Welcome to Galvin and Morgan, Attorneys and Counselors at Law. 

Please call us at (515) 439-7734.  We'd be happy to serve you.

Property Rights/Real Estate

Galvin & Morgan has extensive experience in both State and Federal property rights litigation, as well as property management advice to individuals seeking to protect or enforce their property rights. We deal with a broad range of property issues including: real estate closings, boundary disputes, eminent domain, zoning, and other various areas of law concerning land usage.

Estate Planning and Probate

Our firm provides advise to clients regarding preservation and disposition of assets. We also assist family members in the settlement of decedent's estates.

Employment Law

Employment problems arise constantly and our firm is dedicated to helping resolve these issues. We practice in the area of employment discrimination in Federal and State Courts, and have experience with New York State Human Rights proceedings.

General Civil Litigation

We offer litigation services that deal with many different kinds of law in Federal Courts and equivalent State Courts, including:

•         • Tax Planning and Representation
          • Tax-Exempt Organizations
          • Civil Rights Actions
          • Health Law
          • Personal Injury
          • Products Liability
          • Professional Liability
          • Appellate Practice
          • Matrimonial Law
          • Commercial Law
          • Corporate Law

Madeline Sheila Galvin – Partner   

Ms. Galvin is a founding member of Galvin & Morgan and was born in New York, N.Y. on January 31, 1948. She attended Russell Sage College and graduated cum laude, with the highest honors in 1970. Thereafter, she acquired her J.D. in 1973 from Albany Law School of Union University and was admitted to the New York bar as well as the U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York in 1974. In 1978 she was admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court and in 1988 to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. She is also admitted to practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit as well as the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York. She is a member of the New York State and American Bar Associations, the Property Rights Foundation of America, and many other professional organizations. Before founding the firm, she worked for the State of New York Attorney General's Office and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. Her main areas of practice include: State and Federal Civil Trials, Appellate practice, Administrative Hearings, Civil Rights, Estate and Employment Law. She has been recognized in Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in the World, and other honorary and professional publications.

James E. Morgan – Partner

Mr. Morgan is also a founding member of Galvin & Morgan and was born in Albany, N.Y. on April 29, 1947. He attended the State University of New York at Albany and received his B.A. in 1969. He continued his education at Albany Law School of Union University, obtaining his J.D. in 1972, and was admitted to the bar in 1973. Mr. Morgan worked for the State of New York as an Assistant Attorney General and as a Litigation specialist for several other state agencies throughout a 20 year career. In 1979, he was admitted to practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit and the U.S. District Court, Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York. He has been in private practice since 1991. He is a member of the New York State and American Bar Associations and the Property Rights Foundation of America, and has a basic understanding of the French language. His practice areas include: State and Federal Civil Trials, Appellate practice, Real Property and Real Property Tax Law, Civil Rights, Administrative and Employment Law.

   

Galvin & Morgan is a general practice firm located in Delmar, New York. Our firm is active in State and Federal civil litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. The practice includes many areas of law including:

• • real property
• • property rights
• • commercial and corporate law
• • administrative law
• • estate planning and administration
• • taxation, employment and labor law.

We are committed to achieving justice for our clients, and have gained a reputation for capable and aggressive legal representation. Our experienced partners, associates and support staff provide competent advice and create effective solutions for our clients. 

All clients are treated equally as our firm strives to achieve the best possible legal remedy for each. Many times, the attorneys work together to accomplish a client's goals which provides additional expertise to each case. We communicate and consult regularly with our clients to keep them advised of progress which allows each client to make informed and timely decisions when appropriate. Every aspect of our firm is dedicated to serving each client's best interest.

Payment schedules can accommodate any number of particular needs, based on each client's individual situation. We pride ourselves in thorough and qualified legal work, and highly value the trust of our clients.

Please explore our website to learn more about our attorneys and what we can do for you.

