Pantaleo, Frances M.
Biography
Ms. Pantaleo is the head of our Elder Law and Special Needs Practice Group. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Pantaleo was a partner at Walsh Amicucci & Pantaleo LLP in Purchase, New York; of counsel to Keane & Beane, P.C. in White Plains, New York, an associate clinical professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and an adjunct professor at Pace Law School, where she developed and taught a course on elder law.
Ms. Pantaleo handles a broad range of matters with a particular emphasis on elder law, special needs planning, guardianship proceedings under Article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law and Article 17A of the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act, drafting and administration of special needs trusts, estate planning, drafting of wills and trusts, and estate administration.
- New York University Law School (J.D., 1979)
- City University of New York’s Brooklyn College (B.A., 1977) (summa cum laude)
- New York
- U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- Ms. Pantaleo is the former Chair of the Elder Law and Special Needs Section and the Co-Chair of the Committee on the Elderly and Disabled of the Trusts and Estates Section of the New York State Bar Association.
- She is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA).
- She has served as Chair of the Elder Law Committees of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association and the Westchester County Bar Association.
- Ms. Pantaleo is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Hudson Valley/Rockland/Westchester Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
- In 2007, Ms. Pantaleo received a Partner in Justice Award in recognition of her outstanding pro bono assistance to Legal Services of the Hudson Valley.
- She currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Legal Services of the Hudson Valley and the Hudson Valley Justice Center.
- Ms. Pantaleo is a Fellow of the New York Bar Foundation.
- Ms. Pantaleo is co-author of a chapter on Elder Law in General Practice in New York, published by the West Publishing Company.
- Ms. Pantaleo is a frequent lecturer at Continuing Legal Education programs which provide training to attorneys regarding elder law and special needs planning. She also makes frequent presentations on these topics to community organizations, consumers and non-legal professionals at the request of organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Association, AARP, UJA-Federation, the Pace Women’s Justice Center, Westchester Arc, the Public/Private Partnership for Aging Services and the Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services.
- Named Best Lawyers’ 2020 Westchester Lawyer of the Year in the practice area of Elder Law
- New York Super Lawyers, 2014 to present (Elder Law)
- Named to Super Lawyers Top 50 Women Lawyers in the Metro Area, 2019
- Named to Super Lawyers Top 25 in Westchester County List: 2011, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2019
- The Best Lawyers in America,® 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 (Elder Law)
- AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell
- Award from the New York State Bar Association’s Elder Law & Special Needs Section for work “in furtherance of the rights of the elderly and persons with disabilities” (2019)