A founding partner of one of the state’s largest law firms and the counsel to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the district of New Jersey will receive top honors for professionalism this fall.
Edward Deutsch, of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, will receive this year’s Daniel J. O’Hern Award. John M. Fietkiewicz, who is the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s criminal professional responsibility officer and oversees the trial supervision program, is this year’s Charles J. Hollenbeck Award winner. Both awards are presented by the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law, a collaborative of the state and federal courts, the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) and the state’s law schools.
They will be celebrated at the commission’s annual event, scheduled for Nov. 7 in Somerset. The gathering will also feature the presentation of Professional Lawyer of the Year Awards to attorneys from each of the county and affinity bar associations. Past NJSBA President Miles S. Winder III was selected as the association’s honoree.
Deutsch is the managing partner of the Morristown firm. He is a litigator, served on Gov. Chris Christie’s Red Tape Commission and has been active with several bar groups. He is also a founder of Somerset Hills Bank.
Fietkiewicz has been a member of the U.S. Attorney’s Office since 1985, and served in the fraud, special prosecution and criminal divisions of the agency before joining the executive staff in 2011. He has also lectured and taught extensively on legal issues.
CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION AWARDS
Shirley B. Whitenack will receive the 2018 Alfred C. Clapp Award for her dedication and service to the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (NJICLE), the educational arm of the association.
Whitenack is a trustee of the NJSBA, has spoken at over 40 seminars in the past 30 years and has been a contributing editor to a treatise on elder law. She is a partner at Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP, and co-chairs the firm’s elder and special needs law practice group and estates and trusts litigation practice group.
In addition to Whitenack, distinguished service awards will go to several others, including:
Supreme Court Justice Anne M. Patterson, who has been a presenter at NJICLE seminars for decades and whose yearly address to the NJSBA Leadership Academy has become a highly anticipated event.
Former American Bar Association President Paulette Brown, who has presented on issues ranging from labor and employment law to those involving women in the profession.
Carol Johnston, of the Administrative Office of the Courts, who routinely shares her unique insight and expertise on topics ranging from ethical issues in a high-tech world to elder law, special needs trusts and the attorney regulatory requirements.
Steven Mignogna, who has been a NJICLE speaker for more than 25 years, and has participated in over 40 seminars on the topic of estate litigation. He has also authored, edited and contributed to several publications.
They will be honored at a reception on Dec. 4 at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick.