Family Law

• Child Support
  Even though you will be forced to leave your home, you will still be required to continue paying your mortgage, rent, child support and any other relevant expenses that the judge deems necessary.

Criminal Law

• Criminal Defense
  Results-Driven Criminal Defense Lawyers Successfully Defend Clients Charged With Crimes In Madison And Throughout New Jersey Charged
• DUI/DWI
  A criminal conviction can result in jail time, financial penalties, reputational damage and a lasting criminal record. Regardless of the charge you are facing, the quality of your legal representation will determine the effectiveness of your defense. Whether you are faced with a Newark DWI/DUI charge or need legal representation for a federal appeal, you need the strongest possible advocate on your side.
• Traffic Violations
  Criminal offenses range from traffic violations to violent crimes. One thing these all have in common is that a conviction can seriously derail your life — both present and future.
• Sex Crimes
  At Zegas Law, we fight allegations of sexual assault with tenacity and skill because we know what is at stake if you are convicted. Employers now routinely rely upon criminal background checks when screening job applicants, landlords may not wish to alienate other tenants by renting to a registered sex offender and the terms of your probation itself may limit where you are allowed to live and work. The stigma of a sexual assault conviction will undoubtedly follow you decades after you have completed your punishment—even after you have spent years in prison.
• Fraud
  Medicare and Medicaid fraud occur whenever an entity or individual receives reimbursement from one of these government programs based on the submission of false information or misrepresentation. Most Medicare and Medicaid charges are brought against medical professionals (including doctors, nurses and therapists) and organizations such as hospitals and medical clinics that receive reimbursement from these programs based upon care provided to qualifying Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. In New Jersey, enforcement actions designed to combat Medicare and Medicaid fraud have increased substantially in recent years, primarily via the federally-established Healthcare Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Team, which is a dedicated team comprised of officers from the Department of Justice, FBI, Department of Health and Human Services and the Inspector General’s office.
• Robbery
  Violent crimes. Violent crimes such as robbery, assault, battery, and even murder can carry some of the harshest punishments under the law. In most cases, the consequences of a conviction will be permanent, making the advice of a skilled defense lawyer critical.
• Burglary
  The alleged act was committed while the actor committed (or attempted to commit) some other violent crime, such as carjacking, robbery, kidnapping, homicide, aggravated assault on a third party, burglary, arson or criminal escape...
• White Collar Crimes
  White collar crimes. Cases involving federal white collar crimes can be particularly complex, and require the guidance of an attorney with our significant skills to navigate successfully—especially considering that the consequences of a white collar conviction can be just as damaging as in the case of violent crimes.
• Theft
• Misdemeanors
  The length of time for a criminal case depends on the case’s complexity and other factors. If a prosecutor makes a reasonable plea offer early in the process, the case can end quickly. If the case involves a simple misdemeanor charge, the case may be resolved in a few weeks or a month. If the case involves a felony charge, the case may last for several months or a year.
• Embezzlement
  Crimes involving theft and embezzlement are taken seriously in New Jersey and can result in prison, monetary fines and restitution to the victims of the crime. In reality, embezzlement is a form of theft committed under circumstances where the defendant had some type of right to make use of property or funds. To convict on embezzlement charges, the prosecution must show that instead of using or conveying the property for the intended purpose, the defendant stole the funds or property by diverting them for personal use. Regardless of whether you are facing theft or embezzlement charges in North Jersey, a conviction can destroy your professional reputation in addition to the imposition of a substantial prison term.
• Drug Crimes
  Drug crimes and their associated penalties vary in New Jersey based upon the type of drug involved (it’s classification), the amount of drug involved and what the prosecution alleges you did (or intended to do) with the drugs. Your past criminal record will also play a role when the judge is considering punishment for a drug crime. From simple possession to manufacturing or trafficking a controlled dangerous substance, drug crimes in New Jersey can be punished as a relatively minor disorderly persons offense or as a serious felony-level crime that can send you to jail for years. Regardless of the type of drug crime you are accused of committing, you need a strong and aggressive legal defense team on your side to build an effective defense strategy on your behalf.
• Assault
  Assault is a criminal offense that can arise under a variety of circumstances—a domestic dispute, a bar fight or even a heated disagreement between acquaintances can lead to the filing of assault charges in New Jersey. The fact that assault charges are relatively common in the state does not mean that they should not be taken seriously. Jail time is a possibility even where the charges were filed because of a consensual fight between adults and the prosecution and courts are permitted to consider all available evidence in determining the severity of the criminal charge that is appropriate in your case.
• Murder
  In some cases, yes. For most violent crimes, such as sexual assault or murder, there is no time limit for prosecuting your case—charges can be brought against you even if decades have passed. In non-violent criminal cases, however, the prosecution must bring charges against you within a specific time frame for the charges to stick. The time period varies depending upon the crime, and can be as little as one year in some cases.
• Juvenile Crimes
  The mere fact that your child committed a crime as a minor under the age of 18 does not mean that the matter shouldn’t be taken extremely seriously. While it is true that the New Jersey juvenile criminal justice system is more highly focused on rehabilitation, rather than punishment, juvenile crimes can carry significant penalties that include jail time, monetary fines and the risk of a criminal record. In fact, juveniles can even be tried as adults when the court deems it appropriate, such as in cases involving violent crimes or serious damage to property. Because the risk that the juvenile will continue a pattern of criminal behavior after completing their punishment is so high, the New Jersey courts and law enforcement take juvenile crimes extremely seriously—and so should you.
