Two pieces of advice have defined William H. Mergner Jr.’s career.
From the day he was sworn in as a lawyer, Mergner’s mentor and law partner Steve Leary told him the only thing he had complete control over now was his reputation. The second maxim: find a way to make yourself important.
In a legal career that has spanned four decades, with a list of titles that include managing partner, trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Association and now state bar president, there aren’t many professional rooms where Mergner isn’t someone of import.
On Thursday, Mergner will assume his most prestigious role to date as president of the NJSBA, when he takes the oath during the Annual Meeting and Convention in Atlantic City. Mergner enters a profession on the precipice of a technological revolution with the advent of artificial intelligence, not to mention the continued growth of remote work, virtual courtrooms and new ways to interact with clients and peers. Judicial vacancy rates in New Jersey have improved, but a regression is always possible without continued advocacy to fill judge seats. As for mental health in the practice of law, the road to a happy and healthier profession is a long one.
In a world that moves at breakneck speed, Mergner promises an evenhanded approach to leadership. Ideally, he’d prefer the Association to function like the firm he co-manages—collaborative, supportive and invigorating.
“There are two types of leadership environments people try to create. One is surrounding themselves with people who think exactly the way they do and share the same vision. They effectively say yes to whatever the leader wants,” Mergner said. “I’ve always felt the other leadership structure is more effective – one where you are surrounded by people who don’t think the same way and challenge your reasoning. I think that produces the best outcome. You’re less likely to have blind spots when making a decision.”
Wisdom in consistency
Stability is Mergner’s calling card. He’s lived in one town – West Caldwell – his entire life. While on Zoom calls with the court and clients at home, he can peek out the window for a glimpse of his childhood house. Mergner wouldn’t call himself a creature of habit, but he appreciates the comfort and support of being in a tight-knit community of people you can always rely on. He finds the same sturdiness in the State Bar.
“When I was a kid, it used to bum me out that everybody knew who you were and you couldn’t get away with anything. But as you get older, you realize how lucky you are to grow up in a town where everyone looks out for each other,” Mergner said. “I look at the bar association in the same light. It’s a community to help you grow in the profession.”
Merger’s career in the law is equally steady. He’s only been to one interview in his life, with the firm he’s spent his entire career practicing law. Mergner remembers walking into Leary’s Cedar Knolls office in the summer of 1984 as a second-year law student. Leary, a fellow West Caldwell native, convinced a young Mergner to drop his plans for a judicial clerkship and join the firm as a summer associate.
“Leary’s hiring philosophy was that he liked to hire athletes. I played sports in high school and I think he saw that competitive nature in me. He believed athletes had a natural crossover skillset of knowing how to be part of a team and focus under pressure,” Mergner said. “Steve Leary told me if I did well as an associate, they would hire me out of law school and I could immediately start trying cases.”
It was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. After passing the bar exam, Mergner joined the firm and took nine trials to verdict in his first year.
“Trying cases is by far what I like most about being a lawyer. The paperwork aspect of the job is just a means to get to the courtroom,” Mergner said. “Standing in front of a jury, that’s where I feel most comfortable. It’s the place I still get excited.”
Nearly 40 years later, now co-managing partner of Leary, Bride, Mergner & Bongiovanni P.A., Mergner has argued in hundreds of jury trials. The only number that rivals his jury verdict count is the amount of Bruce Springsteen concerts he’s attended, according to Craig J. Hurbert, a longtime friend and the incoming NJSBA secretary.
Mergner runs a firm of about 20 lawyers, small enough to avoid the challenges of a larger office, yet big enough to take on major clients, Mergner said. The firm predominantly handles insurance defense cases involving accidents and civil liability. Mergner focuses his practice on catastrophic loss cases that tend to include construction accidents, product liability and risk transfer.
It’s a firm with no artificial ceilings, where everyone has the opportunity to try something new if they show the initiative, Mergner said.
“When our firm is running the way we want it to run, if we put the right people in the right positions, we don’t need to micromanage things on a day-to-day basis,” Mergner said. “We try to give people a chance to develop and create and accept challenges that advance and satisfy them professionally.”
Superior Court Judge Wendy A. Reek can attest to Merger’s guidance. She started as a secretary at Mergner’s law office in 1988 and credits much of her rise through the firm, and eventually to the Civil Division in Somerset County, to Mergner generously sharing his wealth of experience and wisdom with her.
“Bill has been a true mentor to me in the profession. He helped me get into law school. And even when I was a legal secretary, he allowed me to learn as much about the practice of law, which made my law studies a lot easier,” Judge Reek said.” When I started my journey to become a judge, his efforts were never-ending. It didn’t matter what I needed to have done, he was there to support me, to help and open doors if I couldn’t open them myself. His mentorship has been instrumental in getting me to where I am today.”
Ambitions in the law
Even from a young age, Mergner had ambitions of becoming a lawyer.
“I knew I wanted to go to law school by the time I was in high school, if not sooner. I was the arguing guy when I was a kid. I always had to understand the ‘why’ when someone told me no and would try to reason them around to my point of view. It was a skillset I developed early,” Mergner said.
Mergner always had a gift for oratory, a trait he credits to Mergner’s Irish heritage, Hubert said.
