Atkinson, John K.

Mr. Aspromonte is the managing partner of Dansker & Aspromonte. He is a native New Yorker and the son of second generation Italian immigrants. By the age of sixteen, he had lost both parents and entered the work force. While attending high school and college, he supported himself by working at a large retail pharmacy where he quickly rose to a managerial position. He graduated from Bernard M. Baruch College in 1974 with a Bachelor in Business Administration and in 1979, obtained his Juris Doctor at Brooklyn Law School, where he formed the Italian-American Law Students Association. He also secured a clerkship as legal assistant to the warden at the Brooklyn House of Detention for Men.

After he was admitted to the bar, Mr. Aspromonte opened his first law office and concentrated in civil and criminal litigation. He subsequently limited his practice to personal injury and medical malpractice.

In 1989, he merged his practice with Paul Dansker and formed Dansker & Aspromonte. Throughout his career, Mr. Aspromonte has tried many cases and negotiated millions of dollars in settlements. He gained notoriety in several cases, most notably in the case of Wan v. Rochester University Medical Center involving a young college student who died during a routine clinical research trial.

Mr. Aspromonte credits his successes to the work ethic he learned at a very young age. He prides himself on being completely self-made. "Luck has nothing to do with it", he proudly says. "Everything I've achieved was accomplished through hard work and determination." And that work ethic is reflected in every aspect of the practice. He takes nothing for granted, and the standard of hard work and determination he set still provides the cornerstone for the< effort that goes into every case accepted by the firm.

Today, Mr. Aspromonte serves as president of the Congress of Italian Americans Organization (CIAO), which provides social services to individuals who are disadvantaged. He is a founder and board member of Community Understanding for Racial and Ethnic Equality (CURE), which brings diverse ethnic, religious and civic leaders together to promote harmony and to resolve disputes. He is a founding member of the New Era Democrats (NED), a political action group that supports qualified candidates regardless of party affiliation, and he serves on the board of the Ralph J. Sansone Foundation, a philanthropic organization that raises money and awards scholarships to deserving students in financial need.