Robert E. Smithson, Jr.
Senior Associate
When handling a matter you must know the law, know the history of the file, know what has been done thus far to address the situation, and what can be done moving forward to obtain the result that the client is seeking.
Departments
- Creditors’ Rights
- Evictions
- Collections
- Litigation
- REO
Jurisdictions
- State of New York, 2012
- State of New Jersey, 2012
Bar Memberships
- New Jersey Bar Association
Education
Undergraduate
- The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Bachelor of Arts, 2008
Graduate/Law Degree(s)
- Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, Juris Doctor, 2011
Snapshot
Robert is an experienced attorney whose practice encompasses a wide breadth of areas including uncontested and contested foreclosure cases in the State of New Jersey, municipal court defense, and municipal property code violations issued arising from local ordinance violations as well as those arising from the Uniform Construction Code and the Fire Code. He also regularly handles title curative matters and appears in court for landlord tenant and collection cases.
Overview
Overview
Robert is an experienced and aggressive New Jersey practitioner with a wide ranging skill set. A first generation college and law school graduate, he strives to excel in every professional endeavor. He regularly steps into fraught and difficult situations, often snatching success from the jaws of defeat.
Robert came to the firm from the New Jersey Superior Court Clerk’s office where he served as a foreclosure analyst. After beginning practice in the firm’s Uncontested New Jersey Foreclosure Department, he has gained substantial experience in the field having handled a wide variety of foreclosure cases and dealt with nearly every conceivable scenario within the practice area. He regularly handles the department’s more difficult and complex matters.
While remaining a stalwart in the firm’s New Jersey foreclosure practice, he developed and implemented the firm’s procedures for handling municipal code violations in the State of New Jersey. This played a large role in expanding the handing of a few municipal code violation cases per year into a vibrant practice area within the firm’s Creditors’ Rights practice group. Along the way, he has become one of the most experienced code violation defense attorneys in the state of New Jersey.
Robert regularly does work for several of the firm’s other departments, rendering assistance where needed. In doing so he has gained experience in other practice areas including landlord tenant matters and collection cases.
He is an active participant within firm life and previously served on the firm’s associate committee from 2017 until 2019. He presently is a member of the firm’s marketing committee.
Client Results
Client Results
- 2016 – Robert’s article detailing the handling of New Jersey code violation cases was published in DS News.
- 2017 – Robert negotiated a settlement where Uniform Construction Code violations giving the client a potential exposure of over $386,000.00 in fines were resolved for $21,500.00.
- 2018 – Robert negotiated a settlement where Uniform Construction violations giving the client a potential exposure of $2.5 million dollars in fines were resolved for $10,000.00.
- 2019 – Robert negotiated a settlement where Uniform Construction Code violations giving the client a potential exposure of $3.8 million dollars in fines were resolved for $15,000.00.
- 2019 – Robert negotiated a settlement where Fire Code violations giving the client a potential exposure of over $945,000.00 in fines were resolved for less than $100,000.00.