2022 Law Power 50: A – H

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William Barrett

Anationally recognized lawyer with more than 20 years of experience, Barrett specializes in the health care space in dental and medical transitions, practice sales and purchases, startups, the structuring of dental services organizations and more. The CEO of Mandelbaum Barrett represents a wide range of businesses with a unique specialty in mergers and acquisitions. He represents clients around the country and is versed in health industry rules and regulations. Barrett is known for the personal attention he gives clients, often serving the role as outside general counsel, especially for entrepreneurial dentists, and advising clients on issues concerning contracts, employment law compliance, and developing policies. In addition to being the author of two books, Barrett is a go-to source for articles addressing the legal and business needs of licensed professional and facilities, and regularly speaks about a number of topics to professional tradeshows, associations, study groups, societies as well as students and residents at dental and medical schools across the country. He also serves as co-chair of the firm’s National Dental Law Center and has been hailed as a “true gift to the profession” and “a lawyer with the vision to see around corners.”

Joseph Boccassini

The firmwide managing partner of McCarter & English, New Jersey’s largest law firm, Boccassini’s leadership has been hailed as insightful and innovative, continuing to expand McCarter’s reach and capabilities while maintaining its long-standing focus on delivering exceptional client service. He has spearheaded the firm’s strategic growth, encouraging a diverse and intellectually challenging work environment that attracts, develops and retains the legal industry’s top talent. Boccassini is also a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and Compensation Committee. Prior to becoming managing partner, his practice focused on complex commercial litigation in federal and state courts, representing clients in connection with all types of civil matters, including alleged violations of securities laws and federal and state RICO laws, shareholder derivative claims and professional negligence actions. In addition, he has been a driving force behind McCarter’s robust pro bono practice and is actively engaged with the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which helps promote the development of law students, lawyers and professionals who reflect McCarter’s vibrant clients and communities. Boccassini serves on the Rutherford Education Foundation board of directors, which advances the academic, athletic and extracurricular experiences of students in Rutherford, and Felician University’s board of regents.

Patricia Costello

Costello became CSG Law’s first female managing member in October. She joined the firm in 2015 after serving for 10 years as Essex County’s assignment judge supervising the county’s trial and municipal courts. Now, she oversees the operations of 175 attorneys and offices in two states, which together bring in $90 million in revenue. Other firms can look at CSG’s roster and take notes if they want to enhance their own gender diversity: 31% of CSG’s members are women, above the 25% national average. What’s more, 58% of the firm’s practice group leaders are women, as are 50% of the firm’s C-Suite management team.

Edward Deutsch

A perennial presence on any top lawyer list, Deutsch is the founder and managing partner of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, a powerhouse firm with more than 275 lawyers and offices in nine states. A civil trial attorney, Deutsch is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey and has been a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1992, a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a fellow of the International Society of Barristers. In 2002, Deutsch was recognized by the Seton Hall Law School Alumni Association as its Distinguished Graduate. He was selected by former Gov. Chris Christie to chair the Department of Banking and Insurance transition subcommittee, and later accepted a nomination to be one of two public members of the newly created Red Tape Commission. In 2017, the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law presented Deutsch with the prestigious Daniel J. O’Hern Award for his significant career achievements and service to the bar. On the litigation front, the Supreme Court in 2018 ruled in favor of MDMC client, the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association in Murphy v. NCAA, the landmark case that opened the door for the multibillion-dollar sports betting industry in New Jersey and across the country.

Kathleen Barnett Einhorn

Regularly recognized as one of the top attorneys in New Jersey, Einhorn – an expert in trade secret litigation – is experienced in all aspects of litigation. She oversees a team of lawyers and paraprofessionals who manage cases from start to finish. Einhorn and her team concentrate on general commercial litigation and counseling with an emphasis on a wide range of issues from fraud and misrepresentation to insurance and employment defense to First Amendment and Constitutional rights claims. Einhorn, a partner with Newark’s Genova Burns, is chair of the Complex Commercial Litigation and Intellectual Property practice groups and co-chair of the firm’s Fashion Law practice. In fact, she is the first woman at her firm to chair a department. Earlier this month, she was installed trustee-at-large for the New Jersey Woman Lawyers Association, which has a mission to advance and retain women in the legal professional through education and activism. In 2021, she was renominated to serve in the role of at-large trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Association board of trustees, a role she has held since 2019.
Editor’s note: Einhorn’s photo was omitted from the print issue of NJBIZ.

John Fanburg

Fanburg is well known in New Jersey’s important health care industry for excellence in transactions, perseverance in deal-making and strength in corporate and regulatory mat-ters. Brach Eichler’s managing member has broad experience representing major hospitals, diverse medical groups, solo practitioners and statewide physician specialty groups; 30-plus years in practice has armed him with deep knowledge of the ins and outs of health care businesses. Fanburg co-chairs Brach Eichler’s cannabis industry practice with fellow Power 50 honoree Charles Gormally, providing counsel to companies and individuals making their way in New Jersey’s medicinal and adult use cannabis industries.

