Matthew Z. Earle - Hackensack, NJ

Overview

Matthew Z. Earle

Matthew Z. Earle has been with the firm since April 2007. He concentrates his practice in the areas of community association law, construction defect litigation, general equity litigation, real estate tax appeals, international law, municipal land use, and commercial litigation in the state and federal courts of New Jersey and New York.

Mr. Earle provides a full range of legal services to the firm's community association clients, including, among other things: assisting with the transition of developer to unit owner control; interpreting and amending governing documents; preparing rules, resolutions, and other corporate documents; providing advice regarding management of association risk; assisting with insurance coverage issues; advising boards on fiduciary duties; handling covenant enforcement issues; assisting with the collection of arrears; administering association elections; and, representing community associations and individual owners in diverse litigated matters in various practice areas including, among others, construction defects, breach of contract, elections, and covenant enforcement. Furthermore, Mr. Earle frequently serves as an instructor in courses for both other attorneys and association board members on various topics including community association law, community association elections, and construction law. He and the firm are members of the New Jersey Chapter of the Community Association Institute (CAI-NJ). Mr. Earle is also a member of the CAI-NJ Legislative Action Committee, which is a committee that suggests changes to proposed laws to New Jersey elected officials in order to further the interests of community associations.

In addition to his experience in community association work, Mr. Earle has extensive experience handling complex litigation matters. He has handled, among other things, commercial contract claims, fraud claims, complex foreclosure claims, employment discrimination claims, defense of ADA claims against property owners, landlord-tenant matters, and civil rights claims. Also, Mr. Earle has represented clients in development applications before zoning and planning boards.

Representative matters include: successfully obtaining summary judgment dismissing various civil rights and tort claims while defending Township of Millburn municipal officials in the matter Haykell Development, LLC, et al. v. The Township of Millburn, et al., Docket No. ESX-L 6339-09; resolving multiple litigated and non-litigated condominium transition related matters with developers; successfully challenging the determination of a municipal zoning enforcement official; successfully resolving patent and trade secret litigation; and, successfully resolving various litigated matters involving community associations and their residents.

Mr. Earle, who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, also has experience resolving disputes for Chinese based corporations and clients and in the United States, and assisting U.S. based clients resolve disputes in China.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Earle worked for a law firm in New York City that specialized in servicing Chinese speaking clients. Mr. Earle was a summer clerk for the Honorable M. Faith Angell, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Earle has published A Tribute to Frederic L. Kirgis, 62 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 833 (2005). He has been Selected to the "Rising Stars" list by the New Jersey Super Lawyers Magazine in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. Mr. Earle was also named as a Bergen County "Top Lawyer" by (201) Magazine in 2013 and 2017. Mr. Earle is a member of the New Jersey Bar Association and the Bergen County Bar Association, and serves on the Bergen County Bar Association General Equity and Construction Law Committees.