About Patrick Pawling

Patrick Pawling Articles written 9

Articles written by Patrick Pawling

A Sea Change

In the tumultuous age of #MeToo, employment lawyer Christine Amalfe has the right skills at the right time

If you find yourself in the Caldwell ShopRite on any given Sunday and pull your cart up alongside a genial, short-haired blonde woman holding court near the artisanal Italian cheese, feel free to join the conversation.  Knowing Christine A. Amalfe, the talk will most likely be about the Yankees, how the Syracuse basketball team is looking, Italian cooking, and other odds and ends. Amalfe, of Gibbons’ Newark office, is a nationally respected employment attorney, power broker, trial lawyer, …

Doing, Working, Hustling

Michael Sirota went from delivering eggs to representing The Donald

There are a few things you might notice about Michael Sirota upon first meeting him. Like the beautiful corner office, the confident eyes, the warm voice. And, of course, the bow tie. Sirota, the co-managing shareholder at Hackensack-based Cole Schotz, is a formidable litigator, but his style is often more pragmatic than table-pounding. He can brawl with the best, but when he and his bow tie enter a case, odds are the judge will be pleased, the client will be happy and the resolution will be …

‘Straight Love, No Chaser’

From judges to book clubs, Paulette Brown, the incoming president of the American Bar Association, tells it like it is

From the outside it seems so simple. You put one foot in front of the other and put your shoulder into it. Eventually, even the heaviest doors swing open. They have for Paulette Brown. Multiple doors, multiple times. This summer, it’s another door. Paulette Brown will become the first African-American woman to head the American Bar Association, which banned blacks until 1943. “Being first carries a responsibility,” she says. “I want to get this right.” As Brown sits down in her office …

The Gold Standard Playbook

DuPont’s recently retired Tom Sager has a pretty simple M.O.—“Do better”

It happened during fraternity rush at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1970. Tom Sager, a sophomore and rush chairman for Beta Theta Pi, had to vote on a promising pledge who was a Morehead Scholar. The kid was articulate, athletic—the whole package. But others on the rush committee said if the young man was accepted, their parents would surely make them leave the fraternity. The student was African-American. “I buckled,” Sager admits. “I went along with the flow.” …

Noto Bene

Take note—criminal defense attorney Maria DelGaizo Noto is one tough cookie. Don’t believe us? Ask the U.S. government

“Who’s the broad?” The setting: a North Jersey banquet room filled with Italian food, cigarette smoke and about 20 gold-wearing, highly amped men, allegedly from the Lucchese crime family. It was a natural question under the circumstances. The men were meeting the team that would defend them against a massive federal indictment that included racketeering and drug sales. Everybody there, clients and attorneys, was male, except for the person wearing Passion and a businesslike tailored …

Bob Peckar Builds Harmony

The construction lawyer tames a rough-and-tumble industry

A smile. A joke. A story or three. Soon you’re nodding your head. Five minutes in, you understand why Bob Peckar is such a success. In a world where alpha lawyers eat raw meat for breakfast, expert witnesses for brunch and would-be partners for dinner, Peckar is … well, much like a quiet samurai. He prefers the path of peace, but could take you apart with efficiency. Conflict avoidance has worked well for Peckar, who learned early on that nice guys can finish first. He owes that, in part, …

Everybody’s Richard Nixon and We’re G. Gordon Liddy

Just try to stand in the way of Veronica Norgaard and John Koufos  

Veronica Norgaard and John Koufos didn't find success in their careers by simply ambling down a smooth road paved with industry contacts and privileged access. It was more like they charged up a steep, rocky path, kicking doors down and ducking bullets along the way. "When you pit two people like us, who have fought for everything, against people who have been given most of what they have, who do you think is going to win?" asks Norgaard. Adds Koufos, "Everybody's Richard Nixon and we're G. …

He Worries So You Don’t Have To

Prisoners at Guantanamo are glad Arnold Natali sweats the small stuff

Arnold Natali is a mad-dog trial hound, the kind of lawyer who can relentlessly shake a case until it goes limp in his jaws. The Newark-based McCarter & English partner is renowned for his pro bono work and, in particular, his work on behalf of three Saudi nationals who were detained at Guantanamo Bay. "It was clear the allegations against these men were just boilerplate and beyond hearsay," he says. With no formal charges, it was difficult finding out anything. Natali's strategy: File …

The Barracuda with a Big Heart

Whether representing the Black Panthers or Bill Gates, Billy Murphy knows when to go for the kill

Barracuda lawyer. That’s what a magazine once called William H. “Billy” Murphy Jr. His reaction? He chuckled—and then made sure the quote went into his official law firm biography. Like his sharp-toothed namesake, Murphy is often relentlessly focused on the kill, especially when crossing a witness, and his career results show it. A former circuit court judge in Baltimore City, a criminal defense attorney for 29 years and now a corporate and personal injury powerhouse who attracts …

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