Paul J. Fishman

Paul J. Fishman (born February 26, 1957) is an American lawyer and former United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2009 to 2017.

Paul Fishman
United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey
In office
October 14, 2009 – March 10, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
Donald Trump
Preceded byChris Christie
Succeeded byCraig Carpenito
Personal details
Born (1957-02-26) February 26, 1957
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationPrinceton University (BA)
Harvard University (JD)

Early life and education

Fishman was born on February 26, 1957, in New York City to a Jewish family.[1] He grew up in River Edge, Bergen County, New Jersey and attended River Dell Regional High School.[2]

After receiving his J.D. from Harvard in 1982, he served as law clerk to Edward R. Becker, a judge on the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, from 1982 to 1983.[1]

Career

In 1983, Fishman was admitted to the bar in the state of New Jersey and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. That same year, he joined the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, serving in that position until 1987. He served as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division from 1987 to 1989 and as Chief of the Criminal Division from 1989 to 1991. He then served as First Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1991 to 1994 under Michael Chertoff.[1]

Fishman joined the United States Department of Justice under Janet Reno in 1994 as counsel to the deputy attorney general. He was named associate deputy attorney general in 1995, serving until 1997.[1]

In 1997, he became a partner at Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman. His clients included Carla Katz, the former president of the Communications Workers of America who dated New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, and Encap Golf Holdings, a company that was contracted to build golf courses and homes on remediated landfills in the New Jersey Meadowlands. Both of these clients were targets of investigations by the U.S. Attorney's Office.[2]

On June 4, 2009, Fishman was nominated by President Barack Obama to be U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.[3] He was sworn into office on October 14, 2009, along with his First Assistant U.S. Attorney, Gil Childers. Fishman succeeded Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, who had served after the resignation of Chris Christie in December 2008 to run for Governor of New Jersey.[4] After his release in 2017, he joined the faculty of Seton Hall Law School as Distinguished Visiting Fellow.[5]

Fishman is a registered Democrat and resides in Montclair. He is married with two children. He is also a board member of the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls.[2]

Divorce kidnapping case

Fishman represented the U.S. government in its case against members of the New York divorce coercion gang.[6][7]

Fort Lee lane closure scandal

Fishman led the investigation involving the Fort Lee lane closure scandal.[8][9] The resulting indictment led to the guilty plea of David Weinstein and the trial of Bridget Ann Kelly and Bill Baroni. After a month long trial, Kelly and Baroni were both convicted of 9 counts.[10] On May 7, 2020, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the convictions of Kelly and Baroni. [11]

See also

References
  1. "Personal Profile, Paul J. Fishman". Legalty.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  2. Friedman, Alexi (2009-06-14). "U.S. attorney nominee has more than a decade of experience as a prosecutor". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  3. Ryan, Joe (2009-05-16). "Obama picks Bergen lawyer for U.S. post". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  4. Kocieniewski, David (2009-12-15). "New U.S. Attorney in New Jersey Is Sworn In", The New York Times
  5. Sherman, Ted (March 17, 2017). "Former federal prosecutor lands position at Seton Hall". Star-Ledger. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  6. Goldstein, Joseph; Schwirtz, Michael (2013-10-11). "Rabbis Accused In Kidnapping Plot To Force Men To Grant Divorces", The New York Times
  7. Press release (2015-12-15). "Two Orthodox Jewish Rabbis Sentenced To Prison For Conspiring To Kidnap Jewish Husbands To Force Them To Consent To Religious Divorces", Federal Bureau of Investigation
  8. "Paul Fishman: The federal prosecutor driving Bridgegate". NJ.com. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  9. "U.S. attorney: Need to finish Bridgegate investigation, but no timeframe given". Philly.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  10. "Bridgegate verdict: Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly guilty on all counts". NJ.com. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  11. "U.S. Supreme Court throws out Bridgegate convictions, 6 years after an epic traffic jam". NJ.com. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
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