New Jersey Powerhouse: Cole Schotz

Flexing its legal muscle in high-stakes matters, Cole Schotz PC had a standout year — steering major companies such as Rite Aid, WeWork and Sam Ash through Chapter 11 proceedings, representing a professional soccer club in a significant investment deal, advising on real estate transactions valued in the hundreds of millions and blazing a trail in New Jersey’s cannabis industry.

The firm achieved those results by maintaining its longstanding commitment to client service and dedication — core values since its founding nearly a century ago, landing it on Law360’s 2025 New Jersey Powerhouses list.

As of April, 98 of the firm’s 197 attorneys were based in the Garden State, where Cole Schotz has its headquarters in Hackensack.

Cole Schotz was founded in Paterson in 1926 by David L. Cole, a respected labor arbitrator and mediator, and Mendon Morrill, a prominent New Jersey trial attorney who advised six U.S. presidents on national labor crises. Over the decades, the firm has broadened its practice areas and built a reputation as a trusted adviser for businesses across the country seeking guidance on corporate restructuring, according to co-managing shareholder Michael D. Sirota.

“And it’s not just restructuring,” Sirota said. “We’re hitting on all cylinders: litigation, trust and estates. It’s all coming together. The last couple of years have been unbelievable.”

He credited the hard work of Cole Schotz’s attorneys, adding that the firm’s restructuring practice has been solid both pre- and post-COVID-19.

“Restructuring work has been consistent,” Sirota said. “We’re out of COVID and still spiking because it’s just a natural solution to business stress. It’s a device that’s used to restructure stressed companies. And we’ve mastered it in a major way.”

One particularly complex restructuring case Cole Schotz worked on with Kirkland & Ellis LLP was for Rite Aid Corp., one of the largest pharmacy chains in the United States, said Warren Usatine. He was co-counsel to the company and 119 of its affiliates in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

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