DeCotiis

The Salvation Army Hackensack Corps thanks DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole for a Successful Holiday Toy Drive

This holiday season, the law firm of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole donated time and resources to make sure that the underprivileged could enjoy the Holiday Season.

This year, the Salvation Army provided 300 children with gifts. The DeCotiis firm, an annual contributor, was happy to continue to give back to the local community.

Click here to see the "thank you" letter from The Salvation Army Hackensack Corps.

On January 18^th, DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole's Managing Partner Joseph DeCotiis attended the White House Business Leaders Forum to discuss job creation and economic expansion with senior officials in the White House. In fact, the popular political newsletter, Politifax, took note of DeCotiis' participation. 

Full text of Joseph DeCotiis' mention in the "Winners and Losers" section of Politifax is below.

Winner: Joseph DeCotiis

The DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole Managing Partner took part in a White House Business Forum on economic expansion.

A Quick Look At How The FBI Turns Insider Traders Into Informants

Linette Lopez | Jan. 19, 2012, 4:24 PM

Yesterday, three people were arrested and seven people were charged in a hedge fund insider trading scandal that prosecutors are calling, "the circle of friends."

At the press conference U.S. Attorney General Preet Bharara showed an infographic depicting the circle of four guys in New York, Boston, and San Francisco sharing information about Dell, and then passing that knowledge up to their supervisors at hedge funds Diamondback Capital and Level Global.

It was a "tight knit circle of… Continue

By Politicker Staff | January 18th, 2012 - 11:43am

TRENTON - A prominent New Jersey lawyer is part of a contingent of business leaders in Washington, D.C. today to attend a White House Business Leaders Forum.

Joseph DeCotiis, managing partner of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole LLP, is part of the group scheduled to discuss job creation and economic expansion with senior officials in the White House. The law firm is based in Teaneck.

You can read the article here.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012    Last updated: Thursday January 5, 2012, 1:49 AM

BY AMANDA BASKIND

STAFF WRITER

Northern Valley Suburbanite

DEMAREST - Demarest resident and District 39 Sen. Gerald Cardinale swore in Republican council-elects Ted Davis and Steven Schliem at the borough's Jan. 1 reorganization meeting.

First-term Councilman Blake Chroman was appointed on Jan. 1 to fill the seat left vacant by Tom Connolly, who resigned last month.

"It's great to see this council change, full of kids," Cardinale said.

Both Davis and Schliem are fresh faces to the local government. The two councilmen were flanked by their wives and… Continue

Martindale-Hubbell, the premiere legal directory and attorney peer-rating service, has named DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole to its 2012 list of the nation's top-ranked law firms, placing it among the top 966 of 254,000 rated law firms, for having at least one-third of its attorneys achieve an AV Preeminent rating, the highest attorney award for skill, competence, knowledge and ethics.

"There is no greater compliment than the respect of one's peers, so it is immensely satisfying to know that our fellow attorneys recognize and respect the work that we do," said Joseph DeCotiis, the firm's Managing Partner.

DeCotiis attorneys received a… Continue

During these tough economic times, families are , combing through their budgets to better prioritize their spending. Small businesses are running leaner and more efficiently to deliver products and services at a more reasonable rate. It is the govern¬ment's responsibility to do the same. That is the reasoning used when Marlboro Township examined and ultimately dissolved The Marlboro Township Municipal Utilities Authority (MTMUA).

At the time of its creation, the MTMUA was tasked with establishing the necessary water infrastructure and delivering water to a rapidly-developing municipality. Some four decades later, the MTMUA was viewed by many as an unnecessary level… Continue

DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole is proud to announce that Jonathan O. Bauer will be joining the firm on Tuesday, January 3rd as a Contract Partner.

Jonathan brings more than twenty years of legal experience to the firm and will be a welcome addition to the firm's litigation practice. He has extensive experience in commercial litigation and insurance law and is knowledgeable in technology licensing, regulatory matters and corporate governance.

Over the course of his career, Jonathan was in house counsel for a large investment bank where he focused on software licensing and intellectual property issues and was a commercial litigator… Continue

Jeffrey Smith, a member of the Executive Committee and co-chair of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole’s Litigation Group, recently appeared on Bloomberg Television’s The Bottom Line with Mark Crumpton. Smith was invited on the program to discuss the historic sentencing of Raj Rajaratnam who received the longest incarceration ever for an individual found guilty of insider trading.

Click on the image below to see Smith discuss the sentencing, and click here and here to learn more about DeCotiis’ White Collar and Corporate Investigations and Litigation Practice Groups.

Alex Keoskey, a partner at DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole and a member of the firm's healthcare practice, was quoted in an article in the September issue of Healthcare Risk Management.

