Norberto A. Garcia

TELEPHONE: 973-845-4421 | EMAIL ME

certified trial

Attorney Bio

As a Certified Civil Trial Attorney and member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), Norberto A. Garcia has represented clients in a broad spectrum of personal injury matters including automobile accidents, construction accidents, premises liability, and medical malpractice.

Mr. Garcia’s first exposure to the law was in college at Seton Hall University where he worked for Pressler & Pressler in East Hanover as a collection team manager. While attending the University of Pennsylvania Law School, he worked for the Bronx Legal Aid Society assisting public defenders. Shortly upon graduation from Law School, he joined Sinins & Bross in Newark and began working for the rights of negligence victims. He later joined Blume, Goldfaden, Berkowitz, Donnelly, Fried & Forte where he became a partner in 2008. He became Of Counsel and later partner with Javerbaum, Wurgraft in 2013. He returned to the Blume firm as a partner effective April 1,2019.

Born in Camaguey, Cuba, he came to the United States with his parents as a young child and grew up in Hudson County. He has a B.A. cum laude in history from Seton Hall University and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He has been admitted to the bars of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. He is fluent in Spanish. Mr. Garcia resides in Kinnelon, New Jersey with his wife and two sons. He is a member of St. Mary’s Church in Pompton Lakes.

Awards & Accolades

Designated as a New Jersey Super Lawyer from 2013 through 2022 (10th-consecutive year listed in Super Lawyers) in the field of personal injury. And was selected to Rising Stars from 2006 – 2007.

Selection Process & Criteria

Click here for Super Lawyers selection process information.

Associations & Memberships

Mr. Garcia is currently on the executive board of the New Jersey State Bar Association where he serves as treasurer.  He is the immediate past president of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting law-related education and giving all New Jersey residents a basic understanding of the legal system. He has on the Board of Governors for the New Jersey Association for Justice where he also serves on the nominating committee.

Mr. Garcia is the past president of the Hudson County Bar Association, where he served as a trustee from 2000 through 2013. He is currently a trustee of the Hudson County Bar Foundation.

Mr. Garcia has been certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a civil trial attorney since 2001. He has been active in the Hudson County Inns of Court program since 1996 and is currently a master in the program. He served as a president of the North Hudson Lawyers Club in 2003. He has been co-chairperson of the Hudson County Civil Practice Committee since 2003. The committee serves as a liaison between the civil bench and bar on issues affecting civil practice, arranges seminars and holds an annual meeting between all the civil judges and the bar to address rule changes and other concerns.  He is the co-chairperson of the Hudson County Civil Practice Committee. 

Mr. Garcia is a member of the executive committee of the Civil Trial Bar Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. The section provides a forum for the professional advancement of civil trial attorneys. He served on the Supreme Court Office of Attorney Ethics, District VI Fee Arbitration Committee from 2004 through 2009, becoming its chairperson in 2009. From 2005 through 2008 he served on the Supreme Court Committee on Minority Affairs, which advises the New Jersey Supreme Court on how the state judiciary can assure fairness, impartiality, and equal access to the courts. It also monitors legislation that may affect minority citizens of the state.

He is a member of the State of New Jersey Bar Examination Committee on Character where he reviews the application of incoming candidates seeking to become lawyers in New Jersey.  He is a trustee of the New Jersey Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, a group that reimburses clients that have been defrauded by lawyers who were the subject of ethics penalties.

Lectures

2020

  • February 27, 2020:  NEW JERSEY ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE, WINTER SEMINAR: Proving and Emphasizing Economic Damages
  • July 28, 2020: NEW JERSEY STATE BAR ASSOCIATION: Mapping a Legal Career in the Era of COVID-19
  • August 5, 2020: NEW JERSEY ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE: Boardwalk Seminar 2020: “Electronic Investigations”
  • August 7, 2020: NEW JERSEY ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE: Boardwalk Seminar 2020: Auto Program: Filing an Offer of Judgment in an Auto Case: Pros, Cons, Timing and Limitations
  • August 7, 2020: NEW JERSEY ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE: Boardwalk Seminar 2020: TRIAL WITNESSES: Researching Clients, Trial Witnesses and Evidence Online
  • October 12, 2020:  HUDSON COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION: CIVIL PRACTICE COMMITTEE: “Civil Bench Bar Conference”
  • November 3, 2020: NATIONAL BUSINESS INSTITUTE: PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION PROCESS, PROCEDURES AND DOCUMENTS
  • December 16, 2020: HUDSON COUNTY INNS OF COURT: DEPOSITIONS: In Normal Times and in Pandemic Times
  • December 21, 2020: NEW JERSEY STATE BAR ASSOCIATION: The “New” New Jersey Workplace
  • December 29, 2020: HUDSON COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION: 2020 CIVIL CASE UPDATE

