We are excited to welcome our newest partner, Andrew M. Baron, who spent the last nine years as a judge with the State of New Jersey, Office of Administrative Law, where he was responsible for hearing, deciding or settling over 1,000 cases, including but not limited to Medicaid appeals, housing, special education matters, business and teacher licensing disputes, lemon law, disability and employment cases. Prior to that, Mr. Baron served as a Plainfield Municipal Court judge for eight years and, beginning in 2006, served as the managing partner of Kochanski, Baron, and Galfy, a full-service law firm primarily handling business and probate matters as well as commercial and residential real estate. Throughout the time he spent as managing partner of his former law firm, Mr. Baron played a stabilizing and advisory role for several businesses facing challenging business climates while guiding their leaders through restructuring and reorganization.
Mr. Baron also has an extensive background in governmental law through his service as an Assistant Union County Counsel, Scotch Plains Township Attorney, Chief Prosecutor for the City of Plainfield and Counsel to the Union County Division on Aging.
For the past ten years, Mr. Baron has also served as an adjunct faculty member with the Rutgers-Newark School of Public Policy and Administration, teaching several classes in Health Care Management, Human Resource Management and Business Ethics. He also serves as a lecturer for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education.
Mr. Baron has a passion for giving back to the community, which is evident from his past service as President of the Temple Emanu-El Westfield Men’s Club, President of the Rahway Chamber of Commerce and a coach for local youth soccer, basketball and baseball teams.
A graduate of Drew University and Seton Hall Law School, Mr. Baron also earned an M.S. in Health Policy from the New York University Robert Wagner School of Public Service.
Mr. Baron resides in Scotch Plains with his wife of 36 years and has two adult children.
At the firm, Mr. Baron will serve as chair of the Firm’s Mediation, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Arbitration practice group. He will also advise clients on small, medium, and family business matters, along with wills and probate cases, and he will handle all aspects of state, county and local government matters. When clients’ matters end up in litigation, Mr. Baron will rely on his extensive courtroom experience to assist and guide our clients accordingly.
