Watchung, NJ

Christopher G. Aiello

Mr. Aiello has been engaged in litigation throughout his career, which began in 1983. He has been honored with the Top 100 Trial Attorney award in New Jersey by the National Trial Lawyers. He has achieved a 10.0 superb rating by Avvo a leading lawyer rating agency. His firm has been awarded a 5.0 out of 5.0 rating by Martindale Hubbell, another leading lawyer rating group. He has appeared in dozens of televised, print, and internet media, including the New York Post, New York Daily News, the Newark Star-Ledger, the Bergen Record, the Philadelphia Inquirer, NJ.com, News 12 New Jersey, ABC, NBC, CBS, CBS Radio, 101.5 FM, WINS Radio New York, etc. He initially worked a well-known insurance defense firm where he served as defense counsel for insurance companies and large corporations including the Chrysler Corporation, the Hertz Corporation, Mitsubishi motors, Stanley tools, and medical professionals involved in medical malpractice cases. Mr. Aiello then took this intensive background and training and began representing people as plaintiffs in personal injury and employment litigation matters. He also, since he was a former municipal prosecutor, represented people in need of criminal defense. He and his team of attorneys have achieved substantial results for their clients.

Evan Mason Harris

Mr. Harris, a partner in the Watchung, New Jersey Firm of Aiello, Harris, Abate Law Group PC, had numerous years of trial experience representing defendants in personal injury cases for the insurance industry and began representing plaintiffs in their injury claims. Mr. Harris has secured 7-figure results for individual clients against major trucking firms and construction companies. He has had numerous case results reported in the New Jersey Law Journal’s “Suits & Deals” and is rated a 10.0 by Avvo. Nevertheless, Mr. Harris remains a down-to-earth person whose priorities - “family and colleagues have always come first to me.” - Growing up in Great Falls, Virginia, Mr. Harris admired his father a former World War II combat veteran, who closed his law practice to join the military after the Pearl Harbor attack. He later served under Robert Kennedy in the Department of Justice, pursuing prosecutions against organized crime.

Zack Whelan

Zachary S. Whelan is a New Jersey licensed attorney specializing in estate planning, probate litigation, real estate transactions, real estate litigation, business formation, business disputes, chancery litigation and civil litigation matters. Zack appears regularly in the state and Federal courts of the State of New Jersey. Zack had the privilege of interning for the Hon. Vincent Leblon, Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division in Middlesex County. He was then honored to clerk for the Hon. Joseph P. Quinn, Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division and Probate in Monmouth County. He has significant knowledge, experience and insight into Chancery matters that most other practitioners do not have. He then worked for over two years as a civil litigation associate in a medium-sized insurance defense firm practicing medical malpractice defense and representing state entities and employees in civil rights cases. Zack is a member of the Middlesex County Bar Association, the Somerset County Bar Association and the Monmouth County Bar Association. As a member of the Monmouth County Bar Association, Zack is a member of the Probate and Estate Administration Committee and the Real Estate and Land Development Committee. Through his committee appointments, Zack receives updates and information on current and upcoming New Jersey probate, real estate and land use legislation. Zack is frequently appointed by the Middlesex County Surrogates Court and Somerset County Surrogates Court as an attorney or fiduciary in probate and estate matters. In 2024, he was appointed as a fiduciary for a sub-trust of the J. Seward Johnson 1963 Trust, which originally held a corpus valued at approximately half a billion dollars. As a court-appointed administrator, he has administered estates from being issued letters testamentary to conclusion. He also receives emergent appointments in the Middlesex County Chancery Division for special medical guardianships. Zack is regularly in communication with deputy surrogates, probate clerks, law clerks, and judges chambers. Zack is a graduate of Rutgers University and Rutgers Law School. At Rutgers Law School, he was the Senior Notes & Commentaries Editor for the Rutgers University Law Review and his note, titled Driving for Second Chances: A Foundation for Establishing the First DUI Expungement Law in New Jersey, was published in the Fall 2020. He was also nominated and appointed as a member of the Rutgers Law School Association of Latin American Law Students, which promotes Hispanic heritage and culture while also encouraging the study of law among underrepresented groups. Zack previously worked for the Rutgers Community and Transactional Law Clinic as a student volunteer. While working for the Clinic, he represented a variety of clients from local non-profit organizations seeking to attain or reinstate 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status to being appointed by the Essex County Surrogates Court as a student attorney for alleged incapacitated persons in guardianship matters. Zack is committed to serving the community. While in law school, he worked on the Chicago Justice Project, which uses an evidence-based approach to create change in outdated criminal justice system policies and practices. He then volunteered for the Morris Stern Bankruptcy Project, where he completed and filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy petitions for indigent debtors. Prior to law school, Zack volunteered with the Washington Valley Volunteer Fire Department as a firefighter for almost a decade. He then volunteered at the Somerset County YMCA. Aside from being a lawyer, Zack enjoys fishing, the beach and playing with his cat, Athena.

