Jose L. Linares

Judge Linares started his legal career as a lawyer investigating corruption cases as an attorney for the New York City Department of Investigation under Commissioner Stanley Lupkin. Subsequently, he became an associate with Horowitz, Bross & Sinins in Newark, New Jersey where he honed his skills as a litigator in both civil and criminal matters. Eventually, in 1982, the Judge established his own law firm in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and, tried numerous complicated medical malpractice and products liability cases which cemented his well-deserved reputation as a trial attorney. During his years prior to taking the bench, the Judge also served on many professional committees and lectured extensively to law students and lawyers. He served on the Essex County Bar Association Ethics Committee, the New Jersey Supreme Court Board on Trial Attorney Certification (being a certified civil trial attorney himself), the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Model Civil Jury Charges, and he was President of both the New Jersey Hispanic Bar Association and the Bloomfield Lawyer’s Club. He was also Vice Chair of the Essex County Bench-Bar Committee. Judge Linares has received numerous awards including the New Jersey State Bar – Civil Trial Bar Section’s prestigious James J. McLaughlin Award for Legal Competence and Professionalism, the Essex County Bar Association Civil Trial Attorney Achievement Award and the Seton Hall Law School Latino Students Role Model Award. 

 

In addition to his many achievements in the legal profession, the Judge also dedicates his time to civic, non-profit related activities. He has served on the New Jersey Professionalism Commission, the Board of Trustees of Immaculate Conception High School, The Job Haines Home for seniors in Bloomfield, N.J., the Essex County College, and the Cuban Lions Club. He also lectures often at seminars on law related issues, dedicates time mentoring young men and women interested in pursuing a career in Law, and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Seton Hall Law School and a Fellow of the American Bar. 

 

Judge Linares’ judicial career began when he was appointed to the Essex County Superior Court Bench on December 13, 2000 by New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman. At the Essex County Superior Court, Judge Linares sat in the Civil Division and was responsible for handling mostly complicated and substantial medical malpractice cases. He was nominated to the Federal District Court for the District of New Jersey by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2002. His nomination was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on November 14, 2002, and he was commissioned by the United States President on December 3, 2002. He presently sits as the Chief Federal District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Newark. He is the first Hispanic to hold that position in New Jersey and the second foreign born person to be a Federal District Court Judge in New Jersey’s history. During his tenure on the Federal Bench, the Judge has presided over numerous high profile and legally complex civil and criminal cases.