2026 NJSBA Multicounty (Mass Torts) Litigation Forum

Presenters

Justice Douglas M. Fasciale

New Jersey Supreme Court

Hon. Bruce J. Kaplan, P.J.Cv.

Middlesex County Superior Court

Hon. Gregg A. Padovano, J.S.C.

Bergen County Superior Court

was sworn in as a judge of the New Jersey Superior Court in February 2015 and sits in Hackensack, New Jersey. He initially served in the Family Division and has served in the Civil Division in Bergen since 2015. He has been assigned to handle civil trials, actions in lieu of prerogative writs and Mt. Laurel/affordable housing matters.

Prior to his appointment to the Superior Court, Judge Padovano worked at the law firm Beattie Padovano, LLC in Montvale, New Jersey, where he concentrated his practice in land use, real property tax, municipal law and insurance defense litigation. He served as a Municipal Court Judge for the Township of South Hackensack and was a Municipal Court Prosecutor for the Borough of Moonachie. He represented land use boards for several municipalities, including Leonia, Oradell, Maywood and Weehawken, and also served as Mayor of the Borough of Maywood immediately prior to his appointment to the bench.

Judge Padovano received his B.A. from Gettysburg College and his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law.
(9/23)

Hon. Joel Schneider, U.S.M.J. (Ret.)

Montgomery McCracken

Hon. Patty Shwartz (3rd. Cir.)

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

is a Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and sits in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following law school, Judge Shwartz was an associate at the law firm then known as Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz in Philadelphia, New Jersey. After her judicial clerkship she served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of New Jersey, where she investigated and prosecuted federal criminal cases and held several supervisory positions, including Criminal Chief and Executive Assistant United States Attorney. In 2003, she was appointed to serve as a United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District for the District of New Jersey, a position she held until her appointment to the Court of Appeals.

Judge Shwartz has served on several court committees and has been Chair of the Third Circuit Judicial Council’s Magistrate Judge Committee and Vice Chair of the Third Circuit Judicial Council’s Facilities and Security Committee. She has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the Historical Society of the United States District Court for the District of Jersey, the Advisory Board for the Association of the Federal Bar, and the Executive Committee of the John C. Lifland American Inn of Court. Judge Shwartz has been elected as a Fellow of the American Bar Association and formerly, as a Magistrate Judge, she served as the Third Circuit’s representative to the Board of Directors of the Federal Magistrate Judge’s Association. She is also an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School and lecturer at Rutgers School of Law-Newark.

Judge Shwartz received her B.A.. with highest honors, from Rutgers College and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was a member of the Law Review. She clerked for the late Honorable Harold A. Ackerman, United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey.
(9/23)

Hon. Rukhsanah L. Singh, U.S.M.J.

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Hon. Ana C. Viscomi, J.S.C.

Middlesex County Courthouse

Hon. Leda Dunn Wettre, U.S.M.J.

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Donald W. Clarke, Esq.

Genova Burns LLC, Newark

Jordana Harris Feldman

JAMS, Englewood Cliffs

Lynne M. Kizis, Esq.

Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer, Woodbridge

Jared M. Placitella, Esq.

Cohen, Placitella & Roth, PC, Red Bank

Ellen Relkin, Esq.

Weitz & Luxenberg, New York

Adam C. Silverstein, Esq.

Otterbourg P.C., New York

Daniel M. Stolz, Esq.

Genova Burns LLC, Basking Ridge

Chief Judge Freda L. Wolfson, U.S.D.J., (Ret.)

Lowenstein Sandler LLP, Roseland