Norberto Garcia, a former partner in the Newark law firm of Blume Goldfaden Berkowitz Donnelly Fried & Forte and now a solo practitioner in Newark, has been reappointed a trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting law-related education and giving all New Jersey residents a basic understanding of the legal system.

 

Certified as a civil trial attorney in 2001, he has been active in the Hudson County Inns of Court since 1996, was vice president of the Hudson County Young Lawyers Division in 1999 and served as president of the North Hudson Lawyers Club in 2003.  Mr. Garcia has been a trustee of the Hudson County Bar Association since 2000 and is currently on its executive committee, serving as vice president.  He has been the co-chairperson of the Hudson County Civil Practice Committee since 2003.  The committee, serving as a liaison between the civil bench and the bar on issues affecting civil practice, arranges seminars and holds an annual meeting between all the civil judges and the bar to address rule changes and other concerns.         

 

He served on the Hudson County Fee Arbitration Committee from 2004 through 2009, becoming its chair in 2009. The committee resolves fee disputes between clients and lawyers who wish to forego the Superior Court forum.  From 2005 through 2008 he served on the Supreme Court Committee on Minority Affairs, which advises the New Jersey Supreme Court on how the state judiciary can assure fairness, impartiality and equal access to the courts.  It also monitors legislation that may affect minority citizens of the state.

 

Additionally, he lectures on civil practice issues at various bar organization seminars.

 

Born in Camaguey, Cuba, he came to the United States with his parents as a young child and grew up in Hudson County.  He has a B.A. cum laude in history from Seton Hall University and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.  He has been admitted to the bars of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.  Mr. Garcia resides in Bloomingdale, New Jersey, with his wife and two sons.