Jeremy Farrell

At Lefrak, where he is senior director of government and community affairs, Farrell’s purview includes Jersey City’s Newport development. He brings a wealth of legal and government experience to the role – and is perhaps the most prominent advocate for the bustling area. After a stint in private practice, Farrell was appointed as corporation counsel for Jersey City and later became executive director of the city’s Municipal Utilities Authority. Like most commercial real estate developers, Lefrak has been trying to cope with the changing work environment wrought by the pandemic. Jersey City, with its proximity to Manhattan, is well-positioned to take advantage of the recovery and Lefrak – with Farrell taking the lead – is moving to capitalize. “We’re seeing that there is a greater interest among employers to return,” Farrell told NJBIZ in June. “But there has been some amount of resistance on the employee side,” he said. “And that’s an important balance to figure out because there are the immediate concerns on the employee side but there’s another side to that, which is long term, for all the reasons why we have a large population of talent here. We need people in office, working together learning from each other. … It’s like a basketball player—they’ll tell you when you’re playing basketball or any sport, soccer, ‘you are a talent on your own, but if you’re playing with other really talented people you elevate your game.’ And so when we get people back in the office space they’re going to elevate each other’s game and so some of those synergies are missing.”

Vito Gagliardi Jr.

As managing principal of Porzio Bromberg & Newman, Gagliardi has doubled the number of women principals in the last five years and increased women’s representation in the associate level to 50%. Diversity among principals has tripled in that time, with minorities representing more than 10% of current principals. Additionally, 75% of the firm’s C-level roles are held by women. Given what is known about how good diversity is for business, it stands to reason that 2021 fee receipts were the highest in PBN’s history. During his tenure as managing principal, Gagliardi has opened four offices in strategic locations that have long been targets of the firm, and he oversaw the launch of several technology products from Porzio Life Sciences, a subsidiary of the firm.

Angelo Genova

There are a relative handful of lawyers who are known widely throughout New Jersey and Genova is one of them. The founder of Genova Burns has long been a fixture in New Jersey’s urban centers. Start with Newark. Ten years before Amazon.com Inc. considered opening its second headquarters in the state’s biggest city, Genova moved his firm there from Livingston. He continues to be a champion of Newark’s redevelopment efforts. Politically, Genova’s high-profile cases include fighting off a suit against the state Democratic Party in 2002 by Republicans over a last-minute ballot change prompted by then-U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli’s decision to drop out of the race amid ethics problems. He is a former commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; a former chairman of the New Jersey Urban Development Corp.; and counseled Gov. Jim Florio’s transition team in 1989.

Charles Gormally

Gormally is a major player in New Jersey’s growing cannabis market and co-chair of the cannabis practice at Brach Eichler. He is a certified civil trial attorney designated by the New Jersey Supreme Court and has practiced law for more than 40 years, all the while recovering tens of millions of dollars for clients. Gormally has prosecuted constitutional challenges to legislation and governmental overreach, at times with wide-ranging implications. In one such case, municipalities were compelled to alter their practices for collecting solid waste and recyclable materials, resulting in millions of dollars in savings to his client and ultimately the creation of new laws to provide comparable municipal services to all multifamily properties. He is both the senior trial counsel and general counsel to the firm.

Richard Grungo

Grungo’s firm is otherworldly. Seriously, it exists in another world—Decentraland, part of the metaverse. Cherry Hill’s Grungo Colarulo is the first personal injury law firm in the metaverse, and while it may be hard for some to grasp, metaverse wheeling and dealing will have an impact on the business sector overall in the coming years. McKinsey & Co. reported in June that the metaverse may create $5 trillion in value by 2030. Beyond using the metaverse as a place to serve clients, Grungo – who insists the metaverse is much more about technology than digital art NFTs – built towers in Decentraland and set up a real estate company to rent space in them to firms that want to give the metaverse a shake. At least seven firms (including a few from New Jersey) cut Grungo rent checks monthly.

Deborah Hays

Hays is a partner and shareholder in Archer’s Haddonfield office. She serves as chair of the firm’s Business Counseling group and has more than 30 years of experience representing companies and financial institutions in complex business transactions, including business financing, securities offerings and compliance, director advisory services, mergers and acquisitions and technology transfer and licensing. Hays’ clients range from small, local businesses to large international corporations (both privately held and public), as well as startups and development stage entities. Hays provides her business clients with general representation in areas such as entity formation, risk management/mitigation, corporate governance, and corporate reorganizations and dissolution. With a strong financing background, her experience encompasses a broad array of transactions, both debt and equity, including public offerings, private placements, institutional lending (on behalf of both lenders and borrowers), venture capital, asset securitizations and sale/leaseback transactions. These deals have included numerous transactions with a size of $100 million or more. In the area of mergers and acquisitions, Hays regularly represents companies, owners, buyers, sellers and executives in transactions such as asset purchases, stock purchases, joint ventures and strategic alliances.

Jessica Hodkinson

Since 2018, Hodkinson has served in a key position at Panasonic Corporation of North America. As vice president, general counsel and secretary, she leads and manages all aspects of the company’s legal functions and services, including compliance, litigation, labor and employment, corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions. “Jessica is an exceptional talent who has been an integral part of our legal team,” said Tom Gebhardt, chairman and CEO Panasonic Corporation of North America in 2018. “Jessica has helped us navigate the constantly changing landscape of our business, and we look forward to her leadership as we pursue continued growth and drive future successes.” And in her leadership role, she has helped Panasonic do just that. Her push to centralize the legal operations prepared the company to be agile and efficient when the pandemic hit. “We have certainly all felt the impact of the past year, which has infused an undeniable sense of urgency, requiring even more communication and collaboration among our teams,” she told Vanguard Law Magazine in a 2021 profile. Hodkinson also helped launch the Panasonic Legal Center of Excellence, which assembled subject matter experts in four areas – data privacy, labor and employment, commercial transactions and intellectual property. She is a member of the New Jersey Association of Corporate Counsel and the New Jersey Women Lawyers’ Association.