Michael B. Kates, Attorney

Michael B. Kates is a partner of the firm. He specializes in municipal law, zoning and planning, representing municipalities, zoning and planning boards, a wide range of developer interests and environmental groups. He sits on the prestigious Technical Review Committee of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, which authored the Municipal Land Use Law and is advisory to New Jersey Legislature. He is also a contributor to the definitive text on the subject, Zoning and Land Use Administration by William M. Cox, and he is an adjunct professor of Rutgers University, Department of Government Services.  In 2003, he became general counsel to New Jersey Planning Officials, a State-wide organization of municipalities, planning and zoning boards and land use practitioners, primarily engaged in educational programs for members of land use agencies.

Mr. Kates also specializes in chancery litigation, constitutional litigation and individual rights. He is general counsel to Advance Housing, Inc., a consortium of mental health agencies in Bergen County which develops supportive housing alternatives for the mentally ill, principally with Federal and State grants.

Mr. Kates is the author of "An Ethical Lapse and its Effect on a Municipal Contract", Municipal Law Review , Volume 17, No. 2 (June, 1994); "Pop Quiz: Spot the Poison Pill', Conflict of Interest", New Jersey Law Journal , January 25, 1993 (133 N.J.L.J. 236); "Civilian Complaint Review Boards - A Prototype", Municipal Law Review , Vol 14, No. 1 (March 1992); "Private Clubs Which Discriminate: Can Liquor Licenses be Withheld by the Municipality?", Municipal Law Review , Vol. 12, No. 4 (December 1990); and "Public Relations and Public Information Services - To Bid or Not to Bid', Municipal Law Review , Vol. 12, No. 4 (December 1990).

A graduate of Colgate University (B.A., 1964), Mr. Kates received his Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers University, School of Law, in 1967. He served a legal clerkship in 1967-68 with the Hon. Theodore W. Trautwein, Superior Court of New Jersey. He served on the Ethics Committee, District VI (Hudson County), by appointment of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1988-92; and is a member of American Bar Association, New Jersey State Bar Association and Bergen County Bar Association. Mr. Kates is a member of the Bars of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Kates is a past-president of Jewish Family Service of Bergen County, and past-president of J-ADD, an organization advocating for the developmentally disabled.