Thomas J. Cafferty

Thomas J. Cafferty

Partner

Chair, Media Law Group

Lyndhurst Office

Phone: 201-623-1221 l Fax: 201-806-3502

Thomas Cafferty's extensive practice covers both litigation and counseling in every aspect of media and First Amendment issues. He has represented his clients in a wide range of matters, including access to public records, advertising, the Open Public Meetings Act and resisting closure of what should be open meetings, cameras in the courtroom, claims concerning invasion of privacy and defamation, crisis management, issues with regard to public notice, and interpretation of the Shield Law. His practice also includes providing day-to-day advice to his media clients concerning pre-publication review of news stories and access issues.

Throughout his entire career, Mr. Cafferty has been involved with media law and enjoys a strong reputation across the State. He has served as General Counsel for the New Jersey Press Association for over 30 years. He has worked with some of the largest newspapers and news organizations in the State, including Gannett New Jersey, The Record of Hackensack, Herald News, North Jersey Media Group, Worrall Community Newspapers, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Hunterdon County Democrat, North Jersey Newspapers, the West Essex Tribune, as well as The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Mr. Cafferty was a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Defamation Working Group for the 1984 Judicial Conference and served as a member of the Supreme Court Media Relations Committee. He was chosen to serve as a member of the Martin Committee of the Supreme Court, a committee formed to review and advise the Supreme Court on policies governing commercial filming in court facilities.

Currently, Mr. Cafferty serves as an Adjunct Professor of Communications Law for the Rutgers School of Communications, Information, and Library Sciences. He was appointed to the State's Privacy Study Commission, a select group of 13 individuals given the task of examining privacy issues raised by the enactment of the new state open public records law and was just recently chosen to serve on the New Jersey Supreme Court's Working Group on Public Access to Court Records, a group formed with the goal of balancing the Judiciary's obligation to keep their processes transparent and open to the public with their obligations to safeguard legitimate privacy interests.

Mr. Cafferty continues to be named to the “New Jersey Super Lawyers” list. The list, published by Super Lawyers Magazine in conjunction with New Jersey Monthly Magazine, is an annual listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 60 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Just recently, Mr. Cafferty was elected to the New Jersey Supreme Court Bench Bar Media Committee. The committee was created to inform the public about the work of the courts, to devise solutions and to develop protocols to overcome difficulties in reaching individuals and collective goals, and to produce stimulating and productive educational conferences.

RELATED PRACTICES

Media Law
Litigation
Intellectual Property

EDUCATION

Rutgers University School of Law, Newark (JD, 1972)
Rutgers University (BA, 1969)

BAR ADMISSIONS

New Jersey
United States District Court, District of New Jersey
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

AFFILIATIONS

New Jersey State Bar Association (Chairperson, Media Law Committee, 2002-2001)
New Jersey State Privacy Study Commission
Supreme Court Media Relations Committee
Martin Committee of Supreme Court (reviews and advises the Supreme Court on a policy governing commercial filming in court facilities)
New Jersey Supreme Court Defamation Working Group (1984 Judicial Conference)

PUBLISHED OPINIONS

Darakjian v. Hanna, 366 N.J. Super. 238 (App. Div. 2004)
Bergen County Improvement Auth. v. North Jersey Media Group, 370 N.J. Super. 504 (App. Div. 2004)
U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation v. N.J. Dept. of Environmental Protection, 373 N.J. Super. 598, rev’d. 182 N.J.461 (2004)
Serrano v. South Brunswick Twp, 358 N.J. Super. 352 (App. Div. 2003)
Courier News v. Hunterdon County Prosecutor, 358 N.J. Super. 373 (App. Div. 2003)
Kinsella v. Welch, 362 N.J. Super. 143 (App. Div. 2003) Estate of Frankl v.
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., 181 N.J. 1 (2003)

PUBLICATIONS

Fundamentals of Tax Accounting Methods and Periods - American Law Institute - American Bar Association, 2007

Open Government Guide - Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 2006 (Co-Author of Open Records and Meetings Laws in New Jersey chapter)

New Jersey Reporter’s Handbook on Press Law and the Courts (Contributor)

Legal Handbook for New York State Journalists (Contributor)

Newspaper Publication Laws of New Jersey, 1994 and 1995