Robert J. Donatoni received his undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1976 with a major in History and a minor Economics. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa for academic excellence. Mr. Donatoni received his law degree from Temple University School of Law in 1979 graduating with honors.
From 1979 through 1980, he served as an Assistant District Attorney in Chester County and from 1980 to 1983 as an Assistant Public Defender in Chester County. Since 1984, Mr. Donatoni has been engaged in the private practice of law with a primary emphasis in representing individuals and entities investigated and accused of crimes in state and federal courts. In addition to his state and federal practice in Pennsylvania, Mr. Donatoni has defended criminal prosecutions in the federal courts of New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, South Carolina, Arizona, Wyoming, Virginia and Georgia in addition to appearing in state courts on behalf of the accused in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Tennessee and Florida.
Mr. Donatoni is a past President of, PACDL, the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers having also served as Secretary, Vice President and Present-Elect of that organization as well as being a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee. He served for six years as a Hearing Examiner for the -Supreme Court Disciplinary Counsel and has served as the Chairperson of the Chester County Criminal Rules Committee, a Chester County Task Force investigating abuses of the 911 system and has twice served on a Blue Ribbon Panel for judicial selection for state court trial judges in Chester County.
In October of 2003, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Mr. Donatoni was inducted as a Fellow of, ACTL, the American College of Trial Lawyers. The ACTL is an organization limited to 1% of the bar in the United States and Canada and induction as a Fellow is done only after nomination by a Fellow of the ACTL and extensive investigation regarding professional and ethical standards. He has served as a Member of the ACTL Committee on Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and was appointed to the Pennsylvania State Committee whose purpose is to assess the qualifications of proposed nominees to the American College of Trial Lawyers. Mr. Donatoni, for almost two decades, has been rated AV, the highest rating for legal skills and ethical concerns by Martindale Hubbell, an independent national rating service.