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Teresa D. Calabrese, Esq. (Mediation & Law Office of Teresa D. Calabrese)

Teresa D. Calabrese, Esq.

Mediation & Law Office of Teresa D. Calabrese

Teresa Calabrese is a mediator and collaborative lawyer serving the NYC Queer community. Through mediation and collaborative practice, Teresa helps individuals, couples and families resolve conflict, problem-solve and make decisions together. She focuses on issues pertaining to: relationship formation, including co-habitation agreements and pre-marital agreements; building families, including donor sperm agreements and co-parenting agreements; and dissolving relationships and marriages.

Teresa also handles second parent adoption matters and provides basic estate planning services.

Teresa has presented programs for the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation, the New York Association of Collaborative Professionals, the Family and Divorce Mediation Council of Greater New York, and CUNY School of Law. Teresa has also participated in mediation and legal informational presentations for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Services Center.

John Cappiello, Esq. (Family Law Practitioner)

John Cappiello, Esq.

Family Law Practitioner

John Cappiello, Esq. is a solo legal practitioner in Manhattan specializing in family law, including foster care, custody and guardianship, abuse and neglect, family offense, and juvenile delinquency proceedings. Prior to recently starting his own solo practice John worked for over six years at the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) as a Family Court Legal Services supervising attorney in both New York and Kings Counties. At ACS John oversaw a high-volume foster care litigation practice including but not limited to child abuse and neglect proceedings, destitute child cases, children voluntarily placed in foster care and juvenile delinquency matters. John was also previously an associate attorney at Rosin Steinhagen Mendel, PLLC where he worked on foster care litigation, foster care and private adoptions, custody and guardianship cases, as well as appellate brief writing.

John is a member of the LGBT Bar of New York where he sits on the Family Law Committee and is former committee Co-Chair.

John is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law and Loyola University Maryland. John is a proud alumni of Teach for America. John lives in Manhattan with his husband, William, and their dog, Ripley.

Brian Esser, Esq. (LGBT Family Law Partner at Law Office of Brian Esser PLLC)

Brian Esser, Esq.

LGBT Family Law Partner at Law Office of Brian Esser PLLC

Brian Esser is a solo practitioner whose practice focuses on building families through adoption, surrogacy, and assisted reproductive technology. He regularly works with clients pursuing private placement adoption, as well as families securing the parental rights of a non-biological parent through a second-parent adoption. He counsels families on sperm, egg, and embryo donor agreements, and all aspects of surrogacy. He has a particular interest in helping LGBT people build their families.

He is a former member of the board of directors of the National LGBT Bar Foundation where he served two terms as the board’s President, a fellow of the Academy of Adoption and ART Attorneys, and a member of the ABA’s Family Law Section Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology. He is a founding board member of Equality New York, a statewide LGBTQI advocacy organization. He and his husband Kevin live in Park Slope, Brooklyn and have two sons through open adoption.

Katerina Kurteva, Esq. - Moderator (Assistant District Attorney at Bronx County District Attorney Office)

Katerina Kurteva, Esq. - Moderator

Assistant District Attorney at Bronx County District Attorney Office

Katerina Kurteva, Esq. currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Bar Association of Greater New York. As a child of immigrant parents, Katerina has dedicated her entire legal career to government and public service. Katerina joined LeGaL immediately after graduating law school, in early 2014. She then joined the Board of Directors in 2023 and has been serving as Secretary of the Foundation since 2024. Professionally, Katerina is an Assistant District Attorney with the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office, primarily prosecuting violent cases, including vehicular homicides, manslaughter, attempted murder, assaults, pattern burglaries and robberies, as well as various gun and narcotic sale and possession cases. Katerina is the President of BXDA’s first LGBTQ+ Pride Employee Resource Group. Prior to her service to the Bronx, Katerina was an investigative attorney with the NYC Department of Investigation, primarily prosecuting financial crimes conducted by the City and Agencies contracted to work with the City.