Daniel L. Schmutter

Partner, Litigation Department
Member, Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group
Member, Banking, Business Financing & Creditors' Rights Practice Group
Member, Bankruptcy & Reorganization Practice Group
Member, Condemnation & Eminent Domain Practice Group
Member, Environmental Practice Group
Member, Land Use Practice Group

Practice Focus

Mr. Schmutter practices in federal and state trial and appellate courts, before administrative tribunals and in other proceedings in New Jersey and New York. He is experienced in contract litigation, environmental disputes, real estate matters, franchise litigation, shareholder and partner disputes, creditors’ rights and bankruptcy, commercial landlord-tenant disputes, trademark and copyright litigation, employment matters, land use litigation, trust and estate cases and civil rights and constitutional law issues. He also represents clients in alternative dispute resolution proceedings, including arbitrations and mediations.

Mr. Schmutter has represented a broad variety of clients, including real estate developers, manufacturing and industrial companies, international restaurant companies, and other commercial enterprises, including both Fortune 500 companies and small closely held businesses and individuals.

Representative Matters

• Mr. Schmutter successfully argued Des Champs Laboratories, Inc. v. Martin, 2012 N.J. Super. LEXIS 115 (App. Div. 2012), in which the Court struck down an unauthorized regulation of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) which threatened to significantly increase clean up obligations under the Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA) for businesses using very small amounts of hazardous substances.
• Mr. Schmutter was one of two attorneys to litigate Balsamides v. Perle, the leading case in New Jersey on the valuation of closely held corporations under the New Jersey shareholder oppression statute.
• He successfully tried and argued Scholastic Bus Co., Inc. v. Fairlawn, 326 N.J. Super 49 (App. Div 1999), involving the proper standards to be applied under New Jersey's Municipal Land Use Law.
• Mr. Schmutter has submitted five amicus curiae briefs to the Supreme Court of the United States and the New Jersey Supreme Court, one of which was cited by Justice Samuel Alito in the landmark case McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 3025, 130 S.Ct. 3020 (2010).
• He has represented clients in challenging excessive government regulation and has appeared on national television and been published in major newspapers in connection with such efforts.

Publications / Articles / Presentations 

• Presenter, View from the Street: Firearms Law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 2012 NRA Firearms Law & The Second Amendment Symposium, October 13, 2012, Philadelphia, PA.
• Author, "State Supreme Court Reins In DEP Damages Claims," Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP Client Alert, October 2012.
• Presenter, Fine-Tuning Arms Rights in the Courts, 2012 Second Amendment Foundation Gun Rights Policy Conference, September 29, 2012, Orlando, FL.
• Presenter, “Investigating the Potential Responsibility of Outside Parties and Strategies for Recovering Costs,” The Dangers Within: An Update on Dealing with Environmental Hazards in the Workplace, New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association 10th Annual Full Day CLE Conference, September 21, 2012.
• Guest Speaker, “The Second Amendment in the Courts - Issues and Developments Since McDonald,” New Jersey Second Amendment Society meeting, May 2012.
• Co-author, "Sackett v. EPA: U.S. Supreme Court Decision Opens Door for Pre-Enforcement Judicial Review of Compliance Orders Under Clean Water Act," Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis Client Alert, April 2012. 
• Author, “It’s Unwise, Unlawful to End Exemption for Minor Hazardous Substance Uses,” New Jersey Law Journal commentary, August 2011.
• Guest speaker, “Forty Years of the Second Amendment Civil Rights Movement – From Burton v. Sills to McDonald v. Chicago,” New Jersey Second Amendment Society meeting, February 2011.
• Featured guest, Impact of McDonald v. Chicago on the Constitutionality of New Jersey Firearms Law, Freedom Watch, FOX Business Network, August 2010.
• Author, “Throwing the Book at Gun Laws," The Bergen Record commentary, August 2010.
• Contributor, "The Heller Case: Gun Rights Affirmed," Bloomfield Press, 2008.

Other 

• Prior to joining the firm in January 2012, Mr. Schmutter was a partner in the Litigation practice group at Farer Fersko. He was also a litigation partner at Hartman & Winnicki and worked in corporate finance for Republic National Bank of New York.
• Mr. Schmutter has volunteered as a guest lecturer teaching Constitutional Law to New Jersey middle school students.

Bar Admissions 

• New Jersey, 1991
• U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, 1991
• New York, 1992
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 1992
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, 1992
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York, 1995
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, 1996
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, 1999
• U.S. Supreme Court, 2003
• U.S. District Court, Western District of New York, 2004