Our firm’s Orange County, New York roots originate in 1897 when Lewis J. Stage and Honorable H.N. Kane formed the law firm Kane & Stage. In 1917, his son, Lawrence Stage, was admitted to the New York State Bar Association and in 1923, he joined the firm. After Judge Kane’s death in 1924, Lewis J. and Lawrence Stage formed the law firm of Stage & Stage. In 1933, after the passing of Lewis J. Stage, Lawrence Stage and John Charles Straton formed the law firm of Stage & Straton.

In 1951, Douglas R. Stage was admitted to the New York State Bar Association and became an associate with Stage and Straton. In 1954, Stage & Stage was formed with Douglas Stage and Lawrence Stage. In 1958 Richard Stage joined his brother and father and continued the firm as Stage & Stage. In 1976, Douglas’s daughter Rebecca became affiliated with the firm and his son Douglas R. Stage joined in 1982 and became a partner with his grandfather Lawrence and father Douglas. In 1985, Douglas Stage died and in 1986 Lawrence Stage died.

In 1987, a new law firm, Stage & Nathans, was formed when William Nathans and Douglas R. Stage became partners. At that time, Catherine Barlett, who went on to become Orange County Attorney and is now a New York Court of Claims and Acting Supreme Court Judge, was also an associate.

Joseph M. Donohue met Douglas R. Stage in 2008 shortly after opening his Warwick, New York practice.

On January 1, 2019, William Nathans retired from practice. In March 2018, Christine Foy Stage joined the firm as of counsel and became a partner with her husband Douglas R. Stage. On January 1, 2020, the firm became The Stage Law Firm LLP.

The firm’s Rockland County roots also run deep. In 1931, Orville H. Mann, Sr. established his practice in the village of Nyack, New York along the Hudson River, where he practiced for 48 years. Orville H. Mann, Sr. served as Rockland County Bar Association and graduated from Princeton University and the Columbia University Law School.  In 1961, his son, Orville H. Mann, Jr., also a graduate of Princeton University, joined his father to continue their legacy under Mann & Mann, P.C.  In the early ’80s, Attorney Robert P. Lewis, Jr. brought his legal and judicial experience to the firm to form Mann, Mann & Lewis, P.C.

About 10 miles west of Nyack, in the hamlet of Pearl River, New York, Orville H. Mann, Jr.’s uncle, Edmond L. Mann, and Attorney Marshall Rooney, were partners at the firm Mann & Rooney, dating back to the 1940s. In the 1970s Attorney Rooney joined the firm Amend & Amend, where Attorney James K. Riley and Thomas F. O’Connell were partners.

In 1978, Mr. Riley and Mr. O’Connell left Amend & Amend and established their own firm, O’Connell & Riley on East Central Avenue. Three years later, in 1981, Attorney Marshall Rooney also joined O’Connell & Riley bringing almost 50 years of local relationships to the firm.  For over 40 years, Attorneys O’Connell & Riley provided estate planning, elder law and litigation services to the greater Rockland County community.

In 2001, Attorney Joseph M. Donohue began his legal career, working in the New York and Paris offices of Leboeuf, Lamb, Greene and MacRae, LLP. Driven by his entrepreneurial spirit, Joe founded his own practice in Warwick, New York, in 2007.

The firm established a presence in the Granite State in 2013, to take advantage of New Hampshire’s favorable tax and regulatory climate for trusts. Since then, many of the firm’s clients have created trusts domiciled in New Hampshire for tax savings, long-term security, and flexibility.

In 2017, Donohue, O’Connell & Riley PLLC was established through the merger of Donohue & Associates with O’Connell & Riley. Attorney Kristin Canty became an equity partner in the firm at that time and manages the firm’s Pearl River office. That same year, the firm opened its Exeter, New Hampshire office. Many of the firm’s clients have created trusts domiciled in New Hampshire for tax savings, long-term security, and flexibility.

In 2019, Donohue, O’Connell & Riley PLLC acquired Mann, Mann & Lewis, P.C., welcoming their Nyack-area clients into our practice and growing our Rockland County presence.

In September 2022, The Stage Law Firm LLP combined with Donohue, O’Connell & Riley PLLC to form a subsidiary Stage and Donohue PLLC in Warwick, New York and celebrate a 125-year legacy of helping families in the community with a broad range of quality legal services.

Today, we are committed to continuing the long-standing legacies of our predecessor firms by helping families with quality estate planning, tax and elder law services. With attorneys admitted in across theNortheast, clients have the opportunity to benefit from both our local presence and regional scope.