When Augustine Natale bought farmland in Chester County Pennsylvania in 1989, he did not recognize the significance of language that had been added 22 years earlier to an older deed to the same land. The language, which had been repeated in the deed just before his own deed, was what is technically known as a "conservation easement." The language said that the land could be used only for farming or nature conservation, and for small buildings related to those uses.

Nine years after he bought the land, this language destroyed his life's dream. In November 1998, the broken hearted, elderly man stood by while a bulldozer tore into his new farmhouse and ripped it down to rubble.

Even last year Mr. Natale did not seem to understand the simple, yet technical, language restricting, or encumbering, his deed. He telephoned the Property Rights Foundation of America in New York in a last-ditch hope for help to regain his lost home, but referred to his lawyer an inquiry about the language in the conservation easement.

It is no wonder that Mr. Natale did not know what he had bought when he acquired the 42 acre property. When the French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust, the land trust which holds the conservation easement, sued to stop the construction of the Natale farmhouse in 1989, the Chester County Court of Common Pleas ruled that the farmhouse was allowed under the restrictions. The judge ruled that the construction of the farmhouse "does not offend the easement definition of a "small building" incidental to farming use."

The judge emphasized that the burden of restricting a property owner's use of his land "is substantial," and that the "restriction must be specific and in words incapable of multiple interpretations."

Mr. Natale had saved for the farmhouse for fifteen years. With the court's clear ruling in his favor, he went ahead to build the Colonial house, which would house three generations of his family while they farmed the land.

But, while Mr. Natale built his house, the French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust appealed the decision. The ruling by the Chester County Court of Common Pleas was reversed. In 1995, the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court dismissed Mr. Natale's appeal. All that remained was a drawn-out battle about the removal of the house, with the final demolition order given on November 23, 1998. The next day the house came down. Bob Williams of The Philadelphia Inquirer photographed one of the men in the Natale family with his arm around Mr. Natale's waist, while the Chester County Sheriff wrapped his arm around the aged man's broad, stooped shoulders as he turned away when the house came down.

During the 1960's, conservation easements were an exciting new tool for the protection of land from development. Questions about the future implications to property owners were not paramount in the intellectual land-use planning circles developing this new line of protection.

When the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws passed a Uniform Conservation Easement Act in New Orleans in 1981, representatives from some of the states raised important questions, but the model law was railroaded through intact. After the model law passed the highly respected body, it went on to be gradually incorporated into law in many states over the years. The law sets a framework for conservation easements by canceling the historic legal traditions that do not allow broad, negative encumbrances. It also establishes the powerful right of non-profit groups to sue to enforce conservation easements even if they are not parties to an easement.

Meanwhile, as the legal groundwork was being secured, the number of conservation easements also mounted. At the same time, a generation passed. Now, a harvest is being reaped as these easements are affecting subsequent owners. Many cases have gone to court in recent years.

During the 1990's, however, the drive to acquire conservation easements accelerated greatly, with land trusts and government acquiring encumbrances on extremely large rural blocks of land to protect forests, ranches, farms and nature. Some environmentalists want to tie up most of the land in entire regions, such as all of the State of Maine's unincorporated backcountry, with conservation easements.

Moreover, the terms of these new conservation easements are extremely broad, with resource protection superseding even forestry and agriculture, according to the technical language in the deeds. The actual language contradicts the statements of government and environmental groups, which claim that they intend to permanently promote these land-based industries.

If two judges could reach diametrically opposite conclusions on the meaning of the conservation easement encumbering Augustine Natale's property, then the potential for confusion and litigation over the hundreds of thousands of acres of conservation easements being accomplished with much more complex terms is virtually limitless. Conservation easements are devaluing the equity of land-based industries such as farms. Historic private property rights are being muddied. As this new generation of conservation easements comes home to roost, the tragedy of Augustine Natale will be repeated thousands of times. The American tradition of private property ownership and the freedom and prosperity based on private property ownership will be diminished.

