About

Donald Kernisant Jr. is a Senior Associate at the Law Office of Chris Psomopoulos and head of the Criminal Defense practice. For the first four years of his legal career, Don was an Assistant District Attorney at the Queens County District Attorney’s Office. As an Assistant DA in the Felony Narcotics Trial Bureau, Donald prosecuted a wide variety of cases, including assaults, robberies, burglaries, gun possession, and drug-related offenses. Donald handled the prosecution of hundreds of cases from their inception at arrest to their conclusion at sentencing and at all intermediate stages including investigation, Grand Jury, hearing, and trial. As a member of the highly selective Rider Program in the Career Criminal and Major Crimes Bureau, Donald assisted members of the NYPD by drafting search warrants, interviewing confidential informants, supervising lineups, conducting defendant interrogations, and providing legal counsel.

Following his time as a Prosecutor, Don was an Associate at one of Long Island’s largest law firms - Rivkin Radler LLP. – where he was a member of various practice groups including Insurance Fraud, Compliance, Investigation, and While Collar Crime. As an Associate at Rivkin, Don handled thousands of litigation files, prepared motions, and argued cases both in Civil Court and in Arbitration.

New York Super Lawyers magazine named Donald as a Rising Star in the greater Metropolitan New York area for 2022 and 2023, a recognition awarded to only about 5% of lawyers in the state.

Admitted to practice in the State of New York, Mr. Kernisant received his Juris Doctor from the Maurice a Deane School of Law at Hofstra University and his Undergraduate Degree from the College of the Holy Cross. Donald will serve as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Hofstra beginning in the 2023-2024 academic year.