Anthony Anastasio
Anastasio is an experienced litigator — a former assistant county prosecutor and a practitioner at Genova Burns and other firms — and served as director of legal and regulatory affairs for the New Jersey Coalition of Automobile Retailers, the lobbying group for car dealers. His legal and legislative background should serve him well in the role he took up earlier this year: President of the New Jersey Civil Justice Institute, a legal business advocacy organization. In that position, he will stand alongside other leaders making the case for a more business-friendly state. “The Trump era is now over in D.C. and there may not be as much of a mandate in the minds of legislators to fill a regulatory void … so you may see priorities shift, for that reason. Also, enforcement priorities by the attorney general likewise may shift since there’s not a perceived deficiency in Washington,” he said of the months and years ahead in an interview with NJBIZ. “We’ve been operating in a challenging environment, I expect that to continue, but we do our best to remain nonpartisan and to try to be helpful to legislators as they grapple with these issues and provide the perspective they need to do the right thing.”
Joseph Boccassini
In his sixth year as managing partner of Newark’s McCarter & English, Boccassini led New Jersey’s largest law firm through what could have been, despite making it through multiple world wars and economic crises, the most challenging year in the firm’s 175-year history. The period was an unlikely success: during its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2020, the firm achieved record revenue and a 14% increase in profits per partner — making it the best year in its history — all while transitioning its staff to remote work and navigating clients through unprecedented challenges. The firm also devoted a record number of pro bono hours, and Boccassini’s leadership was exemplified by the creation of McCarter’s Social Justice Project, a task force that furthers the work of the pro bono and diversity and inclusion committees with a focus on dismantling structural racism and combatting the impact of racial injustice in the communities it operates in.
Bill Caruso
Caruso is a partner with Archer & Greiner and a member of Archer Public Affairs, but to many, he’s the face of the cannabis business in New Jersey. If you were ever in the state house during a legislative hearing on cannabis and think you maybe saw Caruso, rest assured, you did. He was there. He was always there. And when Trenton is back in full swing, he’ll probably be there again. Caruso’s had a hand in shaping New Jersey’s cannabis laws, from the medical use law signed in 2010 to the decriminalization and adult use bills signed in February. It’s going to take some time to get up and running, but the state adult recreational cannabis market has a projected value of between $1 billion and $2 billion, and that’s on top of the more than 100,000 patients who engage the state’s active medical program. As a lobbyist talking to politicians and policy experts, and a lawyer ushering clients through the nuances of the industry, Caruso’s no doubt got more busy days ahead.
Danielle Defilippis
A member at Norris McLaughlin, DeFilippis serves as co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Law Practice Group, representing clients businesses and individuals in all phases of litigation and focusing on trademark issues. Her clients come from a range of industries, most notably, food and beverage, liquor, jewelry, cosmetics, sports, and entertainment. DeFilippis has represented clients in cases involving trademark and copyright infringement, false advertising, commercial disparagement, business torts, deceptive trade practices, Lanham Act claims, state and federal unfair competition laws, and other business disputes. In 2021, she was honored in the NJBIZ Leaders in Law program.
Edward Deutsch
McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter Managing Partner Deutsch expanded his firm from a two-man outfit in 1983 with the late James Mulvaney to a New Jersey law powerhouse, boasting 13 offices and nearly 300 attorneys in nine states. The firm has an East Coast presence from Boston to Tampa with western operations in the Denver area. The firm completed a series of sizeable mergers in the past decade, including its acquisition of 19 lawyers from Graham Curtin in 2018 and a merger with New England firm Pepe & Hazard LLP in 2010, which brought on 44 attorneys. On the litigation front, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of MDMC client New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association in Murphy v. NCAA, a landmark decision that legalized sports betting and brought a billion-dollar industry to New Jersey. Deutsch also has a rich history in the banking industry, previously serving as founder and chairman of the Board of Directors of Somerset Hills Bank which merged in 2013 with Lakeland Bank. He served on the Board of Directors of Lakeland Bank until 2018, which Forbes Magazine named as one America’s 50 Most Trustworthy Companies in 2014.
Michael Donahue
In his practice, the managing shareholder of Lawrenceville’s Stark & Stark focuses on products liability litigation and the representation of victims of construction accidents, commercial vehicle accidents, sexual abuse and other serious injuries. Donahue also lectures frequently regarding tort liability issues as well as trial and settlement techniques. Donahue serves on the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice. He previously served on AAJ’s Executive Committee and was elected Chairman of AAJ’s Council of Presidents for the 2018-2019 term. Donahue is the immediate past Chair of the Civil Trial Bar Section of the State Bar Association. In addition, he currently serves on the organization’s Pandemic Task Force and its Resumption of Jury Trials Committee.
