972); Deputy Nassau County Attorney (1962-1969); Special Attorney for the Office of Urban Renewal for the City of Glen Cove (1973-1980).

Secretary and Vice President to the Board of Directors of the Nassau County Legal Aid Society; Board of Fire Commissioners of the City of Glen Cove (1959-1970) - Chairperson (1968-1970); Regional Aide to Congressman Lester L. Wolff (1967-1969); Advisory Committee to the Joint Legislative Committee on Condemnation and Appropriation of the State of New York (1967-1969); Vice Chairperson of the Glen Cove Urban Renewal Agency; Chairperson of the Community Development Advisory Committee of the City of Glen Cove (1975-1980); Legal Advisor and Member of the Glen Cove Charter Revision Commission (1978-1980); Secretary and Member of the Board of Directors of the Community Hospital at Glen Cove (1980-1989); Associate Trustee of North Shore University Hospital - Cornell University Medical College (1989-1994); Member of the Nassau County Board of Ethics (1983-2006); Chairperson of the County Executive's Transitional Committee on Tax Certiorari (2002).

Military Service: Honorable Discharge - Army National Guard of the State of New York and the U.S. Army Reserves (1962).

Nassau County Bar Association Committees: Committee on Condemnation and Tax Certiorari (1964-present); Professional Ethics Committee (1963-1966); Chairperson of the Young Lawyers Section (1964); Judiciary Committee (1976-1978, 1983-1985); Construction Committee (1979-1982); Building Committee (1980-1982); Committee on Specialization (1982); Board of Directors (1980-1983).

Member: Nassau County, Suffolk County, New York State, Florida State, District of Columbia and American Bar Associations. He is also a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers; the International Association of Assessing Officers; Columbia Society of Real Estate Appraisers; American Property Tax Counsel; Institute of Property Taxation; National Association of Review Appraisers and Mortgage Underwriters; Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation; Knights of Columbus; Order Sons of Italy in America; BPO Elks; New York State Association of Chiefs of Police; and Board of Directors of the Nassau County Museum of Art (2002-2008).

Email: MMartone@taxcert.com

Donald F. Leistman

Admitted to the New York State Bar, 1981.

Education: Hofstra University (B.A. 1978, J.D. 1981).

Member: Nassau County Bar Association Committee on Tax Certiorari and Condemnation Vice Chairman (1991 - 1993), Chairman (1993 - 1995); the New York State and Suffolk County Bar Associations.

Mr. Leistman has lectured extensively on real property tax matters before bar associations, governmental and civic groups. He also serves as an Executive Board Member of the Association for a Better Long Island, is a director of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Long Island, and is a member of the Institute of Property Taxation and the Nassau Citizens Budget Committee.

Email: DLeistman@taxcert.com

Jamie P. Alpern - Senior Counsel

Admitted to the New York State Bar, 1986; U.S. District Court, Eastern and Southern Districts, 1987.

Education: State University of New York at Albany (B.A. 1983 Summa Cum Laude), St. John's University (J.D. 1986), Phi Beta Kappa.

Member: Nassau County Bar Association's Committee on Tax Certiorari and Condemnation Law (1987- ), Vice Chair (2001-2004), Chair (2004-2005); New York State Bar Association. Ms. Alpern is also Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Long Island Crisis Center, a non profit agency, and is a volunteer at Pride for Youth.

Email: JAlpern@taxcert.com

Edward C. Mohlenhoff

Admitted to the New York State Bar, 1988.

Education: Columbia University (B.A., 1982); St. John's University (J.D., 1987).

Deputy County Attorney, Nassau County, 1989-1992.

Member: Nassau County Committee on Tax Certiorari and Condemnation Member (1991- ) Vice Chair (2004-2005) Chairperson (2005-2008), Suffolk County (Member, Committee on Tax Certiorari and Condemnation, 1991- ), New York State and American Bar Associations; New York Condemnation Conference (Member, 1996 ); American Property Tax Counsel; The National Affiliation of Independent Property Tax Attorneys. Practice Areas: State and Local Taxation; Tax Certiorari; Eminent Domain; Municipal Zoning; Real Property Litigation.

Mr. Mohlenhoff currently serves on the Board of Directors of Audubon New York and is the Vice President of the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center. Mr. Mohlenhoff also serves as a Board Member of the Doubleday-Babcock Senior Center and is a Trustee of the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club. From 2001-2004, Mr. Mohlenhoff served on the Board of the Nassau County Chapter of the American Red Cross. Before joining Koeppel, Martone & Leistman, LLP, Mr. Mohlenhoff was a partner at the law firm of Siegel Fenchel & Peddy, P.C.

Email: EMohlenhoff@taxcert.com

Rise E. Rosen

Admitted to the New York State Bar, 1991.

Education: Queens College of the City University of New York (B.A., 1987), Hofstra University (J.D., 1990).

Member: Nassau County (Member, Condemnation Law and Tax Certiorari Committee, 1991 -) and New York State Bar Associations; Nassau County Woman's Bar Association.

