Our Attorneys

Leo Nevas
lnevas@nevascapasse.com

Leo has distinguished himself as a counselor to business, large and small. He is one of the region’s leading practitioners in corporate affairs, real estate, land use, zoning and tax-exempt organizations. He provides estate planning, drafts wills and administers estates.

Leo’s years of courtroom experience enable him, when circumstances warrant, to guide clients toward less stressful and costly alternative dispute resolution. He is a former Judge of the Westport Municipal Court and member of the Connecticut Commission of Human Rights.

He was founding chairman of the Westport National Bank, a director of State National Bank, Connecticut Bank & Trust Company and a Trustee of Norwalk Hospital. Leo served as Chairman of the Blaustein Institute of Human Rights, President of the International League for Human Rights, Vice Chairman of the United Nations Association of the U.S. and Vice Chairman of the Fairfield County Foundation.

Leo graduated from the University of Michigan and Cornell Law School where he was a member of the Editorial Board of the Cornell Law Quarterly. He continued graduate studies at New York University Law School. He is the recipient of a Doctorate of Humane Letters in 2004 from the University of Bridgeport and a Doctor of Law degree from Sacred Heart University in 1981. He practices in Connecticut, Federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Areas of Practice: Business Law; Real Estate; Probate and Estate; Land Use; Zoning; Civil Trials; Non Profit & Tax Exempt Organizations.

Edward J. Capasse
ecapasse@nevascapasse.com

Edward is a native of Westport, known and respected for his skills in commercial and residential real estate, land use, business, estate planning, administration of estates and trusts, banking and finance. Before joining our firm, he was a partner in the Westport firm of Tate, Capasse & Johnson.

Edward has been a Chairman of the Board and a Director of the Bank of Westport, President of the Westport Bar Association, a Member of the Westport Board of Finance and Chairman of the Town’s Building Board of Appeals. He is a former Prosecuting Attorney in the Connecticut Circuit Court, having served in that position from 1961 – 1967.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Fairfield University and his law degree from Boston College Law School. He is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association and the Fairfield County Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in Connecticut and the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Areas of Practice: Real Estate, Commercial and Residential; Estate Planning; Estate and Trust Administration; Land Use; Zoning.

Jamie Kay Gerard
jkgerard@nevascapasse.com

Jamie’s practice emphasizes real estate. She represents buyers and sellers of residential and commercial property as well as refinancing them. She also represents landlords and tenants and the negotiation and preparation of home and commercial leases.

Jamie serves clients in a variety of business areas: the organization of closely held corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships, contracts including employment agreements and the purchase and sale of businesses.

She knows the non-profit field and has set up charitable corporations, private foundations and public charities.

Jamie helps clients plan their estates and establish trusts. She is also experienced with the administration of estates and appears often in Connecticut probate courts when conservatorships, guardianships, emancipations and related questions come up.

She graduated (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from the State University of New York at Albany in 1977. Her Juris Doctor degree was earned from the Washington College of Law at American University in 1980 where she was an Editor of the American University Law Review. Before coming to our firm in l984, she was a research law clerk for the judges of the Connecticut Superior Court.

Jamie is admitted to practice in the Connecticut and the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. She is a member of the American Bar Association, Connecticut Bar Association and Fairfield County Bar Association. Jamie serves on the boards of several non-profit corporations including the Child Guidance Center of Mid-Fairfield County.

Areas of Practice: Real Estate, Residential and Commercial; Real Estate Leasing; Estate Planning, Wills, Administration of Estates; Business Formation; Corporations; Limited Liability Companies; Non-Profit and Tax-Exempt Organizations.

Stephen E. Nevas
snevas@nevascapasse.com

Steve devotes a significant portion of time to the protection of trademarks, copyright and the negotiation of licenses to produce income for their owners. Not only does he represent business but also artists, musicians and their heirs. His work with intellectual property grows out his experience as a media lawyer, assisting clients in cases that involve defamation, privacy and access to information, sometimes through freedom of information laws, and uses of the Internet. He has experience with employment law and contracts. He has assisted clients with children who need the protection of special education laws. Steve also advises clients about a wide range of issues in the food industry.

He has taught First Amendment and media law as well as media ethics at American University in Washington, D.C. and the Center for Communications Law at Columbus Law School in Washington. Steve served as First Amendment Counsel to the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington, D.C. and as General Counsel to National Public Radio. He is the founding chairman of the Joint Washington Committee, a coalition of national broadcast, print and journalism organizations. He was Chief Law Correspondent at CNN and Law Correspondent for Mutual/NBC News.

Steve graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1960, the Annenberg School of Mass Communication in 1963 and Northeastern University Law School in 1979 where he was awarded a Juris Doctor degree. He is the author of “The Case for Cameras in Court,” Judges Journal (American Bar Association), Fall, 1981. He is a Member of Media and the Law Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association and the Media Law Committee of the District of Columbia Bar. Steve is admitted to practice in Connecticut, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia and U. S. District Court for Connecticut.

Practice Areas: Copyrights; Trademarks; Contracts; Communications and Media; First Amendment Law; Food and Agriculture; Civil Trials; Civil Appeals; Real Estate.

James M. Kosakow
jkosakow@nevascapasse.com

Jim is a recognized estate planning professional, known for his ability to create wills and trusts for people of wealth and those with modest mean. For more than eighteen years he has customized wills with a careful eye to the tax and legal consequences of how wealth is passed on to children, spouses and others on whom an individual wants to bestow their generosity. His skills include settlement negotiation of estate tax issues and the representation of family members and other heirs when disputes arise over the interpretation or validity of a will.

Jim is co-author of the two-volume reference text, Handling Federal Estate and Gift Taxes, 6 th Edition, published by West Group. He edits Insights and Strategies, a nationally recognized monthly financial and estate planning newsletter for professionals. Jim has published more than more 25 articles for estate planning professionals and clients.

Jim has been named a Fellow of the of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and an Adjunct Assistant Law Professor of Estate and Gift Taxation and Planning at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. He also teaches Estate Planning for the American Financial Planning Institute at the Pace University Lubin School of Business.

Jim is also a member of the firm McLaughlin & Stern, LLP, with offices in New York City. He practices in New York, Connecticut, Florida, the District of Columbia and before the U.S. Tax Court. He is a member of the Legislation Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the New York State Bar and the Estate and Gift tax Committee of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He graduated from Connecticut College and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He is listed in Who’s Who in American Law and the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers.