Legal StaffPartners Thomas M. Wells. Tom Wells, the founder of Wells, Jaworski & Liebman, LLP, started the firm as a solo practice in 1986. As the firm’s first Managing Partner, he guided its growth to its present status as a highly-respected firm. Tom concentrates his practice in the Real Estate and Land Use Areas and Business & Corporate practice. Since stepping down as the firm’s Managing Partner in 1996, Tom has divided his time between New Jersey and Bristol, Vermont where he also maintains our Vermont office. As an owner of a number of small businesses, Tom has significant expertise in the area of business client representation and complex financing arrangements for real estate development and business working capital. Tom is a graduate of Bucknell University and Case Western School of Law. He is admitted to practice in New Jersey, Vermont and Ohio and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. He served on the District Ethics Committee which handles attorney discipline. Tom is a member of the Bergen County, New Jersey and Vermont Bar Associations. Tom has been involved in a myriad of civic activities and organizations including Rotary International, the Paramus New Jersey Rotary Club, and the Bristol, Vermont Rotary Club, the Ridgewood YMCA Board of Trustees, the Bergen Community College Foundation Board of Directors, The Five Town Business Council in Addison County, Vermont, the Bristol, Vermont Planning Commission, the Ridgewood NJ Public Library Foundation, The Fritz Behnke Paramus Historical Museum, the YMCA Youth Governors’ National Alumni Society, Bristol Downtown
Development Associates, Howden Hall Restoration Committee Chairman, and the United Church of Lincoln in Lincoln, Vermont. Tom served for more than ten years on the Board of Directors of the Holding Company for Farmers & Merchants Bank of Boise, Idaho. He now serves as a Director of the Bank of the Cascades and Cascade Bancorp in Bend, Oregon.
E-Mail Address: twells@wellslaw.com
 James E. Jaworski. Jim Jaworski is the Administrative Partner of the firm. He also heads up our Real Estate department and focuses his practice on Commercial Real Estate, including Land Use and Development areas. Working before Planning and Zoning Boards throughout New Jersey, Jim’s Land Use practice focuses on Northern Bergen County. Prior to becoming an attorney, Jim served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force from 1974-1979. He continued to serve as Staff Sergeant in the Air Force Reserves until he was honorably discharged in 1981. Jim received his undergraduate and law degrees from Ramapo College of New Jersey and New York Law School, respectively. Jim is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the District of New Jersey. He is a member of the Bergen County Bar Association. As an adjunct member of the Ramapo College faculty, he also serves on the Alumni Advisory Board for Ramapo’s Anisfield School of Business. A member of the Bergen Highlands Ramsey Rotary Club since 1992, Jim was President of the Club in the year 2000 and is currently serving on the Club’s 401(k) Foundation Board. Other civic or pro bono involvements include the Center for Food Action, the Bergen 200 Club, Alpine Learning Group, St. Paul’s R.C.C. in Ramsey, and West Bergen Mental Healthcare where he is a Member of the Board of Trustees.
E-Mail Address: jjaworski@wellslaw.com
 Stuart D. Liebman. Stuart Liebman is the Managing Partner of Wells, Jaworski & Liebman, LLP and Chairperson of the firm's Land Use department. Stuart joined the firm as a partner in 1990 merging his successful practice into the growing firm. In 1996, Stuart took over from Tom Wells as Managing Partner. In addition to Zoning and Land Use law, Stuart actively practices in the Real Estate, Business, and Commercial areas handling complex transactions. He has represented many clients in land use development application hearings before Zoning and Planning Boards throughout the state as well as all county and state agencies for development applications. Stuart also sits on the other side of the table as a member of the NJDOT Highway Access Code Advisory Group and is a member of the New Jersey Federation of Planning Officials. Stuart is a graduate of the University of Maryland and Western New England School of Law. Before entering private practice, Stuart served as a law clerk to the Honorable James T. Murphy, J.S.C., Law Division, and Superior Court of New Jersey. Stuart is admitted to practice before the New Jersey State Bar and the United States District Court of the District of New Jersey. He is a member of the Bergen County, New Jersey and American Bar Associations. Stuart sits on the Board of Directors of ArtsPower, currently serving as its president and is a member of the Paramus, New Jersey Rotary Club. He is also the president of Temple Beth Sholom in Fair Lawn. Stuart is active in the University of Maryland and Western New England's Alumni Associations.
