KOLOGI SIMITZ

EDWARD J. KOLOGI, ESQ. has been engaged in the practice of law since 1983 when he became an Associate with famed criminal trial attorney Raymond Brown. One of his first assignments as a Law Clerk was assisting in the preparation of a brief in the notorious ABSCAM corruption case which was the basis of the 2013 movie “American Hustle”. He primarily practices litigation in Municipal, State and Federal Courts, and before Administrative Agencies. Mr. Kologi is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court; the United States Tax Court; the United States District Courts for the Districts of New Jersey and Colorado, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He also served as a Trustee of the Union County Bar Association and as a member of several key Supreme Court Committees. A former Master of the Richard J. Hughes American Inns of Court, (a program designed to tutor young attorneys), Mr. Kologi also holds a Diplomate in Local Government Law. He has been included in New Jersey Monthly Magazine’s editions on “Super Lawyers” each year since 2008. He was Certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Civil Trial Attorney from 1994 through 2017.

The firm currently serves as Co-General Counsel to the Elizabeth Board of Education, one of the largest School Districts in the State, and is Associate Counsel to the New Jersey State Senate. Mr. Kologi is also Legislative Counsel to the Trenton City Council. He was an  Associate Counsel to the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, and was appointed by the former New Jersey State Senate President as a member of the State Law Revision Commission. In 2020, he was a member of the Electoral College for the State of New Jersey.

He was Municipal Attorney for the City of Linden for over 23 years, and the Municipal Attorney for the Township of Berkeley Heights for 3 years. The firm has and continues to represent the County of Union, and numerous municipalities in litigation matters.

 Mr. Kologi is rated AV, Preeminent Level Of Professional Excellence, by Martindale Hubbell,

the highest rating available for competence and ethics. In 2017 he received the Union County Bar Association's prestigious Professionalism Award. In 2018, he was included in InsiderNJ.com 100 New Jersey Policymakers, and was also recognized as an InsiderNJ Political Power Attorney.

Mr. Kologi has handled all types of negligence cases during his career, including wrongful death, automobile, slip and falls, and medical malpractice. He practices extensively in the area of DWI, and was Counsel in a major Appellate Division case establishing the procedures for Post-Conviction Relief Petitions in DWI cases (State v. Schadewald 400 N.J. Super. 350 App. Div. (2007). He has also been involved in several significant discrimination and Civil Rights cases (see Morgan v. UC Board of Chosen Freeholders 268 N.J. Super 337 App. Div. 1993) and has tried numerous cases to a jury verdict. He argued and prevailed before the New Jersey Supreme Court in an attorney disciplinary matter. (in re Rinaldo, 223 N.J. 287 (2015). He handles criminal cases including drug and weapon offenses, violent crimes, and political corruption.

Mr. Kologi has lectured to various groups on legal topics; has taught at the University Graduate level, and is the author of numerous articles on a range of legal issues which have been published in the New Jersey Law Journal; New Jersey League of Municipalities Magazine and New Jersey Municipal Law Magazine. He has also provided legal commentary to the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Star Ledger, The Asbury Park Press, NJ.com, and a number of other publications

MICHAEL S. SIMITZ, ESQ. was admitted to the practice of law in 2001. A Magna Cum Laude graduate of Seton Hall Law School where he authored published articles in the Seton Hall Law Review, of which he was a Notes Editor, and former Clerk to an Appellate Division Judge, Mr. Simitz practice focuses primarily on general litigation, both at the trial and Appellate levels, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in Municipal, State, and Federal Courts. In 2008 Mr. Simitz joined Mr. Kologi in the practice of law.

Mr. Simitz was also admitted to the Bar of the State of New York in 2002, as well as the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. During his career, he has participated in numerous litigated cases, one of which resulted in a significant change in the law by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals (Halsey v. Pfeiffer, 750 F.3d 273 (2014). He has been listed in several editions of New Jersey Monthly Magazine’s Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star”, and currently serves as Public Defender for the City of Rahway and as alternate Public Defender in other municipalities.