Nagel Rice LLP

Our Staff

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  Bruce H. Nagel

  Partner

  Bruce H. Nagel is widely regarded as one of the leading trial attorneys in the New York metropolitan area. A graduate of Cornell University and New York University School of law, Bruce has devoted his practice to complex litigation including serious personal injury, class actions, medical and legal malpractice, business and partnership disputes, and estate litigation. He has tried over 200 cases to verdict , the vast majority of which were jury trials. His clients include the State of New Jersey, Fortune 500 companies, Hollywood celebrities, sports figures, prominent families throughout the world, and the guy next door. Bruce prides himself in representing many of the leading law firm in New York and New Jersey, as well as numerous Judges in a variety of matters. His many high profile cases have been featured on Nightline, Good Morning America, Today Show, CNN, CNBC and every major network. Among his headline cases are the Short Hills Mall carjacking death case, the cyberbullying suicide of a middle schooler, sexual abuse cases against the Boy Scouts of America, Catholic Church, Rockefeller University Hospital, and many other institutions, Paramus Bus crash, class actions against leading insurance companies establishing eating disorder medical coverage for 3.5 million insureds, and Amtrak 33 train derailment. The New Jersey Law Journal have listed his settlements and verdicts as the highest in New Jersey for many years, including many which are the highest in New Jersey history. These include $225 million settlement in natural resource damage litigation; $200 million class action settlement against Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey for out of network insurance reimbursement; $49 million jury verdict in auto/motorcycle accident; $24 million jury verdict in medical malpractice case; $21 million settlement in workplace accident; $19.5 million settlement in bus accident case; $14.2 million jury verdict in breach of fiduciary duty case; $13 million settlement in premises liability case; and $10.25 million settlement in sexual abuse case. Bruce has the distinction of garnering nearly $2 billion in settlements and verdicts. In addition to his trial accomplishment, Bruce has appeared before the New Jersy Supreme Court 16 times and the Delaware Supreme court, en banc, and has significantly molded the law of trial practice, class action, consumer fraud, and medical malpractice. Bruce has received many accolades for his significant impact on the legal profession including being named a Top 10 Super Lawyers in New Jersey many years, and named in Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers in New York City, and Best Lawyers in New York Metropolitan area. His litigation prowess has been publicly noted by a former White House counsel, the national legal correspondent for a major network, and the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

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  Link: Bruce H. Nagel

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  Jay J. Rice

  Partner

  Jay J. Rice is the managing partner of the firm in which he founded in 1983 with his boyhood friend Bruce Nagel. Jay has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in complex litigation, including business litigation, class actions, mass torts, chancery, securities, construction litigation, professional malpractice, and estate litigation. He is a Certified Civil Trial Attorney and has tried numerous cases in state and federal courts to conclusion. By way of example, Jay has: (1) obtained a $16.5 million settlement in In re Ski Train Fire in Kaprun, a disaster which caused the deaths of 155 persons and which resulted in a settlement which included compensation from the Austrian Government; (2) obtained an $11 million estate litigation settlement; (3) obtained a $7.1 million judgment for a homeowner based upon the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act; (4) argued on behalf of Dairy Stores the landmark commercial libel case before the New Jersey Supreme Court. Jay has also been engaged by many attorneys as expert witness in numerous professional liability cases and he has been appointed by the courts as Arbitrator, Mediator, Special Fiscal Agent or Receiver in numerous matters. Jay has served as Lecturer for ICLE and New Jersey State Bar Association in the following: 1989: Lecturer on “Restrictive Covenants” for the New Jersey State Bar Association; 1990: Lecturer on the “Corporate Deadlock Statute” for the New Jersey State Bar Association; 1991: Lecturer on “Law Firm Dissolution” for the New Jersey State Bar Association; 1991: Lecturer on “The Corporate Deadlock Statute” for ICLE, 1993; Lecturer on “Successfully Litigating the Closely-Held Corporate Dispute when Those in Control Have Engaged in Fraudulent Mismanagement” for the Essex County Bar Association, 1993; Lecturer on “Litigating Fraud and Mismanagement Disputes in Closely Held Corporations”, ICLE, 1995; Lecturer on “Marketability Discounts in Sales of Closely Held Stocks” for the New Jersey State Bark Association, 1999; Lecturer on “Law Firm Break Ups – Ten Years after Norris” for the New Jersey State Bark Association, 2003; 2011 “Trust and Matrimonial Alimony Issues,” and 2012 “Secrets of Success in Equity Jurisprudence.” Additionally, Jay has authored “Equity Procedures” for New Jersey Practice, Vol. 19, Chapter 4 (1993) and “Responsibility of Insolvent Corporation for Environmental Cleanup”, New Jersey Law Journal, September 25, 1986. Jay was also a member of the New Jersey District Ethics Committee For District V (1994-1999); a member of the New Jersey Lawyer Editorial Board from 1996 through 2008; founder and manager of the Essex County Chancery Division Early Settlement Program; and the recipient of the 1995 Essex County Bar Association Pro Bono Chancery Achievement Award. In 2013, Jay was selected to the “Fellows of the American Bar Foundation.” Jay has served and continues to serve in many philanthropic endeavors including President of the Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel; President of the Jewish Community Housing Corp.; Member of the Executive Board of the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest; Member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest; and President of the Gates of Israel Foundation of Temple Sharey-Tefilo Israel. Jay was included in the Super Lawyer’s list as one of New Jersey’s Top 100 attorneys in 2007-2011, 2013-2020, and one of New Jersey’s Top 10 Attorneys in 2012.

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  Link: Jay J. Rice

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  Robert H. Solomon

  Partner

  Robert Solomon is a partner at Nagel Rice and has over 30 years of experience representing clients in a wide range of areas including personal injury, complex commercial litigation, class actions and appellate practice. Class action cases include a $160 million class action settlement involving ERISA claims and under reimbursement of surgery center fees where he was appointed co-lead class counsel, a nationwide class action against an entertainment business where he was appointed class counsel and a $7.5 million nationwide class action settlement against a major bank involving consumer fraud. Robert has also litigated and successfully resolved numerous multi-million dollar personal injury matters including medical malpractice and wrongful death. In addition, Robert has been at the cutting edge of business and commercial disputes, including winning a $4.5 million judgment against a major real estate developer after a lengthy trial. Robert is a former adjunct professor at Seton Hall Law School where, for many years, he taught all aspects of New Jersey practice and the New Jersey Court Rules. He has been selected to the New Jersey Super Lawyers list every year since 2008 and has been chosen as one of the Top 100 attorney in the New Jersey Super Lawyers list every year since 2010. Robert was a law clerk to the Honorable Freda L. Wolfson, U.S. District Court Judge, District of New Jersey. He was admitted to practice in New Jersey and the United States District Court, District of New Jersey in 1990, the United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit in 1997, and the United States Supreme Court in 2014. Robert has argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court and has 21 published opinions in state and federal court involving diverse and important legal issues. See, e.g., Finkelman v. Nat’l Football League, 236 N.J. 280 (2019); Escobar v. Mazie, 460 N.J. Super. 520 (App. Div. 2019); Finkelman v. Nat’l Football League, 877 F.3d 504 (3d Cir. 2017) and Couri v. Gardner, 173 N.J. 328 (2002).

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  Link: Robert H. Solomon

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  Diane E. Sammons

  Partner

  Diane Elizabeth Sammons is a partner at Nagel Rice and has more than 25 years’ experience as a litigator. Diane started her career as a criminal prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. After establishing an array of trial victories there, she began work at one of the largest commercial firms in the state, focusing on mass complex tort cases (including the DES’ litigation, tobacco litigation and fetal-alcohol syndrome), commercial litigation, insurance and white-collar criminal defense work. She joined Nagel Rice in 1990. In 2001, she became part of a team representing national and international victims in an Austrian ski train disaster against European companies. Diane’s efforts have contributed to several significant jurisdictional victories over multi-national corporations. Diane also secured a successful result for several Austrian anti-nuclear organizations who sought to close a nuclear power station on the southern border of the Czech Republic. Her work in securing documentation through the Freedom of Information Act was a resource to her clients who had been struggling for years to secure basic safety documents from the Czech Republic. In 2003, she was appointed co-lead counsel of a 19-member team of attorneys in a multi-district litigation in a claim against corporations who profited from the transatlantic slave trade. She has served as a lead attorney in the international suit seeking damages for the victims of apartheid in South Africa. In 2004, Diane was installed as Chancellor of the Episcopal Church of Newark, where she serves as special legal advisor to the Bishop and oversees all legal matters for the 113-church Diocese, including employment, real estate, transactional work, clergy discipline, ecclesiastical law and litigation. Diane has been a frequent guest on radio and talk shows speaking about some of her cases. Such appearances include, CNN (March 30, 2002); CN8 “Real Life” (June 5, 2002); CN8 10:00 News (May 1, 2002); Channel 9 10:00 News (May 1, 2002); Rundshau, German television show (January 8, 2003); Africa Today, South African morning show (June 2002); National Public Radio (2002); BBC (2002): Voice of America (2002); National Public Radio, “Tavis Smiley Show” (2003); National Public Radio, “Morning Edition” (2004); Bloomberg News “Simply Put” (April 2004), WOR (2002); WNET (2002); WCTZ (April 2004).

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  Link: Diane E. Sammons

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  Randee M. Matloff

  Partner

  Randee Matloff is a partner at Nagel Rice and has 30 years of experience representing clients in complex litigation and appellate practice. She practices in both the state and federal courts and has more than a dozen published decisions to her credit. Randee has successfully handled several class actions, including a trio of landmark ERISA class actions against major health insurers, which established coverage for 4 million individuals for the treatment of eating disorders as well as the recovery of millions of dollars of wrongfully denied benefits. She has also successfully handled sever class actions against Horizon BlueCross BlueShield of New Jersey for out of network coverage. In addition, she litigated a class action in the Southern District of New York arising out of a catastrophic fire on a Ski Train in Kaprun, Austria which resulted in a $16.5 settlement. She has also been involved in litigating small business break-ups, construction litigation, insurance coverage disputes, product liability cases, personal injury matters and disputes arising from trusts and estates. Most recently she was involved in a dispute involving the construction of a trust which was a matter of first impression resolved by the New Jersey Supreme Court. She also second chaired a residential construction case which resulted in a $7 million consumer fraud judgment against the builder. Randee graduated from Rutgers University with Highest Honors and Rutgers Law School. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She is admitted to practice in New Jersey, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. Randee was chosen to Super Lawyers in 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

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  Link: Randee M. Matloff

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  Lori I. Mayer

  Partner

  Lori Mayer is a partner of Nagel Rice LLP and handles a broad spectrum of business and real estate matters, including estate planning. She has extensive transactional experience in stock and asset acquisitions representing both buyers and sellers, business start-ups, secured and unsecured financing transactions representing both borrowers and lenders, and real estate purchases, sales, and leases, including rooftop solar leases, representing buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants. Lori also has broad experience representing established businesses in matters such as trade contracts, employment contracts, non-compete and other restrictive covenants, general business governance, ongoing and changing relationships among the owners of a business, and trademark screening, registration, and licensing. Lori has lectured for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education on landlord-tenant issues. In 2011, she lectured on Comprehensive Roadmap to Handling Commercial Landlord Tenant Issues and in 2010 she lectured on Handling Current Commercial Landlord Tenant Issues. Lori is also the author of “Landlord Consents: Reasonableness, Good Faith, and Remedies,” New Jersey Lawyer, December 2009 and “New Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act: Wider Discretion and Greater Risks for Managers of Endowment Funds,” New Jersey Lawyer, April 2010. Lori is Co-Chair of the Family and Small Business Law Committee of the Business Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Lori graduated from Georgetown Law and served as an Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal.

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  Link: Lori I. Mayer

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  Andrew L. O’Connor

  Partner

  Andrew O’Connor is a partner at Nagel Rice and focuses his practice on serious personal injury, mass tort litigation, and business litigation. Andrew has successfully tried and resolved numerous catastrophic injury cases, including automobile accident, slip and falls, and premises liability cases. Andrew recently successfully tried an automobile accident case resulting in a $7 million jury verdict. He also successfully resolved a case against a contractor for the New Jersey Turnpike authority for $9.75 million, which was featured on NBC. Click here to see the video. The New Jersey Law Journal named Andrew one of the “New Leaders of the Bar” in 2013, an honor awarded to only 50 attorneys in the State of New Jersey. Andrew was also named by the National Trial Lawyers Association to its list of the top 40 attorneys under the age of 40 for the year 2012 and 2013 as well as named to the Super Lawyers Rising Star list for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Andrew is a graduate of Lafayette College and Seton Hall University School of Law. He is also actively involved doing pro bono volunteer work for the NJSBA Military Legal Assistance Program, providing pro bono legal services for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

