Jodi Ann Donato, Treasurer, is a solo practitioner in East Islip, NY. While she predominantly practices Matrimonial and Family Law, her practice also includes estate planning, real estate transactions, probate and administration. Her roots in the East Islip area run deep, having grown up and raised her children there.
Ms. Donato knew she wanted to become a lawyer at a very young age. It was the idea of defending the rights of others and preventing the miscarriage of justice that always appealed to her. After earning her undergraduate degree at Hofstra University in 1985, she deferred her plans of attending law school, working instead as a comptroller for a large Long Island commercial enterprise. She then attended Touro Law School from 1990 to 1992, earning her degree in just two and half years, while a single mother of a young child.
It was her Family Court externship experience while at Touro that set the direction for her eventual law practice. Her research on one matter during that time led to a published decision. She immediately found Family Law to be a natural fit, having previously appeared as a pro se Family Court litigant herself. Ms. Donato identified with her clients and was eager to provide the professional assistance she knew, first hand, to be essential.
In addition to running her practice, Ms. Donato is a District Court Arbitrator and a SCAR Hearing Officer. She served as President, Treasurer, Director and Delegate of the Suffolk County Women’s Bar Association, and as Secretary and Manager of the Suffolk County Bar Association’s Charity Foundation. She is a member of the Suffolk County Matrimonial Bar Association and the Suffolk County Bar Association’s Family Court and Matrimonial Committee. She volunteers as a Mock Trial Judge and previously served as an attorney mentor for that program. She serves as a Catechist Lector at her church and is an active member of the East Islip School Business Partnership, where she serves as a mentor.
The Suffolk County Pro Bono Project named Ms. Donato Pro Bono Attorney of the Month three times. She is a winner of Clio’s Resiman Award for Growth and was a finalist in the Richard James Partners Club Entrepreneurial Attorney of the Year contest.
Ms. Donato is most proud of her family; her children Steven, Amber & Kevin, daughter-in-law Marjory, and grandchildren Jocelynn, Annastasia and Rowan.