Jay V. Surgent, Co-Chair of the firm’s Litigation Law Group,has extensive experience in federal, state and administrative courts defending individual and corporate clients who have been investigated or charged with criminal, civil, or administrative and regulatory offenses. Mr. Surgent has successfully defended clients against such allegations as securities fraud, kick-back schemes, political corruption, bribery, organized crime, illegal gambling, consumer fraud, fraudulent healthcare claims, theft, kidnapping, murder, manslaughter, sex offenses, and other crimes of violence, as well as possessory and distribution drug offenses.

Mr. Surgent is well known for his work in the area of white collar criminal defense, and often handles high-profile matters which receive local, state, and national media attention. Over the span of his career, Mr. Surgent has defended individual and corporate clients against criminal investigations and prosecutions by a variety of federal agencies, including the United States Attorney's Office, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the United States Secret Service, the United States Treasury Department, the United States Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Internal Revenue Service, and various White Collar and Organized Crime units. On the state and local level, Mr. Surgent has successfully defended individual and corporate clients against investigations and prosecutions by various County Prosecutors' Offices, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, the Bureau of Securities, White Collar and Organized Crime Units, New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners and  the New Jersey Board of Dentistry, in matters involving licensing issues and criminal complaints against Physicians and Dentists.

Prior to commencing the practice of law, Mr. Surgent served as a legislative liaison for the United States House of Representatives and as a member of the United States Senate Staff Committee, in Washington, D.C. As a well-regarded attorney in private practice, he was chosen to serve on former Governor James E. McGreevey's Law and Public Safety and Criminal Justice Transition Team for the State of New Jersey. He was also selected for inclusion in the National Registry of Who's Who of outstanding professionals in their respective fields, and was designated a New Jersey Super Lawyer in 2006, 2007, and 2008, in the area of Criminal Defense. Mr. Surgent has appeared as a commentator on TruTV formally known as CourtTV, and has appeared on nationally syndicated news programs concerning his work as a criminal defense attorney.