Up Close with Lawyer Joseph A. Ginarte
Firm founder Joseph A. Ginarte launched his legal career in 1982, and in the ensuing years he has seen his practice expand into a full service trial law firm with a steadily growing staff of lawyers and support personnel.To Ginarte, the success of his firm is directly attributable to a philosophy of hard work and commitment that was instilled in him by his parents when he was a boy growing up in Newark. Both parents worked in factories, and when Ginarte was a college student at Kean University in Union , he too worked in a factory—as a full-time forklift operator—while completing his studies and earning summa cum laude honors.It was that working-class background that drove him to seek a law degree, which he went on to earn at Rutgers School of Law, so that he could represent workers. “I grew up seeing workers getting hurt and not getting the benefits they deserved,” he says. “My father was a factory worker and I remember seeing him get injured and how it affected our family, especially since he was unable to return to work due to his injuries. I was drawn to the field.”
Indeed, workplace-injury cases, especially construction accidents, and employment discrimination cases have always been a big part of Ginarte’s—and the firm’s—practice.
In 1995, he handled a case that settled for $9.5 million involving a young worker who fell at a construction site broke his back, and was rendered quadriplegic. Contending that the defendant owner and general contractor failed to provide proper safety restraints, Ginarte was ready to go to trial when the settlement offer was made.
The firm has also achieved numerous other seven-figure outcomes for injured plaintiffs and in a variety of areas, including products liability, civil rights, and medical malpractice.
“I think what makes our firm distinct is the years of experience that we have, and the personal attention we give our clients,” he says. “We’re committed to doing this work.”
“While a lot of firms have downsized or laid-off employees, our firm continues to grow and hire people. I think it’s because people know we’ll fight for them and that we’ll spend whatever it takes to take a case to court.”
It’s a reputation that oftentimes draws big cases that make the news. One recent case that came to Ginarte involved the tragic death of a 3-1/2-year-old boy who died during a routine procedure at a dental office in Irvington. The case, which drew national media attention, involved a dentist who was still on probation for an earlier incident, when a six-year-old girl died while being treated by him.
Ginarte paid for the boy’s funeral and is investigating a medical-malpractice case against the dental clinic.
Ginarte’s work record and his commitment to his clients have also gained him recognition from within the legal profession. He has been an appointee to the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Civil Practices Committee and is also a former president of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey. Ginarte is admitted to New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. bar.
His outside interests involve charitable work and donations to nonprofit organizations, particularly in New York/New Jersey. He also enjoys golfing and rooting for the New York Yankees and the New York Knicks.
Professional Memberships
- American Association of Justice – New Jersey
- American Bar Association
- Essex County Bar Association
- New York Academy of Trail Lawyers
- New Jersey Supreme Court Civil Practice Committee, Appointee 1988-1989
- Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey, President 1986-1987
- New York State Trail Lawyers Association
Court Admissions
- U.S. Supreme Court and all other Courts of the State of New Jersey
- United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- United States District Court – District of New Jersey
- State of New York
- District of Columbia
Education
- J.D. Rutgers School of Law – Rutgers University Editor-in-Chief, Rutgers Law Record Notes Editor, Rutgers Computer &Technology Law Journal
- B.A. Kean University Magna Cum Laude
- New York University - Continuing Education Program
- Harvard University - United Nations Project Distinguished Delegate Award
- T.C. Williams School of Law – University of Richmond - CLEO
Honors and Awards
- 2013, Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers
- 2012 New Jersey Latino Institute Award
- 2008 Lawyer of the Year Award - Jersey City Heritage & Festival Parade
- 2008 Aspira, Inc. Hall of Fame Inductee
- McDonalds’ HACER Scholarship Program - 2007 Sponsor of the Year Award
- Hispanic-American Chamber of Commerce of Essex County - 2007 Lawyer of the Year Award
- Continental News Newspaper - 2007 Lawyer of the Year Award
- National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals -2006 Visionary Award
- 1999 Lawyer of the Year Award
- Temas Magazine, New York, New York - 1999 Lawyer of the Year Award
- Tribune Publishing - 1998 Lawyer of the Year Award
