Bartley J. Costello III is a member of the Firm's Litigation, Government Relations and Education departments. He represents several clients before all New York State and Federal Courts, the New York State Legislature, Governor's Office and state regulatory agencies. Key clients include The New York State Ophthalmological Society, The Association of Proprietary Colleges, The New York Institute of Special Education and The Federation of Mental Health Centers. He served as lead counsel in a trilogy of primary cases involving governmental authority which: limited the use of executive power by the Governor; established boundaries for state agency authority and curtailed the State Comptroller's jurisdiction. In addition, Mr. Costello served as lead counsel in litigation that upheld the New York State hospital reimbursement system, reversing lower court rulings. Mr. Costello has been Martindale-Hubbell "AV" rated for over 25 years. He is the former Chief Counsel for the School Administrators Association of New York State and former adjunct faculty member- Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the State University at Plattsburg. Mr. Costello was commissioned a Naval Officer and served as the Executive Officer aboard the USS Genesee AOG-8 during two tours in country Vietnam. He was awarded a Navy Commendation Medal with combat "V" for his actions during engagements with the North Vietnamese. On November 1, 2011, Mr. Costello was appointed to serve as a member of the New York State Veteran Affairs Commission. Mr. Costello is Chairman of the Board of the USS Slater and also serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of The Next Step, Inc., an addiction recovery home for women. In addition, he serves as executive committee member with the Boards of The Government Law Center of Albany Law School and the Anti-Trust Section of the New York State Bar Association. He is a Board Member of The Rutland Catholic Schools in Rutland, Vermont; the Holy Cross Club of Northeastern New York and the Neighborhood Resource Center. He is a Fellow at the New York Bar Foundation; Past President of Catholic Charities of the Albany Diocese and past member of the Public Policy Council of the New York State Catholic Conference as appointee of John Cardinal O'Connor. He also served as the Board Chair (Immediate Past) for the LaSalle School for Boys and the United Way of New York State.