Keoskey was asked for his opinion on a lawsuit brought against a Texas hospital and its employees. The lawsuit, filed by a former surgical tech at Metroplex Adventist Hospital in Killeen, TX, alleges that hospital staff drew on the plaintiff and painted his fingernails and toenails while he was under general anesthesia. According to the plaintiff, the prank was part of an ongoing pattern of harassment, which created a hostile… Continue

A patient or colleague's complaint about physician to a Medical Board is more serious than most licensed health care professionals may realize. DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole's health care attorneys help individual health care professionals fend off allegations put before licensing boards, and allow doctors, nurses and other members of the health care workforce get back to what they do best - keeping families healthy.

Recently, a DeCotiis client, who happens to no longer actively practice clinical medicine, received a letter from the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners concerning a complaint filed against her. As a result of the complaint,… Continue

Published: Monday, October 03, 2011, 7:00 AM
By David Karas/The Times

EWING - Township officials expect to reap $34,000 yearly in energy savings from a solar panel installation on the roof of the municipal building and in front of the building.

The township council last week passed a resolution for Ewing to enroll in a Mercer County Improvement Authority program that makes it easy for government entities to make the switch to solar.

"We are trying to turn it green, so to speak," Ewing Council President Les Summiel said.

The project will not cost township taxpayers a penny, officials said,… Continue

Louis N. Rainone, a partner at DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole, LLP and co-chair of the firm's municipal practice, recently offered public policy analysis on the property tax cap in The Star-Ledger. In April, Rainone noted that it was unlikely many voters would pass waivers that allowed municipalities to exceed their property tax cap.

When asked about the 30 towns that sponsored cap waivers on the ballot last year, Rainone said property tax cap referendum are not a "viable alternative" for towns. "I don't think that it's necessarily an indication that things are better with budgets," he said. "You're starting to… Continue

Associated Press

Sunday, September 18, 2011

TEANECK, N.J. (AP) - Michael Cole, a noted lawyer who held several key state government positions during his long legal career, has died. He was 67.

Cole's death was announced Sunday by the Teaneck-based law firm of DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick & Cole, but further details were not disclosed. The Morris Township resident had been a partner with the firm for many years before recently retiring and was still serving as a counsel for them.

During his governmental career, Cole served as chief counsel to Gov. Tom Kean and also had been a first assistant Attorney General,… Continue

Asbury Park Press

Saturday, September 24, 2011

by Jason Method

Funeral services were held today for Michael R. Cole, 67, former chief counsel for Gov. Thomas H. Kean. Cole died last Saturday.

Cole, of Morris Township, was also the husband of state Supreme Court Associate Justice Jaynee LaVecchia.

Kean gave the eulogy at the funeral.

Cole had helped write the state's first recycling law, and civil service and welfare reform efforts, said John Samerjan, a former spokesman for Kean.

"He was one of the good ones," Samerjan said. "One of those guys universally thought of as with integrity."

Samerjan… Continue

The Star-Ledger

September 18, 2011    

By Ryan Hutchins

MORRIS TOWNSHIP - Attorney Michael Cole, a former partner in the DeCotiis law firm, husband to a state Supreme Court justice and chief counsel to Gov. Thomas Kean, died Saturday evening, family and friends said. He was 67.

His cause of death was not immediately released.

Cole, who was considered one the foremost attorneys in New Jersey, had a successful four-decade-long career in law. He spent a number of years working in Trenton, in Kean's administration and, prior to that, as first assistant attorney general and director of the Division of… Continue

The Bergen Record

September 19, 2011    

BY JUSTO BAUTISTA

STAFF WRITER

The Record

Michael R. Cole, a former chief counsel to Gov. Thomas Kean whose legal stewardship helped establish state policy on school funding and gubernatorial powers, died Saturday. He was 67.

Mr. Cole, husband of New Jersey Supreme Court Associate Justice Jaynee LaVecchia, also had been a partner in the DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole law firm in Teaneck, and served in the state Attorney General's Office for eight years before Kean tapped him for chief counsel. He was a resident of Morris Township.

"We are deeply… Continue

The Messenger-Gazette

Posted:  09/16/2011

BRIDGEWATER - Somerset County Freeholder Director Robert Zaborowski hosted a Sept. 13 ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the installation of a solar array on the roof of the Somerset County Library System headquarters here. He was joined by state, county and municipal officials.

The Bridgewater Library is part of phase one of the county's taxpayer-neutral, solar-energy initiative funded through the Somerset County Improvement Authority.

Last year the Improvement Authority hired Vanguard Energy Partners of Branchburg to construct solar arrays on  31 public-sector rooftops and properties in 15 municipalities and school districts. Construction started last fall and is… Continue

Courier-News

Written by

Sergio Bichao | Staff Writer

BOUND BROOK - The seven-year saga involving the borough's suspended police chief is coming to an end for the borough. But for now it continues for Kenneth Henderson, who still has corruption charges hanging over his head.