Patrick Dunican
Dunican has been chairman and managing director of Newark’s Gibbons for 17 years. Under his leadership, the firm has spent the last 12 as the top lawyer-lobbying firm in the state, according the Election Law Enforcement Commission. Law360 called him one of the most innovative managing partners at a U.S. law firm, and named Gibbons a regional powerhouse. Gibbons represented the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and state in a bid to get the final match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup — expected to be the biggest ever — scheduled for MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. In addition, the firm represented the state Legislature in the case that forged the way for sports betting legalization. In 2020 New Jersey surpassed Nevada as the sports betting capital of the country — $6B compared to Nevada’s previous high of $5.4B from the prior year. Beyond his responsibility for the firm’s government and regulatory affairs practice, Dunican has spent the last year steering the firm successfully through the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on good corporate citizenship even amid the crisis, and solidifying his engagement in higher education. Chair of the board of legal trustees for Iona College, he also delivered the welcome address at the school’s commencement ceremony in May.
Kathleen Barnett Einhorn
A partner in Newark’s Genova Burns, Einhorn serves as the chair of the firm’s Complex Commercial Litigation Practice Group and is the Director of the Public Contract Law & Bid Protest Litigation Group. In March of 2021 she was re-nominated to serve in the role of At-Large Trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Association Board of Trustees, a position she has held since May 2019. Einhorn is experienced in handling all aspects of litigation, trying matters and arguing appeals in federal and state courts, and also has handled numerous arbitrations, mediations and other alternative dispute proceedings. She is responsible for managing cases from inception to trial and overseeing a team of lawyers and paraprofessionals. She and her team concentrate their practices in general commercial litigation and counseling with an emphasis on complex contract and business disputes, fraud or misrepresentation, First Amendment and constitutional rights claims, civil extortion, intellectual property, defamation, real estate, internet law, construction disputes and public contract and bid protests. Einhorn served as an investigator for the Supreme Court’s District Ethics Committee from 2006 to 2010 and as Law Clerk to Superior Court Judge Robert L. Penza from 1992 to 1993.
John Fanburg
For more than 30 years, Fanburg has shown up for physicians and health care institutions in corporate, transactional, and regulatory matters. He’s well known in New Jersey’s bustling health care industry for excellence in transactions, perseverance in deal-making, and strength in corporate and regulatory matters, and throughout the pandemic has without a doubt been someone health care organizations look to for steady, trusted guidance.His broad experience representing major hospitals, diverse medical groups, solo practitioners, and statewide physician specialty groups has armed him with deep knowledge of the ins and outs of health care business practices. As managing member and co-chair of Brach Eichler’s cannabis industry practice, he’s often a name-in-the-news, sought after for his understanding of the industry that, while still mostly medical, will no doubt blend in the retail, hospitality, and entertainment sectors. Fanburg provides counsel to companies and individuals with interest in participating in the state’s growing medicinal and adult use cannabis industries.
Susan Feeney
Feeney is a preeminent practitioner in state and local property tax matters and redevelopment/eminent domain matters. She is widely recognized for her contributions to the legal profession and counts serving as both president of the New Jersey State Bar Association and President of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation among her many accomplishments. Feeney litigates property tax appeals for a variety of properties, including office complexes, hotels, data centers, golf courses, manufacturing facilities, industrial facilities, shopping malls, hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and condominium and cooperative residential developments. She has experience in the valuation of telecommunication properties, including switching stations, cellular towers, and solar projects. Religious, educational, hospital, and other not-for-profit entities also turn to her for property tax exemption assistance. As New Jersey continues to encourage redevelopment and revitalization of urban areas, developers and property owners rely on Feeney for help securing tax abatements and incentives. She advises developers and municipalities in eminent domain proceedings and negotiates payment in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) for developers, municipalities, and tax-exempt entities.
Husain Gatlin
Gatlin is the president of the Garden State Bar Association, New Jersey’s oldest and largest professional organization for African-American judges, lawyers, and law students. He founded the Law Office of Husain A. Gatlin LLC in 2016, locating the office in downtown Newark. His office is just a stone’s throw away from his alma mater St. Benedict’s Preparatory School, which he credits for introducing him to ideas that sent him down the path of law, something he’s got a real knack for: His practice primarily focuses on criminal defense, motor-vehicle offenses, and expungements; and as one of the top criminal defense attorneys in Newark, he was selected as one of Super Lawyers Rising Stars in 2020 and 2021. Gatlin started out as an assistant deputy public defender, and later moved onto the Law Offices of Brian J. Neary. He’s experienced in a broad variety of criminal litigation and has handled hundreds of cases from initial discovery through judgment as lead counsel. According to Gatlin, his work is “fueled by an unwavering belief in defending and enforcing the constitutional rights of the men and women in our society who most need protection.”
