Fighting for the Civil and Employment Rights of the People of New Jersey for Two Decades

Kevin Costello named a "Super Lawyer" by Super Lawyer Magazine and Rating Service for 5th Consecutive Year
 
Kevin was named a 2010 "Super Lawyer" by the peer-review based rating magazine, which solicits nominations from the legal community and which then submits such nominations to a the bar to finalize selections in different areas of the law.  Kevin never asks to be nominated, is not required to pay anything or purchase anything to win, and still confesses, after his fifth win, that he's not even sure who nominates him or how they decided to select him as one of the winners.
 
The Super Lawyer designation is independent of, and not approved by, the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey, nor by the Bar of the State of New Jersey.  No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court.

Racial Harassment Win in Bergen County

Roberth Morales, a hispanic man who was subjected to ethnic harassment while employed by the County, and who was represented at trial by Kevin Costello, was thrilled to receive a significant pain and suffering verdict for what the jury determined was egregious racial harassment at the hands of Roberth's supervisors.  Both the client and Kevin were thrilled, because the County had flatly refused to consider settlement before trial.  "It's always great to have my faith in the jury vindicated with verdicts like this one," Kevin says.  "They not only saw through the attempt to mislead them by defense witnesses, they also did the right thing, even though they themselves were Bergen County tax payers."

Press Coverage for Sexual Harassment Suit Against the Gloucester County Improvement Authority

Both the Gloucester County Times and the Courier Post have reported on a Sexual Harassment suit filed by the firm on behalf of four Authority employees who claim in the public document that they were subjected not only to egregious verbal sexual abuse, but also that, when they complained to upper management, they were told to "live with it" and that if they didn't like it, "there's the gate."  Stay tuned for information on the results in future bulletins.

Costello & Mains Attorneys Serve as Faculty to Employment Trial Lawyers

Kevin Costello will speak at, will Chair, the New Jersey Association for Justice's "Meadowlands Seminar" Employment Program on November 12, 2009.  Deborah Mains will also serve as a speaker, addressing the nuts and bolts of employment trial practice.  "It's always a treat to teach employment law to our bar," says Deborah.  "In addition to being able to protect and preserve important employment laws by teaching the correct ways to use them, teaching is also always, for Kevin and I, a learning experience, as well."

On Friday, August 10, 2009, a Federal District Court Judge approved settlement in a historic class action against Orleans Homebuilders and associated companies. The suit alleged that Orleans treated its site salespeople as illegally exempt under Federal Wage and Hour Laws. Although Orleans disputed the allegations, Costello & Mains, representing the class representatives, was able to resolve the suit, which resulted in significant compensation to the class members who filed their timely claims. "We're thrilled," Deborah and Kevin said after the settlement was approved in Federal Court, "to have been instrumental in not only making sure those who filed claims received their compensation, but also to have been instrumental in altering Orleans' business practices. We understand that the compensation practices which lead to this suit have now been changed."

Deborah L. Mains Joins the Women's Trial Lawyers' Caucus of the New Jersey Association for Justice. "I cannot overstate the importance of this group in the promotion and support of female trial attorneys in New Jersey," says Deborah, "and I am proud to join other trial lawyers in the empowerment of women in our profession."

Shareholder Deborah L. Mains Invited to Join the Working Group of the Labor and Employment Section of the New Jersey Association for Justice. Deborah now serves with a handful of other prominent labor and employment attorneys under the Chairmanship of her partner, Kevin M. Costello and Evan Goldman, a north Jersey trial attorney who does employment work.  "It's my honor to work with the co-chairs of the section and the other gifted attorneys on the working group to grow the section and see it reach its fullest potential," says Deborah.

Deborah Mains Serves on the Executive Committee of the Labor & Employment Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Deborah says, "I was proud to have been appointed to the executive committee of this dynamic and important group last year and look forward to continuing to serve."  When asked why it's so important, Deborah comments: "Employment law evolves.  It evolves because Courts issue decisions, but it also evolves because legislators change it.  Attorneys must safeguard the laws, so that they protect the rights of the individual, not of vested interests.  My service on the Executive Committee is one way our firm seeks to discharge that public duty."

