F. Clifford Gibbons, Attorney at Law, LLC

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Our Story

F. Clifford Gibbons, Attorney at Law, LLC was founded in 2004 with the encouragement and guidance of four "key men": James T. Gibbons, Sr., Esq. (1922 - 2010), William M. Cox, Esq. (1922 - 2011), David D. Furman, Esq. (1917 - 2008) and William J. Brennan, III, Esq. (1933 - 2004). The firm specializes in the representation of governmental entities throughout New Jersey, including governing bodies, municipal and county planning and zoning boards and municipal commissions and authorities, in numerous types of matters and litigation, including zoning and planning, charter revision, drafting of municipal ordinances, redevelopment/rehabilitation, affordable housing, personnel, tax sale foreclosures, real estate tax appeals, municipal tax claims in bankruptcy cases, and many others. The firm has also acted as a subcontractor, contract attorney and consultant to law firms representing municipal entities in land use and local government matters. We presently represent the Planning Board of the City of Summit and the Zoning Board of Adjustment of the Township of Pequannock. The firm also acts as Special Counsel to the Planning Board of the Borough of Highland Park, the Zoning Boards of Adjustment for the City of Hoboken, Municipality of Princeton and Township of Knowlton and the Land Use Boards of the Townships of Franklin (Hunterdon County), Green Brook and Allamuchy, Special Land Use/Redevelopment Counsel to the Township of Hamilton (Mercer County), the City of Perth Amboy and the Hudson County Planning Board/Board of Freeholders and Special Tax/Bankruptcy Counsel for the Townships of Freehold, Holmdel and Manalapan. The firm has also been appointed by the New Jersey Superior Court, Law Division as a Special Hearing Examiner in affordable housing cases involving the Township of South Brunswick. Municipal clients previously represented by the firm and/or its attorneys have included:

