Two White Plains residents join Legal Services of the Hudson Valley Board of Directors

Alfred E. Donnellan, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley’s (LSHV) Board Chair and Managing Partner at DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederker LLP, announced the addition of two new members to LSHV’s Board of Directors.

Frances Pantaleo is a Partner at Bleakley, Platt & Schmidt LLP, a law firm in White Plains. Pantaleo is no stranger to LSHV, having been involved for many years as a Pro Bono attorney and former Co-Chair of the organization’s Equal Access to Justice fundraising Dinner. She was an attorney with the Civil Division of the NYC Legal Aid Society in the mid-1980s, and worked as a clinical professor at Cardozo Law School representing elderly and disabled individuals with a broad range of legal problems. She has also been involved with a number of community organizations, having served as a Board Member at the Hudson Valley Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, a Board Member at the Westchester End of Life Coalition, an Officer and Chair of NYSBA, Elder Law and Special Needs Section, a Co-Chair of the Westchester County Bar, Elder Law Committee, a Co-Chair of the Westchester Women’s Bar Elder Law Committee, and a Committee member of Westchester County Bar Pro Bono Committee. Pantaleo is a resident of White Plains.

Vanessa Kaye Watson is Vice President, Senior Managing Counsel at Mastercard International Incorporated. In this role, she manages the team responsible for supporting Mastercard Advisors North America region, including legal staff, outside counsel and contractors. She first joined Mastercard in 2011 as Vice President, Senior Counsel. Prior to joining the corporation, she was an Associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, in New York, NY for almost a decade. Watson has dedicated numerous hours to pro bono services throughout her legal career, including with LSHV, and has received many awards and recognition for her services. A graduate of Fordham University School of Law, Watson is admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey, S.D.N.Y. and E.D.N.Y. She is Secretary and Board Member of the Greater Centennial Community Development Corporation and a Member of the Association of Corporate Counsel. A resident of White Plains, Watson is also a trained dancer and performing artist.

LSHV’s CEO, Barbara Finkelstein, said of the duo, “We are delighted to welcome them to the team at Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, and are excited for their leadership and vision in support of our efforts to provide free civil legal services to tens of thousands of residents in the lower and mid-Hudson Valley each year.”

The new Board members join the organization as it embarks on its 50th Anniversary celebration this year. Founded as Westchester & Putnam Legal Services, today LSHV’s attorneys assist poor, low-income, disabled and/or vulnerable individuals and families across the seven counties of the lower and mid-Hudson Valley (Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan). They advocate for and represent people with nowhere else to turn in hearings, negotiations and court proceedings across a wide range of urgent legal needs including: children’s law and advocacy, elder law, domestic violence, disability law (physical, mental and developmental disabilities), housing emergencies (eviction and foreclosure prevention), healthcare, consumer fraud and more.

For more information about LSHV, please visit its website www.lshv.org.

Pictured (L-R): Frances Pantaleo and Vanessa Watson