Get to Know... Angelo Catalano 

The proud grandson of Italian immigrants, Angelo Catalano feels like the embodiment of the American Dream. “My grandparents each came to the States as children in the 1920s. Their families were seeking better lives, leaving dirt poor conditions in their native country. Hard work and educational opportunities have since propelled each successive generation to fare better than the one preceding it."  

Angelo is living proof of his family’s ascension. In addition to his varied labor and employment practice, Angelo has cultivated a thriving niche practice working with police and fire departments throughout New York State. Prior to joining Bond in 2025, Angelo was a partner at a Binghamton based firm where he was the head of the labor and employment practice group. 

Angelo is unabashedly public about his love for Central New York, particularly the village of Homer, where he was born and is now raising his family. With unbridled enthusiasm, he calls the region, “the greatest place ever.” When meeting new people, Angelo never fails to say with pride that he’s Central New York-born and raised. Angelo and his wife, Kimberly, also a Homer native, treasure their small town. 

Even though Angelo always excelled academically, he didn’t initially have his eye on a legal career. “I went to college to play football. My secondary intention was to become a police officer or work for the FBI. My dad, who retired as Chief of Police in Cortland, discouraged me from pursuing a degree in criminal justice as it was not versatile if I decided against a career in law enforcement. He reasoned that I could always take a civil service test if I wanted to go into law enforcement, but a more diverse education could open other doors if I changed my mind.” 

At Hobart, Angelo took some education courses, seeing teaching as a potential alternative to law enforcement. However, while interning at the District Attorney’s office, he got to observe what happens after an arrest. “This experience made me realize that I wanted to be the one assembling the puzzle pieces and presenting the evidence, not the one making the arrest." He switched gears and headed to law school, visualizing a career as a prosecutor. His first law job brought him to Binghamton. After gaining some experience, he started representing numerous municipalities, and grew a reputation with police and fire departments, especially in General Municipal Law 207 matters (firefighters, police, sheriff or correction officers who become hurt or sick while performing their duties). “This struck me as somewhat ironic that I had come full circle to work directly with police departments, albeit in a different capacity than I had thought of as a kid.” 

Playing football at Hobart taught Angelo a bit about the circles and cycles of life as well. A high school Hall of Famer, Angelo arrived at Hobart to find what he describes as “the discovery that I was now a small fish in a big pond.” His response to this revelation? Work harder. “Over my college career, I worked tirelessly and earned most improved player award by the time I graduated. It was impressed upon me that you often don’t know you have another level of intensity until you are forced to rise to the occasion. Overall, it’s reflective of work ethic in school and in the legal field.” 

When asked how these experiences prepared him to parent five- and three-year old daughters, Angelo chuckles. “I remember changing my first diaper and not knowing what to do but quickly progressing to what seemed like 25 diapers a day. Or being up all night comforting a sick kid and still having to get up and handle the next day's tasks. Again, unless you try, you don’t ever know what your limits are." 

“My family keeps me going every day, both in terms of me providing for them and in what they give back to me. Similar to what I do for business owners, I am protecting their livelihoods and life's work. I take my responsibilities in both these roles very seriously and personally, putting myself in these many different shoes.” 

On joining Bond, Angelo reports, “As the best labor and employment firm in town, Bond has offered me the opportunity to up my game and rise further to a level of experience and skill that has enabled me to grow my practice, expand my knowledge and gain a greater depth of experience. The collaborative nature and vast resources found here have breathed new life into my practice. Here, I’m confident that I have the tools to complement my can-do attitude to tackle any challenge.”