East Haven, CT

John M. Gesmonde

John M. Gesmonde practices in the areas of labor, education, and employment law as well as municipal law and select land use issues. He has been named one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers Association from 2014 through 2020 and from 2007 through 2019, New England Magazine named him a Super Lawyer. Mr. Gesmonde has experience representing individual employees, including superintendents of schools, more than 100 school administrator associations, and other public sector unions, including police, fire, secretarial, paraprofessional, nurse, custodial, and town hall employee units in collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, termination matters, and unfair labor practice complaints. He has extensive experience appearing and arguing before local boards and commissions, in the Connecticut Superior Courts, and in both the Appellate and Supreme Courts on labor and education issues as well as land use issues, including eminent domain, affordable housing, zoning, and inland wetlands matters. Since his appointment in 1983, Mr. Gesmonde has served on the State Department of Education Arbitration Panel as a labor sector advocate arbitrator. Mr. Gesmonde received his B.A. degree from Columbia in 1967. In 1973, he received his J.D. degree from the University of Connecticut, School of Law where he served as Associate Editor of the Law Review and received the American Jurisprudence Award for excellence in contracts. Mr. Gesmonde was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1973 and is admitted to the bars of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut (1975), the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit (1975), and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York (1977). He is a frequent guest lecturer for teacher, administrator, superintendent, and assistant superintendent organizations and is a contributor to the Connecticut Association of School Administrators (CASA) newsletter. Attorney Gesmonde served as Town Attorney for North Branford from 1985 to 2007 and from 2009 to 2015.

Lawrence C. Sgrignari

Lawrence C. Sgrignari has been engaged in civil litigation and municipal law for over 35 years. He has successfully tried, arbitrated and mediated numerous jury and court cases, involving serious personal injury, business and commercial disputes and contested probate matters, including will challenges and appeals to the superior court. Mr. Sgrignari has represented individuals in administrative agency hearings before the Workers’ Compensation Commission, the Compensation Review Board and many state licensing agencies. He has appeared and argued before the State Appellate and Supreme Courts. In addition to his civil trial practice, Mr. Sgrignari has extensive municipal experience, having served as Assistant Town Attorney for the Town of East Haven from 1985 to 1987 and as Town Attorney from 1987 through 1991 and again from 1997 through 2007. In connection with his municipal law practice, Mr. Sgrignari has represented East Haven and other municipalities in administrative proceedings, including matters before the State Board of Labor Relations, the Board of Mediation and Arbitration, the Freedom of Information Commission and other state agencies. He has negotiated and arbitrated collective bargaining agreements and grievances and has handled disciplinary hearings before local agencies and state mediators and arbitrators. Mr. Sgrignari has successfully litigated and resolved many high profile disputes on behalf of his municipal clients; most recently, he was instrumental in negotiating a settlement agreement between the Town of East Haven and the United States Department of Justice relating to effective and constitutional policing. Mr. Sgrignari received his undergraduate degree from the University of New Haven, magna cum laude, in 1981 and his law degree, cum laude, from Temple University School of Law in 1984. After graduating law school, Mr. Sgrignari served as a judicial clerk for the State of Connecticut Superior Court, conducting legal research on a variety of matters. After concluding the judicial clerkship in 1985, Mr. Sgrignari began employment with the firm of Gesmonde, Pietrosimone and Sgrignari, L.L.C. where he currently serves as the managing member. In addition to his private and municipal law practice, Mr. Sgrignari also served as a member of the State of Connecticut Judicial Selection Commission from 2003 through 2006, a Hearing Officer for the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles from 2008 through 2011, and as a Special Master for Tax Appeals at the New Haven Superior Court. Mr. Sgrignari is listed as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer by The National Trial Lawyers and recognized as a Connecticut Super Lawyer. He was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1984, and to the U. S. District Court, District of Connecticut in 1985. He is a member of the New Haven County Bar Association, Connecticut Bar Association, American Bar Association, American Association for Justice, a Fellow of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation and a member of the Board of Governors of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association.