The Planning Boards of the Townships of Andover, East Windsor, Fairfield, Mine Hill, the City of Hoboken and the County of Middlesex; The Zoning Boards of Adjustment of the Townships of Belleville, Bordentown, East Windsor, Freehold and Readington, the Boroughs of Pennington, Point Pleasant Beach, Highland Park and Somerville and the Cities of Hoboken and Summit; The Combined Land Use Boards of the Boroughs of Peapack-Gladstone and Stanhope; The Municipal Utilities Authorities of the Townships of East Windsor and Hardyston; The Governing Bodies of the Townships of Delaware, Fairfield, Jackson, Manalapan, Montgomery, Millstone, Monroe, North Brunswick and Princeton and the Boroughs of Hightstown, Hopewell, Longport and West Amwell. The firm and/or its attorneys have also acted as a Prosecutor and Public Defender in several Municipal Courts. F. Clifford Gibbons, Attorney at Law, LLC also provides broad and intensive experience in navigating the land use permitting and zoning regulation process, including the prosecution of land development applications, appeals and their defense, as well as opposition to applications. The firm's attorneys have successfully obtained and litigated development approvals in municipalities throughout New Jersey, including the Townships of Bernards, Blairstown, Bloomfield, Delaware, Frankford, Hamilton (Atlantic County), Harmony, Hopewell, Jackson, Lawrence, Lebanon, Montgomery, North Bergen, Pennsauken, Piscataway, Princeton, Raritan, Robbinsville, West Caldwell, West Windsor and White, the Boroughs of Alpine, Andover, Bernardsville, Closter, Essex Fells, Franklin Lakes, Manville, Princeton and Stone Harbor, the Towns of Phillipsburg and Kearny and the Cities of Absecon, Atlantic City, Cape May, Clifton, East Orange, Hoboken, Linden, Ocean City, Trenton, Union City and Wildwood. In addition to the foregoing, the firm operates a general practice, handling residential and commercial real estate transactions, community associations matters, business formation/regulation compliance/transactions, municipal court practice, personal law, elder law, wills, estate administration and other matters. The private, corporate and non-profit clients counseled and represented by the firm's attorneys include the Medical Center at Princeton, HealthBanks USA Inc., Hoyts Cinemas Inc., Quick-Chek, Givaudan Roure, Manville Masons Supply, China Palace Restaurants, Cocco Enterprises, Inc., Hoagie Haven/Slice Between/George's Roasters & Ribs, JMC Equity, LLC/Kings Court Medical Arts Building, Citicorp Mortgage, HEALgoods LLC, The Friends of the New Jersey Library for the Blind and Disabled, The Hun School of Princeton, The Institute for Advanced Study, Far Hills Polo Club Condominium Association, Phillipsburg Riverview Association, Liberty Street Church of Christ (Trenton, NJ) and the Church's Wee Nursery School, Infinity Outdoor Advertising, R & S/Strauss Auto Stores, Stony Brook/Millstone Watershed Association, Phillipsburg Riverview Association, Strategic Diversified Real Estate Holdings LLC/Pennington Point, Sunshine Real Estate Ventures, Inc., Delaware & Raritan Greenway, Poekel Realty, National Bank of Sussex County, 1st Constitution Bank, Wachovia Bank and others. F. Clifford Gibbons, Esq. the firm's founder and Managing Member, was born in Easton, MD and raised in Princeton, NJ. He graduated from the Hun School of Princeton (1979), Colgate University (1983) and Penn State University, Dickinson School of Law (1989) and also studied British Law and International Law at The Queen's College, Oxford University (1987). Gibbons was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1989 and is also admitted to the Bars of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the United Stares Bankruptcy Court and the United States Supreme Court. He is also Of Counsel to the firm of Dolan and Dolan, P.A. located in Newton, Blairstown and Princeton, NJ. Mr. Gibbons is presently the co-author of the New Jersey Casebook on Zoning, Planning and Land Use Law, published by Gann Law Books and was, for many years, co-author of New Jersey Zoning and Land Use Administration, also published by Gann. He has also published two other books, as well as many publications in the fields of zoning, planning, governmental affairs, real estate, business formation and regulation, bankruptcy and legal ethics. Mr. Gibbons has represented and advised numerous municipal governing bodies, planning and zoning boards (including combined land use boards), commissions and authorities during his thirty years of practice. He has also testified as an expert witness in litigation and administrative proceedings involving land use and local government issues, and has been appointed by the New Jersey Superior Court as a Discovery Master and Special Hearing Officer in zoning, planning, affordable housing and governmental affairs cases. Since 2005, Mr. Gibbons has been an Adjunct Instructor for Rutgers University, teaching courses and seminars in zoning, planning and governmental affairs. Gibbons is also certified by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs as an instructor of the course in land use law and planning required for all zoning and planning board members pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-23.3. F. Clifford Gibbons, Attorney at Law, LLC is quality rated by Martindale-Hubbell and Lawyers.com as "AV Preeminent" for legal ability and general ethics, the highest rating provided by these national entities. Mr. Gibbons has personally been listed in "Who's Who in American Law" for many years and, in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019, he was selected by Thompson West as a New Jersey Super Lawyer. Gibbons is the recipient of the Bancroft-Whitney American Jurisprudence Award, the New Jersey Planning Officials/New Jersey League of Municipalities Achievement in Planning Award, and the Hun School's Meritorious Service and Distinguished Alumni Awards. He has also been honored for his provision of pro bono legal work to Eden Autism Services of Princeton. In 2018, Gibbons received the William M. Cox Award from the New Jersey Institute of Local Government Attorneys. The Cox Award recognizes an attorney or judge who has become distinguished in the field of land use law.

The firm takes pride in the personal service, attention, discretion and zealous advocacy which it offers to all of its clients, public and private, as well as the long-standing relationships which the firm's attorneys and staff enjoy with clients both in the Princeton area and throughout New Jersey. Our client base and reputation have been built by referral and "word of mouth" from existing clients, including municipalities and their officials, small businesses, families and individuals. The main office of F. Clifford Gibbons, Attorney at Law, LLC is located at 475 Wall Street, Princeton, NJ. Hours by appointment, including evenings and weekends.