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As
a senior member of Connell Foley’s Real Estate Law and Land Use Department,
Kevin J. Coakley focuses his practice on development and redevelopment projects throughout the state of New Jersey. During a career that has spanned thirty-five years, he has developed extensive experience with zoning, permitting, condemnation, wetlands and tidelands matters. Mr. Coakley is also a member of the firm’s Environmental Law Practice Group. His practice involves significant interaction with government.
He has represented the developers of Bridgewater Commons Mall since its inception. The Mall is a commercial development of over 2,000,000 square feet in Bridgewater Township in Somerset County, New Jersey.
Mr. Coakley has significant expertise in litigation based on Fifth Amendment takings claims. He was counsel to the successful plaintiff in the landmark inverse condemnation case of Loveladies Harbor v. United States, 28 F3d 11721 (Fed. Cir. 1994).
He is particularly skilled in the use of litigation to challenge adverse rulings in development projects from regulators, including municipal bodies and state agencies. Examples of his successes in this area include the
$1.6 million settlement in Estate of Desiderio v. State of New Jersey. Mr. Coakley brought suit on his client’s behalf after the State of New Jersey barred residential development of the client’s property, which included wetlands in Ocean County.
Additionally, in 2006 Mr. Coakley successfully settled two class action lawsuits on behalf of out-of-state members of the trucking industry against the State of New Jersey. The settlements resulted in $8.25 million being refunded by the State to trucking companies that had been forced to pay unconstitutional fees. As a result of his efforts, Connell Foley was successful in removing a long-standing state tax against trucking companies; getting the state to refund back taxes to those involved; and having the state permanently enjoined from imposing flat, unapportioned fees on
the trucking industry.
Mr. Coakley
has been ranked by Chambers USA 2009, as a
leader in Real Estate Law and been named in
Best Lawyers in America
from 1999-2010 in the fields of Eminent
Domain and Condemnation Law and Real Estate
Law. He also has been selected for
New Jersey
Super Lawyers.
Mr. Coakley serves as a
Trustee and Board Member for New Jersey Alliance for Action. In
2008, Mr. Coakley was elected
as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation
of New Jersey. He is a former member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee for the Tax Court
and a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Blue Shield Plan of New Jersey, as well as former chairman of the Lawyers Advertising Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association. At Rutgers Law School, Mr. Coakley served as a Member of the
Law Review. Upon graduation, he became the Law Secretary to the Honorable John W. Fritz, New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division (1972-1973).
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