Kathleen ("Casey") Copps DiPaola - Albany, NY
Attorney at Copps DiPaola Silverman, PLLC
Adoption Lawyers in Albany, NY
126 State St. 6th Floor Albany, NY 12207 - 1637
Albany Adoption Lawyer
Updated: 03/10/2026
Areas of Practice
- Adoption 30%
- Assisted Reproduction Technology 20%
- Estate Planning & Probate 20%
- Guardianship 10%
- Real Estate 10%
- Name Changes 5%
- Corporate Formation & Operations 5%
Litigation: 25%
Attorney Information
Overview
Casey focuses her practice in all areas of adoption law. She has experience representing birth and adoptive parents in private adoptions, voluntary agency adoptions, foster care adoptions and step/second parent adoptions. Casey also has experience representing adoption agencies and handling adoption subsidy fair hearings. Casey also practices in the related area of assisted reproductive technology law (egg/sperm/embryo donation and surrogacy/gestational carrier agreements) and kinship guardianship (KinGAP). Casey also practices in the areas of not-for-profit/for-profit/religious corporation formation and operations, estate planning and trusts, probate, real estate, landlord/tenant, employment law, education law and name changes.
Casey understands that many of her clients come to her during difficult and stressful times in their lives. She strives to educate her clients on the law and their options so they can make educated decisions about the trajectory of their cases. Casey understands that, while the matter that brings her clients to her are incredibly important to them, the vast majority of her clients have limited funds to spend on legal representation. With that in mind, Casey openly discusses with her clients the relative costs of various options and helps them to engage in a cost-benefit analysis.
Casey prides herself on being a creative problem solver and refuses to take a one size fits all approach to her cases. She spends time with her clients getting to know the facts of their cases intimately so she can help them brainstorm possible solutions to the problem that brought them to her. Particularly in matters involving families, Casey believes that working together to come up with a solution that addresses the needs and concerns of all involved to the best extent possible is almost always preferable to litigation, which can do irreparable damage to relationships. That being said, Casey has extensive litigation experience and, in the event that settlement is not an option, she is willing and able to zealously litigate on behalf of her clients.
Casey was previously an associate attorney at Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP, Albany's largest law firm, where she practiced primarily in the areas of Labor and Employment, Education and Litigation. Casey joined her mother, Anne Reynolds Copps, in practice as an associate with the firm in 2012 and became Anne's partner in 2014, creating Copps DiPaola, PLLC, the first mother-daughter law firm in the Capital Region. In 2018, Lorraine Silverman joined the firm as a partner and the firm name changed to its current name.
Casey regularly practices in the Capital District and surrounding counties, including Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Saratoga, Columbia, and Schoharie. Casey also routinely travels as far north as Plattsburgh, as far south as Kingston, and as far west as Syracuse to represent birth and adoptive parents in adoptions. Casey is also admitted in Vermont where she practices exclusively in adoption and assisted reproductive technology law.
Awards and Honors
Honors
- Rising Star Award (Family Law), Super Lawyers Magainze, 2014 - 2018
- Outstanding New Lawyer Award, Capital District Women's Bar Association, 2013 - Present
- Kurt Clobridge Memorial Award for Pro Bono Service, The Legal Project, 2012 - Present
- New York State Bar Association, Empire Counsel, 2011-Present
Education
-
Legal Education
-
Albany Law School of Union University,
Albany,
New York, 2009
J.D.
Honors: summa cum laude
Law Review: Albany Law Review, Senior Editor, 2007 - 2009
-
Albany Law School of Union University,
Albany,
New York, 2009
-
Non Legal Education
-
Rochester Institute of Technology, 2006
B.S.
Honors: With Highest Honors
Major: Applied Arts & Science
-
Rochester Institute of Technology, 2006
Current Employment Position(s)
-
Partner
Past Positions
- Law Office of Anne Reynoldsd Copps, Associate, 2012 - 2014
- Family Violence Litigation Clinic, Intern
Languages
-
English
Classes and Seminars
-
LGBT Law Series, Albany Law, 2017 - Present
-
Guardianship Guest Speaker, Albany Law, 2017 - Present
-
Legally Speaking: Estate Planning, The Legal Project, 2013 - Present
-
EAP Programs: Esttate Planning, 2013 - Present
- Resident Educatin: Estate Planning, 2013 - Present
Pro Bono Activities
- The Legal Project, 2009 - Present
- Legal Aid, 2010 - Present
Published Works
Articles
-
What is ART Law Anyways?, CDWBA Newsletter, Winter, 2017
-
NewCategories of Individuals Eligible to Adopt, CDWBA Newsletter, Election, 2016
Bar Admissions
- New York, 2010
- U.S. District Court Northern District of New York
- U.S. District Court Western District of New York
- Supreme Court of the United States of America, 2014
- Vermont, 2015
- U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit
Other Affiliations
- Capital District Women's Bar Association, 2006 - Present (Former 1st Vice President)
- Albany County Bar Association, 2009 - Present (Member)
- New York State Bar Association, 2009 - Present (Member)
- Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, 2015 - Present (Fellow)
Fraternities and Sororities
- Zeta Tau Alpha
Photo
Contact
126 State St.
6th Floor
Albany, NY 12207 - 1637
Phone: 518-417-2609
Email: Send a message
Website: http://www.coppsdipaola.com
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