Email: RRosen@taxcert.com

Carol Rizzo

Admitted to the New York State Bar, 1992.

Education: Dowling College (B.S., 1988); The Jacob D. Fuchsburg Law Center of Touro College (J.D., 1992). Touro Law Review, 1990 1992.

Member: Suffolk County, Nassau County (Member, Tax Certiorari and Condemnation Committee, 1995 -) and New York State Bar Associations, and the Suffolk County Women's Bar Association.

Email: CRizzo@taxcert.com

Myrna A. Cadet-Osse

Admitted to the New York State Bar, 1995; U.S. Court, Southern District of New York; 1997, District of Columbia and Georgia, 1997.

Education: Barnard College (B.A., 1989); Columbia University (J.D., 1994).

Assistant Corporation Counsel, City of New York, 1995 - 2000. Editor, "McKinney's Forms: Tax Practice and Procedure Guide," West Publishing Co.; Author: Lexis Practice Commentary for 2004 Real Property Tax Law; Co-Author: “How and Who Gets the Money? Resolving the Standing on Title Disputes”, appearing in Condemnation Law, New York Bar Association, 2003.

Member: Nassau County (Member, Committee on Tax Certiorari and Condemnation, 2000 -) and New York State (Member, New York Condemnation Conference, 2000 -) Bar Associations; District of Columbia Bar; State Bar of Georgia. Practice Areas: State Taxation; Local Taxation; Tax Certiorari; Eminent Domain; Municipal Zoning; Real Property Litigation.

Email: MCadet@taxcert.com

Jason M. Penighetti

Admitted to the New York State Bar, 2003; New Jersey; 2002.

Education: State University of New York at Albany (B.A., 1999); Hofstra University School of Law (J.D., 2002). Member of Phi Alpha Delta. Research Editor, Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal.

Panelist: “Real Estate Taxes: Seeking Relief”, Nassau County Bar Association, October 15, 2007; “The Condemnation Clause of the Lease - Frequently Overlooked” Co-Author, Government, Law and Policy Journal, Spring 2007, Vol. 9, No. 1; “Discoverability of Prior Appraisals in Eminent Domain: An Evolving Issue”, Suffolk Lawyer, May 2006; “Environmental Claims”, Condemnation Law and Procedures, published by the N.Y.S. Bar Association 2005; Eminent Domain Procedure Law Practitioner’s Perspective, Matthew Bender, 2004; Court of Claims Act Practitioner’s Perspective, Matthew Bender, 2004; “Condemnation, Compensation & Contamination: The Big C's of Eminent Domain”, Suffolk Lawyer, November 2003; Nassau Lawyer, November 2003.

Member: Nassau County (Member, Committee on Tax Certiorari and Condemnation, 2003 -), New York State, New Jersey State and American Bar Associations. Practice Areas: State Taxation; Local Taxation; Tax Certiorari; Eminent Domain; Zoning Law; Real Property.

Email: JPenighetti@taxcert.com

Jennifer D. Hower

Admitted to the New York State Bar, 2006; New Hampshire, 1998; U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire, 1998; U.S. Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, 1999; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 1999; Colorado, 2005; U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District and Southern District of New York, 2007.

Education: State University of New York at Buffalo (B.A., 1991); Franklin Pierce Law Center (J.D., 1998).

U.S. Air Force Assistant Staff Judge Advocate, 1998-2004. U.S. Air Force Assistant Staff Judge Advocate Individual Mobilization Augmentee, 2004 - 2007.

Co-author: "Can Your Client Recover Severance Damage for the Loss of Frontage Area?" Government, Law and Policy Journal, New York State Bar Association, Spring 2007, Vol.9, No.1; Co-author, "Why Kelo Didn't Matter and What Can Be Done About It" The Nassau Lawyer, January 2007; Assistant Editor, Real Estate Titles, Third Edition 2006 Supplement, Chapter 16 "Title by Eminent Domain" New York State Bar Association, December 2006; Co-author, "Ettlingen Homes v. Town of Derry: Looking for Law in All the Wrong Places, New Hampshire Bar Journal" September 1997.

Member: Nassau County Bar Association (Member, Committee on Tax Certiorari and Condemnation, 2006 -; Publications Committee, 2007 -2009), Suffolk County Bar Association; New York State Bar Association; New Hampshire Bar Association. Practice Areas: Tax Certiorari; Eminent Domain; State Taxation; Local Taxation; Municipal Zoning; Real Property Litigation.

Email: JHower@taxcert.com

Ryan C. Hild

Admitted to the New York State Bar, 2006; Connecticut, 2005.

Education: Quinnipiac University (B.A. 2000), New York Law School (J.D., 2005).

Member: Suffolk and Nassau County Bar Associations (Member of the Tax Certiorari and Condemnation Committee, Real Property Committee and Young Lawyers Committee, 2006 -); New York State Bar Association and the New York County Lawyers Association (2006 -).

Email: RHild@taxcert.com