Environmental lawyer John Kolaga has joined Damon & Morey LLP.

"I've been brought on board to head the environmental department here," Kolaga said, "and we are excited about raising the profile here at Damon & Morey and making our presence known throughout the legal community on environmental matters."

He comes to the firm from Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel LLP, where he worked for the last nine years.

Lockport practice merges with Harris Beach

Lockport attorney John Ottaviano has merged his law practice with the Buffalo office of Harris Beach.

Ottaviano brings more than 20 years of experience in municipal law, commercial real estate, corporate law and business and commercial litigation to Harris Beach. He will serve of counsel to the firm and will maintain his Lockport office.

Ottaviano is corporation counsel for the City of Lockport, general counsel for the Greater Lockport Development Corp. and general counsel for the Energy Cooperative of New York and Niagara Falls Water Board.

Long joins Grashow firm

In another legal consolidation, attorney Steven Long is now affiliated with the former Grashow Law Firm in Williamsville, now known as Grashow Long.

Long has more than 22 years of corporate-law experience and is a former partner at Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP.

Fisher, Magavern named to court mediation panel

Two lawyers from Magavern Magavern Grimm LLP have been selected to participate in the mediation panel for the U.S. District Court, Western District of New York.

Chosen by District Court Judge Hon. William Skretny, Cheryl Smith Fisher and James Magavern are among 24 lawyers chosen for the panel. Both completed 24 hours of training supervised by Skretny.

All new civil cases that are filed in Skretny's court are automatically referred to mediation.

Bond Schoeneck co-hosts employment-law seminar

Astron Solutions and the law offices of Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC are hosting a labor-law breakfast seminar Wednesday, March 25, from 8:30-11 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency, 2 Fountain Plaza, Buffalo.

The seminar is Entitled Can Your Compensation System Weather the (Hurricane) Winds of Change From the Obama Administration? Topics to be addressed include the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which President Obama signed into law in January; the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' salary analysis; and wage-and-hour issues.

For more information, see bsk.com.

Spitzmillers, Wright honored by nonprofit

Child and Family Services presented its John N. Walsh Jr. Board Appreciation Award to John Spitzmiller, a partner with Phillips Lytle LLP, and his wife, Amy, and its Janet B. Wattles Award to Chautauqua County lawyer Kristen Wright.

The awards were presented at the agency's annual meeting March 11.

Spitzmiller and his wife bicycled 3,843 miles from California to New Hampshire last year, raising nearly $20,000 for CFS and Nardin Academy.

- Compiled by Matt Chandler