Attorney Biographies
Miserendino, Celniker, Seegert & Estoff, P.C is a firm of eight attorneys, all possessing the highest qualifications possible to best serve your legal needs in Western New York.
- Samuel R. Miserendino, Sr.
- Philip Celniker
- Walter P. Seegert
- Jonathan D. Estoff
- Joy Ellen Miserendino
- Samuel R. Miserendino, Jr.
- Andrew D. Kehrer
- Melissa H. Thore
Samuel R. Miserendino, Sr.
Samuel R. Miserendino , Sr., founding member of the firm, was admitted to practice law in 1954 after finishing law school at State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law. Following graduation from Law School, he served as the Legal Assistant of an Appellate Court Judge in the State of New York and also served as an Assistant to the United States Delegate on the Commission for Human Rights of the United Nations in New York City. He is a Navy veteran of World War II and also of the Korean conflict.
Attorney Miserendino is the founder and senior partner of the law firm presently known as Miserendino, Celniker, Seegert & Estoff, P.C. which was established in 1958 and has been its chief trial lawyer for a period in excess of 45 years. Attorney Miserendino carries a concentration in the representation of personal injury victims. He has won several verdicts in excess of $1,000,000.00 for victims of automobile and construction accidents and for injuries sustained in products liability matters.
Philip Celniker
Attorney Celniker lifelong resident of the City of Buffalo and graduated from Bennett High School in 1954, the University of Buffalo in 1959 and Brooklyn Law School in 1963. Attorney Celniker also served in the United States Army.
Attorney Celniker has practiced law in the City of Buffalo and in the counties of Western New York since 1964. His practice has been concentrated in civil trial litigation, emphasizing personal injury law, and representing accident victims in the greater Buffalo area for 40 years.
He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, Western New York Trial Lawyers Association and has served on the Negligence Committee of the Erie County Bar Association as well as Director of the Western New York Trial Lawyers Association.
Walter P. Seegert
Attorney Seegert is a native of Silver Creek, New York, having graduated from Silver Creek Central High School in 1966 from St. Lawrence University with a major in Government. In 1973, he graduated from the University of Buffalo Law School and was licensed to practice law in New York in February of 1974.
He has tried many cases before juries, primarily in the State Supreme Courts of Erie and Chautauqua Counties, but also in the U.S. District Court. Attorney Seegert's expertise lies in the areas of automobile accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, boating accidents, scaffold accidents, general construction accidents and accidents involving falls on private property and store premises, also known as premises liability.
Jonathan D. Estoff
Attorney Estoff was born in Syracuse, New York on June 3, 1947. He grew up in Syracuse attending public high school and thereafter Syracuse University, from where he graduated in 1968 with a Degree in Political Science. He then attended the University of Buffalo Law School graduating in 1971.
He was admitted to the New York State Bar in January of 1972 and has practiced with this firm since that time. His practice is concentrated in the area of personal injury law and he has represented people injured in accidents of all types, including: automobile accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, boating accidents, scaffold accidents and all other types of construction site accidents, product liability accidents, and accidents involving falls on private property and store premises. Attorney Estoff has tried hundreds of cases during thirty two years of practice in all Courts in Western New York.
Joy Ellen Miserendino
Attorney Miserendino was born in Western New York and raised in Angola. After graduating from Lakeshore Central High School, she attended the State University of New York at Buffalo graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy, magna cum laude. Following graduation from college, she moved to Boston, where she worked as a registered occupational therapist in a head injury unit providing rehabilitation services to individuals who had sustained serious injuries in accidents.
After working for two years as an occupational therapist, Attorney Miserendino attended Boston University School of Law. Following graduation from Boston University School of Law, she returned to the Buffalo area to join the firm. She has been practicing for the last fifteen years as a trial lawyer concentrating in personal injury claims which involve automobile accidents, construction accidents, product liability accidents and premises liability. She has had several successful settlements and verdicts, including those found on our Verdicts and Settlements page.
Samuel R. Miserendino, Jr.
Attorney Miserendino was born in Western New York in June, 1964 and was raised in Angola, New York. After graduating from Lakeshore Central High School, he attended Northwestern University, graduating with a degree in Counseling Psychology. Following graduation from college, Attorney Miserendino spent two years providing crisis intervention and counseling to students at a high school in Chicago's north shore district. During that time he had the honor of being one of eight people selected from Illinois to participate in a cultural exchange with Italian youth workers. After working for two years as a youth counselor, he returned to Buffalo to attend the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law and graduated from law school cum laude. Following graduation from law school he joined the firm and has been practicing law for the past twelve years. His practice is concentrated in the areas of Personal Injury Litigation (automobile accidents; products liability; construction accidents and premises liability); Wills and Criminal Law.
Andrew D. Kehrer
Attorney Kehrer was born in Buffalo, New York, in June, 1965 and grew up in Silver Creek, located in Chautauqua County, graduating from Silver Creek High School in 1983. Upon graduation from high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps serving both in the United States and overseas from 1983 until 1986. Upon discharge from the Marine Corps, he entered S.U.N.Y. Fredonia and graduated Suma Cum Laude in 1990 and from S.U.N.Y at Buffalo Law School in 1993.
Attorney Kehrer began practicing law in 1994 in Silver Creek. He became a member of his firm in 1996. His practice areas include Matrimonial and Family law, Real Estate and Estates, Criminal law, and Personal Injury litigation.
Melissa H. Thore
A lifelong resident of Western New York, Attorney Thore completed her freshman and sophomore years of college at Miami University in Ohio where she majored in Political Science. Upon her return to Buffalo, she completed undergraduate degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo, earning a Bachelors of Arts in both Political Science and Legal Studies.
Attorney Thore earned her Juris Doctorate from the State University at Buffalo School of Law and focuses her practice on Estates and Trusts, Real Estate and Matrimonial and Family Law. She is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, American Bar Association and the UB Law Alumni Association GOLD Group.
