Discrimination lawyers within 20 miles of Union City New Jersey

Stephen Wellinghorst is Co-Managing Partner and practices in Harwood Lloyd’s Insurance Litigation Department, and Commercial Litigation Department. Mr. Wellinghorst received his B.A. in Political Science from Montclair State University in 1984. He received his J.D. from Ohio Northern University Claude W. Pettit School of Law in 1988, where he was an Associate Editor of the Ohio Northern University Law Review. Following law school, Mr. Wellinghorst joined the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. In 1992, he joined the law firm of Braff Harris & Sukoneck, where he specialized in insurance defense litigation representing various insurance companies, self-insured companies and public entities. He became a partner with Braff Harris & Sukoneck in 2000. He joined Harwood Lloyd in 2011 as a partner and practices primarily in the area of insurance defense litigation, representing several insurance companies, self-insured corporations and municipalities. Mr. Wellinghorst specializes in premises liability, representing the largest mall in New Jersey as well as the largest franchised quick service food company in the world and the largest supermarket chain in the east coast. As a trial attorney, Mr. Wellinghorst has successfully litigated multi-million dollar lawsuits on behalf of his clients. He has more than 30 years experience litigating all aspects of civil litigation, including insurance defense, premises liability, commercial auto, self-insured and public entity defense, professional liability, public liability, product liability, construction defects, employment discrimination and commercial litigation matters. Mr. Wellinghorst is a former barrister in the Arthur T. Vanderbilt American Inn of Court, a member of the Defense Research Institute, and a member of the Council on Litigation Management. He has presented numerous seminars and lectured for trade associations and the insurance industry. He has been a frequent legal commentator on local and national news programs such as MSNBC, Court TV, Fox News, CNN and News 12 New Jersey. Mr. Wellinghorst was Municipal Judge for the Borough of West Paterson (2003-2008) and was a Councilman in the Village of Ridgewood from 2010 – 2013. He is the former Planning Board Attorney for Woodland Park (2009-2011) and is the current Planning Board Attorney for the Village of Ridgewood. He was the former Prosecutor for the Pascack Joint Municipal Court which includes the towns of Montvale, Park Ridge and Woodcliff Lake, in 2023. Mr. Wellinghorst is a member of the Bergen County District II Ethics Committee. Mr. Wellinghorst is admitted to practice before the courts of the State of New Jersey (1988), the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (1989), the Courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1989), and the United States Supreme Court (1996), The District of Columbia Courts (2013) and the State of New York Courts (2016). Mr. Wellinghorst is a member of the American Bar Association, the New Jersey State Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association, New York State Bar Association and the Bergen Bar Association.

Carmel J. Decker is a Partner with Harwood Lloyd, practicing in its Insurance Defense Litigation and Commercial Litigation Departments. Ms. Decker concentrates her practice in employment law, civil rights violations, construction law, corporate and contract law and insurance law. Ms. Decker’s employment law practice includes complex litigation in state and federal courts involving wrongful termination, sexual harassment/hostile work environment, discrimination, retaliation, breach of contract, corporate and business law, common-law claims, ERISA, CEPA, the New Jersey Law against Discrimination, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, hiring practices, restrictive covenants, employee handbooks and workplace torts. Ms. Decker represents companies, public entities and public employees in matters involving civil rights violations, negligence and police conduct. Ms. Decker also handles matters involving directors’ and officers’ liability, particularly employment and civil rights disputes. Ms. Decker lectures on employment matters including sexual harassment/hostile work environment discrimination, hiring practices and litigation of employment issues. Ms. Decker drafts employee handbooks, counsels clients on risk management and regulatory compliance and provides preventive counseling to employers on employment issues. Ms. Decker also appears in matters before the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Ms. Decker’s construction law practice includes complex multi-party litigation involving claims of construction defect, professional liability of architects and engineers and construction site accidents. As part of her construction defect practice, Ms. Decker handles matters involving claims of deficiencies in construction and design, latent construction defects, building code violations, breach of contract and insurance. Ms. Decker’s construction law practice encompasses matters arising on public, private, commercial and residential projects. Ms. Decker received her B.S., cum laude, in Business Administration from Montclair State College in 1978 and her J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1981. Ms. Decker is admitted to practice before the courts of the State of New Jersey (1982), the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (1982) and the courts of the State of New York (1989). Ms. Decker is a member of the Federal Bar Association, the Bergen County Bar Association and the Professional Liability Underwriting Society.

