Press release:
Eleven years ago the attorneys working in the Genesee County District Attorney’s Office at that time had an average of 25 years of experience. Current First Assistant District Attorney Kevin Finnell was still the “new guy“ in the office, having been there for 19 years.
District Attorney Lawrence Friedman has now been with the office for nearly 39 years and Finnell, with 30 years of experience as a prosecutor, is no longer the “new guy." From March of last year until September of this year, all five of the other Assistant District attorneys began their careers with the office, along with the office’s two new paralegals. In other words, seven of the office's 13 employees started within that 18-month period.
These are the new attorneys and paralegals:
Kaitlynn Schmit joined the office as an Assistant District Attorney in March of 2019, having previously worked as an Assistant Counsel with the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and briefly as a Staff Attorney with the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo.
Joseph Robinson joined the office as an Assistant District Attorney in June of 2019, immediately after graduating from law school and becoming an attorney.
Cheryl Nielsen worked at a private law firm, the Wayne County Public Defender’s office and the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office before joining the Genesee County District Attorney’s office in January of this year.
Robert “Bo” Shoemaker started with the office in April of this year after serving as an Assistant District Attorney in Monroe County for five years, an Appellate Court Attorney with the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department for two years and a litigator with the New York City Law Department for one year.
Andrew DiPasquale became an Assistant District Attorney in Genesee County in August of this year, after spending three years working in Albany for the New York State Senate and then the New York State Legislative Bill Drafting Commission.
Gabrielle Krzemien became a Paralegal with the office in December 2019 after working as a Legal Assistant at the law firm of Connors and Ferris in Cheektowaga for one year and then as a Paralegal for the Buffalo law firm of Goldberg Segalla for a year and a half.
Alexandria Almeter joined the office as a Paralegal in March of this year, after working in the same capacity at the DiMatteo and Roach law office in Warsaw for one year.
In addition to Friedman and Finnell, the other “long term” employees of the office are Confidential Secretary Lacie Snell and legal clerk typists Kathleen Schrider, Rhonda Natalizia and Andrea Agan-Silverling. Rosanne DeMare, a Victim Counselor employed by Genesee Justice, also works out of the District Attorney’s Office.
District Attorney Friedman and First Assistant District Attorney Finnell are very proud of their staff and happy to have all of these new additions to the office, who all fit in well and are doing great in their new positions.