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Our Attorneys

Andrew Dwyer | Partner

Andy Dwyer has been suing employers for harassment, discrimination and retaliation since 1996. He has built a practice focused on trial and appellate litigation that aggressively advances the rights of employees.

Andy graduated from Harvard in 1984, and graduated cum laude from the New York University School of Law in 1990.

After law school, Andy clerked for the Hon. Dickinson R. Debevoise, U.S.D.J., a United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey. He then worked for the National Office of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Law & Policy. This gave Andy a breadth of experience litigating constitutional and civil rights cases in state and federal courts around the country, including the United States Supreme Court. Andy worked on several precedent setting cases, including Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992). From 1992 through 1995, Andy worked at South Brooklyn Legal Services, gaining extensive trial experience representing tenants against their landlords.

Since 1996, Andy has used his skills and experience as a trial and appellate advocate to represent employees against their employers, in cases involving claims of harassment, discrimination and retaliation. He has tried to verdict cases involving diverse claims, including sexual harassment, age discrimination, whistleblowing, race discrimination, denial of tenure, gender and national origin discrimination, failure to accommodate an employee's handicap and breach of contract. He has argued cases at all levels of the New Jersey courts, including the New Jersey Supreme Court, that have set precedents in several areas of employment law, including compelled arbitration, taxation of damages, psychiatric exams of plaintiffs and punitive damages. Because of their high profile nature, many of these cases have attracted media attention.

Because of his background and experience as a litigator, Andy has periodically been asked to become involved in significant cases outside the area of employment law. For example, Andy was brought in as co-counsel for the plaintiff in the United States Supreme Court in Gasperini v. Center for Humanities, Inc., 518 U.S. 415 (1996), which established the extent to which federal appellate courts can review jury verdicts under the Seventh Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In the Arbitration re the Waterfront South Redevelopment Plan, Andy was hired by the City Council of the City of Camden as private counsel in a dispute against the administration over a redevelopment plan. Andy was also retained as an expert witness in Heusser v. New Jersey Highway Authority, where the Director of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights adopted Andy's opinions on the proper hourly rates for attorneys fees in a handicap discrimination case.

Andy has given presentations on issues in employment litigation to attorneys in the American Association for Justice, the National Employment Lawyers Association, and the New Jersey Office of Protection & Advocacy. He has published articles on employment law in the New Jersey Law Journal and the New Jersey Lawyer.

Andy is admitted to practice before the States of New Jersey and New York. He is also admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the District of New Jersey, the Southern District of New York, and the Eastern District of New York. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Third and Fifth Circuits, and before the United States Supreme Court. He has practiced before all those courts, but he has also practiced on a pro hac vice basis before courts in California, Tennessee, Mississippi, Utah, Guam, Kentucky, and the District of Columbia.

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Areas of Practice

  • Employment Law -- Employee

Bar Admissions

  • New Jersey, 1990

  • New York, 1991

  • U.S. District Court District of New Jersey

  • U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York

  • U.S. District Court Southern District of New York

  • U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit

  • U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit

  • U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit

  • U.S. Supreme Court

Education

  • New York University School of Law, New York, New York

    • J.D. cum laude cum laude - 1990

    • Honors: Order of the Coif

    • Honors: Goodman Prize for Outstanding Scholarship & Character

    • Honors: Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow

    • Honors: American Jurisprudence Awards for Property and Torts

    • Law Review: Review of Law & Social Change, Senior Articles Editor

  • Harvard College

    • B.A. - 1984

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • National Employment Lawyers Association

  • New Jersey NELA

  • New Jersey State Bar Association

  • Essex County Bar Association

Jonathan Diego | Special Counsel

Jonathan E. Diego has been a litigator in New Jersey since 1994. He is Special Counsel to the Firm. His practice focuses primarily on workers compensation, personal injury, employment law and civil rights. Jon’s practice also includes representing persons in criminal, municipal court and domestic violence matters.

Jon graduated cum laude from Mars Hill University, North Carolina, in 1989, and graduated from Rutgers University School of Law, Camden, in 1993. While attending both schools he received several academic scholarships. 

 

After law school, Jon was a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Arthur Guerrera, J.S.C. and the Hon. Robert Neustadter, J.S.C., both Judges of the Superior Court of New Jersey. From 1994 to 1999, Jon worked as a civil rights attorney, representing employees and other victims of discrimination. He handled cases in both federal and state courts, as well as proceedings before the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights and the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

From 1999 to 2003, Jon held several positions as a government attorney, working in the Office of the City Solicitor, Atlantic City, NJ; the Office of the Municipal Prosecutor, Camden, NJ; and the Office of the City Attorney, Camden, NJ. 

 

From 2003 to 2010, Jon worked at Miksis & Diego, where he continued to represent employees in discrimination and retaliation claims. He also handled workers compensation claims, personal injury claims, criminal defense, municipal court and domestic violence matters. From February 2010 through February 2013, Jon served as the Chief Prosecutor for the City of Atlantic City.

In his years of private and government practice, Jon has handled hundreds of trials and/or hearings involving workers compensation, employment law, civil rights, criminal, municipal court and domestic violence matters. Jon also knows from personal experience what it means to stand up for civil rights. As an attorney, he was a whistleblower who sued the City of Atlantic City, taking the government to trial, and winning a judgment of over $180,000.

 

In addition to his legal work, Jon has also devoted himself to serving his community. He has served as the pro bono legal adviser to the President of the N.J. Police Administrators Association, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and the Atlantic City branch of the NAACP. He also has coached young people in various sports including, but not limited to, football, basketball and weight training. Jon continues to mentor at risk youth, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Spanish Community Center and the Hispanic Leadership Association of New Jersey.

 

Jon is admitted to practice before the trial and appellate courts in the State of New Jersey. He is also admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. More detailed information about Jonathan Diego’s background and practice can be found at his personal website.

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Bar Admissions

  • New Jersey, 1994

  • U.S. District Court District of New Jersey

  • U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit

Education

  • Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey School of Law - Camden, Camden, New Jersey

    • J.D. - 1993

    • Honors: C. Clyde Ferguson Scholarship 1990-1993

    • Honors: Atlantic County Bar Association Haneman-Perskie Scholarship 1991-1993

    • Honors: Camden County Bar Foundation Plum Scholarship 1992-1993

    • Honors: Camden County Bar Foundation Daniel B. Toll Scholarship 1991-1992

    • Honors: Howard A. Massler Scholarship, 1991-1992

  • Mars Hill University, Mars Hill, North Carolina

    • B.A. cum laude - 1989

    • Honors: Grayson Academic Scholarship 1985-1989

    • Honors: Pi Sigma Alpha-National Political Science Honor Society, Director of Programs

    • Honors: Phi Alpha Theta-National History Honor Society

    • Major: History

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Justice James A. Coleman Worker's Compensation American Inn of Court

  • Sidney Reitman Employment Law American Inn of Court

  • Vincent S. Haneman American Inn of Court

  • National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

  • Atlantic County Bar Association

  • Camden County Hispanic Bar Association

  • Camden County Bar Association

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