The courts in New Jersey have long held themselves to be in the vanguard of legal reform, continually breaking new substantive and procedural ground. The state's courts as well as the Legislature have been responsible for changes in medical malpractice, product liability, employment and auto law. Many of the rulings create additional challenges to representation of clients in civil litigation.
New Jersey's legal landscape makes it essential that a party be represented by attorneys who can enter any state or federal courthouse, understand the system and be known by its bench and bar. The team of 56 attorneys in Wilson Elser's New Jersey office has a stellar reputation in the state's legal community. Our attorneys have diverse backgrounds, including experience in various county prosecutors' offices, counsel to gubernatorial campaigns and service on town planning boards and town councils. Members of our firm also are active in nonprofit organizations, including the YMCA, Multiple Sclerosis Society and Boys & Girls Clubs of New Jersey.
Since our Newark office opened in 1983, our attorneys' skills and judgment have been honed in this state's demanding and result-driven legal arena. Our office has been innovative in the area of new legal standards. For example, several of our attorneys have pioneered joint defense of parties, as coordinating counsel in multiple-party complex environmental matters. New Jersey is also on the forefront of developing principles regarding insurance coverage, another area in which our attorneys have an active involvement. We advise a diverse client base in their shifting responsibilities under local, state and federal regulations pertaining to insurance coverage.
The New Jersey office defends a wide spectrum of general litigation matters and clients. We represent public and private landlords, commercial businesses, transportation companies, contractors, governmental entities and virtually all other types of businesses and individuals in a wide variety of actions. Claims seeking recovery for personal injuries arising out of the condition of premises, toxic exposures, defective design, construction activities or lack of security are routinely handled by our attorneys. Our commercial litigation clients include national banking institutions and finance companies. Our team of experienced attorneys represents plans, employers, insurers, fiduciaries, and third-party administrators in claims brought under Life, Health, Disability and ERISA. The New Jersey attorneys handle everything from complex contract disputes to defending parties in claims of civil fraud, lender liability and violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
We have participated in virtually all substantive areas of litigation, including auto liability, construction claims, education law, employment liability, environmental liability, immigration law, product liability, insurance coverage disputes, municipal liability and toxic torts liability. We regularly defend professional malpractice suits in the medical, legal and accounting professions. We also defend architects, designers, engineers and brokers in these kinds of cases. In response to clients' needs, the office also provides business advice and handles a wide variety of transactional services.