E-Mail Address: sliebman@wellslaw.com
 James J. Delia. Jim Delia practices in the Land Use, Commercial and Residential Real Estate and Transactional areas, and is the person the firm turns to when we are called upon to handle a criminal matter. He was an Assistant Prosecutor for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, where he served as Chief of the Fraud Squad investigating white-collar crime and political corruption. Prior to becoming an Assistant Prosecutor, Jim served as law clerk to the Honorable James T. Murphy, J.S.C., Law Division, Superior Court of New Jersey. Jim received his degrees from St. Joseph University and Seton Hall University's School of Law. He is admitted to practice in New Jersey and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and is a member of the Bergen County Bar Association.
E-Mail Address: jdelia@wellslaw.com
 Kenneth A. Porro. Kenneth A. Porro is a partner of the firm. Ken joined WJ&L in May 2005 as the lead attorney in our litigation department. Ken has over twenty years of experience practicing law throughout the State of New Jersey. He is a graduate of Loyola College, Baltimore Maryland and University of Baltimore School of Law. Ken was recently appointed as General Corporate Counsel to the New Jersey State League of Master Plumbers. He is also active in or serves as counsel to the Meadowlands Municipal Mayors Committee; River Park Condominium Association; Meadowlands Construction Officials Association; Terra Firma Development Corporation; Tuckerton Beach Association; 358 Sixth Street Hoboken Condominium Association; Park Avenue Townhouse LLC; Castle Rock Title Agency; and Lyndhurst Little League Inc. Ken is the author of “Redevelopment through Condemnation”; “The Effect of Government Restrictions on Valuation of Property”; and “Defending Contempt Penalties Under the Clean Water Act”. His writing reflects his well established knowledge in riparian and litigation disputes. Ken is a member of the Bergen County Bar Association, the New Jersey Bar Association and the American Inns of Court Trial Lawyer Association. Ken has received the honor of being recognized as a “New Jersey Super Lawyer” by New Jersey Magazine in 2006 and 2007.
E-Mail Address: kporro@wellslaw.com
 AnnMarie P. Smits. AnnMarie P. Smits is a partner of the firm. She is the Chairperson of the Tax, Trusts and Estates Department. Her estate practice is concentrated in the fields of tax and estate planning and trust and estate administration. She also advises and assists the private clients with their charitable goals and real estate needs. Ms. Smits designs and implements estate plans with respect to the inter-generational transfer of family wealth, including family business interests; the reduction of gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes; estate liquidity needs and charitable gifts and bequests. She has extensive experience drafting and reviewing various estate planning documents. Ms. Smits supervises the administration of numerous estates and trusts. She is responsible for post-mortem planning and tax advice, preparation of federal and state estate and inheritance tax returns and attention to family dynamics and concerns. She is experienced in handling Internal Revenue Service audits of estate and gift tax returns, estate and trust litigation matters and elder law and Medicaid planning. Ms. Smits received her B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from William Patterson University and her J.D. degree from Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. She is a member of the New Jersey and New York State bar associations, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (former member of the Estate and Gift Taxation Committee) and the Estate Planning Council of Northern New Jersey.
