Michael P. McDermott
O'Connell & Aronowitz PC • Albany, NY
Criminal DefensePersonal Injury LitigationLead Poisoning and Environmental Injury
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Contact
Email
mmcdermott@oalaw.com
Phone
518-462-5601
Address
Albany, NY, 12207-2527, US
Professional
Bar Admissions
New York1990U.S. District Court Northern District of New York1990
About
Mike is the President at O'Connell and Aronowitz. He handles plaintiff's personal injury cases and criminal defense at O'Connell and Aronowitz where he emphasizes representation of children who have suffered brain injuries as a result of lead paint poisoning. Mike has handled or supervised over three dozen homicide prosecutions, trying many of those cases to verdict, and he is a court-appointed special prosecutor in homicide cases in Albany and Rensselaer counties. Mike entered the Albany County District Attorney's Office upon law school graduation as an assistant district attorney under the Hon. Sol Greenberg. In 1991 he was hired by the Hon. Mary Donohue as Chief Assistant District Attorney of Rensselaer County. After leaving the Rensselaer County DA's Office, Mike was a partner in the former Albany law firm of Bouck, Holloway, Kiernan and Casey where he specialized in defending insurance carriers in arson cases. In 2002, he returned to the Albany County District Attorney's Office as Chief Assistant District Attorney under the Hon. Paul A. Clyne. In 2004, Mike was named New York State Arson Prosecutor of the Year by the New York State Fire Investigators Association. Mike continued to serve in the Albany County District Attorney's Office as Chief Assistant under the Hon. P. David Soares until January of 2007, when he became Of Counsel to our firm. Also in 2007, he was appointed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer to the New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform. He previously served as a member of the City of Albany Gun Violence Task Force. For the tenth consecutive year, Mike was named to the 2023 Upstate New York Super Lawyers list, a distinction earned by less than 5% of the attorneys in the state. He serves on the board of directors of TASC, Inc. a local not-for-profit corporation providing residential drug treatment as an alternative to incarceration for eligible offenders in the Capital District, and he also serves on the board of directors of the Albany County Bar Association. In addition to the practice of law, Mike has been an adjunct professor at Siena College and Southern Vermont College. He has lectured on legal issues for the New York State Bar Association, the Albany County Bar Association, the Schenectady County Bar Association, the New York State Prosecutors Training Institute, Albany Law School, and the National Business Institute.
About Criminal Defense Law
Criminal defense attorneys represent individuals accused of crimes, protecting their constitutional rights throughout the legal process. They work to achieve the best possible outcome through negotiation or trial. Common matters include dui/dwi, drug charges, assault, theft.
Credentials
Education
Albany Law School of Union University, Albany, New York | Siena College
Recognition & Involvement
Awards
Appoint by the Governor as a Commissioner on the New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform, 2007 | Invited Keynote Speaker at the Col. Henry F. Williams International Homicide Seminar, 2006 | Honored as "Prosecutor of the Year" by the New York State Arson Investigators Association in recognition of excellence in the field of arson prosecutions., 2004 | Associate Editor, Albany Law Review
Associations
American Association for Justice | New York State Bar Association | New York State Defenders Association | Albany County Bar Association | Capital District Trial Lawyers Association
Speaking
Determining Admissibility, Applying the Rules of Evidence: What Every Attorney Needs to Know, National Business Institute CLE, Albany, NY, March 23, 2012 - Present | Keynote Speaker, New York State Police International Homicide Seminar, 2006
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Updated: May 17, 2026