
Regulatory Practice
Our attorneys have extensive experience dealing with federal, state and local regulators, representing clients before a variety of regulatory boards.
The Executive Branches of both the Federal and New Jersey governments have more than a dozen Executive or Principle Departments (15 each), most of which are divisible into numerous Agencies, sub-agencies, bureaus, and offices. New Jersey has 71 Agencies; the Federal government’s Agencies, Offices, and Bureaus number 261. These Departments and their Agencies have extensive regulatory schemes governing the conduct and practices of licensed/certified businesses, individuals, and their employees.
Financial and Market Regulation
We have represented both businesses and individuals where violations of State or Federal regulations have been alleged. By way of example, in New Jersey alone, we have assisted Doctors, Dentists, Realtors, Veterinarians, Securities Brokers, Teachers, Bankers, Restaurateurs, Liquor Licensees, and Train Conductors, just to name a few. These proceedings include representations before a professional licensing board, before an appointed hearing officer, in an Administrative Court system before a judge, and other contexts. Additionally, our attorneys have extensive experience representing law enforcement professionals in administrative proceedings.
As the core of our work is White Collar Criminal Defense, the regulatory spheres we perhaps know most intimately are those relating to finance and the markets for securities and commodities. We have represented a multitude of businesses and individuals accused of regulatory violations in these areas, as such violations are often otherwise punishable as crimes under any number of different statutes. We have represented brokers, dealers, traders, and other individuals and entities involved in the securities and/or commodities industries before the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the federal Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the New Jersey Board of Securities. Disputes with these agencies can be litigated both administratively and in the courts, and our white-collar defense practice has frequently found us litigating against the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States District Courts. We have also been involved with disputes with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which is actually a private corporation and not a federal department or agency, but which very much acts as one, promulgating rules that govern the conduct of many market participants, imposing penalties and sanctions for their violations, and referring more serious matters to SEC for its consideration.

Attorney Ethics
One area of New Jersey regulatory law in which we’ve handled numerous matters is in the Office of Attorney Ethics. Though we scrupulously adhere to the Rules of Professional Conduct ourselves, it is an unfortunate reality of our profession that not all attorneys and judges always do and their conduct, or perceived conduct, can result in an ethics complaint being filed against them. Many times, we have come to the aid of our fellow Bar members when an accusation has been made against them and their careers are put in jeopardy. We are highly regarded for our work in these cases, assisting attorneys and, at times, judges alleged to have violated Rules of Professional or Judicial Conduct. These ethics-related matters are usually confined to the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics, but we have also appeared before the Disciplinary Review Board and, occasionally, the State Supreme Court on these matters.



In many cases, professions, businesses, and varying types of conduct even of agency employees are subject to both State and Federal regulation and oversight, as can be seen in the following lists of their Executive Departments:
FEDERAL | STATE |
---|---|
Agriculture | Agriculture |
Commerce | Attorney General’s Office, Law & Public Safety |
Defense | Banking & Insurance |
Education | Children & Families |
Energy | Community Affairs |
Health & Human Services | Corrections |
Homeland Security | Education |
Housing and Urban Development | Environmental Protection |
Interior | Health |
Justice | Labor & Workforce Development |
Labor | Human Services |
State | Military & Veterans Affairs |
Transportation | State |
Treasury | Transportation |
Veterans Affairs | Treasury |

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No-Suspension ResolutionLicensing OffensesA no-suspension resolution of an administrative complaint charging a corporation and CEO with licensing offenses (November 2013)
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One-Year License SuspensionFederal Structuring ChargesA one-year license suspension, retroactive to a preliminary suspension nine months earlier, under a state ethics complaint charging an attorney convicted of federal structuring charges (February 2014)
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DismissedAbuse of Process, Tortious Interference, and Civil ConspiracyA unanimous Appellate Division panel affirmed the summary dismissal of tort claims against the CEO of a publicly-traded corporation alleging that the company had abused process and tortiously interfered with a competitor’s development project through multiple “sham” lawsuits ...
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