Henderson and the Borough Council this week approved a $150,000 settlement agreement in which Henderson, who has been suspended without pay since 2004, would resign and retire in good standing, without admitting to any criminal wrongdoing.

Officials said the agreement was prompted by the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office informing the borough attorney that it intended… Continue

In the August edition of The Bond Buyer, the daily newspaper of public finance, DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole, LLP was nationally ranked in the top ten under the category "Top Underwriters Counsel." The Bond Buyer publishes quarterly lists of top performing participants in the public finance industry, including law firms with public finance practices.

The ranking recognizes the DeCotiis law firm as a top underwriting counsel for the first and second quarter of 2011.

To review the rankings, please visit The Bond Buyer. A subscription is required.

William Mayer, a partner at DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole, LLP and member of the firm's public finance practice, was recently invited in front of the Barnegat Township Council to explain public bonds to local residents. Recently, Barnegat residents had circulated a petition to use pending state aid to pay down existing bond debt.

 "It's not a bad idea," said Mayer. "It's a healthy idea. It's the same thrifty impulse that drives people to pay down their credit card debt in flush times." Mayer then explained it's not that simple. From the Barnegat Patch:

The district has three outstanding bonds, Mayer… Continue

Bob Ingle, the Trenton Bureau Chief and Political Columnist at Gannett, recently wrote on the validity of the Princeton International Academy Charter School's (PIACS) lawsuit against the Princeton Regional, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional and South Brunswick school districts. The lawsuit, filed by attorneys at DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole, LLP, has generated headlines throughout the state for its novel approach to the issue of public school districts using public funds to fight the establishment of a planned charter school.

The column quotes William Harla, a partner and Executive Committee member at DeCotiis, who represents PIACS. Harla believes the school districts are violating… Continue

Keith Riley, a partner at DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole and an attorney in the firm's Corporate, Tax and Banking practice groups, was quoted in a recent article in Physician News Digest. Riley spoke at length about the need for medical professionals to leverage their position within their practice. "If you're not able to negotiate some kind of major decision rights in the practice, you're going to be at the mercy of a group of physicians who have majority," advised Riley. "You become a passive investor, and you can't do anything to protect your interest."

Riley suggested physicians do their… Continue

Kevin Kinsella, a partner at the law firm of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole, recently urged the West Milford Planning Board to reconsider plans for a 17-home development. In the letter, Kinsella demonstrates extensive knowledge of the municipality's zoning and redevelopment law, in addition to New Jersey environmental regulations.

The DeCotiis firm is a Teaneck-based law firm with deep roots and knowledge of the laws which guide the Garden State. You can read the article "Wooley Road development seeking revival from the brink" by clicking here.

The Suburban Trend reports about another client for the DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole, LLP green practice. The project could save the Township between $14,000 and $24,000 each year.

 You can read about the Green Practice's work here.

The Princeton International Academy School (PIACS) hired the law firm of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole, LLP to file a groundbreaking suit that alleges that three local school districts spent public funds in order to deny the charter school the right to open its doors. The lawsuit has attracted attention throughout the state. You can read about the case here.

In a recent letter to the editor in the Herald News, Passaic County Improvement Authority Chairman Dennis Marco wrote in support of the County's renewable energy program. The program takes a regionalized approach to reducing energy costs by allowing municipalities and other local government units to enter into power purchase agreements (PPA) with private energy providers. The only expenditures municipalities end up paying in a PPA is for the low-cost energy provided by solar panels.

In the letter, Chairman Marco lauds the law firm of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole for "their extensive experience and successes in other counties utilizing… Continue

A complaint to a Medical Board can happen for a variety of reasons and is more serious than many licensed medical professionals realize. If not addressed immediately and properly, a minor complaint can lead to a formal hearing and, eventually, possible loss of a medical license. Fortunately, members of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole's health care practice are available to help.

In June and July 2011, Susan Fruchtman, a partner at the firm and a member of its health care practice, helped two doctors fend off serious allegations at their starting point with well-documented arguments sent to the State Board of… Continue

William "Pat" Schuber, an of-counsel attorney at DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole, was sworn in yesterday as a Commissioner at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Schuber, a former Bergen County Executive, state Assemblyman and Mayor of Bogota, NJ, is a contributor to DeCotiis' bipartisan and industry-leading regulatory and government affairs practice. Our firm wishes Pat Schuber the best of luck in his new position.

You can read more about Schuber's role at the Port Authority in the Star-Ledger or by clicking here

The DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole green practice was hired as special counsel by the Salem County Improvement Authority (SCIA). The green practice  will help the SCIA set-up a solar power purchase agreement which could potentially save the County $550,000 in energy costs each year.

You can read nore about the SCIA solar project in Today’s Sunbeam by clicking here