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<font face=arial size=2>: Influential law firm adds Bergen office</font> <font face=arial size=2>: Bergen Record</font> <font face=arial size=2>: 03/24/02</font> <font face=arial size=2>: HUGH R. MORLEY </font> <font face=arial size=2>: In a move that could shake up Bergen County's political and legal worlds, the politically-connected Secaucus law firm Scarinci and Hollenbeck is claiming a major county presence for the first time with the opening of a Hackensack office.</font> <font face=arial size=2>: The company's expansion, which takes place Monday, also includes the hiring of five new attorneys, among them Joseph Ferriero - the head of the Bergen County Democratic Party - and three attorneys from the labor department of Teaneck law firm DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick and Gluck.</font> <font face=arial size=2>: The new Scarinci and Hollenbeck office will be located on Main Street in Ferriero's existing office.</font> <font face=arial size=2>: The 13-year-old Hudson County firm is well-known for its political connections. Partner Donald Scarinci is a close ally of, and fund-raiser for, Governor McGreevey and Rep. Robert Menendez, D-Union City. And the firm does a variety of governmental work, particularly in Hudson County.</font> <font face=arial size=2>: When Bergen Democrats took control of the county Freeholder Board in 2000, Scarinci, a major contributor to county candidates, became attorney for the board. The company lost the contract when Republicans regained control this year.</font> <font face=arial size=2>: But Scarinci said government work accounts for only 20 percent of the company's annual revenue, which he declined to specify. </font> <font face=arial size=2>: ''The firm is predominantly by far a corporate and business law firm,'' Scarinci said, citing work on land use, environmental cases, and mergers and acquisitions. </font> <font face=arial size=2>: Nor was the hiring of Ferriero, a certified trial lawyer, politically motivated, he said.</font> <font face=arial size=2>: ''He has got name recognition and a lot of relationships in Bergen County,'' Scarinci said. ''And the joining of two of us creates a real market dominance.''</font> <font face=arial size=2>: Ferriero merged his law firm two years ago with Roseland law firm Wolfe and Samson, one of whose principals, David Samson, was appointed state attorney general by McGreevey in January.</font> <font face=arial size=2>: Ferriero could not be reached for comment.</font>

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