NJBIZ Honors Thomas Cafferty with 2019 Icon Award

The firm and/or the attorney referenced have been selected for the recognitions mentioned herein, which have been conferred by the corresponding publications and/or organizations noted. An overview of the award selection methodologies for these recognitions can be found at https://www.gibbonslaw.com/awards. Links to certain specific methodologies are embedded in individual entries.  No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Thomas J. Cafferty, a Director in the Commercial & Criminal Litigation Department at Gibbons P.C. and Chair of the firm’s Media Law Team, is one of 30 business leaders throughout the state to earn a 2019 “Icon Award” from NJBIZ, one of New Jersey’s premier business news publications. Winners were honored at a ceremony on August 20 at the Palace at Somerset Park in Somerset and will be profiled in a special supplement to an upcoming issue of NJBIZ.

NJBIZ launched the Icon Awards program in 2017 to celebrate New Jersey business leaders over the age of 60 who have achieved noteworthy success, demonstrated strong leadership and unique vision, and shown a longstanding commitment to the New Jersey business community. The Icon Honors recognize years of exceptional work in the state and in the winners’ respective industries. Mr. Cafferty joins fellow Gibbons attorneys Michael R. Griffinger and James R. Zazzali, previous Icon Award recipients.

Mr. Cafferty has played a significant role in shaping New Jersey’s laws regarding government transparency, public access, electronic devices in the courtroom, and access to judicial and government records. He has handled some of the most complex, important matters relating to First Amendment and media issues. He started the media law practice at Gibbons, which has since become well known and highly regarded. He also has served as General Counsel for the New Jersey Press Association (NJPA) for more than 40 years, working with some of the largest news organizations throughout the state.

Mr. Cafferty served two terms as Chair of the Media Law Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) and chaired a sub-committee of the New Jersey Supreme Court Bench Bar Media Committee that issued a critical report, ultimately adopted by the full Committee, recommending major changes in the current Guidelines of the Supreme Court regulating the use of electronic devices in courtrooms. In addition, on behalf of his client, NJPA, he was the principal drafter of the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) adopted in 2001.

Mr. Cafferty has earned extensive recognition for his accomplishments in addition to the NJBIZ award. He was selected as a recipient of the 2018 New Jersey Law Journal Lifetime Achievement Award. The NJSBA named him as its selection for a 2016 Professional Lawyer of the Year Award, presented jointly with the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism. He has also been selected to the Thomson Reuters New Jersey Super Lawyers list in the Communications category, Woodward/White Best Lawyers® in the First Amendment and First Amendment litigation categories – for which he was highlighted as 2014 Newark area “Lawyer of the Year” – and Benchmark Litigation, which has named him a “State Litigation Star.”

A full list of the 2019 NJBIZ Icon Honors winners can be found here.

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No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
A description of the selection process methodology for the awards referenced is available at gibbonslaw.com/awards/.