...legal services for personal and business matters in New Jersey...
Anthony Muscente, Jr., Attorney-At-Law, is a practitioner in Allentown, New Jersey. He has been practicing law for over twenty-six (26) years and has a wide-range of experience in providing legal representation to individuals and businesses throughout the State of New Jersey. His experience also includes the representation of various governmental agencies at the State and local levels.
Mr. Muscente’s practice covers most of the more traditional “general practice” areas such as business entity formation and representation, commercial litigation, debt collections, estate planning and administration, insurance claims, real estate transactions, leasing and landlord-tenant disputes, municipal court, personal injury, workers’ compensation, social security disability claims, land use and zoning and administrative appeals and hearings. In addition, his practice covers the area of alternate dispute resolution; including mediation and arbitration. He is a qualified mediator pursuant to New Jersey Rule 1:40; and is also admitted to the New Jersey Superior Court’s Roster of Civil Arbitrators in several vicinages pursuant to Rules 4:21A-2 and 1:40-12(c).
Mr. Muscente’s practice and experience encompasses not only not only the diverse practice areas noted above but also many more complex matters such as cases involving sophisticated real estate transactions, community associations, construction law and defects, condemnations, guardianships, environmental law, mortgage foreclosures, contract disputes and enforcement, consumer fraud, and governmental regulation and permitting. Furthermore, he represents owners and tenants on real estate tax appeals at both the County Tax Board and State Tax Court levels.
Mr. Muscente has a strong background in the areas of practice involving residential, commercial and governmental real estate transactions. His background relating to these areas ranges from house purchases and sales to real estate developments and major redevelopment projects, planned communities, land acquisitions and assemblage, financing and land preservation. The redevelopment projects include “transit villages” and projects in Atlantic City and the Meadowlands District. He has provided representation in connection with the largest brownsfield redevelopment project in the history of the United States and on other numerous and unique redevelopment projects throughout the State of New Jersey.
For example, Mr. Muscente has provided representation to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (“CRDA”) and New Jersey Transit (“NJT”); particularly in connection with several major redevelopment projects undertaken by these public agencies. His experience includes the representation of CRDA in connection with its “Corridor Project” in Atlantic City commonly known as “The Walk” and of NJT in connection with its Secaucus Rail Transfer Station project and its Morristown Transit Village project, among others. The Walk is the first major retail/entertainment/parking project of its kind in Atlantic City and the Morristown Transit Village project, known as “Highlands At Morristown Station” is the first Transit Oriented Development (“TOD”) built under NJT’s Transit Village Program.
Mr. Muscente has also represented regional and national level builders in connection with various real estate development projects. His experience includes the preparation and submittal of “Public Offering Statements” for various types of “planned communities” to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs for registration.
In addition to providing representation in connection with real estate projects that are in furtherance of the State’s objectives for “Smart Growth”, urban renewal and the clean-up of brownfields, Mr. Muscente is also proud to have been counsel on transactions that have resulted in the preservation of hundred of acres of land for open space and parks as well as agricultural use.
Mr. Muscente has practiced as a partner at a prestigious law firm in Princeton, New Jersey and is a former Deputy Attorney General (“DAG”) in the Environmental Permitting and Counseling Section of the New Jersey Attorney General’s office. As a DAG, Mr. Muscente represented various state agencies such as the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (“NJMC”), the State Soil Conservation Committee (“SSCC”) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. He was the lead counsel to the SSCC and worked closely with its Executive Secretary as well as the Secretary of the State Department of Agriculture (who serves as the chairperson of the SSCC).
He also provided legal representation to the NJMC on a wide variety of matters, such as violation and penalty enforcement matters, land-use and permitting related cases, several complex litigation matters and on numerous open space and wetlands acquisitions, in addition to other various transactional matters. He was responsible for the acquisition and assemblage of the lands needed in connection with a major mixed-use redevelopment project undertaken by the NJMC extending over three (3) municipalities and requiring the closure and/or remediation of both regulated and “orphan” landfills. That project has been recognized as the largest brownfields redevelopment project in the history of the United States with a project cost of over one (1) billion dollars.
As a DAG, Mr. Muscente also provided representation to the NJDEP in connection with litigation matters. His litigation work as counsel for the NJMC, NJDEP and SSCC included administrative appeals and hearings, defense of “Environmental Rights Act” cases, “Actions In Lieu of Prerogative Writs”, cases involving the regulation of solid waste and water pollution, construction surety bond cases, easement and license dispute litigation matters and similar matters.
In the private sector, Mr. Muscente’s litigation experience is also diverse and extends to the prosecution and defense of construction defects cases, commercial collection and foreclosure cases, contract disputes, personal injury cases, probate matters, landlord/tenancy matters and many other types of cases. Such representation has included the defense of subcontractors/suppliers in connection with multi-party construction defects cases involving planned communities and other major projects, including fire retardant plywood cases. His clients have included one of the nation’s largest distributors and installers of pre-engineered fireplaces and related components (as that company’s New Jersey counsel); as well as the owner of five supermarket stores, in addition to numerous condominium and homeowners associations and many other businesses and individuals.
A graduate of Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences, Mr. Muscente earned his law degree from Southwestern University School of Law, in Los Angeles, California. He also attained a Diplomate in New Jersey Municipal Law from Rutgers University’s Bureau of Government Research.
Mr. Muscente is active in several professional organizations including the Mercer County, Monmouth County and New Jersey Bar Associations. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Mercer County Bar Foundation and a former Co-Chair of the Community Projects Committee of the Mercer County Bar Association. In addition, he serves as a panelist with the American Bar Association’s Advisory Panel.
Mr. Muscente is also an active supporter of many educational, charitable and community organizations. For instance, he is a member of the Cornell University Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network and an alumni mentor for the Cornell Alumni-Mentor Program. He is also a member of The Hun School of Princeton Alumni Board of Trustees and a member of Trustees’ Executive Board. At the community level, Mr. Muscente serves as a member of the Upper Freehold Township Economic Development Committee. He has served as a Trustee of Project Freedom, a non-profit corporation that develops and operates barrier free housing and support services to enable individuals with physical disabilities to live independently. In addition, he has been a volunteer with numerous youth recreation sports leagues.
Mr. Muscente is admitted to practice law in New Jersey (1985) and in Washington, D.C. (1986).
He has been a speaker on the regulatory process under the New Jersey Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Act and has made presentations as a speaker on other helpful legal topics such as “Building Your Own Business” and suggestions on how to be a “Financially Fit Homeowner”, amongst others.
Mr. Muscente’s law office is centrally located on Main Street in historic Allentown, New Jersey, just a short distance from both Exits 7 and 8 of Interstate 195 as well as the New Jersey Turnpike. The law office is easily accessible from most parts of the State via major highways.