New Jersey State Bar Foundation Recognizes Honorable William A. Dreier

The Somerville law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A. is pleased to announce that member William A. Dreier has been awarded the prestigious 2008 Medal of Honor by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation (“NJSBF”) for his professional excellence as demonstrated by his accomplishments in the law and service to the profession and community throughout his career.

“The New Jersey State Bar Foundation is proud to bestow its highest honor on Judge Dreier for his distinguished career and his commitment to the organized bar,” said NJSBF President Mary Ellen Tully. “With his 380 judicial opinions and the time he now spends lecturing to law schools around the country since retiring from the bench, to his continued commitment to the Bar as Chair of ICLE, he epitomizes the qualities that a Medal of Honor recipient should have.”

“We, at Norris McLaughlin, P.A., are fortunate to have Bill Dreier as a leading member of our firm,” said John J. Eagan, Managing Partner of the firm. “After his years on the bench, Bill joined Norris McLaughlin, P.A.and exhibited the same commitment to law, community, mentorship, and leadership in our firm as he did throughout his legal career. We are thrilled for Bill and his family that he is being honored with the prestigious 2008 Medal of Honor by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation,” he added.

The NJSBF is the charitable and educational Foundation of the New Jersey State Bar Association (“NJSBA”). Its mission is to foster an increased awareness, appreciation and knowledge of law and the legal system among New Jersey residents; to serve as the statewide resource for law-related education for the public; to provide opportunities for lawyers to serve the public through the Foundation’s programs; and to foster professionalism and pride in the profession of law through public service. The NJSBA is the state’s largest association providing programs and services to the legal profession. Through education, member benefits, networking, and section, division and committee memberships, NJSBA members influence the formation of legislative policy, advance professionally, and share in the voice of the state’s largest association of legal professionals.

A resident of Warren, Dreier heads the Norris McLaughlin, P.A. worldwide products liability practice, in addition to supervising commercial litigation and mediation & arbitration. He frequently lectures, mediates and arbitrates substantial Chancery and other disputes.

As an arbitrator and mediator, Dreier has been chosen as a member of the New Jersey Panel of Distinguished Neutrals, International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution, and the American Arbitration Association’s National Panel of Commercial Arbitrators, its class action and complex case panels and its International Centre for Dispute Resolution. He is also a member of the Marie L. Garibaldi ADR Inn of Court, the New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators and a founding member of The Resolution Group (TRG). He regularly lectures on Alternative Dispute Resolution.

In addition, Dreier is an Emeritus member of the Columbia Law School Board of Visitors, the editorial board of the New Jersey Law Journal, and the American Law Institute for which he is an advisor or consultative group member for the various areas of the Restatement (Third) of Torts, and is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education. He is an authority on commercial litigation, having authored the state’s principal text on Chancery Practice as well as earlier texts on Secured Financing.

Dreier has published numerous articles on ADR, products liability and other subjects, in addition to 380 published judicial opinions. His ADR articles include: “Finding the Most Efficient Forum for Resolving Disputes in Today’s Corporate World,” The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel; “Mediate, Arbitrate – Don’t Litigate,” The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel; “Resolve Your Disputes Out of Court,” The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel; and “The Growing Popularity of ADR,” The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel.

He frequently lectures throughout New Jersey and nationally on the subject of products liability, on which his book, New Jersey Products Liability and Toxic Tort Law (Gann Law Books), is based. He is Planning Chair and Faculty Member of the annual Advanced National Products Liability Course for the ALI-ABA, a lecturer for ICLE’s annual products liability update and Chancery Practice courses, and has been a lecturer in symposia at five national law schools.

Dreier received his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1961 and his B.S. from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1958. Before joining Norris McLaughlin, he was a trial judge in the New Jersey Superior Court from 1973 to 1983, served in the Appellate Division from 1983 to 1994, and was a Presiding Judge from 1994 to 1998.

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