DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Giblin continues to grow. In 2015, the firm hired six new attorneys from a variety of legal backgrounds.
Daniel Antonelli joined the firm as a Contract Partner in March 2015. He opened his own law practice in 1998 before cofounding Antonelli Minchello P.C. in 2011. Mr. Antonelli joined DeCotiis as the Township Attorney for Union and the City Attorney for Linden. He serves as Municipal Prosecutor for the Borough of Fanwood and Special Outside Counsel for the City of Elizabeth, the Borough of Roselle, the County of Union, the Clark Board of Education, the Elizabeth Housing Authority, and the Union County Utilities Authority. Mr. Antonelli was a former clerk to the Honorable Edmond M. Kirby, J.S.C., in Essex County, and a Widener Law School graduate. Mr. Antonelli joined our Municipal Law practice.
David Minchello also joined the firm as a Contract Partner in March 2015. At Mr. Minchello’s former firm, that he founded with Mr. Antonelli, he represented municipalities as City Solicitor, Corporation Counsel, litigation defense counsel, and Prosecutor. Mr. Minchello is presently City Attorney for the City of Trenton and the City Solicitor for the City of Plainfield. He also serves as the Municipal Prosecutor for the Borough of North Plainfield. Other current and former clients include East Orange, Burlington City, Union Township, Trenton, Plainfield, North Plainfield, and Mount Holly. He is a graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law. Mr. Minchello joined our widely-recognized Municipal Law practice.
Arlene Quiñones Perez joined the firm as a Contract Partner and as a member of our Labor and Employment practice in March 2015. Mrs. Perez is the Vice President of the Northern Region for the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey. Prior to joining DeCotiis, she served as General Counsel to the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters where she represented carpenters and their interests in New Jersey and New York State. Previously, Mrs. Perez was an Associate with Kroll Heineman Carton, LLC, Judicial Term Law Clerk for the Honorable Michael A. Shipp, an attorney with the firm of Murphy Orlando, LLC, and a registered lobbyist with Impact NJ, LLC. In addition to her considerable legal experience, Mrs. Perez served as Councilwoman in the Town of Clinton, New Jersey (where she was the youngest member of the municipality’s governing body and the only Hispanic woman to serve as an elected official in Hunterdon County), and served in the Governor’s office and various Democratic political positions in the state, including the former Chair of the Hunterdon County Democratic Committee. For her political and legislative prowess, she was recently named to PolitickerNJ’s Top 40 under 40 list.
The firm is pleased to announce the hiring of three new associates.
Dan Bardzell, a 2013 graduate of Fordham University School of Law, focuses his practice on labor and employment law. Prior to joining the firm, he worked as a civil rights investigator with the New York State Division of Human Rights. He joined the firm in January 2015.
Amanda Miller, a Seton Hall University School of Law graduate, is a former clerk for the Hon. Paul W. Armstrong, J.S.C. in the Somerset County Superior Court. Subsequent to her clerkship, Ms. Miller successfully defended public entities in various actions including wrongful termination, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, Conscientious Employee Protection Act violations, and certain civil rights violations. Ms. Miller joined the firm in February 2015.
John Palumbo plans to build on his previous legal experience to work on solving issues surrounding land use, real-estate development, government and regulatory affairs, public procurement and contracting. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Palumbo garnered significant experience in land-use matters involving a range of complex development and regulatory issues including: redevelopment, state and regional planning, zoning, infrastructure issues, regulatory compliance and affordable housing. Mr. Palumbo is the newest addition to the firm. He joined DeCotiis this month, May 2015.
