NJN Foundation Board of Trustees

Angelo J. Genova, Esq.,
Vice Chair, Strategic Initiatives, NJN Foundation

Angelo J. Genova holds a Juris Doctor (J.D., 1978) from Rutgers School of Law - Newark. He also earned a Master of Arts (M.A., 1978) degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Rutgers University. He received his undergraduate degree from Montclair State University (B.A., cum laude, 1975). He is a member of the bar of New York, New Jersey, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Genova is a founding partner in the law firm of Genova, Burns & Vernoia with offices in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia. He has practiced labor and employment law, litigation and election law for over twenty five years.

Mr. Genova represents private and public employers in all aspects of labor relations, including collective bargaining negotiations, grievance and arbitration proceedings, unfair labor practice proceedings, state Public Employer-Employee Relations Act matters, federal Labor Management Relations Act matters, employment discrimination lawsuits (Title VII, ADA, ADEA, Civil Rights Act), wrongful discharge litigation, occupational safety and health litigation (OSHA), wage and hour matters (FLSA), and benefits disputes (ERISA). He appears regularly before the National Labor Relations Board, the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, the New Jersey Department of Personnel, the New York Human Rights Commission, and a variety of state and federal trial and appellate courts.

Mr. Genova is also a noted advocate in election law and campaign finance matters. He has represented numerous public figures in noteworthy cases related to ballot questions, ballot access, absentee ballot disputes, voter eligibility, election recounts and rechecks, federal Voting Rights Act issues, election law financing and questions pertaining to the powers and duties of public officials before the United States Supreme Court, the New Jersey Supreme Court, the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission and the Federal Election Commission.

Mr. Genova is a member of the Labor and Employment Law Sections of the American Bar Association, the New Jersey State Bar Association, and the New York State Bar Association. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the New Jersey State Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section Quarterly, and serves as a member of that Section's Executive Committee, presently as its First Vice-Chair. Mr. Genova has also served as the Chairman of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Election Law Committee. In addition, Mr. Genova formerly served as Co-Chairman of the Essex County Bar Association's Labor and Employment Law Section.

Mr. Genova has been cited since 1989 in every published edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the category of labor and employment law. Mr. Genova was named among New Jersey’s top 800 “Super Lawyers” in New Jersey Monthly Magazine in 2005. He is named among New Jersey’s leading labor and employment lawyers in Chambers USA 2005 Edition. He served as General Counsel to New Jersey Governor James J. Florio's Transition Team in 1989 - 1990, and as the Governor's Chief Labor Negotiator and Special Labor Advisor from 1991- 1994. Mr. Genova currently serves as Labor Counsel to the New Jersey Association of Counties and as Special Counsel on Civil Rights Matters to the New Jersey League of Municipalities. His firm presently serves as Special Labor Counsel to the State of New Jersey.

Mr. Genova lectures regularly on employment law topics having appeared on behalf of the Council On Education In Management, the Employers Association of New Jersey, the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, the Greater Newark Chamber of Commerce, the American Management Association, the Subcontractors Trade Association of New York, the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the Practicing Law Institute of New York, the National Labor Relations Board, the National Business Institute, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the New Jersey Judiciary’s Judicial College, and the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission. He has also lectured on election law and campaign finance law on behalf of the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education and the New Jersey Association of Election Officials.

Mr. Genova has served as a contributing editor and author to several publications in the field of employment law and labor arbitration. He has served as co-editor of New Jersey Labor and Employment Law, a publication of the New Jersey Institute of Continuing Legal Education, and previously served as a member of the Editorial Board of the New Jersey Lawyer. He has contributed to How Arbitration Works (1988 Suppl., BNA, Elkouri & Elkouri), the Newsletters of the Subcontractors Trade Association of New York and the New Jersey Association of Counties, and Supervisory Management, a publication of the American Management Association. Mr. Genova authored “The Hazards of Discharging an Employee”, published in The Brief (ABA Tort & Insurance Practice Section, July 1987), and co-authored “The Attorney’s Guide to Recount Procedures (New Jersey Lawyer Magazine, April 2001). He is co-author of “In the Election of 2002, the Voters of New Jersey Were the Winners” 27 Seton Hall Legislative Journal 77 (2002), and co-author of “The Right to Vote and Be Counted: A Liberty at Risk”, (New Jersey Lawyer Magazine, April 2005, Vol. No. 233).

Mr. Genova serves on several other public and non-profit boards. Mr. Genova presently serves as a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey. Mr. Genova has served as a member and Chairman of the New Jersey Urban Development Corporation from 1992-1994. He currently serves on the Board of the Legal Services Foundation of Essex County, and the New Jersey Business & Industry Association Legal Affairs Committee. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees of Rutgers University and the Rutgers University School of Law Alumni Association Executive Board. Mr. Genova is Vice-Chair of the Montclair State University Foundation Board. Mr. Genova served as President of The Center for Italian & Italian-American Culture, Inc. and as a Board Member. He also serves on the boards of The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Newark, The National Conference for Community and Justice (New Jersey Region), the State Advisory Board to Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations, and the Italian-American Democratic Leadership Council. He is also a member of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, Inc.

Mr. Genova has been a Trustee of the NJN Foundation since 2005 and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Foundation.