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Thomas J. Trautner Jr. is an experienced Wolff & Samson litigator practicing in the firm’s Real Estate, Development and Land Use Group. His land use practice focuses on representing commercial developers in all aspects of the approval process, as well as providing guidance on redevelopment, condemnation and affordable housing issues. Tom also represents condominium and homeowners associations in connection with litigation and community governance.

Tom’s experience in land use, development and affordable housing includes the representation of:

• Private developers and property owners with the preparation and submission of subdivision and site plan applications
• Private developers regarding compliance with municipal affordable housing ordinances and the Statewide Nonresidential Development Fee Act
• Private developers with objections to, and mediation related to petitions by municipalities for substantive certification of affordable housing plans with the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing

Tom represents redevelopers and others, including the New Jersey School Development Authority, in connection with eminent domain proceedings. He also represents commercial property owners with opposition to efforts by municipalities to declare their property in need of redevelopment.

In the area of litigation, Tom’s practice has an emphasis on land use, affordable housing and real estate. His experience includes the representation of:

• A major oil company whose refinery was rezoned so as to render its operations nonconforming. The matter proceeded through trial and resulted in the court overturning the municipal ordinance
• A municipality in litigation regarding the defense of a mining ordinance
• A municipality in litigation regarding a petition for deannexation by certain residents who wish to secede to a neighboring municipality
• The National Association of Industrial Office Parks (NAIOP) in connection with its appeal of the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing’s Third Round Rules
• Commercial property owners with appeals to the Superior Court concerning the denial of development approvals and/or variance requests
• Private developers with litigation concerning contracts to purchase and develop real property

Tom is a graduate of Rutgers School of Law and a cum laude graduate of Rider University. While attending Rutgers School of Law, he served as co-chairman of the Moot Court Board and had the distinction of being named to the school’s 1998 national moot court team. Prior to joining the firm, Tom served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Eugene D. Serpentelli, Assignment Judge, Superior Court of New Jersey in Ocean County.