Feroleto Law is proud to announce that attorney Kate Feroleto has been honored with the 2026 Compassionate Counsel Award by The Milestone Foundation. The award recognizes trial lawyers who demonstrate exceptional compassion, integrity, and commitment to the wellbeing of their clients both inside and outside the courtroom.
Kate received the award at a celebration in Chicago held in conjunction with the American Association for Justice Annual Convention.
Learn more about the Compassionate Counsel Awards from The Milestone Foundation
A Recognition Rooted in Compassion and Advocacy
The Milestone Foundation created the Compassionate Counsel Program to recognize attorneys who go above and beyond for their clients. According to the Foundation, the program honors trial lawyers who put their clients’ wellbeing first, demonstrate empathy alongside legal skill, uphold the highest standards of integrity, and pursue justice both inside and outside the courtroom.
For Kate, those principles are deeply personal.
As a Buffalo personal injury attorney and trial lawyer, Kate represents people and families whose lives have been profoundly changed by serious accidents and catastrophic injuries. Her practice focuses on helping injured people and their families navigate some of the most difficult circumstances they will ever face, including truck crashes, commercial vehicle accidents, traumatic brain injuries, catastrophic injuries, pedestrian accidents, and other serious personal injury claims.
Kate believes that effective legal representation begins with listening.
“Before people need a lawyer, they need someone who genuinely cares.”
That philosophy has guided Kate throughout her career.
A Lesson Learned From Her Parents
When accepting the Compassionate Counsel Award, Kate spoke about the two people who taught her the meaning of compassion: her parents.
Her father, John Feroleto, founded Feroleto Law and spent more than 40 years as a trial lawyer representing injured people and their families. Kate remembers that while lawyers are often measured by verdicts and settlements, what stood out to her was the way her father treated his clients.
He sat with families during the hardest moments of their lives. He went above and beyond for his clients. And he showed Kate that people who come to a lawyer after a devastating injury need more than legal advice—they need someone who genuinely cares about what happens to them.
Kate’s mother taught her another important lesson: that strength and kindness are not opposites. They go hand in hand.
Those lessons continue to shape the way Kate practices law today.
Compassion Beyond the Courtroom
For Kate, being a compassionate advocate also means protecting the civil justice system that allows injured people to have their voices heard.
Trial lawyers have a responsibility not only to advocate for individual clients but also to defend the constitutional right to trial by jury and preserve meaningful access to justice.
Kate has been active in advocacy efforts on behalf of the civil justice system, including working with fellow trial lawyers to protect the rights of injured people and their families.
As she said during her acceptance speech:
“Compassion isn’t just how we treat our clients. It’s how we protect them when we’re not in the courtroom—by defending the civil justice system, standing up for the right to trial by jury, and making sure the voices of ordinary people are never drowned out by those with the most power or the deepest pockets.”
That commitment is an important part of what it means to be a trial lawyer.
Continuing a Legacy of Service
Receiving the Compassionate Counsel Award is particularly meaningful to Kate during a year of significant personal and professional change. Following the death of her father, Kate has continued to build upon the legacy he created at Feroleto Law while carrying forward the values he demonstrated throughout his career.
The award is a reminder that a lawyer’s legacy is not measured solely by courtroom victories or professional honors. It is also measured by the people they helped, the families they stood beside, and the way they made their clients feel during some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
Kate is honored to receive this recognition and grateful to The Milestone Foundation and the fellow trial lawyers who continue to fight for justice.
She also shared the celebration with an incredible group of fellow trucking attorneys and friends—her “Mother Truckers”—who have become an important part of her professional community. Congressman Tim Kennedy also attended the celebration in Chicago.
Kate’s commitment remains the same: to stand beside injured people and their families, fight for the justice they deserve, and never lose sight of the person behind the case.
About Feroleto Law
Feroleto Law is a Buffalo, New York personal injury law firm representing individuals and families throughout Western New York and beyond. The firm focuses on serious personal injury and wrongful death cases, including truck and commercial vehicle crashes, catastrophic injuries, traumatic brain injuries, pedestrian accidents, and other complex injury claims.
If you or a family member has been seriously injured because of someone else’s negligence, an experienced Buffalo personal injury attorney can help you understand your rights and legal options.