• Identity Theft
  In this day and age, your personal identifying information is used not only to verify your identity, but to assess your creditworthiness, qualifications for entering educational institutions and certain professions requiring licensing and in any number of diverse situations. Because of the important role that this information now plays and the prevalence of internet-based identity theft schemes, both the state of New Jersey and the federal government impose serious criminal penalties upon those convicted of identity theft or the impersonation of others to obtain a benefit via fraudulent means.
• Homicide
  Charged with a non-violent crime, usually a third-degree or fourth-degree offense, (serious offenses such as sex crimes, homicide and similar offenses do not qualify)...
• Arson
  Juveniles can be treated as adults in the criminal justice system upon application of a “juvenile waiver†.  If your child is at least 15 years old, he or she can be tried as an adult for particularly serious crimes, including sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, first-degree robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, aggravated arson, certain weapons offenses committed in conjunction with drug-related offenses and most homicide cases.  Because the consequences of being tried as an adult, rather than as a juvenile, are significantly more severe, our lawyers always strongly advocate for your child’s case to be handled in the juvenile system.
• Shoplifting
  If you or a loved one have been arrested for shoplifting, you may initially feel that the embarrassment and humiliation involved in being caught shoplifting is the most serious aspect of the crime. Unfortunately, New Jersey takes shoplifting offenses seriously, and, depending upon the value of the merchandise in question, you may quickly find that you’re facing much more serious criminal consequences than you had anticipated—you may even be facing years in prison and thousands of dollars’ worth of monetary fines. Shoplifting may not be a violent crime, but it is still a serious offense that must be handled with skill.
• Restraining Order
  A restraining order is essentially a specific order that prevents you from doing certain things—in addition to preventing contact, it may also prevent you from visiting certain specific locations. While a temporary restraining order is relatively easy to get in North Jersey because it is based upon the singular testimony of the person requesting the order, a more detailed hearing requiring evidentiary support is held to determine whether the restraining order should be made final—giving our skilled defense lawyers ample opportunity to challenge the basis for issuing the order.
• Forgery
  In some cases, complications may arise because these cases are often highly publicized, especially when a pattern of mortgage or bank fraud is alleged.  In many cases, the presence of multiple defendants will provide complications, but also opportunities to assert your innocence. In other cases, however, mortgage and bank fraud cases are complicated by the fact that additional serious allegations will accompany the initial fraud charge—such as mail and wire fraud, RICO charges, embezzlement, forgery, money laundering and identity theft. This potential for “stacking†multiple serious and complex criminal charges can result in the imposition of exponentially more severe penalties if convicted, making the advice of skilled and effective legal counsel critical to obtaining the best possible outcome.
• Money Laundering
  Many clients mistakenly believe that facing money laundering charges is less serious than facing criminal charges for the activity underlying the money laundering itself—but money laundering is, in and of itself, a serious felony level crime that can result in significant jail time. In fact, money laundering charges in New Jersey often accompany additional charges related to the alleged underlying criminal activity through which the funds that were “cleaned†had originally been procured. Because any prison sentence based on a money laundering conviction must be served consecutively to any prison sentence based on the underlying offense, you may actually serve significantly more time in prison if convicted on money laundering charges.
• Kidnapping
• Internet Crimes
  From online shopping to online business structures to social media, a substantial part of our personal and business lives now takes place on the internet. Criminal activity that takes place on the internet has increased dramatically in proportion to the central role that online activity now plays in all of our daily lives. The penalties that apply in internet crimes cases can be just as substantial as those that apply when you are accused of committing a violent crime, and often include significant jail time, restitution and substantial monetary penalties.
• Prostitution
• Extortion
  Theft or embezzlement charges can also be elevated to a more serious crime based upon the character of the property that is stolen. For example, if extortion is used in committing the theft, the crime will be elevated to a second-degree offense even if the value of that property does not exceed $75,000. If the embezzlement or theft was accomplished via a breach of your fiduciary duties, and the property is valued at under $50,000, third-degree charges will apply (whereas second-degree charges will apply if the value is at least $50,000).

Business and Corporate Law

• Business Disputes
  The field of commercial litigation encompasses a wide range of financial and business disputes that require the guidance of a lawyer skilled in applying the law to a diverse set of circumstances.  At Zegas Law, we regularly and successfully provide strong legal advocacy for clients on a broad range of commercial litigation matters, including cases involving...
• Trade Secrets
• Unfair Competition

Employment Law

• Employment Litigation
• Non-compete Agreement

Property Law

• Real Estate Litigation

Health Law

• Personal Injury

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning

Finance Law

• Tax Law
  An IRS audit is really a civil matter where the general purpose is to uncover errors that the taxpayer may have made in filing a return.  In recognition of the fact that the tax law is extremely complicated, an audit will usually only result in an adjustment to the amount of tax owed and perhaps penalties for understating income.  A criminal investigation, on the other hand, may be handled by the Department of Justice and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and is conducted with the aim of locating enough evidence to support an indictment and criminal conviction.  These investigations can take a substantial amount of time—in some cases, the investigation will last years before the authorities determine whether sufficient evidence exists to justify an indictment.