“Bill likes to tell stories. He likes to speak in public and he does it very well. He’s an excellent storyteller, such that when people listen to him, they become endeared to them and at the end of the day they like him in some way,” Hubert said. “As such, they can be persuaded by his arguments. He does very well in the art of persuasion.”
Mergner knew he had the vision and skills, but no lawyer in the family to serve as a guidepost. His mother was a homemaker, while his father worked for 42 years at New Jersey Bell Telephone Company. His father started by climbing telephone poles and eventually worked his way up to management, but hit a career wall because he lacked a college degree, Mergner said.
“My parents always stressed the importance of getting an education, at least a college education, so I would never be excluded from an opportunity,” he said. “I always felt like I owed it to my parents to do the best I could.”
Determined to be the first lawyer in the family, Mergner borrowed every cent he could to attend Catholic University and later the Marshall Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary, where he graduated in 1985. As a first-year student at Catholic, Mergner received his first great piece of legal advice from an orientation adviser, who convinced him to switch majors from History to Political Science.
“In hindsight, Political Science was the perfect springboard for law school, because it exposed you to constitutional law and ethics classes,” Mergner said.
He entered law school wanting to become a commercial lawyer, but took a contracts law class and determined it wasn’t a good fit. As a second-year student, Mergner competed in a brief-writing competition for his appellate advocacy course – an NCAA bracket-style tournament where he would argue his position to the class and advance to the next level if he won. Mergner reached the final round and placed second.
“It was the first taste I had of trial work and using my arguing powers for good,” Mergner said. “I was able to get up and make arguments and convince people of a position. I had success and I liked the competing part. To stand up in front of people and make arguments under pressure, it was like competitive team sports to me.”
That competitive edge has defined Mergner’s career. With hundreds of jury verdicts under his belt, he’s only lost seven cases and remembers each one vividly – the venue, the judge, the opposing counsel – having stewed over every detail of what went wrong. For years, Mergner has practiced the same ritual before a verdict – sitting in the defense chair, he puts his elbows on table, folds his hands under his chin and says a quick prayer. In the first case he ever lost, he bit down on his hand so hard it left a permanent scar.
“My favorite moment as a lawyer is those few minutes after the knock on the door that the jury has reached a verdict. The adrenaline of that is still as exciting for me today as it was the first time I experienced it,” Mergner said. “It’s OK to be competitive, so long as you’re respectful and professional. You have to learn how to be an advocate with being adversarial.”
Opposing Mergner in court is a daunting task, according to Managing Shareholder of Stark & Stark Michael G. Donahue, a friend and colleague on the NJSBA Civil Trial Bar Section. He’s a zealous advocate, who will do everything within reason and fairness to make sure his client’s case is advanced and everyone is treated fairly, Donahue said.
“Spending time with Bill, in court or at a meeting table, you’re always going to learn something. Bill carries himself in such a way that he is the person most people look to for how to resolve a problem. He carries that reputation in court and in his service to the state bar,” Donahue said.
Roots in the bar
Even for someone as accomplished as Mergner, joining the State Bar – much less leading it – never crossed his mind as a young attorney. He doesn’t consider himself a joiner, and is loath to self-promote. Rather, Mergner said he owes all his involvement in the Association to Past NJSBA President John E. Keefe, Jr., who extolled the personal and professional benefits of the Civil Trial Bar Section and inspired him to join. Two years later, Mergner became vice-chair of the section.
“The Civil Trial Bar leadership is a balanced group of plaintiffs and defense attorneys. When we go into the room to solve an issue facing the bar, we put aside our differences and come to a consensus on how to solve a problem in a way that works best for all lawyers and the public,” Mergner said.
Following Keefe Jr.’s accession to the Executive Committee, Mergner took his seat on the Board of Trustees, where he served for seven years before becoming the NJSBA Secretary. While on the Board he was fortunate to appear before the state Supreme Court seven times on behalf of the NJSBA to argue proposed changes to the Civil Rules. He called the experiences “a tremendous honor,” and is also proud to have lent his expertise to critical studies by the Board on bias in the virtual jury selection process and non-lawyers offering legal services.
“When the Board works best, folks from different backgrounds come together and debate to solve problems that impact our quality of life as lawyers. That’s been the most rewarding thing about being involved in the bar association,” Mergner said. “Every single Board meeting I’ve ever been to since the very first time I walked in that room has been the highlight of my month.”
Plans as president
In the coming year, Mergner plans to focus his term on the rapid evolution of AI in the law, advocating against non-attorney ownership for law firms and boosting membership in the Association’s sections and committees.
The Association will continue its review of the complex legal and ethical questions raised by AI and how attorneys can best use the technology to their advantage, Mergner said. He will look to an upcoming report by the NJSBA’s Task Force on Artificial Intelligence in the Law as a guide on how to address these concerns. The issue of non-lawyers practicing law and owning law firms is a pervasive trend seen around the country and one the Association should always stand firmly against, Mergner said. The Association will remain a steadfast opponent of wealth-management firms, private-equity ventures and other non-lawyer entities encroaching on the work lawyers do.
As for boosting membership, Merger said the pitch for joining the State Bar is easy.
“It’s the relationships that help you in your professional life and development. The practice is much more remote now. You’re not in court as often with your adversaries. It can be harder to meet people,” Mergner said. “Those professional and personal connections – the ones that make the difference in your career and support you through the tough times everyone experiences – I’ve made through the State Bar.”