Legal Experience & Reputation
Mr. Ashkinaze’s experience, reputation, and standing in the legal community earned him admission into the prestigious International Network of Boutique Law Firms (INBLF.) Currently, Mr. Ashkinaze serves as the President of the New Jersey chapter of the INBLF. (For more information on the INBLF, please visit: www.inblf.com.) Based on his extensive experience and knowledge of environmental law, Mr. Ashkinaze was admitted as a Master of the Justice Stewart G. Pollack Environmental American Inn at Court.
Nominated by Governor Chris Christie in June 2011, Mr. Ashkinaze currently serves as a Commissioner of the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission (NJDWSC.) The NJDWSC oversees the largest water supply system in the state—providing drinking water to more than 3.5 million people in northern New Jersey.
In December 2009, Mr. Ashkinaze served as one of 12 attorneys to Governor-Elect Christie’s Transition Committee.
Mr. Ashkinaze has extensive experience in representing clients in the private and public sectors. From 1993 through July 2001, Mr. Ashkinaze served as Assistant Corporation Counsel, Environmental Counsel, and Mayor’s Aide for the City of Jersey City. In this capacity, he advised Mayor Bret Schundler and the City Council on environmental compliance and enforcement, public utility (i.e., telecom, water and energy issues), solid waste planning, “Brownfields” development and litigation matters. Mr. Ashkinaze played an instrumental role in drafting the Jersey City ordinance regulating the use of City “right of ways” by telecom, fiber optic and public utility companies. He was also instrumental in the City obtaining a two (2) year Brownfields planning grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, Mr. Ashkinaze assisted the City in the formation of a Municipal Utilities Authority and negotiated water purveyor agreements and analyzed the feasibility of electricity and telecommunications aggregation.
In June 2001, Mr. Ashkinaze was appointed Board Attorney to the Jersey City Board of Adjustment.
Mr. Ashkinaze also works closely with the New Jersey Gasoline C-Store Automotive Association (NJGCA) serving on the NJGCA’s Environmental Advisory Committee and representing several of the Association’s members. His article, “Leasing Gasoline Stations: Avoiding the Environmental Trap” appeared in the December 2008 edition of NJGCA’s On the Road and has been reprinted in various forms by several other publications.
Prior to the opening of his own law office, Mr. Ashkinaze was associated with the Roseland, New Jersey law firm of Hannoch Weisman. In addition to serving as one of the firm’s four registered lobbyists, Mr. Ashkinaze represented both Fortune 500 companies and privately-held emerging companies on a broad range of environmental and corporate issues.
Mr. Ashkinaze has also represented trade associations seeking changes to administrative regulations affecting their industry. For example, Mr. Ashkinaze recently represented a committee of translation/interpreting companies and the American Translators Association (ATA) before the New Jersey Department of Labor (NJDOL) and successfully negotiated an agreement with NJDOL that established eligibility and auditing guidelines for the independent contractors utilized by the companies. He also represented the New York Translation & Interpreting Group and the ATA before the New York Department of Labor and the New York State legislature on similar issues.
On March 17, 1995, Governor Christine Todd Whitman designated Mr. Ashkinaze as Chairman of the New Jersey Advisory Council on Solid Waste Management; he served as the Council’s chairman until May 22, 1997. Additionally, Mr. Ashkinaze served on the NJDEP “Brownfields” working group- an ad-hoc committee of environmental attorneys, corporate officers and public officials who assisted the NJDEP in developing policy toward remediating and developing contaminated sites.
Mr. Ashkinaze was also an adjunct professor of International Relations at Bergen Community College, Paramus, New Jersey.
Mr. Ashkinaze received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982. He received his J.D. from Seton Hall School of Law in 1986 and a M.P.A. from Columbia University’s School of Public and International Affairs in 1987.
Mr. Ashkinaze is admitted to practice law in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
