People › Staff
Angela D. Champion
Angie has lived in the Finger Lakes area for 22 years. For the past five years, she has been employed by the Town of Lodi as Assistant to the Supervisor, Court Clerk, and Deputy Town Clerk. She earned her A.A.S. Paralegal degree from Finger Lakes Community College in December 2006.
Angie is assisting Mariette while Allison is away on military duty. She is involved in many aspects of Mariette’s daily practice, including drafting correspondence and legal documents, maintaining files, and communicating with clients.
Heather D’Alleva, Paralegal
A recent addition to Tompkins County, Heather comes to us from Syracuse, New York. She received her AAS in Criminal Justice and continued her education at Cazenovia College, majoring in business. Heather brings seven years of legal experience to our practice. She began her career as a Correctional Officer with the Cortland County Sheriff’s Department, and she has worked as a real estate paralegal throughout the counties of Central New York for the past 4 years.
Heather is the firm’s receptionist and is often the first person to speak to or meet new clients. She performs a wide variety of tasks, including receiving incoming calls and helping to direct potential clients to the appropriate attorney or staff member, greeting clients when they arrive for appointments, accepting and sorting mail and deliveries, and various other administrative functions that help keep the office running smoothly.
Sharon Drader, Office Manager
Sharon has been employed with the firm for 24 years. Prior to working with us, she worked at the Tompkins Trust Company in both the Trust and Commercial Lending departments.
As she is primarily responsible for managing the office, which includes personnel, benefits, bookkeeping, payroll, and billing, clients should contact Sharon directly with any billing inquiries.
Carol Fiske, Paralegal
Before joining the firm in 2003, Carol spent 15 years as a Certified Nursing Assistant. She earned her AS degree in Office Technologies with Legal Concentration from the Elmira Business Institute in June 2003, where she was a member of the Alpha Beta Kappa National Honor Society. Carol also attended Kaplan University, graduating cum laude in June 2006 with a Bachelor’s degree in Paralegal Studies.
Carol works closely with Richard L. Stumbar in the areas of divorce, support, custody litigation and civil litigation. Carol is responsible for scheduling new clients, communicating with courts and other attorneys, and drafting correspondence and legal documents. Clients can expect Carol to help them compile necessary documentation and keep them abreast of new developments in their cases.
Carol will be attending Tiffin University, beginning in January 2008, to obtain a MSCJ with a concentration in criminal behavior.
Julie Knutson, Paralegal
Julie is one of our firm’s two paralegals who concentrate on real estate transactions. She works with several of the firm’s attorneys in their representation of real estate buyers and sellers, and assists them in managing real estate files from purchase offer to closing, including drafting documents and coordinating schedules.
Deanna Krause, Paralegal
Deanna is one of our two paralegals who focus on the firm’s real estate cases. She works primarily with David, acting as his legal assistant for non-real estate cases as well as managing real estate transactions, from purchase contract to closing, in which David or one of the firm's other attorneys represent the seller, the buyer, or the lender.
Deanna is a native of the area, having graduated from Spencer-Van Etten High School. She worked with David for three years prior to their joining the firm, and is currently pursuing a liberal arts degree at Tompkins Cortland Community College.
Allison M. Myers, Paralegal
Allison is a Tompkins County native who has worked with Mariette since May 1992. In addition to her more than 14 years of law office experience, she has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from SUNY Oneonta (1991) and has been a member of the Army Reserve, where she currently holds the rank of Sergeant First Class, for over 20 years.
Allison assists Mariette with many aspects of her practice, including communicating with clients, courts and other attorneys; drafting correspondence and legal documents; managing real estate transactions from purchase contract to closing and scheduling appointments. She is happy to provide general information and assist clients in whatever way possible.
You may also encounter Allison volunteering for the Tompkins County SPCA, for which she fosters cats and kittens, or singing in the Ithaca Community Chorus.
Allison is temporarily away from the office on military duty. In her absence, please direct all inquiries regarding Mariette's work to paralegal Amie Sweeney.
Laurie F. Schutt, R.N., Paralegal
Laurie has lived in the Tompkins County area since the late 1970’s. Before joining the firm in 1999, she spent 23 years as a full-time registered nurse, working in a number of our local hospitals and with various home health care organizations and nursing home facilities. To keep her nursing skills current, Laurie continues to work part time at Cortland Regional Medical Center in the Intensive Care and Telemetry Units.
Laurie’s nursing experience and medical knowledge help make her an indispensable asset in Ray’s personal injury, medical malpractice, and criminal defense practices. She obtains, reviews, and interprets pertinent medical records, helping Ray build his most complex cases.
In addition, Laurie handles all of Ray’s scheduling, including new client intake interviews. She will often screen potential clients to determine which attorney would be best suited to meet with that client. Laurie is always happy to provide assistance to clients or direct them to the best source.
Amie B. Sweeney, Paralegal
Amie is a lifelong resident of Cortland and Tompkins Counties. She earned her Associate’s degree in Applied Science with a focus on Paralegal Studies from Tompkins Cortland Community College (1998), and has since accumulated over eight years of experience working for several Ithaca attorneys and for the New York State Capital Defender’s Office.
Amie works with Mariette on a wide range of cases, including adoptions (foreign and domestic, private and agency, including through DSS), wills and estates, real estate purchases for buyers and banks, and divorces. She also provides assistance in some of these areas to the other attorneys in the firm.