The firm's successes are rooted in its prior experiences representing government entities themselves. Beginning in 1982, when Governor Thomas Kean, Sr. appointed the firm legal counsel to the NJ Economic Development Authority and the NJ Turnpike Authority, and continuing with numerous subsequent appointments to serve as legal counsel to various other government entities at the State, County and local level, our lawyers have developed a deep and thorough understanding of the operation of government.
The practice group also proudly features:
Lori Grifa,
who served as Chief of Staff to Attorney General David Samson, has nearly 20 years of combined public and private sector experience and actively represents clients before the State's departments, divisions and commissions including the NJ Departments of Banking and Insurance, Education, Environmental Protection, Labor, Transportation, Treasury and the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, as well as a majority of the State's professional licensing boards. She also represents clients seeking to become government contractors by advising them at all stages of the procurement process, from the issuance of requests for proposal, bid submission, and when necessary, challenging the award decisions before the agency and in the trial and appellate courts.
Barbara S. Hutcheon,
who served most recently as Counsel to Attorney General Peter Harvey, having previously been appointed Assistant Attorney General and Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs by Attorney General David Samson. From 1992 to 1998, Ms. Hutcheon served as Chief Counsel to the NJ General Assembly. Ms. Hutcheon also was appointed Deputy Counsel to Governor Kean, with primary responsibility for the State's annual appropriations process. With more than 15 years of legislative experience, Ms. Hutcheon has been instrumental in enabling our clients to maintain regulatory compliance, with particular regard to evolving "pay to play" restrictions at all levels of government.
When combined with the firm's substantive expertise in the areas of environmental law, health care, land use, real estate and public finance law, Wolff & Samson's Government and Regulatory Affairs practice group consistently helps its clients achieve their business goals by navigating through seemingly byzantine regulatory and political processes. With its deep litigation "bench," the firm also represents clients who seek to challenge adverse agency action at both the trial and appellate court levels.