William H. Grae joined Harwood Lloyd LLP in 2024 as Counsel with potential responsibility for litigation and trial work in New York and New Jersey. He received his B.A. in Anthropology Crom Cornell in 1991 and a J.D. from Pace Law School in 1994, graduating from both school with academic honors. He has more than thirty (30) years of experience as a creative and innovative litigator, trial attorney, and appellate advocate, whose work in the area of personal-injury defense with a particular emphasis on NY Labor Law/construction accidents, tractor trailer/common carrier claims, general-liability hospitality industry and Dram Shop claims, product liability claims, and litigation of related coverage disputes in NY and NJ. He has both prosecuted and defended professional liability claims involving the medical, dental, podiatric, veterinary, and engineering fields. With respect to construction-related litigation in NY, Grae has particular experience providing risk-management, emergency site-response coordination, and cost-effective legal counsel to defend large-loss claims asserted against construction project participants including owners, general contractors, and construction managers, along with litigation of related coverage disputes. In addition to the specialty, Grae has also extensive litigation and trial experience involving general-liability claims, catastrophic motor carrier and aviation events, mass torts (pharmaceutical, motor-vehicle product liability, lead, and asbestos exposure) in New York and New Jersey State and federal courts. Grae has served as local trial counsel for multiple nationwide defense programs and has experience trying cases before juries throughout the City and State of New York and several NJ counties as well as federal court. Outside the field of personal-injury, Grae also has substantial experience representing clients including financial services providers, real-estate developers, and other business entities confronted by commercial, regulatory claims, and employment-discrimination claims. This includes TILA and CFPB compliance work and defense of consumer credit, NY and NJ Consumer Fraud, usury and related liability claims in NY, NJ and federal courts. In NY, he has also assisted property developers and owners negotiate and litigation issues related to large-scale commercial development projects, land use, and access agreements. Grae has also represented clients and helped resolve based on alleged architectural barriers claims under ADA, wage-and-hour claims under FLSA and related NY State and City/local law, and employment-discrimination claims based on federal, NY, and local law. Grae’s appellate experience includes multiple appearances before each department of the New York State Appellate Division, the New York State Court of Appeals, the NJ Appellate Division, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. His active practice involving alternate dispute resolution not involves frequent mediations and arbitrations. Grae has also served as a volunteer arbitrator in the City of New York Small Claims Court (Kings and Bronx Counties). Grae’s prior pro bono work includes representing the survivors of the Golden Venture disaster and Haitian civil war in US Asylum proceedings as well as serving as a (volunteer) Special Assistant District Attorney with the Appeals Bureau of the Office of the Kings County District Attorney (Brooklyn, NY). In 2004, he was certified as a NJ Animal Cruelty Investigation and later was commissioned as a Human Enforcement Officer (volunteer) with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Animal Cruelty Task Force/Bergen County Chapter of the NJ SPCA (Law Enforcement Division), volunteer work he continued from 2005 to 2010. Grae has lectured on construction-accident liability arising under New York’s Labor Law, medical malpractice risk management, and other litigation-related subjects.

Any legal issue can cause harm to an individual’s finances, reputation and future. If you are facing a legal issue, seek out the legal guidance and representation you need from a dedicated lawyer who will always work hard for you. I’m Robert A. Jones, an Essex County trial attorney. For more than 35 years, I have been helping people who have been injured due to the negligence of others. I also represent people who have lost family members in a fatal accident. In addition to my personal injury practice, I represent individuals in a variety of other areas, including business litigation, medical and legal malpractice cases, nursing home abuse and neglect cases, and employment discrimination and sexual harassment cases. As a small firm, I handle all of my cases personally. Since I do not have a large volume practice, I provide personal attention to each client and to each case. All phone calls from clients are usually returned the same day and all questions are answered thoroughly. In addition, I have a strong, experienced support staff that provides all of my clients with the personal attention they deserve. You can rest assured that someone in this office will always be available to you when you need us.

Ed has over 25 years of experience, and has honed his legal skills in areas such as Wage and Hour, Prevailing Wages and Employment Discrimination and Wrongful Termination. Ed routinely handles New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, Whistleblower and executive employment agreements, severance agreements and employee contracts. Ed has obtained successful jury verdicts in these areas. Prior to joining the firm, Ed had his own firm, where he served clients in employment law, Real Estate, Corporate and Commercial formation and Transaction and Traffic Court matters

For over 40 years, Larry has been conducting trials and appeals in both state and federal courts in employment cases including public employee cases, Lemon Law actions, products liability matters, insurance litigation (including environmental matters, toxic tort and consumer fraud), commercial and corporate litigation, franchise matters, breach of warranty, and similar matters. He has also been involved in the defense of several class action suits and has handled a variety of matters before regulatory boards and he has frequently appeared before the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law. Larry has experience drafting, reviewing, and counselling clients regarding employment agreements, separation agreements and employee manuals. Larry also counsels corporate clients in a variety of areas. He has assisted manufacturing clients in product recalls, preparing warnings, warranties, and owner’s manuals for various products. Larry has been involved in representing clients with matters in China and Hong Kong. In addition to his practice, Larry is Vice President and General Counsel of Foreign Tire Sales, Inc. located in Union, New Jersey.

I live in a great community in New Jersey, where I am actively involved in my community. My wife and I met in high school, went to college together, have been married for over 25 years, and plan to grow old together. We have three beautiful daughters who, as I accept, run my life! I have held several local positions in my town, always staying involved to help others, such as a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary club, I have spent time as a baseball, softball, basketball and soccer coach, a member of the YMCA Board and Soccer Club Board. I live and practice law by the theory that if you do right by people, you will do well. This means I take the time to explain to my clients the details of their case, how it is progressing, and the options they may be able to explore. My integrity, high standards, morals, and honesty have made me a caring and skilled attorney who has earned respect from my colleagues as well as my adversaries. I am here to help you. I will offer an honest and fair evaluation of your case up front and discuss whether I believe your case is worth pursuing or if there is an alternate course of action that may provide you with better closure. In trying to produce the best outcome for your situation, I treat you like I would treat my own family. To me, you are more than a client.

I live in a great community in New Jersey, where I am actively involved in my community. My wife and I met in high school, went to college together, have been married for over 25 years, and plan to grow old together. We have three beautiful daughters who, as I accept, run my life! I have held several local positions in my town, always staying involved to help others, such as a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary club, I have spent time as a baseball, softball, basketball and soccer coach, a member of the YMCA Board and Soccer Club Board. I live and practice law by the theory that if you do right by people, you will do well. This means I take the time to explain to my clients the details of their case, how it is progressing, and the options they may be able to explore. My integrity, high standards, morals, and honesty have made me a caring and skilled attorney who has earned respect from my colleagues as well as my adversaries. I am here to help you. I will offer an honest and fair evaluation of your case up front and discuss whether I believe your case is worth pursuing or if there is an alternate course of action that may provide you with better closure. In trying to produce the best outcome for your situation, I treat you like I would treat my own family. To me, you are more than a client.