John W. Bissell

Of Counsel, Roseland Office

85 Livingston Avenue

Roseland, New Jersey 07068

Phone:  (973) 535-0500

jbissell@connellfoley.com

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Retired Judge John W. Bissell joined the firm in 2005 as Counsel and serves as Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Department (ADR). He is also a member of the firm's Business Litigation practice group. As head of the firm's ADR department, Judge Bissell helps clients resolve commercial and other disputes more quickly and efficiently than can be accomplished through traditional litigation in the Courts. In addition to counseling clients in this area, Judge Bissell has served frequently as an appointed arbitrator, mediator, special master and fact-finder in ADR matters.

 

Prior to joining Connell Foley, Judge Bissell served 27 years on both state and federal courts in New Jersey. Appointed a United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey in 1982, he served in that capacity until his retirement on September 1, 2005. From 2001 until 2005, Judge Bissell was Chief Judge of the Court. From 1981-1982, he served as Judge, Superior Court of New Jersey, and from 1978-1981 he was Judge, Essex County, New Jersey District Court. In the years before he was appointed to the judiciary, Judge Bissell served as an Assistant United States Attorney, District of New Jersey from 1969-1971 and was in private practice as an associate and partner with a large New Jersey firm from 1966-1969 and 1972-1978. Judge Bissell began his legal career as Law Clerk to U.S. District Judge A.S. Lane, District of New Jersey from 1965-1966.

 

Judge Bissell’s diverse experience has made him a sought-after speaker at a variety of events. He has recently delivered the Chief Justice Joseph Weintraub Lecture: A Tribute to the Weintraub Court at Rutgers University Law School in Newark (2002). He also spoke at the Professional Awards Ceremony of the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law: Good Sportsmanship and Professionalism (2003) and delivered the Hon. Robert N. Wilentz Justice Forum Lecture: The Megan's Law Litigation: A Study in Principles of Separation of Powers and Federalism (2003).  Judge Bissell’s outstanding reputation is also demonstrated by the professional recognition he has been accorded. Notably, he is a recipient of the 2005 John F. Gerry Memorial Award from the Camden County Bar Association; the 2005 Association of the Federal Bar of the District of New Jersey William J. Brennan, Jr. Award; The Richard J. Hughes Career Public Service Award conferred by Legal Services of New Jersey (2006);  the American Inns of Court Professional Award for the Third Circuit (2008);  the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey's Laurence A. Whipple Memorial Award (2010);  Princeton University Class of 1962 award for Distinguished Public Service (1988), and the 1971 U.S. Attorney General's Meritorious Service Award.  His work was also recently recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Seton Hall University School of Law Public Interest Network.

 

Judge Bissell is a member of Union Congregational Church in Montclair, New Jersey and Rock Spring Club in West Orange, N.J.  An avid a capella singer he performed for many years with the Dapper Dans of Harmony—the barbershop harmony chorus of which he has been a member since 1982.  Judge Bissell also maintains an avid appreciation for sports officiating and is a Member of the Board of Directors (and past chair) of the National Association of Sports Officials.  He has been affiliated with the National Ice Hockey Officials Association’s Metropolitan New York Chapter since 1972 and served as a referee of High School and Division III College Ice Hockey until his retirement in 1999.

 

 

 

 

Practice Areas:

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Business Litigation

 

Admitted to Practice:

State of New Jersey

United States Supreme Court

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

 

Education:

Princeton University (A.B., History, 1962)

University of Virginia (LL.B., 1965)

Affiliations:

Fellow, American Bar Association

New Jersey State Bar Association

Essex County Bar Association

Morris County Bar Association

Association of the Federal Bar of the State of New Jersey

Federal Bar Association

 

News:

Bissell Reception Covered in New Jersey Law Journal (September 2008)

Judge Bissell Profiled in The Bencher Magazine (September 2008)

John W. Bissell to Receive American Inns of Court’s Professionalism Award (April 2008)

Bissell Speech Reprinted in New Jersey Lawyer (December 2007)

Bissell Receives Equal Justice Award (April 2006)

Judge Bissell is interviewed in The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel on the selection of ADR neutrals (April 2006)

 

 

Professional Activities

American Arbitration Association, Certified Arbitrator, Mediator and Fact Finder

International Chamber of Commerce, Registered Arbitrator with the International Court of Arbitration

International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR), Certified Arbitrator and Mediator

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London, U.K.), Member

World Intellectual Property Organization's Arbitration and Mediation Center (Geneva, Switzerland), Registered Arbitrator and Mediator

Certified Arbitrator and Mediator in Court-Annexed Arbitration and Mediation Programs of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

Advisor to the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism

Member of the Board of Trustees of the ADR Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association

Master of the William J. Brennan, Jr./Arthur T. Vanderbilt American Inns of Court and the Justice Marie Garibaldi ADR, American Inn of Court 

Publications

John W. Bissell, Bench Opinion on the Second Amendment, 10 SETON HALL CONST. L.J. 807 (2000)

John W. Bissell, Comments on Jury Nullification, 7 CORNELL J.L. &. PUB. POL’Y 51 (1997)

Numerous published opinions appearing in Federal Supplement, authored during his tenure as a U.S. District Judge.