PLEASE WELCOME YOUR 2024-2025 BAEC OFFICERS & DIRECTORS
VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT-ELECT
Brian M. Melber
Partner, Personius Melber LLP
Brian M. Melber is a founding partner of Personius Melber LLP. He began his career with Brown & Kelly. Brian’s practice includes both criminal and civil trials and appeals. He handles federal white‑collar crimes, as well as environmental and homicide cases. He represents civil plaintiffs and defendants in accident and injury cases, sexual assault and Title IX matters, business disputes, and land use litigation.
Brian was born and educated in Western New York. He is a graduate of Canisius High School and SUNY at Buffalo School of Law. Before law school he was a graduate student in English Language and Literature at the University of Virginia. He has four children, and two grandchildren.
Brian is admitted to practice in New York State and is a member of the federal bar in the Western and Northern Districts of New York, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Brian is a member and past Director of the Bar Association of Erie County and a member of the New York State Bar Association. He is a past President of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and a past President of the SUNY at Buffalo School of Law Alumni Association. Presently, he serves on the boards of directors of the Erie County Assigned Counsel Program, the Western New York Trial Lawyers Association, and the Irish Classical Theater Company. Previously, he was a director of the Buffalo Niagara Brewers Association and a Trustee of Buffalo Seminary. For more than 20 years, Brian taught trial practice to law students at UB Law as a volunteer and adjunct professor. He volunteers regularly in the Federal Court Pro Se Assistance Program.
DEPUTY TREASURER, TREASURER-ELECT
Nicole Graci
Partner, Hamberger & Weiss LLP
DIRECTORS
David M. Goodman
Partner, The Coppola Firm
My name is David Goodman, and I am a candidate for Director for the Bar Association of Erie County. I have been practicing for almost 32 years, and am partners with Lisa Coppola at The Coppola Firm. My practice primarily involves plaintiff’s personal injury litigation.
Serving on the Board of the Bar Association has long been a goal of mine. To have the opportunity to serve is a responsibility I take seriously. Currently, I serve as Chair of the Negligence Committee.
During my career I have practiced both plaintiff’s personal injury and insurance defense. Doing so has afforded me an understanding and perspective from both sides of the isle. As a result, I also frequently serve as a neutral arbitrator and mediator in a wide variety of disputes.
I have served as a faculty member on continuing legal education panels on behalf of the New York State Bar Association, the Bar Association of Erie County, the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, and the Western New York Trial Lawyers. I have twice served on the Board of the Western New York Trial Lawyers, first as treasurer and then as a director.
I am rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. I have been chosen for Best Lawyers in America since 2001; New York State Super Lawyers since 2006; and have been included in Buffalo Spree Best Lawyers in Western New York since 2011.
My bride Kathleen and I have been married for over 33 years and we have three children.
John Patrick Feroleto
Deputy District Attorney, Erie County District Attorney’s Office
John P. Feroleto serves as the Deputy District Attorney – Litigation for the Erie County District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Feroleto was promoted to the position in November 2023 by former Attorney John J. Flynn and continues to serve as a member of the office’s leadership team under Acting District Attorney Michael J. Keane.
Prior to his appointment as Deputy District Attorney, Mr. Feroleto served as the first Chief of the Major Crimes Bureau, a prosecution division established in July 2020 to address an increase in non-fatal shootings and other gang-related crime predominantly occurring within the City of Buffalo. As many gun violence-related cases involve reluctant victims and witnesses, the most experienced prosecutors with demonstrated proficiency in securing testimonial evidence are assigned to the Major Crimes Bureau. As the bureau chief, Mr. Feroleto was a member of the Erie County Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, working closely in collaboration with the Buffalo Police Department, Erie County Sheriff’s Office, local police departments, federal law enforcement agencies and Erie County Central Police Services to review shooting incidents and monitor escalating gang violence.