Jeremy P. Chen – Associate
Mr. Chen joined Galvin & Morgan in 2001 while attending Albany Law School of Union University, and received his J.D. in May, 2002. While at Albany Law School, Mr. Chen interned at the N.Y.S. Health Department - Legal Affairs Division. He received his B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from Boston College in 1997. He then worked for two years as a drug and alcohol abuse counselor at a halfway house. Mr. Chen's concentration areas include General Civil Litigation, Real Estate, Health Law, Estate Planning and Tax Law. He is a member of the New York State and American Bar Associations, as well as the Connecticut Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in the states of New York and Connecticut.

Courtney E. Holbrook – Associate
Ms. Holbrook joined Galvin & Morgan in 2002. She received her B.A. in Sociology from Mount Holyoke College in 1999. She then proceeded to Albany Law School and received her J.D. in May, 2002. While at Albany Law School, Ms. Holbrook participated in several moot court competitions as well as a judicial clerkship through the clinical legal studies program, and was also recognized in Who's Who of American Law Students. She has experience in Personal Injury, Environmental Law, Constitutional Law, and General Civil Litigation. She belongs to the New York State and American Bar Associations. Ms. Holbrook has a background in breaking, training and showing horses.

David S. Kellogg – Of Counsel
Mr. Kellogg joined Galvin & Morgan in 2002 after a career of more than 30 years in New York State government. He was born in Hornell, N.Y. With various interruptions for service in the U.S. Army/Army Reserve, Mr. Kellogg graduated from Utica College in 1969, obtained his J.D. from Albany Law School in 1972, and was admitted to Federal and State practice in 1973. He served as a legal intern in the Court of Claims and the N.Y.S. Assembly, and became an attorney trainee with the N.Y.S. Department of Social Services (NYSDSS) in 1972. Mr. Kellogg served progressively as an attorney, senior attorney and hearing officer with the NYSDSS. He then was appointed as an Assistant Counsel in 1975, a senior political appointment he held in various iterations until his retirement in 2002 from the N.Y.S. Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, a successor agency to the NYSDSS. Mr. Kellogg specializes in Administrative Law and Government Contracts. He is a member of the Albany County Bar Association and various local civic organizations.

Cory A. Collins – Legal Secretary   
Ms. Collins joined Galvin & Morgan in 2003. She was born in Albany, N.Y. on January 24, 1960. She studied Business, Spanish, French and German, and graduated from Columbia High School in 1978. Ms. Collins came to the firm with 25 years of experience in the areas of Accounting, Bookkeeping and Corporate Law. She began her financial career in 1978 with Sears Credit Department, then moved to Standard Furniture's Credit Department, followed by First American Bank which became Key Bank, and finally Blumberg Excelsior before joining Galvin & Morgan.

Jessica D. Frenyea – Paralegal
Ms. Frenyea joined Galvin & Morgan in 2004. She received an Associates Degree in Human Services from Hudson Valley Community College in 1999. While at Hudson Valley Community College she was employed by Rensselaer County NYSARC as a Program Manager and Senior Counselor in their recreation department. In January of 2000, she began working for the East Greenbush Central School District as a substitute Teacher Aide, and was subsequently hired permanently as a Transition Aide. In the fall of 2001 she enrolled at Mildred Elley College as a business major and graduated with honors in July, 2003.

Howard A. Mierek – Comptroller and Research Director
Mr. Mierek attended the State University at Albany and New York University. His undergraduate and graduate degrees are in political economy and mathematics and taxation, accounting and auditing. He was employed by the N.Y.S. Assembly Ways and Means Committee as Tax Director and the N.Y.S. Workers' Compensation Board as Audit Director and Insurance Director. His expertise is in:

       1. Advanced Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics and Econometrics;
       2. Taxation, Accounting and Auditing;
       3. Financial Mathematics and Analysis; and
       4. Operations Research and Systems Analysis.