JOSEPH A. TURULA is a partner responsible for all aspects of litigation in the Superior Courts, Municipal Courts and the Administrative Agencies of the State of New Jersey. In addition to the litigation practice, Mr. Turula has a residential real estate practice representing Buyers, Sellers and residential new construction projects; is proficient in New Jersey election law and appears before the Jersey City Planning & Zoning Boards on land use matters. Prior to launching Garcia & Turula, Mr. Turula had been with the firm of Keane, Brady & Burns for four years and was the attorney responsible for representing the firm's clients in the Law Division, Chancery Division, Landlord Tenant/Special Civil Part of the Superior Court as well as the various Municipal Courts in New Jersey. Other matters handled by Mr. Turula include drafting leases, real estate transactions and representing hospitals in numerous matters, and attempted to overturn a municipal election in Superior Court. From January 1995 through August 2000, Mr. Turula was an associate with the defense litigation firm of Frese & Palma which handled general liability and liquor liability claims in all counties of New Jersey as well as Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Responsibilities included preparing cases from initial discovery through trial. Mr. Turula took and defended hundreds of depositions; attended hundreds of settlement conferences and arbitrations and tried numerous cases throughout New Jersey and he appeared before the appellate division for the reported case of Ivins v.Town Tavern, 335 N.J. Super. 188 (App. Div. 2000). From January 2000 to the present, Mr. Turula serves as the part-time Municipal Prosecutor in the Borough of Pompton Lakes and prosecutes cases for numerous law enforcement agencies and town officials. Prior to his appointment to this position, he has served as the Borough's Public Defender for two years and was a town Councilman for six years (two years as the Council President). Mr. Turula was employed in the general practice firm of Heibler & Associates in the early 1990's where he concentrated in residential real estate, litigation as well as representing fee simple communities. Mr. Turula is currently a member of the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Federal District of New Jersey, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States Supreme Court Bars. Additionally he is a member of the New Jersey State, Passaic County and Hudson County Bar Associations. Mr. Turula was a member of the two year civil practice Inns of Court program. Mr. Turula graduated from The Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.) with a Bachelor of Arts in 1988 cum laude and from Seton Hall University Law School (Newark, N.J.) with a Juris Doctor degree in 1991.
