Hon. Marianne Espinosa (Ret.)

Special Counsel

The Hon. Marianne Espinosa (ret.) became Of Counsel to the firm after nineteen years as a judge in the Superior Court of New Jersey, serving on the Appellate Division from 2009-17, and as a trial judge in the Civil, Criminal and Family Divisions. Her practice is concentrated on resolving disputes through mediation and arbitration as alternatives to both a trial and an appeal. A panelist on the American Arbitration Association’s rosters of arbitrators and mediators, she has served as a mediator for the United States District Court, the Chancery Courts of Union County and Morris County and as a special master.

While serving on the Appellate Division, Judge Espinosa authored over eighty published opinions. The broad spectrum of issues addressed during her tenure on the bench include: employment discrimination, whistleblower and civil rights claims; employment issues related to statutory and contractual rights; consumer fraud; medical and legal malpractice; insurance coverage; land use; and business disputes.

Judge Espinosa was a partner at Tompkins, McGuire, Wachenfeld & Barry, LLP, from 1994 to 2005. As an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey (1978-86) she supervised criminal investigations and tried cases to conclusion, including as a member of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force, and was awarded a Special Commendation from the Department of Justice. She was an Assistant Counsel in the Bond and Commercial Loan Department of Prudential Insurance Company (1977-78). As a Deputy Attorney General, she represented the State of New Jersey in criminal appeals and prepared a position paper for the Attorney General on the death penalty. She began her legal career as a Law Clerk to Hon. Richard J. Hughes, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of New Jersey (1974-75) and is admitted to practice in New Jersey.

Judge Espinosa graduated from New York University in 1971. She received her law degree from Rutgers University School of Law, Newark, in 1974, where she was on the Rutgers Law Review, the Moot Court Board and the Student Bar Association.

Speaking engagements include serving on the faculty of the New Jersey Judicial College on Updates in Civil Law (2014-16), as a panelist on the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education’s program on Appellate Practice (2015) and as panelist, “#MeToo: Where Are We Now?” New Jersey State Bar Association, Mid-Year Meeting (2018).

New Jersey Supreme Court Committees: Civil Practice Committee (2002-06), Model Criminal Jury Charges (1989-96, 2011-12), Bench-Bar-Media Committee (2007-12), Committee on Women in the Courts (2010-12)

New Jersey State Bar Association Committees: Appellate Practice, Election Law; Presidential Task Force: Lawyers Helping Lawyers