Cole Schotz has named three new members.  Mark J. Politan, Joseph Barbiere and Douglas I. Eilender have become members of the firm, and Michael N. Morea has been named Special Counsel.

Mark Politan concentrates in the practice areas of insolvency, business reorganization, creditors' rights and bankruptcy litigation.  He regularly represents Chapter 11 and 7 debtors, creditors' committees, asset purchasers, commercial landlords, secured creditors and other parties in interest in all aspects of bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings.  Mr. Politan is a frequent contributor and panelist for the NJ Bankruptcy Bench Bar Conference and has served as a speaker for an NJ ICLE seminar on the "New" Bankruptcy Code.  Mr. Politan has also led in-house seminars on changes to the Bankruptcy Code for clients and other professionals and has authored several articles on developments within his practice area.

Joseph Barbiere's practice emphasizes complex and commercial litigation, with a particular focus on matters involving real estate disputes, shareholder/partnership discord, commercial tenancy issues, chancery litigation, commercial transactions and construction-related disputes.  Mr. Barbiere has litigated matters at the trial level in the state and federal courts of New Jersey and New York, as well as in the appellate courts of New Jersey and New York.  He has represented and counseled clients in numerous arbitrations and mediation proceedings before the American Arbitration Association and similar organizations, and appeared before various administrative bodies and state agencies.  Mr. Barbiere has lectured before community groups in the area of commercial tenancy law and has authored articles on business torts and commercial real estate law.

Douglas Eilender's practice emphasizes all aspects of environmental law, including transactional, regulatory, land use and litigation matters.  Mr. Eilender's practice also includes the oversight and negotiation of cost recovery and insurance coverage claims.  Part of Mr. Eilender's practice focuses on the redevelopment of "Brownfields" sites that are underutilized due to contamination.  Mr. Eilender has been successful in securing Brownfields approval, which allowed our client to recover millions of dollars of remedial costs.  Prior to joining Cole Schotz, Mr. Eilender was associated with Dames and Moore, Inc., a national environmental consulting and engineering firm as an environmental scientist. Previously, he was an environmental scientist at JM Sorge, Inc., an environmental consulting firm.  As an environmental consultant, Mr. Eilender conducted and managed environmental due diligence audits, which included Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments, and asbestos, lead paint and water quality surveys.

Michael Morea's practice emphasizes employment and complex commercial litigation. Mr. Morea has experience representing both employers and employees in all types of employment disputes, including discrimination actions, wrongful discharge suits, whistleblower claims and business torts in the state and federal courts, as well as administrative agencies.