About Us
about us
Our Roots
Cole Schotz was founded by remarkable lawyers who approached their practice with passion and their clients with consideration.
For over 90 years, our success has been largely influenced by a focus on the client experience. With a firm history long enough to remember rotary phone calls blended with our modern-day capability to tap into cloud-powered platforms as communication tools, we continue our tradition of customer service by always echoing your style.
Our Founders and Masters of the law
After a brief start to his practice with Charles H. Roemer in 1926, David L. Cole joined forces with Mendon Morrill, setting the stage for the future Cole Schotz P.C., with a refined approach to client care.
David Lawrence Cole
(May 1, 1902 – January 25, 1978)
Graduated from Harvard Law School and went on to be a noted labor arbitrator and mediator, served as Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and counseled every president from Harry S. Truman to Gerald R. Ford in national labor crises.
When a dispute arose regarding the steel industry, threatening to overturn wage controls established during World War II, Mr. Cole got involved – this marked his entrée into national labor issues. He is known as a lawyer who helped develop the system for arbitration and mediation disputes during a period of heightened labor hardship.
Fun fact
Mr. Cole was also known for tracking negotiations using four pens with different colors of ink, using a different color to track each side’s stance and his own notes. The detailed and colorful tracking of the negotiations helped Mr. Cole convince both labor and management that he was ensuring that both sides were heard.[1]
Mendon Morrill
(September 18, 1902 – March 12, 1961)
Graduated from Harvard Law School and was in private practice before taking a brief sabbatical to fight in World War II. In 1942, he was commissioned into the U.S. army and became a first lieutenant.
Mr. Morrill was one of New Jersey’s foremost trial lawyers and in 1958 was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.[2]
Fun fact
Mr. Cole and Mr. Morrill shared not only a professional practice, but a long-lasting friendship that began during their days in college at Harvard. Their ties were so strong, that when David and his wife, Helen, had their first son, they named him Morrill Cole after Mendon.
Among Mr. Cole’s prized possessions, his son Morrill said, was a Chagall poster, signed by the French artist, for the opening of the Metropolitan Opera in its new hall in 1966. “There was a labor dispute and the opera wasn’t going to open,” his son recalled, until Mr. Cole helped settle the dispute. Our gallery aesthetic serves as a nod to our founder’s esteem of art.
Schotz Enters the Picture
Edward Schotz, a name partner of Shavick, Schotz, Nadler & Konner focused his practice in real estate transactions.
Throughout his legal career, Mr. Schotz was regularly listed in the directory, The Best Lawyers in America, beginning in its original publication in 1983. Mr. Schotz is described as a role model, a mentor, a gentleman and an inspiration. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Please see Award Methodology.
In 1982, Mr. Schotz’s firm merged with Cole, Berman & Belsky leading to the installation of Cole Schotz. Together, the combined firm grew to more than 110 attorneys and is now an AmLaw 200 New Jersey powerhouse with offices in six states.
Painting a Bright Future
Our regard for the client experience continues to serve as a framework for the way we approach our craft. We paint the future of tomorrow paying homage to our founding members by passing along not only years of institutional knowledge, but a level of exemplary service that is demonstrated by our attorneys – generation after generation.
