Hartmann Doherty Rosa Berman & Bulbulia, LLC offers legal representation to companies, corporate executives, and individual clients in a broad spectrum of practice areas including business litigation, criminal defense, appeals, corporate and real estate transactions, trusts & estates, business succession planning, and employment counseling. Our clients typically require the sophistication and expertise associated with large law firms, but also demand the aggressiveness and individualized attention available only from a smaller firm like ours that fully understands its clients' businesses.

On June 9, 2009, the firm moved into new main office space at 65 Route 4 East, River Edge, New Jersey. The new office is located approximately five minutes from the George Washington Bridge and is easily accessible from Route 4, Bergen County's major east-west traffic artery. The new office will allow the firm to continue to grow to meet the needs of our clients in both New York and New Jersey.

For the second year in a row, HDRB&B partner Mark Berman was named to the list of "New Jersey Super Lawyers®" in the field of Criminal Defense: White Collar. Also, HDRB&B partner Naim Bulbulia was selected to the list of "New Jersey Super Lawyers®: Rising Stars" in the field of Trusts & Estates. The Super Lawyers® list is published on an annual basis by Law & Politics based upon an extensive peer nomination and polling process and through independent research. According to Law & Politics, "the attorneys listed in Super Lawyers® are limited to 5% of the practicing attorneys in New Jersey, and are among the best in their profession." The firm's New Jersey Super Lawyers® profile can be viewed here.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled today in favor of firm client Michael Ray Aquino, a former deputy chief of the Philippines National Police who pled guilty to a one-count Information charging him with the unlawful possession of a U.S. government document. Aquino originally was charged with multiple counts of espionage and acting as an unregistered foreign agent for which he faced life in prison. The Court vacated the 76-month term of imprisonment Aquino had been serving, agreeing with HDRB&B partner Mark A. Berman's argument that the district court's sentence was erroneously premised upon more severe conduct outside the scope of the specific terms of the plea agreement carefully negotiated by Berman. U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie had argued for the harsher sentence, alleging that Aquino's "guilty plea included acknowledging the stolen documents could have been used to harm the United States, making him eligible for the stiffer sentence." Those arguments were rejected by the Court of Appeals. Aquino, who has been incarcerated since September 2005, is now likely to be re-sentenced to time served.

Richard M. Rosa, head of Hartmann Doherty Rosa Berman & Bulbulia's Personal Injury Litigation Department, recently obtained a settlement in the amount of $300,000.00 for a client who was hurt in a worksite accident. The lawsuit was filed in the Bergen County Superior Court on behalf of a laborer who was injured after tripping over a mislaid power cord at a construction project. The defendants included one of the largest general contractors in the country. The theory of liability asserted in the complaint and substantiated during discovery was failure by the defendants to maintain a safe work environment as evidenced by their non-compliance with both International Building Code Regulations and the Occupational Safety and Health Act ("OSHA"). The case was settled favorably to our client shortly before trial.