Coffey Modica Partners, Michael D. Neri and Adam Greenberg, were featured in an article by Law360 on being the “new guys”.
By Elizabeth Daley | March 14, 2025
Business and insurance defense litigation firm Coffey Modica LLP has added two partners to its team in Tarrytown, New York, marking a homecoming of sorts for one, who worked as an associate under the firm’s founding partner, while allowing both veteran attorneys to simultaneously be “the new guy.”
Michael D. Neri, formerly of Pillinger Miller Tarallo LLP, told Law360 on Friday that he was looking forward to playing a mentorship role, similar to the one founding partner Michael W. Coffey played for him decades ago.
“I am looking to work with associates and mold them and help guide them in the right direction,” Neri said, remembering how Coffey taught him “how to think on your feet in court,” among other things.
During office renovations, Neri is sharing an office with fellow new recruit, Adam Greenberg, who is also a seasoned litigator with over 20 years of experience.
Greenberg, who hails from Harrington Ocko & Monk LLP, said he enjoyed having an office mate who was also sharing the experience of being the new guy.
“It’s nice to have somebody else who has also been doing this a long time. We bounce a lot of ideas off of each other,” said Greenberg, who graduated from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law after completing his undergraduate education at Tufts University, where he majored in English.
Greenberg said transitioning from English to studying the law seemed pretty logical to him.
“I think it’s kind of natural. A lot of the law involves communication and writing,” he said, noting that he also enjoys the excitement and competitive nature of litigation.
“There’s a lot of challenges facing defendants. We are living in a very political age, and a lot of people are against corporations, and it makes it an uphill battle, when you get these cases and have to explain it all to the jury,” Greenberg said.
Both Greenberg and Neri have handled a broad range of litigation in state and federal courts. Greenberg said that labor law and construction accidents might be his specialty, if he had to be specific. However, one of his most interesting cases involved representing a church that was accused of illegally keeping the human remains of an employee — showing that his experience really does run the gamut.
Neri touted his experience broadly defending insurance companies, but counts the rapper DMX as one of his most interesting clients, whom he could never get on the phone.
“They said he caused an automobile accident, and whenever I looked him up online, he was all over the world causing automobile accidents. So we had to hurry up and settle that one,” Neri said, reminiscing about defending the rapper.
When Neri, who graduated from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and the University of Houston, isn’t arguing in court, he said he has a good sparring partner in his wife. Gina Longobardi was also an insurance defense attorney at Black Marjieh & Sanford LLP.
He has never litigated against her due to conflicts of interest, he said, but if he were, Neri joked that he wouldn’t stand a chance.
“I am afraid of what she would do to me. I haven’t won a fight in a long time, and I am sure I wouldn’t win that one either,” he said.
Neri may have better luck, however, in the fantasy baseball league that he is trying to get started at the office.
“It’s a fun environment, we are having a really good time,” Neri said, noting he was glad to have joined the firm, which has six offices with over 40 attorneys spread across the Tristate area, according to its website.
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