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  Link: Andrew L. O’Connor

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  Greg M. Kohn

  Partner

  Greg Kohn is a partner at Nagel Rice and specializes in complex civil litigation cases, including professional malpractice, personal injury, class actions, wrongful death, products liability, and commercial litigation. He has extensive experience representing clients in both state and federal court. Greg has tried many jury trials to verdict and has recovered over $50 million in settlements and verdicts in all types of personal injury matters including automobile accidents, wrongful death cases, slip and falls, and other catastrophic injury cases. Greg also handles medical malpractice cases, involving misdiagnoses, wrongful birth, and delayed cancer diagnosis. Greg has also obtained a multi-million award in a dispute between a hedge fund and its placement agent as well as represented a large company in responding to government subpoenas. Recently, Greg and his partner, Bruce Nagel, obtained a $14.2 million jury verdict after a five week trial for the former CEO of a major telecom company against his former financial advisor for breach of fiduciary duties. Greg is also responsible for e-discovery for the firm. His background in computer science allows him to understand not only the legal aspects of e-discovery, but the technology behind it as well. As a member of the Sedona Conference, Greg is able to participate in shaping the guidelines for e-discovery practice. Greg recently was part of a panel discussing how attorneys’ obligations under Rule 34 have really changed. He is also the co-author of “The Sedona Conference Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 Primer.” Greg was admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey, the District of New Jersey, the Southern District of New York, the Third Circuit and the Seventh Circuit. He is a member of the New York, New Jersey, and American Bar Associations. Greg has been named to Super Lawyer’s Rising Stars list from 2012-2020.

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  Link: Greg M. Kohn

• Andrew Pepper

  Associate

  Andrew Pepper’s practice encompasses an array of litigation areas, including commercial contract disputes, class actions, professional malpractice, product liability, personal injury and construction lien law. He has litigated cases in both state and federal court. His most recent cases include prosecuting combined medical malpractice/product liability claims and successfully defending claims alleging breach of an employment contract and rescission of corporate stock. Andrew received his legal education from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, in New York City. While in law school, Andrew was a recipient of an International Corporate and Intellectual Property Fellowship, allowing him to spend a summer working in the Image Resource and Copyright Management Department of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel. He also participated in Cardozo’s Intensive Trial Advocacy Program, designed to teach students skills for courtroom litigation. Prior to attending law school, Andrew received his B.A. in philosophy from Yeshiva College. While in college, he assisted one of his professors in the editing of a number of Dead Sea Scrolls for official publication.

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  Link: Andrew Pepper

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  Bradley L. Rice

  Partner

  Bradley L. Rice is a trial attorney who focuses his practice on business and commercial litigation, class actions, and personal injury matters. He has extensive experience in federal and state courts, as well as before the American Arbitration Association and FINRA. Throughout his career, Brad has represented both public and private companies and individuals in litigations throughout the U.S. in a variety of complex commercial and securities litigation matters. In addition, he provides strategic advice regarding litigation, risk management solutions, and general counsel services to small companies. Prior to joining Nagel Rice, Brad was an associate at O’Melveny & Myers, LLP where he specialized in securities ligation and complex commercial litigation. Brad graduated from Rutgers School of Law — Newark in 2008, where he was the Research Editor for the Rutgers Law Review. While in law school, Brad served as a legal intern for the Honorable Kenneth Levy in the New Jersey Superior Court, Chancery Division. Prior to law school, Brad attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he obtained a bachelor of science in Industrial and Labor Relations. Brad is admitted to practice in New Jersey (2008), New York (2009), and the United States District Courts for the District of New Jersey and the Southern District of New York. He is also a member of the New York State Bar Association.

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  Link: Bradley L. Rice

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  Susan Connors

  Partner

  Susan is designated by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Certified Civil Trial Attorney. She is a zealous litigator with areas of practice focused primarily on medical malpractice and personal injury. Susan has successfully tried and resolved numerous complex and significant medical malpractice and personal injury cases, including claims relating to delayed cancer diagnosis, emergency medicine (ER), stroke/brain hemorrhage, decubitus ulcers, ophthalmologic care, misdiagnosis of choroidal melanoma, cellulitis (infection) resulting in foot/leg amputation, surgical errors including laser ablation and nerve injury, DVT/blood clots in post-Achilles tear, surgical errors, dental malpractice and wrongful birth. She has also successfully represented clients in cases involving sub-standard nursing home/institutional care. Many of Susan’s clients have incurred significant harm as the result of the negligence of health care practitioners, and through her professional efforts, clients have been awarded more than $50 million over the past eight years via either settlements or jury verdicts. Some of her representative results have included a $7.2 combined settlement and trial in Essex County (separate settlements of $5.1 and $2.1 million) involving the failure to diagnose and timely treat a brain hemorrhage in a hospital emergency department, $850,000 settlement after one week of trial involving the failure to inform a patient of the signs and symptoms of pulmonary embolism, $1 million settlement for delayed treatment of foot infection requiring amputation, $1.25 million settlement in delayed diagnosis of bladder cancer, $2.65 combined settlement involving a the failure to properly treat complaints of chest pain in an emergency department that resulted in cardiac arrest and death, and a $550,000 jury award involving a diagnostic error by an orthopedic surgeon that led to development of a blood clot. See Notable Representations tab. Other injury cases that Susan has successfully handled on behalf of clients have included in-patient institutional negligence, lack of informed consent to treatment, surgical errors, delayed diagnosis of cancer, leg amputation due to missed diagnosis of vascular occlusion, improper monitoring of anesthesia resulting in cardiac arrest, and negligence in failing to properly interpret radiologic imaging scans resulting in the rupture of an undetected brain aneurysm. Overall, she has successfully tried and settled a multitude of cases relating to a wide array of medical procedures and treatments involving catastrophic injuries requiring reliance upon multi-discipline specialists and expert testimony. Susan is admitted to practice in New Jersey as well as before the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. She is a member of the Medical Malpractice Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association and has served as a lecturer on recent developments in medical malpractice at the New Jersey Institute of Continuing Legal Education’s Annual Tort Law Conference. Susan is a graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law where she was a director/writer for the Moot Court Advocacy Program. She also served as a judicial intern to Honorable Alfred J. Lechner, Jr., U.S. District Court, and was a law clerk for the Honorable Frederick C. Kentz, Jr. in the Superior Court, Chancery, Equity Division, in Union County. Susan received her undergraduate degree from Seton Hall University, earning Cum Laude distinction, and was a member of the political science honor society. She also served in the University’s Senate, while also a four-year member of the Division I volleyball and Division III fencing teams.

