The New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (NJICLE) will honor Christopher Placitella and Gianfranco Pietrafesa with the Alfred C. Clapp Award and bestow Distinguished Service Awards to eight other attorneys and judges.
Placitella has supported NJICLE for more than 20 years as a seminar presenter on product liability, class actions, workplace injury, lead poisoning and the use of experts. His signature seminar on mass torts, which he has moderated for 15 years, draws attendees from across the region and was one of the first programs NJICLE successfully live-streamed.
“Despite his busy practice, Chris always finds time for NJICLE. He is an organizer, speaker and author who always goes above and beyond, not only in program development and the selection of presenters and topics,” according to his nomination.
Pietrafesa, a Hackensack attorney who practices in corporate and business law, has spoken at more than 40 seminars over his 20 years as a program coordinator and speaker. Pietrafesa is a past chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Business Law Section and is a current section director. He was a member of the select committee that drafted the New Jersey Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act for adoption in New Jersey. He also served on the editorial board of New Jersey Lawyer for 15 years and has written numerous articles. He received the NJSBA’s 2012 Distinguished Legislative Service Award.
“Franco does much more than speak for NJICLE—he devotes himself to organizing every detail of a program to help ensure its success. He keeps us apprised of new law, suggests speakers, selects topics, organizes the agenda and even chooses dates that he thinks would be best for a particular seminar,” his nomination states.
The following attorneys and judges will receive Distinguished Service Awards for 2020 and 2021:
Hon. Lisa James-BeaversJudge James-Beavers was recently appointed to the Superior Court and is a former chief administrative law judge. A devoted NJICLE speaker for more than 15 years, she has presented at the “Administrative Law Forum” since 2010. She is a past president of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, past chair of the NJSBA Minorities in the Profession and Administrative Law sections, and a former trustee of the IOLTA Fund of the Bar of New Jersey.
Hon. Sohail MohammedJudge Mohammed, a judge in the Passaic County vicinage, adamantly promotes technology in ways that further the cause of justice and eagerly volunteers his time to share his knowledge on the topic with the New Jersey legal community. When the pandemic hit, he was one of the first people that the NJICLE programming team called to provide free programming to lawyers and judges to help them ease into the use of Zoom and other electronic communication devices so that they could properly represent their clients. He has presented programs on “Virtual and Remote Court Operations Gadgets and Gizmos” in June 2020, “Remote and Virtual Criminal Court Proceedings from Initial Charges through Sentencing” also in June 2020, the “Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Summit” in December 2020 and “Tackling Jury Trials” in 2021.
Anne S. BabineauBabineau practices in redevelopment law as a shareholder with Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer in Woodbridge. She is the planning chair and moderator of the annual “Redevelopment Law Institute,” which she developed in 2004. Babineau has been speaker at the “Land Use Institute” and other seminars and webinars on redevelopment and real estate.
Robert J. BrassBrass is a longtime ambassador for NJICLE, having organized and spoken at more than 40 programs since 1995. He is the program moderator and coordinator for the annual “Criminal Law Institute,” a program that attracts over 100 criminal law practitioners each year. He also is a former NJSBA Trustee, a past chair of the Criminal Law Section and a long-time active member of the NJSBA through his service in other capacities.
John F. DeBartoloDeBartolo, of counsel to the Law Firm of Timothy F. McGoughran, was the NJSBA’s first representative on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Board on Mandatory Continuing Legal Education. He has been a chair, speaker or moderator in numerous family law programs, including the “Family Law Symposium” since 2002. He is a former chair of the Family Law Section and NJSBA trustee. In 2011, he received the NJSBA Saul Tischler Award.
Crystal West EdwardsEdwards has long been a frequent and devoted speaker for NJICLE. She has been a moderator/speaker for the “Elder and Disability Law Symposium” every year since 2011, and in 2019 took over as moderator and an organizer of the two-day “Estate Planning Summer Institute.” In addition, she has spoken on numerous other programs dealing with elder and disability law, including “The Elder and Disability Law Retreat,” “Advanced Estate Administration” and the “Tax and Estate Planning Forum.”
Robyn B. GiglGigl, a partner in Gluck Walrath in Trenton, practices in labor and employment and LGBTQ rights. She has participated in employment law programs for several years and made significant contributions to LGBTQ education. Gigl is a vice chair of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee, a member of the Diversity Committee, the Women in the Profession Section and a past chair of the LGBTQ Rights Section. She has written many scholarly articles for legal publications.
Tracey GoldsteinAn avid supporter of NJICLE, Goldstein was instrumental in programming during the pandemic. Her expertise is in real estate litigation and her programs have included topics such as landlord tenant law, real estate law and practicing in special civil part. She has been a moderator and organizer for “Hot Topics in Residential Real Estate” every year since 2011. Additionally, Goldstein keeps NJICLE in mind for additional seminars on novel topics such as service animals and real estate, bed bugs and cannabis issues in housing.
Registration for the awards reception is free and open to the legal community. To register, go to NJICLE.com.