Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Christopher M. Farella has extensive experience representing companies ranging from small entrepreneurial ventures to large multinational corporations in providing counsel to and conducting litigation for such entities in state and federal courts for a wide array of businesses, including the pharmaceutical, defense contracting, manufacturing, and transportation industries.

Mr. Farella focuses his practice in the areas of employment law, business litigation, white-collar criminal defense and attorney ethics. He has litigated cases that encompass employment discrimination, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, restrictive covenants, commercial fraud, product liability and conspiracy. He has defended clients against investigations conducted by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, state human rights agencies, and the U.S. Attorneys' Office. Mr. Farella concentrates on identifying and avoiding problems before they arise for his clients through counseling, development of employment handbooks and workplace policy and procedures. He has lectured at seminars and authored articles on topics ranging from FMLA, harassment investigations to wrongful termination claims.

In 2007, 2008 and 2009, Mr. Farella was selected as a Super Lawyer in the field of employment law and in 2008 as a Super Lawyer in the Corporate Counsel field.

In the course of representing clients before the state and federal appellate courts, two of his cases involving novel questions of law resulted in published decisions: Murphy v. Luongo, 338 N.J. Super. 260 (App. Div. 2001), a case involving a mayor's act of appointing a temporary chief of police without the council's advice and consent; and LaPorta v. Gloucester County, 340 N.J. Super. 254 (App. Div. 2001), which has become the leading New Jersey case on attorney work product privilege. Other reported cases in which Mr. Farella participated are In re Grand Jury, 171 F.3d 826 (3d Cir 1999), Johnson v. Yurick, 156 F.Supp.2d 427 (D.N.J. 2001), United States v. Paster, 64 F.Supp.2d 429 (M.D.Pa. 1999).

Mr. Farella served as Chair of the New Jersey Supreme Court District Ethics Committee and represents attorneys with respect to disciplinary and ethics matters. He also is certified by the Center for Dispute Settlement in Washington, D.C., and served as a mediator with the N.J. Statewide Roster of Mediators for Civil, General Equity and Probate Cases on a broad range of matter and has authored several articles, including "Use of Probability Analysis to Define a Defendant's Intent Level in a Criminal Case," (co-author M. Marpet) St. John's University Review of Business, Fall 2005 and was a contributing writer for a business magazine on management employment issues.

 Mr. Farella received his law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law and his bachelor's degree from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, with High Honors. He is admitted to practice in the states of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania; the United States Supreme Court; the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; the United States District Court, District of New Jersey; the United States District Court, the Southern District of New York; and the United States District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Areas of Practice

• Commercial
• Civil
• Criminal and Employment Law Litigation
• Mediation and Arbitration

Representative Clients

• Comm. & Empl. Lit. for Pharmaceutical & Defense Contracting Industries
• Comm. & Empl. Lit. for Manufacturing, Publishing & Airline Industries
• White Collar Criminal Defense - Individuals and Companies

West Practice Categories

Arbitration, Mediation, Business & Commercial Law, Criminal Law, Employment Law -- Employee, Employment Law -- Employer, Litigation & Appeals

Bar Admissions

• New York
• Pennsylvania
• New Jersey
• U.S. District Court District of New Jersey
• U.S. District Court Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court

Professional Associations and Memberships

• New Jersey Supreme Court (District Ethics Committee)
• New Jersey State Bar Association
• Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• Marie Garibaldi Inn of Court

Honors and Awards

• Center for Dispute Resolution Certification, 2003
• Seton Hall University Inn of Court, 1998
• American Bar Association Award for Humorous Article, 1993

Past Employment Positions

• Epstein, Becker & Green, P.C., Newark, N.J., 2001 - 2004
• Genova, Burns & Vernoia, P.A., Livingston, N.J., 2000 - 2001
• Walder, Sondak & Brogan, P.A., Roseland, N.J., 1995 - 2000
• Honorable Louis F. Locascio, Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Clerk, 1994 - 1995

Education

• Seton Hall University School of Law, Newark, New Jersey, 1994
  J.D.
  Honors: Student Bar Association, Vice-President
  Honors: Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities, 1993-94
• Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1991
  Honors: High Honors
  Honors: Dean's List

Accepts Credit Cards

Address

220 Saint Paul Street
Westfield, NJ 07090-2146

Phones

(908) 301-9001

Faxes

(908) 301-9008

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.stahlesq.com