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Posted by Pepe Bonmot
on March 26, 2002 at 13:57:00:
Hudson Co. Firm Enhances Its Staff And Its Influence New Jersey Law Journal March 25, 2002 By Jim Edwards Last Monday, it was announced that Joseph Ferriero, a heavy-lifting litigator and the chairman of the Bergen County Democratic Party, was joining the firm, leaving the Hackensack outpost of Roseland's Wolff & Samson and taking his staff with him. The same day, three management employment lawyers defected from DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Gluck & Cole, of Teaneck, to join Scarinci & Hollenbeck: partners Richard Salsberg and Matthew Giacobbe and associate Peter Tucci. The firms involved cast the moves in the light of greater opportunities in the region and the private sector. They also point to the growing incidence of lateral partnerships in an increasingly mobile legal economy. Lawyers close to the firms, however, say the moves enhance the power and influence of Scarinci in northern New Jersey and offer clues as to his larger ambitions. The arrival of the new partners at Scarinci & Hollenbeck is expected to be accompanied by many of their clients. Salsberg in particular has longtime links to many school boards. More government contract work may come the firm's way if Freeholder Dennis McNerney - whom Ferriero and Scarinci support - is elected Bergen County executive in November. The retirement of incumbent Republican Pat Schuber has improved the Democrat's chances. "If McNerney wins, Joe Ferriero is going to be King Kong," says one lawyer who follows northern New Jersey politics. "That would be nice," Scarinci responds, "but it's not really part of our business plan." Scarinci and Kenneth Hollenbeck are at pains to emphasize that public contracts form only a minority of their business, and that the private sector is where they are hoping to grow. The firm's major practice areas are land use, environmental law, labor and employment, litigation and corporate law. Ferriero denies that politics is fueling the merger. "That is ridiculous," he says. "It's strictly a business decision. We're focusing on servicing an area where I have strength." That area, of course, is Bergen County. McNerney adds his own twist: "If you look back at my record, I've called for campaign finance reform [to put limits on donations] so that if you do give money you are banned from receiving contracts." Scarinci says he will fund McNerney anyway. Two lawyers from other firms who have experience with public work note that there are indirect spoils to be seized from backing the right horse. In addition to potential contracts handed out by a county executive, such officials are often accused of "criss-crossing" -- making unofficial agreements with neighboring county officials to favor their counterparts' law firms so that neither official can be accused of favoring directly the firms that gave them campaign money. In Bergen, the executive also has a role in appointing officials to bodies such as the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission, the Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority and the Bergen County Community College, all of which have a constant need for lawyers. Ferriero joined Roseland's Wolff & Samson -- which has about 75 lawyers and 27 partners -- in 1999 after being introduced to David Samson by James McGreevey. The marriage was never a happy one, lawyers familiar with the firm say. Wolff & Samson is a large, stiff-collared corporate law firm. "They have a very nice white-shoe practice," says an attorney who has rival colleagues there. Ferriero's style is rather more brash and bare-knuckled. He litigates personal injury, medical malpractice, professional negligence and commercial cases along with handling land-use, zoning and other transactional work. If Samson had hoped that Ferriero's presence would increase the firm's government business in Bergen, he was wrong. "During the time that the Democrats controlled the freeholder board, Wolff & Samson did not get a single piece of county business," Ferriero says. Ferriero says his departure from Wolff & Samson was amicable, and indeed, he served his former boss well. He sided with McGreevey against Torricelli's flirtation with a run for governor. Once McGreevey was elected, Samson was appointed state attorney general. The exit of Salsberg and Giacobbe from the DeCotiis firm was also amicable, both firms say. "It's a reflection of the mobility of lawyers today and we wish them well," says managing partner Michael Cole of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick. "We were in the process of making some changes. We originally had hoped to have those changes in place a couple of weeks from now but now it looks like we'll probably be moving up that time." The firm has 80 lawyers and 18 partners. The rivalry between DeCotiis, FitzPatrick and Scarinci & Hollenbeck has been fierce in Bergen of late. Scarinci tried to persuade freeholders to settle an expensive whistle-blower case against the county that was being handled by DeCotiis, FitzPatrick partner Lee Cohen. Thus, the musical chairs are widely regarded as a slap at the DeCotiis firm's ego. Salsberg and Giacobbe will not be allowed to settle into their new offices. Hollenbeck says the firm is moving to larger premises at 1100 Valley Brook Ave. in Lyndhurst on July 5. The move allows the firm to grow further -- it now has 32 lawyers and 12 partners -- and provide a showcase for its state-of-the-art technology. Both new partners enthused over Scarinci & Hollenbeck's remote electronic document retrieval system, which allows partners to access a brief or motion from any location.
Salsberg has been practicing since 1971, and has lectured on employment law frequently. Years ago -- he declines to say how many -- Scarinci, as a first-year associate, attended a Salsberg seminar. It was the first time the two had met. "I don't think he remembers me," Scarinci says, "I've wanted him to join the firm for many years."
In Hudson, Politics as Usual
The lateral moves were announced against the backdrop of local political infighting, with Scarinci in the thick of it.
The previous Thursday, Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham had stood on the steps of City Hall to declare "High Noon" against U.S. Rep. Robert Menendez and his close ally and fund-raiser, Scarinci. The pair has "an insatiable desire for power and its rewards," Cunningham was quoted as saying in the March 15 Record of Hackensack. "[Menendez] is interfering with the operation of government for the sake of his political benefactor, Donald Scarinci," says The Jersey City Reporter of March 17.
The remarks were prompted by Cunningham's dispute with Menendez over the coming election for Hudson County executive -- they're backing opposing candidates. Scarinci holds many municipal and government agency contracts in Hudson County and looms large among elected officials there.
Scarinci has consistently maintained that this is a dispute between the mayors of Hudson County and that he has no comment on it.
A day later in Passaic, however, Mayor Samuel Rivera treated Scarinci and others at a local restaurant to celebrate the dismissal of the state attorney general's attempt to depose him based on an old conviction for covering up a homicide when he was a police officer in Puerto Rico. Scarinci is counsel to the city, and although Rivera's personal attorney is Hal Haveson of Haveson and Otis in Princeton, Scarinci and his colleagues have been close supporters of Rivera in that fight.
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