BEN WASSERMAN Of Counsel wasserman@strykertams.com Direct Dial: (973) 491-3965 PRACTICE AREAS: The Law Governing Lawyers Legal Malpractice Personal Injury/Negligence Professional Liability Litigation in all State and Federal Courts Alternate Dispute Resolution

BIOGRAPHY:
Bennett J. Wasserman focuses his practice in the areas of professional liability, professional responsibility and fiduciary duties of the legal profession and of the financial and securities industries. He has been deeply involved in the prosecution, defense and resolution of complex claims in these areas. He also serves as strategic consultant and expert witness to lawyers, law firms and professional liability insurers in legal malpractice litigation. He is frequently called upon to analyze complex issues of compliance or departures from standards of legal practice and rules of professional conduct and has been recognized as an expert in those areas by state and federal courts. Several reported court decisions have cited his work as the basis for their decisions. In one reported decision, Mr. Wasserman was co-lead counsel for Super Lawyers, wherein he successfully argued that the lawyer advertising rules of the New Jersey Supreme Court violated constitutionally protected free speech guarantees. As a result, those Rules have been re-written.

Since 1990, Mr. Wasserman has served as Special Professor of Law at Hofstra University School of Law where he teaches a full semester course in Lawyer Malpractice. He has also been a guest lecturer at other law schools at home and abroad and has served on the faculty of continuing legal education programs. He is a regular contributor to legal publications and is the co-author of the New Jersey Law Journal's Annual Review of the New Jersey Supreme Court's decisions in the areas of legal ethics and malpractice.

Mr. Wasserman is a graduate of Hunter College (B.A. 1968, M.A. 1971) and of Hofstra University School of Law (J.D. cum laude, 1974 A) where he served as Articles Editor of the Hofstra Law Review. He is admitted to practice in the States of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania and in the United States District Courts, Circuit Courts of Appealand the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Wasserman has been Certified as a Civil Trial Attorney by the Supreme Courts of New Jersey since 1985.

Mr. Wasserman has been elected among New Jersey's Super Lawyers (Professional Liability), Best Lawyers in America (Legal Ethics and Legal Malpractice), and has been listed in the Bar Register of Pre-eminent Lawyers with an AV rating from Martindale-Hubble. In 2008, the New Jersey Law Journal voted him as a "Lawyer of the Year".

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EDUCATION:
Hunter College (B.A., 1968; M.A., 1971)
Hofstra University (J.D., cum laude, 1974)

BAR ADMISSIONS:
State:
New Jersey (1976)
New York (1975)
Federal:
U.S. Supreme Court (1979)
U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit (1975)
U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey (1975)
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (1979)
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (1979)
U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York (1979)

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:
American Bar Association (Center for Professional Responsibility)
New Jersey State Bar Association (Member, Section on Labor Law; Member,
Malpractice Insurance Committee, 1991—)
New York State Bar Association
Bergen County (Member, Committees on: Advertising and Professional
Responsibility, 1979; Medical-Legal Cooperation; Co-Chair, Alternate Dispute
Resolution, 1991; Continuing Legal Education, 1992-1993)
New York County Lawyers Association
Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers
American Association for Justice

Honors:
Av-Martindale Hubbel®
Bar Register of Pre-eminent Lawyers
Super Lawyers® (Professional Liability)
Wasserman, et ano., "Settle and Sue is Here To Stay", New Jersey Law Journal, Supreme Court Year in Review, September 6, 2010.
Best Lawyers in America® - (Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility and Legal Malpractice Law)
"Lawyer of the Year" = 2008 - New Jersey Law Journal

REPORTED CASES:
In re Opinion 39 of the Committee on Attorney Advertising, 197 N.J. 66, 961 A.2d 722 (2008) (Attorney of Record-co-counsel for petitioners and intervenor/petitioners), wherein the N.J. Supreme Court declared two of its own Rules of Professional Conduct unconstitutional as violative of commercial free speech.

Carbis Sales, Inc. et al v. Eisenberg, et al., 397 N.J. Super. 64, 935 A.2d 1236 (App. Div., 2007) (liability of designated defense counsel to his insurance carrier) (Expert witness)

Fiorentino v. Frank Rapoport, Saul Ewing, et. al, 693 A.2d 208 (Pa. Super.) app. denied. 1997 PA. 2323 (1997) (negligence, contract and fiduciary duties of lawyer in commercial transaction) (Expert witness)

Huber v. Watson, 568 N.W.2d 787 (Sup. Ct. of Iowa, 1997) (litigation malpractice, failure to name appropriate parties in underlying asbestos suit) (Expert witness)

Vahila et. al. v. Charles D. Hall, III, et. al. 77 Ohio St.3d 421, 647 NE2d 1164 (1997) (Sup. Ct. of Ohio). (proving the case within a case in underlying criminal defense case with expert witness) (Expert witness)

Profit Sharing Trust v. Lampf, Lipkind, et al. 267 N.J. Super 174, 180, 630 A.2d 1191 (Law Div., 1993). (Fiduciary duty of law firm to refrain from prohibited transactions with client under RPC 1.8) (Expert witness)

Olds v. Donnelly, 291 N.J. Super. 222 (1996) aff’d 150 N.J. 424 (1997) (Expert witness) reverses Circle Chevrolet Co. v. Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla (which held entire controversy doctrine inapplicable to legal malpractice claims)

