Ditto, W. Paul

PRIMARY AREA OF PRACTICE

Mr. Dieterly concentrates his practice in the representation of New Jersey local government bodies, estate planning and estate administration.

He serves as municipal attorney for Holland Township, and has served as municipal attorney for East Amwell and Tewksbury Townships. He represented all of these municipalities for more than 20 years, and two of them for more than 30 years. He is also the attorney for the White Township (Warren County) Planning Board, and has served as attorney for other planning boards and zoning boards of adjustment, as well as attorney for several school districts.

Mr. Dieterly also has served as special counsel to other New Jersey municipalities in satisfying their affordable housing obligations under the Mt. Laurel doctrine, and has served on an advisory body to the N.J. Council on Affordable Housing.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

In his representation of local government bodies, Mr. Dieterly has successfully defended many lawsuits attacking zoning and land use decisions, and has prosecuted and defended lawsuits involving a wide variety of other matters such as construction contracts, zoning violations, and tax assessments. These suits have involved appearances in the New Jersey Supreme Court, as well as in the Appellate Division and the Law and Chancery Divisions of the N. J. Superior Court, the N.J. Tax Court, and the U.S. District Court. Mr. Dieterly was one of the attorneys involved in the so-called Mt. Laurel III case, Hills Development Co. v. Bernards Twp. in Somerset Cty. , 103 N.J. 1 (1986), before the N.J. Supreme Court. In representing municipalities and school districts, Mr. Dieterly has also handled collective negotiations with employee unions, grievance arbitrations, and unfair practice charges before the N.J. Public Employee Relations Commission. His representation of municipalities has also involved the preparation of complex contracts and a wide range of other matters, frequently featuring sensitive dealings with the public. He also has significant experience in New Jersey's Farmland Retention Program, since one of the municipalities he represents has preserved approximately 2,000 acres of farmland through acquisition of easements prohibiting development.

Mr. Dieterly also has extensive experience in drafting a variety of wills, including those with complex trust and tax saving provisions, and in the administration of trusts and estates.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

Mr. Dieterly received a B.A. degree magna cum laude from Yale University, and was awarded a J.D. degree from the Yale Law School. Subsequently, he obtained a Diplomate in Municipal Law from Rutgers University, and completed courses in land use planning at the New York University Graduate School of Public Administration. Mr. Dieterly was admitted to the bar in New Jersey in 1963, and has been with Gebhardt and Kiefer as an associate and partner since that time.

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY AFFILIATIONS

Mr. Dieterly served as secretary and a member of the Board of Directors of the Local Government Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association, and is a former Trustee of the New Jersey Association of School Attorneys. He is also a member of the New Jersey Institute of Local Government Attorneys, New Jersey Planning Officials, and the Hunterdon County County Bar Association. He has lectured on municipal and school law in continuing legal education programs and for municipal officials.

Mr. Dieterly is a Trustee of the Hunterdon of Art Museum, and former member and Vice-President of the North Hunterdon Regional High School Board of Education.