William Pfeiffer, an attorney practicing in the areas of elder law, tax, estate planning and administration, has been named an associate of Girvin & Ferlazzo, P.C. after previously serving in an “of counsel” capacity at the firm.

Pfeiffer has extensive experience working with individuals to develop and execute comprehensive wealth transfer programs.  As a former partner of the Ayco Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, his practice was focused on senior corporate executives, venture capitalists, physicians and other high net worth individuals and their families.

A member of the Elder Law and the Trust and Estate Sections of the New York Bar Association, Pfeiffer is a graduate of Georgetown University and Albany Law School.

He and his family reside in Niskayuna

On January 29, 2010, the New York State Supreme Court for Schenectady County dismissed a petition filed by two local newspapers under New York’s Freedom of Information Law.  The Court held that the School District complied with all aspects of the Freedom of Information Law when it denied the petitioners access to an investigative report prepared by an outside consultant for a School District, as well as a series of electronic mail communications in the possession of the District which were sent and received by a former District employee.  The School District was represented in this special proceeding by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Esq. and Robert F. Manfredo, Esq.

            While New York’s Freedom of Information Law is premised on a general policy of disclosure, it also contemplates the need on the part of government to keep some matters confidential.  In this regard, when rendering its decision, the Court adopted the arguments raised by Girvin & Ferlazzo, P.C. on behalf of the School District that the contents of the investigative report, as well as the e-mail communications fell within various exemptions to the Freedom of Information Law.  After reviewing comprehensive submissions by the School District in opposition to the petition, including an affidavit submitted by the outside consultant, the Court agreed with the District that, among other things, the investigative report was largely the product of interviews with District employees who spoke with the consultant only after being told that their conversations would remain confidential.  The Court also agreed with the School District’s argument that the report should not be disclosed because it contained allegations of misconduct which had not yet resulted in final determinations by the District; in doing so, the Court aligned itself with an advisory opinion rendered by the New York State Committee on Open Government provided by the Committee during preliminary phases of the petitioners’ request for access.

            This proceeding was highly publicized and Girvin & Ferlazzo, P.C. was pleased to obtain a favorable result for the School District.

District Court Judge Gary L. Sharpe, New York Federal District Court for the Northern District of New York, held that the publisher of a widely sold magazine containing thousands of classified ads had legal ownership of those ads for the purposes of asserting a copyright infringement claim under the Federal Copyright Act. The publisher, represented by Salvatore D. Ferlazzo, Esq. and Robert F. Manfredo, Esq. of Girvin & Ferlazzo, brought suit against a competing company and the company’s owner for misappropriating classified ads from the publisher’s magazine and printing them in their own competing publication. 

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