2021

  • March 22, 2021: HUDSON COUNTY INNS OF COURT: VIRTUAL TRIAL DURING COVID
  • March 26, 2021: NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION:  Deposition College: SEMINAR ON OBJECTIONS AT DEPOSITIONS
  • May 6, 2021: HUDSON COUTY BAR ASSOCIATION:  Hot Tips in Civil Practice: CROSS EXAMINATION
  • May 11, 2021: NEW JERSEY ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE: Exposing Deceptive Defense Medicine:  Beyond Old Transcripts: Alternative Sources of Cross Examination
  • June 28, 2021: NEW JERSEY ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE: Boardwalk Seminar 2021: Ethics: Referral Fees: What Are the Ethical Considerations and What Are the Latest Developments On the Super Lawyers Issue
  • October 27, 2021: NEW JERSEY STATE BAR ASSOCIATION- MID-YEAR MEETING 2021: “Getting to Just Results – A Conversation about Juries and the Elimination of Bias in the Court System”
  • December 10, 2021: NEW JERSEY ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE: Meadowlands Seminar: Black Letter Briefcase: Proving Spoliation of Evidence

2022

  • January 16, 2022: FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL: BRIDGE THE GAP- CIVIL TRIAL PREPARATION
  • March 11, 2022: NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION: How Qualified is Your Expert? Daubert, Frye, Accutane or “something else?”
  • April 28, 2022: NEW JERSEY ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE: Boardwalk Seminar 2022: Ethics: Failure to Disclose Truthful Insurance Coverage: What are the Ethical Ramifications?
  • April 29, 2022: NEW JERSEY ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE: Boardwalk Seminar 2022: Litigation at Sunrise: Adding Value to Your Client’s Case: Intake: Early Fact Gathering to Defeat Summary Judgment Motions
  • May 9, 2022: Hudson County Inns of Court: RETAINER AGREEMENTS: CLIENT/ATTORNEY RELATIONSHIP
  • May 18, 2022: NEW JERSEY STATE BAR ASSOCIATION- ANNUAL MEETING 2022: Hot Tips for Hot Litigators: “Post-Chandler Legislation and Repko v. Our Lady of Lourdes”
  • October 10, 2022: New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education: Tort Law Conference 2022:  “Insurance Fair Conduct Act – Plaintiff and Defense Perspective”
  • December 1, 2022: HUDSON COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION: CIVIL PRACTICE COMMITTEE: BENCH BAR OPEN EXCHANGE
  • December 28, 2022: HUDSON COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION: 2022 CIVIL CASE UPDATE

2023

  • January 9, 2023: HUDSON COUNTY INNS OF COURT: LEGAL ETHICS: PRACTICAL TIPS TO AVOID ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE CLAIMS
  • January 15, 2023: FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL: BRIDGE THE GAP- CIVIL TRIAL PREPARATION
  • February 23, 2023:  New Jersey Association for Justice: Winter Seminar 2023: “How to Prove Bad Faith in UM/UIM Cases”

Additionally, he lectures on civil practice issues for various bar organizations including the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the New Jersey State Bar Association, the New Jersey Association for Justice, The National Business Institute of Continuing Legal Education and the Hudson County Bar Association.

Significant Cases & Recoveries

Mr. Garcia has had numerous jury trial verdicts in cases where the defendant’s insurance company was not making any offers. In recent years these verdicts on “no-pay” cases include Ryou v. Kim (Bergen County) $420,000.00, Savi v. Cohen (Hudson County) $300,000.00, Manzanal v. Manzanal (Hudson County) $237,000.00, Pak v. Lee (Bergen County) $200,000.00, Magner v. Geico (Essex County) $124,000.00 and Lowery v. Smith (Union County) $70,000.00.

Other significant recent trial verdicts include Suarez v. Benoit (Hudson County, Fatal Bus Crash) $1,240,000.00, and Baldeon v. Molfetta (Hudson County, fall on ice) $829,000.00.

In addition to these jury trial verdicts, Mr. Garcia has achieved millions of dollars in settlements for his clients throughout his career. Recent settlements include a $450,000.00 dram shop case, a $625,000.00 auto case, and a $2.1 million trucking accident case.

2019 NJAJ Meadowlands Seminars

  • 11/20/2019: Ethics and Legal Malpractice: Investigation and Ethics: Social Media, Litigation Group and Use of Investigators
  • 11/21/19: Openings and Closings: Hear it from the Masters: Closing Argument in a Trucking Case
  • 11/22/19: Litigation at Sunrise: Damages: Embracing Prior Injuries and Claims to Maximize Recovery