Angelo Genova
The founder of Genova Burns is a fixture in New Jersey’s two biggest cities. Ten years before Amazon.com Inc. considered opening its second headquarters in Newark, Genova moved his firm there from Livingston. He continues to be a champion of the city’s redevelopment efforts. “The city has a variety of assets, from technological to cultural and educational,” he told NJBIZ. He is well known for 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. And he continues to expand his team by adding talented respected professionals. In 2021 Genova Burns welcomed bankruptcy law firm Wasserman Jurista & Stolz to its practice, which it integrated on Jan. 1.
Lisa Gorab
Gorab is the president and managing director of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer and chair of the firm’s public finance group. Her clients include government agencies and authorities, municipalities, counties, improvement authorities and school districts throughout the state, advising them as bond counsel in capital financing matters and related governmental requirements. Among other honors, in 2019 Gorab was named by NJBIZ as one of the Fifty Best Women in Business in New Jersey. And this year, she was honored by the NJBIZ Leaders in Law Program. She has been a shareholder in Wilentz since 1997 and became the first woman named to the firm’s top job earlier this year.
Charles Gormally
Brach Eichler cannabis practice co-chair Gormally is entrenched in the legal medical cannabis market and poised to be a major player in the adult use market as it gets up and running. He’s sought out for his cannabis industry expertise by business owners and the media, quoted often in publications like the New Jersey Law Journal and Politico. Gormally is a certified civil trial attorney, designated by the New Jersey Supreme Court, and over the past 40-plus years has successfully tried jury and bench trial cases in both federal and state courts. Recent trial results include a verdict on behalf of a seriously injured worker leading to a recovery of $6 million and a verdict of $2.9 million in a business dispute on behalf of an insurance broker. All told, he’s recovered tens of millions of dollars for clients and been instrumental in changing overreaching government regulations to benefit business opportunity for his clients. In public sector matters, Gormally has prosecuted constitutional challenges to legislation and governmental overreach on behalf of clients, at times to far reaching results. In one case, municipalities were compelled to alter their practices in connection with the collection of solid waste and recyclable materials, resulting in millions of dollars in savings to his clients and ultimately to the adoption of new laws to provide comparable municipal services to all multifamily properties.
Ann Kappler
As executive vice president and general counsel at Prudential Financial, Ann Kappler is the head of Law, Compliance, Business Ethics and External Affairs. She was appointed in September 2020, after serving as the company’s deputy general counsel and head of External Affairs for six years. In that role, Kappler oversaw Prudential’s corporate legal functions, including litigation, regulatory law, and corporate investigations. She also led the company’s public policy advocacy, managing all federal, state and international government affairs activities. Before joining Prudential in 2009, Kappler was a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr in Washington, D.C., where she focused on emerging issues at the intersection of regulation, legislation and litigation. She has held a variety of other roles with expanded responsibilities, including as a litigation partner at Jenner & Block and as general counsel at Fannie Mae. Kappler serves on the boards of directors of the Pro Bono Partnership and the National Health Law Program, where she is chair, and serves as program co-chair for the Georgetown Law Corporate Counsel Institute. She has served on the boards of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs; Appleseed Foundation and Global Rights; and was a longtime member of the board of trustees of the Lowell School in Washington, D.C., where she served as chair. Kappler is a member of the Board of Visitors of the Dartmouth College Rockefeller Center for Public Policy. She has earned several awards such as 2018 Executive Women of New Jersey Policymakers honoree.
Robert Klausner
A 30-year veteran of the real estate business, Klausner is a partner at Fox Rothschild and co-chair of the firm’s Real Estate Department. Over the course of his career, Klausner has a handled wide range of office, industrial and retail transactions, including the leasing of more than 100 million square feet of space, the purchase and sale of more than $40 billion worth of property and financing for more than $25 billion worth of property. He has also served as lead attorney in connection with nine NAIOP “Deal of the Year” Awards. In addition, he is a perennial on NJBIZ lists, including the 2023, 2016 and 2017 Real Estate Power lists. And earlier this year, he was honored by the NJBIZ Leaders in Law program.
Scott Kobler
Kobler has been a key player in healthcare M&A and financing in New Jersey for the past four decades. A partner at McCarter & English in Newark, Kobler’s work includes some of the state’s largest and most complex healthcare transactions, representing lenders and acute, subacute and specialized lay and faith-based providers. “He’s the Obi Wan Kenobi of health care deals,” one person in the know said this spring. “He’s the one everyone goes to when the question isn’t easily solved.” Kobler was honored in August with an NJBIZ ICON award, and named to the Health Care Power 50 in March 2020. His current and prior volunteer work ranges from chair of NJ PBS and board member of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, to a trustee with the Newark Alliance, commissioner with the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Development Commission and executive committee member for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. And he’s the treasurer for Cory Booker’s U.S. Senate campaign.
