Thomas A. Abbate Email & Phone Number

Thomas A. Abbate is a partner in the Teaneck office of DeCotiis. He joined DeCotiis in 2002, and became a partner in 2007. His practice focuses on civil and commercial litigation on behalf of both private citizens and business entities at the trial and appellate levels of the state and Federal courts. He is a member of the Litigation and Municipal Law practice groups.Mr. Abbate has represented businesses in matters concerning health care litigation and licensing, administrative and regulatory law, insurance regulation and licensing, and in a variety of commercial litigation disputes. He has also argued appeals involving regulatory and novel constitutional issues that resulted in published appellate decisions. Recently, he successfully brought to a conclusion a long-running legal challenge to regulatory approvals granted to open a new 128-bed acute care hospital in Westwood, New Jersey, the first such approval in many years. Mr. Abbate also handles a variety of matters on behalf of state and local government entities. This has included matters involving governmental authority and public entity governance, education law, environmental litigation, procurement law, civil rights, redevelopment and land use, ethics law and public records access. In a recent First Amendment matter, Mr. Abbate successfully urged the New Jersey Supreme Court to allow municipalities seeking to close unlawful sexually-oriented businesses to do so after identifying reasonable alternative sites in an adjoining state. Applying a 30-year old United States Supreme Court precedent, the decision was the first of its kind in the nation. Mr. Abbate has also successfully defended public entities multiple times in the appellate courts in public procurement matters, and has given continuing legal education presentations on this subject.

Listed skills include Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Civil Litigation, Appellate Practice, and 2 others.

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  Partner

  Decotiis, Fitzpatrick & Cole, Llp

  May 2002 - Present - Teaneck, New Jersey

  Notable Cases: I/M/O Certificate of Need for HUMC North Hospital, Docket No. A-3155-11T1 (App. Div. 2012) (rejecting, in its entirety, legal challenges brought by business competitors to a certificate of need granted to HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley Hospital to open a 128-bed acute care hospital, the first such approval for a new hospital in many years). Ciesla v. Department of Health & Senior Services, __ N.J. Super. __ (App. Div. 2012) (holding that draft evaluation reports prepared by Department of Health staff evaluating the certificate of need application of HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley Hospital are unqualifiededly protected by the deliberative process privilege). Borough of Sayreville v. 35 Club, LLC, 208 N.J. 491 (2012) (holding that the First Amendment is not violated by a New Jersey municipality's identification of reasonable alternative sites, located in the State of New York, within which an unlawful sexually-oriented business might relocate if ordered to cease operation). I/M/O Xanadu Project at the Meadowlands Complex, 415 N.J. Super. 179 (App. Div.), certif. denied, 205 N.J. 96 (2010) (holding that a private redevelopment project on property ground leased from a state agency is within the regulatory eligibility criteria for special State-issued liquor licenses).In re Zisa, 385 N.J. Super. 188 (App. Div. 2006) (holding that a municipal official was entitled to rely in good faith upon the advice of his municipal attorney as a complete defense to an ethics complaint).