Estate of Re v. Kornstein, Veisz & Wexler, 958 F. Supp. 907 (SDNY 1997) (fiduciary duty of lawyer in the absence of negligence) (Expert witness)

Dinter v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 278 N.J. Super. 521 (1995) (Attorney of record)

Kostick v. Janke, et al., 221 N.J. Super 37 aff’d 223 N.J. Super 311 (App. Div. 1988) (Attorney of Record)

PUBLICATIONS (Click Here to Read Some of Mr. Wasserman's Publications):
"The Ubiquitous Detailman..." 1 Hofstra Law Review 183‑213 (1973) ‑‑ reprinted in Paul D. Rheingold, DRUG LITIGATION, 3rd Edition (1981), and in PRECLINICAL AND CLINICAL TESTING BY THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY, 1975, Joint Hearings before the Subcommittee on Health and Administrative Practice and Procedure of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 94th Congress, pages 1258‑1280; cited in Dixon, TREATISE ON DRUG PRODUCT LIABILITY, s.6.10, et seq.

SYMPOSIUM ON PRODUCT LIABILITY AND SAFETY, Volume II, Hofstra Law Review (1974), (Articles Editor and Coordinator)

Wasserman, The Circle Chevrolet Fallout Continues: Problems the Supreme Court Did Not Solve. 149 N.J.L.J. 320 (July 28, 1997)

Wasserman, Expert Witnesses in the Legal Malpractice Case: The New Jersey Experience (reprinted from Understanding Legal Malpractice - NJ Institute for Continuing Legal Education, Dec. 1997)

Wasserman, Lawyer Malpractice: The Difference Between Life & Death, (Opinion & Commentary, N.J. Law Journal, June 26, 2000)

Wasserman et ano, Legal Ethics: Getting Down to the Reason for the Rule (New Jersey Law Journal. N.J. Supreme Court Year in Review 1999-2000 - 9/4/00)

Wasserman et ano, Legal Ethics: Making Things Clear (New Jersey Law Journal. N.J. Supreme Court Year in Review 2000-2001 – 9/3/2001

Wasserman et ano, Legal Ethics & Malpractice: Third Party Escrow Funds, Entitled to Same Protection as Client Trust Funds. (New Jersey Law Journal. N.J. Supreme Court Year in Review, 2001-2002- 9/2/2002

Wasserman et ano, Legal Ethics & Malpractice: Court Reaffirms American-Rule Exception to Enforce Fiduciary Duty (New Jersey Law Journal, N.J. Supreme Court Year in Review, 2002-2003

Wasserman, Legal Ethics & Malpractice: ‘Suit Within A Suit is Not Required’, (New Jersey Law Journal, The State Supreme Court Year in Review, 2003-2004

Wasserman, Legal Ethics & Malpractice: Advice on Asset Protection Could Land Lawyers in Hot Water (New Jersey Law Journal, The State Supreme Court Year in Review, 2004-2005)

Wasserman, Legal Ethics & Malpractice: Missing Evidence Prompts Negative Inference (New Jersey Law Journal, The State Supreme Court Year in Review, 2005-2006)

Wasserman, Professional Malpractice: Where Were the Lawyers?, Aiding and Abetting Breach of Fiduciary Duty, (New Jersey Law Journal, January 22, 2007)

Wasserman, Own Up to Mistakes, (New Jersey Law Journal, The State Supreme Court Year in Review, 2006-2007)

Wasserman, Professional Malpractice: Holding Lawyers Accountable for Bad Settlements. (New Jersey Law Journal, January 21, 2008) p.1

Wasserman, Way to Cut Quality of Lawyering: Cut Deadline for Malpractice Suits, New Jersey Law Journal, Commentary, April 28, 2008)

Wasserman & Rosenblatt, The Enormity of Our Fiduciary Duty, New Jersey Law Journal, The Supreme Court Year in Review, Legal Ethics and Malpractice, 2007-2008)

Wasserman, Decries State Bar’s Support for Shortening Legal Malpractice Statute of Limitations, New Jersey Law Journal, December 8, 2008, “Voice of the Bar” p.12-13

Wasserman, et ano., Professional Malpractice: Two Views of the Saffer Fee-Shifting Rule: There is a Professional Duty to Support the Rule, New Jersey Law Journal, January 19, 2009) p. 1

Wasserman, The Professional Services Business Enhancement Act: Myths, Realities and Prospective Problems, Report to Members of the New Jersey General Assembly and Senate, January 28, 2009

Wasserman, What if Bernie Madoff Were a New Jersey Lawyer?, New Jersey Law Journal, Commentary, May 11, 2009, p. 23

Wasserman, et ano. At the Crossroad of Constitutionally Protected Free Speech and the Rules of Professional Conduct, New Jersey Law Journal, Supreme Court Year in Review Sept. 7, 2009)

Wasserman, et ano., Mandatory Legal Malpractice Insurance: The Time has Come. New Jersey Law Journal, Professioal Malpractice Supplement, January 14, 2010

Wasserman, What if Goldman Sachs Were a New Jersey Law Firm? (New Jersey Law Journal, Commentary, May 17, 2010)

OTHER EXPERIENCE:
Articles Editor, Hofstra Law Review (1973-1974)
Recipient, Hofstra University School of Law, Distinguished Alumni Award (June, 1985)
Special Professor of Law, Lawyer Malpractice, Hofstra University School of Law (1991-)