Litigator, negotiator, professor and advisor who has been honored as both a Fellow in the Construction Lawyers Society of America and as a Super Lawyer®

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.

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.

Known as a versatile litigator, skilled negotiator and trusted counselor, Jason’s clients value his approachable manner and dedication to their success both inside and outside the courtroom.

Jason’s experience includes complex commercial litigation in the commercial/retail real estate and construction sectors, shareholder and partnership disputes, and employment actions, including matters involving wage and hour, discrimination, non-compete and trade secret issues. At Cole Schotz, Jason has been at the forefront of the e-discovery practice which allows him to provide a range of information governance and discovery solutions to his clients.

Professionally, Jason is an active member of the Bergen County Bar Association and Bergen County Bar Foundation. He is also on the Board of Trustees for both the Bergen County Bar Association and the Bergen County Bar Foundation. He also sits on the State of New Jersey’s Committee on Character. Outside of the office, Jason is also a member of the New Jersey Next Generation Committee for ICSC (the International Council of Shopping Centers) as well as a member of the Editorial Board for ICSC’s Shopping Center Legal Update. Jason also proudly sits on the Board of Trustees for Special Olympics New Jersey.

Jason earned his J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. While in law school, he served as a summer clerk for the late Judge John E. Sprizzo of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He currently serves as an executive committee member for Cardozo’s New Jersey Alumni Association.

Prior to law school, Jason earned his B.A. summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Muhlenberg College. At Muhlenberg, he earned First Team Academic All-America honors as a Track & Field athlete and was the recipient of a prestigious NCAA post-graduate scholarship. Jason currently serves his alma mater on the Muhlenberg Alumni Board, as the Northern New Jersey Regional Alumni Club leader and as a member of the Athletics Hall of Fame Committee, among other volunteer roles.

Jason T. Shafron is the managing member of the Shafron Law Group, LLC, a business litigation
law firm located in Hackensack, New Jersey. He has over 30 years litigation experience
representing individuals, business entitles and large corporations in business disputes in federal
and state trial and appellate courts in estate, construction, real estate, land use, partnership and
shareholders, brokerage, employment and insurance coverage litigation.
Mr. Shafron is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York, U.S. District Court, District of
New Jersey, U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. He graduated from
Bucknell University with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and political science in 1988 and
Villanova University School of Law in 1991. Following graduation from law school, Mr. Shafron
served as a judicial law clerk in New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division to the Honorable
Thomas S. O’Brien, J.A.D., where he was involved in appeals regarding substantial business
disputes.
In addition to being the managing member of the Shafron Law Group, LLC, Mr. Shafron has
served as Judge of the Mahwah, Fair Lawn and Bergen County Central Municipal Courts. He also
served for 4 years as a member of the Planning Board in the Borough of Oakland and for 8 years
as a Commissioner of the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority. He is actively involved
in the New Jersey State and the Bergen County Bar Association, where he serves as co-chair of
both the General Equity and Construction Committees. Mr. Shafron has again been selected as a
Super Lawyer in Business Litigation and is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America.

Adam has represented companies and individuals from across the country in high-stakes business litigation and construction disputes. His litigation practice is diverse and includes, in particular, representing plaintiffs and defendants, in and out of court, in contract disputes, claims of fraud, including consumer fraud, public and private construction and mechanic’s liens and payment and performance bond claims, the enforcement of judgments, federal environmental issues under CERCLA, and in employment disputes, including federal and state discrimination and whistleblower claims. He has also represented individuals in estate and trust litigation and in guardianship proceedings.

Adam has been recognized as a “Future Star” in the 2013 through 2015, and 2017 editions of Benchmark Litigation, and has earned an AV® Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating. Adam is admitted in, and has litigated cases in the courts of, the states of New Jersey and New York and in the U.S. District Courts of the District of New Jersey and the Southern District of New York. He has also been admitted pro hac vice to represent parties in litigation in the states of Delaware, California and Texas.

Adam earned his B.A., with distinction, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1993 and earned his J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law – Newark in 1996.

Lee M. Tesser is admitted to practice in New Jersey, Massachusetts and the federal courts of New Jersey and New York, U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts, the Federal Court of Claims, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Tesser is Former co-chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association Construction Industry Law Section. Mr. Tesser concentrates his practice in construction and surety law, construction litigation, construction arbitration, construction defect and performance bonds, and professional liability for architects and engineers. Mr. Tesser writes and speaks frequently on legal issues affecting the construction industry on behalf on contractors, owners, architects, and engineers. He is the author for the State of New Jersey for the treatise "State-by-State Analysis of Legal Issues Affecting Architects, Engineers, Contractors and Owners", as Aspen publication. He is listed in the New Jersey editions of Super Lawyers from 2006 through 2021. Mr. Tesser is also a construction arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.