Michael P. D’Amico

Attorney Michael P. D’Amico is an experienced civil litigator who focuses his practice on serious personal injury matters, complex insurance litigation, and claims for diminution in value of property. With a background in biological sciences from the University of Connecticut, he possesses a deep understanding of human anatomy, which informs his approach to injury cases. He opened his own practice in 2018 after gaining extensive experience in insurance law.

Kara M. Crismale, Esq.

Kara M. Crismale joined The Bershtein Law Center in January 2023, after working at Faulkner & Graves, P.C. since 2002, becoming a partner in 2012. She is a dedicated advocate, known for securing significant jury verdicts and settlements in cases involving motor vehicle accidents, nursing home negligence, premises liability, and dog bites. Kara is board certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (2012). She was recognized as a 'Rising Star' by Connecticut Magazine (2010-2015) and a Connecticut Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers (since 2018). She is a member of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association (CTLA) and the Connecticut Bar Association. Kara graduated from Colgate University in 1997 and Quinnipiac University in May 2002 with her law degree.

Louis A. Crisci, Jr.

Attorney Crisci has been a general practitioner of law in Connecticut since 1991. His practice has included Commercial and Residential Real Estate, Business and Business Law, Landlord and Tenant representation both in and out of court, Wills and Estate Planning, Probate, Personal Injury, Title XIX/Medicaid, Elder Law and Worker’s Compensation. His practice focus is now more on Wills and Estate Planning, Probate, Elder Law and Title XIX/Medicaid areas. His clients have always been complimentary of the ease of access to him for advice and legal counseling and he continues to have a substantial and diverse following of clientele. Attorney Crisci’s experience began long before he became an attorney. He grew up working in his father’s butcher shop, Interstate Beef Co., on Grand Ave, New Haven, CT where his business common sense, work ethic and savvy were stimulated and nurtured. After graduating Law School he worked a short stint as a per diem court clerk until he was hired by a prominent East Haven Law Firm in 1992. His practice covered much of the areas he still practices and more. He became partner in that firm fairly quickly and remained there until 2001. In 2001, he ventured out on his own and opened the Law Office of Louis A. Crisci, Jr. He successfully continued his general practice for over 13 years until he joined Gesmonde, Pietrosimone & Sgrignari, LLC in 2015 and enjoys the ongoing support and loyalty of hundreds of clients. Attorney Louis Crisci is admitted to practice in both Connecticut State Court and the United States District Court for Connecticut. Attorney Crisci is a lifelong resident of New Haven County, Connecticut. He grew up in Branford, CT, and graduated from Notre Dame High School of West Haven in 1983. He then attended Fordham University in the Bronx, where he majored in Political Science and minored in Philosophy. He graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. He took a one year hiatus and joined the workforce as a laborer during that time until he began his studies at Quinnipiac College School of Law. He graduated in 1991, married his wife Kris in 1993 and continues to reside in East Haven with his wife and three children, Louis P., Joseph M. and Julia N. Crisci.

Joseph E. Fournier

Joseph E. Fournier is an attorney who has more than twenty years of experience advising and leading companies and individuals in a variety of capacities. Joe has significant experience in a variety of business legal matters, including start-ups and company formations, drafting shareholder and operating agreements, contracts, employment law, commercial litigation, tax planning, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). He also handles estate planning matters, such as business succession planning, wills, trusts, and probate. Joe has a unique perspective on how to represent and advise his clients. He passed the uniform CPA exam in 1993. Further, and prior to starting his own law firm, he spent more than five years in the Boston office of PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the largest professional services firms in the world, served as General Counsel for a nationwide medical records management company, and then spent three years as Managing Attorney and COO for one of Connecticut's leading law firms. Joe is periodically an Adjunct Professor and lecturer at the University level and has been a frequent speaker on business planning and legal matters.

Justin is a partner at the firm operating primarily out of our Woodbury office. Born in Rhode Island and raised in Connecticut, Justin received his bachelor's degree from Siena College and his law degree from The Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law. Justin's experience includes a variety of legal areas, such as business litigation, employment litigation, Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) claims, contracts, and personal injury. Justin is admitted to practice law in Connecticut, Federal District Court of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.