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  Link: Susan Connors

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  Michael J. Paragano

  Partner

  Michael J. Paragano is a partner at Nagel Rice. He concentrates his practice in the areas of personal injury, medical malpractice, class actions and civil litigation. Prior to joining Nagel Rice in 2016, Michael was an associate at a New Jersey law firm where he exclusively focused his practice representing plaintiffs in civil litigation, including personal injury and medical malpractice matters. Michael attended college at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and Sociology, with honors. Thereafter, Mr. Paragano received his Juris Doctor from the Seton Hall University School of Law, cum laude. While in law school, he was a member of the Mock Trial Team and received the Joseph P. Lordi Memorial Scholarship based on academics after his first year. Following law school, he served as law clerk for the Honorable Donald W. De Leo, Surrogate of Hudson County. He was admitted to practice law in New Jersey and the District of New Jersey in 2011 and New York in 2012. He is a member of the Middlesex County Bar Association as well as the New Jersey Association for Justice (NJAJ). He currently serves as the Co-Chairman of the Young Lawyers Division for the Middlesex County Bar Association. Michael was named to the Super Lawyer’s Rising Stars list, 2017 – 2020.

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  Link: Michael J. Paragano

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  Scott M. Jacobson

  Associate

  Scott M. Jacobson is an associate at Nagel Rice. Scott concentrates his practice in the areas of personal injury, medical malpractice, class actions, and civil litigation. Prior to joining Nagel Rice, Scott served as a law clerk for the Honorable Noah Franzblau in the New Jersey Superior Court, Civil Division. Scott graduated from William & Mary Law School in 2018, where he was the Articles Editor for the Environmental Law and Policy Review. Scott is admitted to practice law in New Jersey and New York.

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  Link: Scott M. Jacobson

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  S.M. Chris Franzblau

  Senior Counsel

  S. M. Chris Franzblau, one of the firm’s senior litigators, practices in the areas of matrimonial, medical malpractice, white collar, and other criminal defense, complex real estate and corporate matters, estate planning, and litigation. Mr. Franzblau is active in labor law as a negotiator for management and has been counsel to the New Jersey Joint Council of Teamsters and the Eastern Conference of Teamsters. He has been counsel to many labor unions and counsel to various Pension and Welfare Funds whose assets range from $20,000,000 to over $500,000,000, as well as many corporations. In addition, he has arbitrated labor disputes on behalf of unions before the NLRB, NJ Arbitration Association, and American Arbitration Association in New York and New Jersey and has litigated in the courts on many occasions ERISA-related issues, both in civil and criminal aspects as well as Taft Hartley and Landrum-Griffin Act cases. In addition to the aforementioned, he has consulted with fiduciaries on investment policies and programs. He is a founder and has served as a Trustee of the New Jersey Criminal Defense Lawyers Foundation. He is a director of many corporations and serves as their general counsel. He also has an active appellate practice, appearing before numerous Federal Trial Courts and Circuit Courts, the United States Supreme Court, and the Court of Military Appeals. Mr. Franzblau received his B.A. in 1952 from Muhlenberg College and his J.D. in 1955 from Duke University. He is a member of the New Jersey State, New York State, and American Bar Associations and served on active duty with the U.S. Navy in the Judge Advocate Generals Corps. Mr. Franzblau served as an Assistant U.S. attorney in 1960 and 1961 in the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

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  Link: S.M. Chris Franzblau