Mr. Feroleto joined the Erie County District Attorney’s Office in February 2008. Over the course of his career as a prosecutor, he has served in many of the office’s divisions with most of his tenure in the Homicide, Major Crimes (formerly known as Tactical Prosecution) and Felony Trials bureaus. He has demonstrated skill as a trial attorney in Erie County Superior Courts who specializes in investigating complex criminal cases. Prior to his appointment to lead the Major Crimes Bureau, Mr. Feroleto served as a chief of the Felony Trials Bureau where he provided training to Assistant District Attorneys in all phases of a felony criminal case, including initial intake, case reviews, prosecution strategies, discovery and trial preparation.
Over the last 15 years, Mr. Feroleto has successfully prosecuted hundreds of violent crimes and several high-profile homicides cases with more than forty cases presented at jury trial. He was part of the team of Assistant District Attorneys assigned to investigate and prosecute the case of People v. Payton Gendron, the Broome County teenager who pleaded guilty to the intentional murder of ten victims and the attempted murder of three victims who were injured in a racially-motivated mass shooting at Tops Friendly Markets on Jefferson Avenue in the City of Buffalo. Gendron, who pleaded guilty to the highest counts in the indictment, was the first person to be convicted of New York State Penal Law 490.28; Domestic Act of Terrorism Motivated by Hate in the First Degree, which carries mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Mr. Feroleto is a native of Buffalo who attended high school at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science of from the University of Rochester and his Master of Business Administration degree from the University at Buffalo. He obtained his Juris Doctor Degree from University at Buffalo School of Law.
Mr. Feroleto is a member and the former director of the Western New York Trial Lawyers Association. He has served as a legal ethics lecturer for our office, New York Prosecutor’s Training Institute and the Western New York Trials Lawyers Association. In 2023, Mr. Feroleto was the recipient of two noteworthy awards – “Prosecutor of the Year – Trial Advocacy Award” from the New York Prosecutor’s Training Institute and the “Foundation Achievement Award” from the Erie County Law Enforcement Foundation.
Ericka N. Bennett
Vice President, Corporate Ethics, Research Integrity, and Research Subject Protection, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Ericka Bennett is Vice President of Corporate Ethics, Research Integrity, and Research Subject Protection at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Prior to taking the position, she was a member of Roswell Park’s General Counsel’s Office, joining the department as Associate General Counsel and later being appointed Assistant Vice President and Deputy General Counsel.
Ericka is a graduate of Utica College (now Utica University), where she majored in public relations and journalism, and UB Law School.
Ericka currently serves on the boards of Hilbert College and the Minority Bar Foundation. She previously served as Deputy Treasurer and Treasurer of the Bar Association of Erie County, as well as Vice President and President of the Minority Bar Association of Western New York, and board member of the UB Law Alumni Association.
Erin A. Tresmond
Chief Attorney, Appeals and Post-Conviction Unit, The Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc.
Erin is the Chief Attorney of the Appeals and Post-Conviction Unit at the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo. The unit assists clients with direct appeals and post-conviction matters in Erie, Genesee, Orleans, Cattaraugus, Niagara, Chautauqua, and Ontario Counties.
Erin started her career in private practice. She then worked as an assistant district attorney at the Erie County District Attorney’s Office. Her tenure at Legal Aid began in the Criminal Defense Unit (public defender). After joining the Appeals and Post-Conviction Unit as a staff attorney, she was promoted to Managing Attorney before working as the Chief Attorney.
Erin is currently the co-chair of the Appellate Practice Committee with the Bar Association of Erie County. She is a frequent presenter on appellate practice, the intersection of effective assistance of counsel and ethics, and supreme court litigation. She also had the privilege of screening Court of Appeals candidates as part of the Tri-County Bar Association’s Screening Committee (Erie, Monroe, and Onondaga).
She is a member of the NYSBA Courts of Appellate Jurisdiction Committee and the statewide ILS Appellate Defender Council (Indigent Legal Services).
Erin is a magna cum laude graduate of UB Law, where she obtained concentrations in criminal law and civil litigation. While at UB, she was the Executive Publication Editor of the Buffalo Law Review. She also competed on trial team and the school’s mediation competition.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Kristen Elmore-Garcia
Attorney, Law Office of John V. Elmore PC
Mark M. McNamara
Partner, Barclay Damon LLP