Robert Novicke

Robert D. Novicke Jr. centers his practice in the areas of employment discrimination and civil rights violations. Mr. Novicke graduated from Rutgers, The State University Of New Jersey, with a B.A. in Political Science. While at Rutgers, Mr. Novicke served as Political Action Chair of the Rutgers NAACP. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Rutgers University School of Law, where he helped veterans in the Veterans Advocacy Clinic. Before joining the Firm, Mr. Novicke clerked for the Honorable Timothy W. Chell, P.J. Cv. and Honorable David W. Morgan, J.S.C. in Gloucester County, New Jersey. During his clerkship, Mr. Novicke drafted memos concerning a variety of civil matters, such as medical malpractice, employment discrimination, negligence matters, and landlord-tenant disputes. He also served as a mediator between landlord-tenant disputes as well as special civil settlements. This culminated in him being awarded the Samuel G. DeSimone Mediation Award, given to the most successful mediator in Gloucester County. Mr. Novicke is actively involved in his community. He has previously served as a county committee member in his local Democratic party, rising to the position of Vice-Chair of the Vineland Democratic Organization. He also assisted in the founding of the Cape May-Cumberland Young Democratic Organization. Mr. Novicke has been honored for his commitment to his community by being awarded the Future Leader of the Year Award by the Vineland African American Community Development Center. Mr. Novicke is barred in New Jersey with a pending application to be barred in Tennessee.

James A. Abate

James A. Abate is a founding partner at Aiello, Harris, Abate, Law Group PC. Mr. Abates practice is focused on Criminal Law, Domestic Violence, DWI, Complex Litigation, and Appellate practice. Mr. Abates criminal experience is in the State and Federal systems. It includes the defense of sexual based crimes, drug crimes, and violent crimes, including a recent dismissal in an attempted murder case in Somerset County. Mr. Abate has represented clients in both State and Federal Courts for allegations of the possession of Child Pornography. Mr. Abate is a member of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey (ACDLNJ) and the National College for DWI Defense. Mr. Abate has served as the Legislative Chair for the New Jersey Bar Association Municipal Court Practice Section. Mr. Abate recently moderated the “Emerging from The Pandemic” symposium at the New Jersey Bar Association Meetings, which featured a who is who of judges, prosecutors, and defense counsel. Mr. Abate represents individuals from all walks of life, including Actors, Athletes, and Politicians. He successfully defended New York Giants cornerback Kamrin Moore, securing the dismissal of a Temporary Restraining Order and Criminal charges, paving his path for removal from the commissioner’s exempt list. Mr. Abate’s reported cases include the seminal Domestic Violence case of R.G. v. R.G. and State v. Thompson, which redefined operation in DWI cases. Mr. Abate has been featured in various media outlets, including ESPN, Bleacher Report, CNN, The New York Post, NJ.com, and the blog Advocacy for Fairness in Sports. Mr. Abate is rated by Super Lawyers Magazine as one of the preeminent criminal defense, DWI defense, and domestic violence litigation lawyers. He holds a rating of 10.0 from Avvo-the highest ranking possible-5.0 from FindLaw, and 4.5 from Google.

William R. Marth

Mr. Marth received his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law at Camden and his B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers College. He is admitted to the New Jersey State Bar, the Pennsylvania State Bar, and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. He is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association and the New Jersey Chapter of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Mr. Marth’s practice areas include civil litigation including personal injury, workers’ compensation, and condominium construction as well as commercial cases and criminal litigation including municipal court, juvenile law, and indictable offenses. He is fluent in German.

Charles D. Whelan III

Charles D. Whelan III is an AV Rated (Preeminent) attorney by Martindale-Hubbell with over 30 years of experience. He is an experienced civil litigator, highly rated by Avvo, Martindale-Hubbell, and his clients and colleagues. Born and raised in New Jersey, he attended college and law school in the state and practices in all twenty-one counties within New Jersey. He is admitted to practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals (Second and Third Circuits), U.S. Supreme Court, New York (and U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York), and New Jersey (and U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey).