Thomas Smith came to the law firm of Pellettieri, Rabstein, and Altman as a young lawyer in 1987. After clerking for a year for a judge in Passaic County, he began with this plaintiff’s law firm and then moved to Hamilton in 1996 with his family.
“As a plaintiff’s law firm we only represent injured victims, not defendants,” said Smith, managing partner of Pellettieri, Rabstein, and Altman, affectionately referred to as “PR&A.” Smith was recently selected as a member of the Nation’s Top One Percent by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel. He is the Chair of the Personal Injury department and concentrates his practice on complex personal injury litigation matters as well as wrongful termination litigation, along with other employment and labor matters on behalf of both management and aggrieved employees.
PR&A was founded in 1929 by George Pellettieri, Sr., “an infamous criminal and labor lawyer,” according to Smith. Smith was fortunate to meet and work with Ruth Rabstein, one of the founding partners who later married Pellettieri. Smith explains “Ruth was a law clerk for him. She passed the bar and had a social justice point of view. She was one of the first women to become a successful attorney in New Jersey.” Her focus was on matrimonial law.
PR&A has stayed true to its roots. “This firm is a workers compensation, personal injury, and labor, and evolved into a family and commercial practice which we continue to be to this day,” Smith said. “There are not many private plaintiff law firms” that have been around as long Pellettieri, Rabstein, and Altman has.
Smith stresses at PR&A they are representing the folks in the community. “For us to have been around that long talks about the commitment to community.” Many of their attorneys, including Smith, are active with local community organizations. Smith has been on the Hamilton YMCA board since 1999, and was their 2007 Man of the Year. He serves on the board of directors for the Miracle League of Mercer County, Visitation Homes of New Jersey, Project Freedom and Community Options. He is an assistant basketball coach for Special Olympics of New Jersey and has served as judge of the Mercer County Moot Court Competition. He is also a member of the Robbinsville-Hamilton Sunrise Rotary Club.
“The firm has been very supportive of activities in Hamilton and all of Mercer County.” Smith adds several of the partners live in Hamilton and send their children to the town’s high schools. His children attend Steinert High School.
“When I started here the main office was on Front Street in Trenton.” PR&A moved to their current location on U.S. 1 in 1988, a year after Smith started with the firm. Their office is in Nassau Park Pavilion near Kohl’s, on a former sod farm. They also have offices in Mount Holly, Nutley and recently opened a location in Newtown, Pennsylvania. They currently employ about 30 attorneys, plus support staff.
Smith said he was “a youngster” when he joined PR&A. A few of the senior partners have been with the firm since 1979 or 1980. Smith says their longevity has helped to build trust in the community.
“The firm’s reputation speaks for itself,” he said.
Smith is proud that his firm received the Mercer County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, “Friend of Labor Award” at their Annual Knights of Labor Dinner in October. The event was attended by many politicians.
“Those who spoke on our behalf said we are known as an old farm that has been there a long time,” Smith said. “A firm with a solid reputation.”
Each of the lawyers at PR&A specializes in an area of law.
“I only do personal injury work, some do labor work,” Smith said. “A big department is personal injury. Everybody is a specialist on that area of law. It serves our clients better. We don’t represent insurance companies or employers per se, we represent victims. We fight hard for our clients to help our clients who have been victims. I feel like I help people.”
That dedication means Smith goes to where the clients are, whether that is in a hospital or nursing home.
“I don’t want to make it another stressor for people,” Smith said. “We get out there wherever they are.”
Pellettieri, Rabstein, and Altman is located at 100 Nassau Park Blvd., Suite 111 in West Windsor. Phone: (800) 432-LAWS. Web: pralaw.com.
