North Bergen, NJ

Kenneth M. Harrell

Kenneth Harrell is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney, a distinction held by less than 3% of all attorneys in NJ (2.2%). He has represented hundreds of plaintiffs in personal injury actions including motor vehicle accidents, explosion cases, medical malpractice cases and fall down cases. He graduated from Georgia Southern University with a BA in International Studies and a minor in French. He received his JD from Seton Hall Law in 2004. He clerked for the presiding judge of the Civil Division in Union County, then worked at a large plaintiffs’ personal injury firm before starting his own firm in 2022.

John M. Blume

John M. Blume was the founder of the firm, joining his father Charles Blume in practice in 1956. He built a formidable plaintiff’s personal injury practice over nearly 60 years, representing clients in various difficult cases. He was a Certified Civil Trial Attorney, a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and received numerous awards including from the Essex County Bar Association and Trial Attorneys of New Jersey. He was recognized by the National Law Journal as a top Litigator and named Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in 2009 and 2012. He was also listed on the N.J. Super Lawyers list from 2005 to 2014.

Carol L. Forte is a leading female trial attorney in New Jersey, recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the top 10 litigators in the state and one of America’s top 50 women litigators. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a distinction limited to one percent of attorneys. Carol joined the firm in 1984 after graduating from Seton Hall University School of Law, leveraging her prior experience as a registered nurse in medical malpractice cases. She has secured numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements, particularly in brain-damaged baby cases and cases involving delayed cancer diagnoses. She is a member of several bar associations and has received multiple honors, including the Gerald B. O’Connor Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Jersey Law Journal. She has been consistently recognized as a Super Lawyer and listed in Best Lawyers, earning Lawyer of the Year titles multiple times.

Norberto A. Garcia

Norberto A. Garcia is a Certified Civil Trial Attorney and member of ABOTA, specializing in personal injury, construction accidents, premises liability, and medical malpractice. He has secured significant jury trial verdicts and settlements, including $1.24 million for a fatal bus crash and $2.1 million in a trucking accident. He is President Elect of the New Jersey State Bar Association and past president of the Hudson County Bar Association. He has been recognized as a New Jersey Super Lawyer for 11 consecutive years (2013-2024) and named to the 2025 Diverse Attorneys of the Year list by the New Jersey Law Journal. He is fluent in Spanish.

Joseph A. Rutigliano

Joseph A. Rutigliano is an experienced attorney with nearly 24 years of practice, specializing in civil litigation, property tax, real estate, governmental, and landlord-tenant law. He represents individuals, municipalities, counties, authorities, and school boards, handling matters such as civil defense litigation, New Jersey Tort Claims Act, Tax Appeals, real estate closings, and municipal planning. He also practices in personal injury, traffic, municipal court, criminal matters, and debt defense. He has served as Assistant Counsel to the Township of Weehawken and as tax appeal counsel for several other New Jersey municipalities. A lifelong resident of Hudson County, he holds a Juris Doctor from New York Law School and a Bachelor of Arts from Jersey City State College. He was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 2001, the District of Columbia Bar in 2002, and the Bar of the United States Supreme Court in 2006.

Joseph LaBarbiera

Joseph LaBarbiera, founding partner of LaBarbiera & Martinez, embarked in private practice in the areas of personal injury and wrongful death in 1991. In 2003, he merged his practice with the personal injury practice of Luis Martinez, creating the firm of LaBarbiera & Martinez. Joseph has been serving Bergen, Hudson, and the surrounding counties for over 30 years. He served as a Ridgefield councilman at the age of 22, one of the youngest community leaders in the State. Since being admitted to the bar, he has earned the respect of the bench and bar for his ability, professionalism, and zeal. He has obtained tens of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts on behalf of his clients. In 2007, 2008, 2016, and 2019, he represented accident victims in cases that helped comprise part of the top 100 in the entire State of New Jersey, as was heralded in the New Jersey Law Journal. Joseph is a Certified Civil Trial Attorney, and member of the New Jersey Association for Justice. He is actively engaged in protecting the rights of injured victims throughout the State. He was honored with admission to both the Million Dollar and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum as well the Elite Lawyers of America for his significant recoveries on behalf of the injured. Most recently, he was named to the Top 100 National Trial Lawyers. He is proud to be known for his aggressive courtroom posture, which has brought him the respect of both the Plaintiff's bar and the defense bar.

Richard LaBarbiera

Richard LaBarbiera graduated cum laude from Seton Hall University. He began working at the firm in 1994 and practices in the area of personal injury, where he has focused his efforts since graduating from Seton Hall University School of Law. He was proud to have successfully briefed and argued the published Appellate Division case of Pardo v. Dominguez, 382 N.J. Super. 489 (App.Div.2006), which he took up based upon varying interpretations of the limitation on lawsuit threshold by the trial courts. He also took on the Village of Ridgefield Park in D'Angelo v. Moylan, 2016 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 103 (Super. Ct. App. Div. Jan. 20, 2016) where the Appellate Division agreed with his interpretation of N.J.S.A. 59:3-3 and held that ambulance drivers that fail to follow traffic laws are not entitled to immunity. A lifelong Bergen County resident, Richard continues to practice at both the Trial and Appellate levels. He has been recognized multiple times as a "Rising Star" in New Jersey Magazine's "Super Lawyers" publication. Richard is an active member and supporter of the New Jersey Association for Justice. He hopes to one day own a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.