Employment lawyers within 300 miles of Union City New Jersey

When it comes to representing injured workers, who could possibly understand your struggles better than a former craftsman? Attorney Rich Marcolus provides New Jersey workers with passionate representation founded on his excellent legal skill and with his own experience with the abuses that construction workers and laborers suffer from their employers. Rich handles cases in every Court in New Jersey. Experienced Counsel Protecting Injured Workers As a Certified Workers’ Compensation lawyer, Attorney Marcolus provides injured workers with the specialized legal expertise that they need. As a partner at Levinson Axelrod, P.A., he has served injured workers for decades, helping them recover resources for lost wages, medical treatment, long-term care, and more. If you need representation for your workers’ compensation claim, do not hesitate to work with our certified New Jersey work injury attorney. Early Career in Woodworking As a young man, Mr. Marcolus made a living as a carpenter in construction. He joined the NRCC Carpenters Local #253 Union, of which he is still a member to this day. While working in construction, he witnessed firsthand the abuse and mistreatment that injured workers received from employers and insurance companies. Eventually, when Rich chose to pursue law, it was his experience that compelled him to study workers’ compensation, employment, and personal injury law. He worked as a carpenter throughout his educational career, earning his Bachelor’s Degree with honors from Seton Hall University in 1982. He graduated with his Juris Doctorate in 1985 from Villanova University, where he began his career as a lawyer. Fighting for Workers in Belford, Forked River, & Surrounding Areas Though he retired his tools in 1985, Rich has never forgotten what it is like to do an honest day’s labor. Hard work is physically demanding, and workers risk life and limb in order to provide the luxuries that people enjoy every day: safe homes, stable walls, and modern amenities. While workers provide an incredibly valuable service to virtually everyone with their talents and skills, few people are willing to passionately stand up for them when they are injured. Rich Marcolus is the exception—he fights passionately for the workers throughout the state of New Jersey. His work has helped our firm achieve $250 million in settlements and verdicts in the last 5 years and over $1 billion in recoveries in our history. He has also been selected to Super Lawyers Workers Compensation for the 17th year. When you are facing a serious injury as a result of your job, you may deserve compensation. Let us help you fight for justice.

Gary Schafkopf is a practicing lawyer in the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey specializing in Business, Employment, and Real Estate.

For over 25 years, Stephen Matarazzo has helped workers pursue redress of grievances and bring workers compensation cases to a successful closure in New Jersey. He’s been an ally of working people for a quarter of a century. Stephen became an attorney to make a difference in client’s lives. He explains, “I practice workers’ compensation law because those who produce for all the country all too often get the short end of the stick. With my help, they can get their due when they are injured at work.” Mr. Matarazzo graduated from Widener University Law School in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1995, where he received the American Jurisprudence Award for Excellent Achievement in Torts I. He is active in numerous legal organizations. ● Atlantic County Bar Association, Member (1998 to present) ● New Jersey State Bar Association, Member, (1998 to present) ● The Justice James H. Coleman, Jr. New Jersey Workers’ Compensation American Inn of Court (1997 to present) Stephen has four children. He enjoys playing golf in his free time. Stephen enjoys taking his kids to Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games.

Roy Konray is certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Certified Civil Trial Attorney. He has extensive jury trial experience in the areas of medical malpractice, legal malpractice, catastrophic personal injury cases, and employment law. He has served as chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Medical Malpractice committee. He is a shareholder in the firm and chairs its Complex Litigation Department. Martindale-Hubbell is America’s oldest lawyer rating organization. Based on peer reports from judges and lawyers, it awards Mr. Konray the highest ratings in both legal ability and ethical conduct (pre-eminent). NationalTrialLawyers.org places Mr. Konray on its “Top 100 Trial lawyers list. Based on surveys of New Jersey lawyers published in New Jersey Monthly magazine, Mr. Konray has been selected as a “Super Lawyer in every year the survey has been taken (2005 to 2015). He serves as a Master in the Richard J. Hughes American Inn of Court. Lawyers.com reports Mr. Konray has client ratings of 5 out of 5, as well as peer ratings of 5 out 5. Mr. Konray is the co-author of a book chapter on detecting fraud in medical records and has authored several articles concerning civil litigation. He is a frequent lecturer on various issues related to trial work. Some legal matters he has handled have received national and worldwide media coverage. Mr. Konray has appeared on the Today show, CNN’s Joy Behar Show, ABC Nightly News and other television shows as a result of legal cases he has handled.

With a legal mind honed at New York Law School and a global perspective cultivated at the London School of Economics, I bring over 15 years of experience to every challenge. I thrive in fast-paced environments and deliver clear, strategic solutions. I am deeply compassionate about my clients' legal standing, constitutional rights, and individual interests. I spare nothing in my drive and effort to protect them and advocate for their needs. Whether it's reviewing a contract, managing a transaction, planning for the future or advocating for their civil and constitutional rights, I take pride in using my expertise to fiercely champion their cause. I look forward to the opportunity to serve you as your attorney and advocate.

A graduate of George Washington University Law School, Ashton Thomas is a skilled civil attorney with a proven track record. He has been practicing law for over thirty-three (33) years in New Jersey. He has been a municipal prosecutor for the City of Elizabeth for over twenty-five (25) years. Ashton Thomas is admitted to practice in the United States District Court of New Jersey, the U.S. Third Circuit Court, and the United States Supreme Court. Ashton Thomas is here to help you!

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.

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.

Mr. Albert has been dedicated to representing clients in premises liability, automobile, trucking, workplace accident, property damage, and wrongful death cases in New York and New Jersey. Many cases have involved Fortune 500 and large municipal clients. His career has also included serving as Managing Attorney at a busy New Jersey law firm, as well as a Partner at a well respected New York defense firm. In that capacity, aside from handling a large book of cases and the firm’s appeals, he was privileged to serve as a trial mentor, and the in-house Legal Education director and instructor. He has also served as Senior Insurance Defense Counsel in complicated construction accidents featuring catastrophic injuries, complex commercial construction defect cases, contractual indemnification claims, and scaffold/ladder Labor Law cases. Secondary experience has included medical and pharmaceutical malpractice, employment law, workers compensation, and criminal defense. Mr. Albert has served as second and first chair on multiple jury trials, featured in the New Jersey Law Journal. Mr. Albert has argued and won numerous appeals.