Peter G. Verniero is Chair of the Sills Cummis & Gross Corporate Investigations and Integrity Practice Group as well as the Appellate Practice Group.
He joined the Firm in September of 2004 after serving as a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, the state’s highest tribunal. At the time of his appointment, he was the youngest member of the Court in modern history. Prior to his judicial service, Mr. Verniero served as the 51st Attorney General of New Jersey as well as chief of staff and chief counsel to Governor Christine Todd Whitman. He is the only person in the state’s history to have served in those four senior positions within the executive and judicial branches.
As a member of the Supreme Court, Mr. Verniero authored and signed 124 judicial opinions touching on a wide array of topics, including employment, corporate and constitutional law. Among other opinions, he authored the Court’s opinion in In re PSE & G Shareholder Litigation, 173 N.J. 258 (2002), which articulated and applied a modified business judgment rule in upholding the dismissal of shareholder-derivative litigation. That opinion has been cited by numerous courts, including the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the Court of Appeals for the State of California and the Supreme Court of Minnesota. Other judicial opinions authored by then-Justice Verniero have been cited by courts at different levels in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Hampshire, Alabama and Hawaii.
As Attorney General, Mr. Verniero personally argued cases before the New Jersey Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In E.B. v. Verniero, 119 F.3d 1077 (3d Cir. 1997), he argued successfully in defense of Megan’s Law, New Jersey’s sexual-offender notification statute. At the time of the Third Circuit’s decision, it was the first federal appellate court ruling in the country upholding a state’s version of Megan’s Law.
He has continued his appellate practice at the Firm, frequently filing briefs and appearing at oral argument before appellate courts. As just one example, Mr. Verniero represented Johnson & Johnson, successfully arguing before the New Jersey Appellate Division for the reversal of a $223 million jury verdict. That was one of the largest verdicts against J&J to be overturned in talc litigation in New Jersey. He also argues before the state Supreme Court. He has filed briefs or personally argued over a dozen times before that Court (including two cases that he had argued as Attorney General).
As other examples of his work, Mr. Verniero represented Third Point LLC as part of its proxy contest for the election of directors to the board of Campbell Soup Co. Working with New York counsel, he filed suit on Third Point’s behalf in state court in the Camden Vicinage. Mr. Verniero personally argued twice in court before the matter settled, with Third Point successfully placing two of its nominees on the Campbell board and gaining a role in selecting a third director and the hiring of Campbell’s CEO. In addition, Mr. Verniero has advised numerous entities in matters pending before various state and federal regulatory or law enforcement agencies, including the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and the United States Department of Justice.
The State of New Jersey has retained Mr. Verniero to handle matters under the respective administrations of Governors Chris Christie and Philip Murphy.
He also has chaired numerous governmental advisory panels as well as committees of the state Supreme Court. He currently chairs the Court’s Board on Continuing Legal Education, which administers New Jersey’s CLE program and assists in promulgating regulations, subject to the Court’s approval. He is the past chair of the Professional Responsibility Rules Committee, which considers and recommends attorney ethics rules to the Court. He is the past vice chair of the Civil Practice Committee, which performs a similar function with respect to the civil court rules.
Mr. Verniero annotates and provides commentary to the Rules Governing the Courts of the State of New Jersey, a widely used reference guide for the legal profession published by Gann Law Books.
Mr. Verniero’s essays on legal and public policy issues also are widely published, appearing in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Star-Ledger of Newark, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Investor’s Business Daily. In addition to writing essays, he is frequently quoted on legal topics in various media outlets.
He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. After concluding his service on the Supreme Court, Mr. Verniero received the Medal of Honor, the highest award conferred by the New Jersey Bar Foundation. He also received the Gatekeeper Award in recognition of his “leadership in restoring public confidence in the law,” given by Common Good, a national bipartisan legal reform organization. He and his spouse have been honored by SAFE of Hunterdon in recognition of their efforts to end domestic violence.
As a former state Attorney General, Mr. Verniero is a member of the Society of Attorneys General Emeriti and frequently attends meetings of the National Association of Attorneys General. He has lectured on effective appellate advocacy at meetings of various entities, including county bar associations.
Mr. Verniero began his career as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert L. Clifford of the New Jersey Supreme Court. He also was an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the County College of Morris, where he taught business law.