E-Mail Address: asmits@wellslaw.com
 Darrell M. Felsenstein. Darrell M. Felsenstein is active in the Litigation area of our practice, handling commercial and general civil litigation matters. He also is involved in our Business and Corporate practice and has experience handling real estate matters. Darrell received his undergraduate degree in Journalism from Boston University and his Juris Doctor degree from the Franklin Pierce Law Center in New Hampshire. He is admitted to practice in New Jersey, and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Prior to beginning his practice, Darrell was a Law Clerk to the Honorable Marilyn C. Clark, J.S.C. Superior Court of New Jersey in Passaic County. He is on the Board of Trustees of the Bergen County Bar Association and participates in its General Equity, Civil Practice and Computer/Internet Law Committees. In addition, Darrell volunteers with the Speakers Bureau of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation and also coaches youngsters for the Glen Rock Baseball Association.
E-Mail Address: dfelsenstein@wellslaw.com
Of Counsel Lisa R. Aljian. Lisa Aljian joined WJ&L in May, 2008 as “Of Counsel” in our Business & Corporate Law department, bringing with her substantial experience in this area of the law. Lisa received her B.A. from Farleigh Dickinson University, and her Juris Doctorate from New York Law School. She is admitted to practice in both New Jersey and New York. Lisa is a faculty member of the New Jersey Institute of Continuing Legal Education and teaches its Organization and Sale of Small Businesses classes. She has lectured for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners, and the New York Eye and Ear Hospital. Lisa currently serves as the Attorney for the Zoning Board of Adjustment of River Edge, New Jersey and the Rent Leveling Board of the Town of New Milford, New Jersey. She is a founding member of the Hudson-Bergen Inn of Transactional Counsel, and member of the Business Law Committee for the Bergen County Bar Association, and the New Jersey State Bar Association, and was formerly associated with the Justice Marie L. Garibaldi Inn of Court for Alternative Dispute Resolution. Before becoming a lawyer, Lisa was a consultant in the sports and entertainment field and managed the film archive for Major League Baseball. Lisa is still connected to the entertainment field and maintains a long-standing membership with New York Women in Film and Television.
E-Mail Address:laljian@wellslaw.com
 Cheryl Morrissey. Cheryl Morrissey received her undergraduate degree from Providence College and her law degree from Hofstra University. She is admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York, and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. She is a member of the Bergen County and American Bar Associations and the Academy of Family Mediators. Cheryl has been active in the American Inns of Court program, a national association of litigators and judges, and has served as Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Bergen County Girl Scout Council. Cheryl is currently out of the office on leave.
Associates Jill F. Rosenfeld. Jill Rosenfeld is active in the Corporate and Commercial areas of the firm. Jill received her undergraduate degree from Seton Hall University and her law degree from Pace University School of Law in White Plains, New York. She is admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York, and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. She is a member of the Bergen County Bar Association. Jill is presently a participant in the Justice Morris Pashman Chapter of American Inns of Court, 2004 to 2006. She is a Board Member of the Greater Paramus Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation, and Advocate,
for the Bergen County Rape Crisis Center.
E-Mail Address:jrosenfeld@wellslaw.com
 Andrew S. Kohut. Andrew is active in the real estate, land use and litigation departments. Andrew received his undergraduate degree from SUNY Binghamton receiving a BS in Management Information Systems and Marketing. He received his law degree from the Rutgers School of Law in Newark in 2004. Andrew is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York. He is a member of the NJ and NY Bar Associations.
E-Mail Address:akohut@wellslaw.com
 Nicole E. Cleenput. Nicole is active in the Tax, Trusts and Estates and Business and Corporate Departments. Nicole received her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University-Rutgers College, receiving a BS in Finance with honors. She received her law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law in 2006 and is admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York, and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
E-Mail Address: ncleenput@wellslaw.com
 Sylvia Hall. Sylvia Hall joined WJ&L’s litigation department in January of 2009. She received her undergraduate degree from Vassar College, master’s degree from New York University and Juris Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh. She is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York. She is a member of the Bergen County Bar Association and is an active member of the Bergen County Y.M.C.A.
E-Mail Address: shall@wellslaw.com
|  |
