Judge Bottinelli joins DeCotiis firm

Former Superior Court Judge Terry Paul Bottinelli has joined DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Giblin as a partner and will be part of the Alternative Dispute Resolution practice.

Bottinelli has served on the Superior Court for a decade prior to retiring.  He had previously served as the municipal court judge in Closter.  He is a former municipal attorney in Mahwah, prosecutor in North Bergenfield, Fairview and North Arlington, public defender in Wallington, and attorney for the planning and zoning boards in Bogota, Closter and Dumont.

A former college football player, he began his legal career at a politically influential Bergen County law firm, Breslin and Breslin.

In 1983, the 32-year-old Bottinelli became the Democratic candidate for a one-year unexpired term on the Dumont Borough Council.  He faced incumbent John Wright, a Republican who had been appointed to fill a vacant seat, and an independent, Joseph Spano.  Among his donors that year was a Republican former state senator from Bergen County, Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr.

With the help of Dumont Democratic Municipal Chairman Joseph Ferriero, a young rising star in Bergen County politics, Bottinelli defeated Wright by more than 1,100 votes in an election that saw the Republican mayor lose as an independent.

Running for a full term in 1984, Bottinelli was the top vote-getter in a race where voters split their ticket and also elected a Republican, William Bochicchio, the manager of the Channel Lumber store in Park Ridge.  Bottinelli won by about 200 votes.  He did not seek re-election in 1987.

Later, he became a partner at  Herten, Burstein, Sheridan, Cevasco, Bottinelli, Litt, Toskos and Harz, the firm of former Assembly Majority Leader Albert Burstein.

“My litigation experience includes securing groundbreaking settlements that have improved the lives of communities here in New Jersey and across the country.  In acknowledging the challenges that traditional litigation presents, I am enthusiastic about Alternative Dispute Resolution and the team here at DeCotiis,” said Bottinelli.  “As a former judge, my clients will know that they are in good hands.”

The firm’s managing partners, Joseph and Michael DeCotiis, said the retired judge will be “a tremendous asset to the firm.”