Kevin Costello Named to "Top 5 Percent of New Jersey Lawyers" by Super Lawyers' Magazine. When asked to comment on his fourth consecutive year winning accolades from the publication, Kevin says:  "They keep selecting me.  For my part, I keep not putting my name in, nor asking them to consider me, nor even being aware of how they decide who wins.  But clearly, people are putting me in, people are voting for me, and I keep getting selected.  So I suppose I'm honored," Kevin chuckles.

The Super Lawyer designation is independent of, and not approved by, the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey, nor by the Bar of the State of New Jersey.  No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court.

Kevin and Deborah, along with a dozen other trial lawyer faculty members, presented employment law updates and spoke to employment trial lawyers on trial advocacy skills in the Association for Justices' annual two day program in Atlantic City. "We're always thrilled to teach," says Deborah, "because it's really learning in reverse.  The program is well attended, but intimate enough that everyone ends up teaching a bit as they comment and ask questions." Says Kevin, one of the co-chairs for the event: "It's always fun, and rewarding. I agree with Deb. I learn more than I teach, so it's a pleasure."

Kevin was asked by the New Jersey Association for Justice and by Assemblywoman Greenstein, to appear on the NJM network's legal affairs talk show, "In Brief," to support Greenstein's "Healthy Workplace Act" Bill, which would make workplace bullying and harassment without a discriminatory component actionable under NJ Law. "Currently," says Kevin, "the law doesn't allow a workplace harassment claim unless the harassment is based on a discriminatory classification. This law would change that, and finally provide justice to so many of the people who suffer extreme bullying and emotional abuse, people who currently have no remedy. I applaud Assemblywoman Greenstein's foresight in sponsoring a law whose time has certainly come."

Deborah L. Mains was named a shareholder in the firm, changing the firm's name as of Spring, 2009 to "Costello & Mains" in preparation for continued expansion of the firm's Employment and Civil Litigation practice. Deborah, an accomplished career Labor and Employment attorney, also expands the firms' practice concentrations, bringing her specific knowledge of Regulatory Labor Law, Collective Actions and Federal Practice.

The firm represented more than 20 bartenders against an Atlantic City casino. The bartenders claimed that the Casino hired based on gender in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJ-LAD).  The casino sought to dismiss the case claiming that gender-based hiring was a legitimate business decision, but an Atlantic County judge disagreed, ruling that, under the facts of the case, gender-based discrimination in hiring violated the NJ-LAD as a matter of law. The Court granted judgment for the majority of the bartenders, leaving open only the issue of damages.  The case was covered in the Atlantic City Press and in other local periodicals.  Deborah Mains, Esq., a shareholder of the firm, wrote the winning brief.

"Kevin Costello Named as Meadowlands Employment Seminar Chair."

"The Law Offices of Kevin Costello Wins Big for New Jersey Casino Workers." - The firm's more than 20 clients, all bartenders at the Caesar's casino, were waiting to hear whether their historic law suit alleging gender discrimination would be dismissed or if the matter would go to trial.  Discovery was over, and the casino had moved the Court to dismiss the case.  Yet in a nearly complete win, a Superior Court judge ruled that the case survived, and will now go to trial either in late 2008 or in early 2009.  "It was a vindication of the aim of the suit," Kevin says.  "The casino thought it was just fine to staff bars with young women only, instead of simply using the best bartenders, but now, they'll have to answer to a jury if the case can't be resolved."

"Kevin Costello appears on "Legal Line" to discuss Employment Rights. - "I'm always happy to return to the show," Kevin says.  He's appeared on Legal Line several times over the years, in most recent appearances to discuss employment rights specifically.

"Kevin Costello Named Chair for the Boardwalk Employment Seminar for ATLA-NJ" - "It's a wonderful seminar, catering to over 1000 of our best and brightest trial lawyers," Kevin says, "and I'm thrilled to be responsible for the Employment Program with my co-chair."

"Kevin Costello Named 2008-2009 Vice Chair of the GLBT Section of the State Bar Association" - Kevin was asked to vice chair the section as it transitioned from committee to true section, assisting the chair in an aggressive educational and outreach agenda for 2008 and 2009.  "I'm honored," Kevin says, "to be asked to help lead a section which means so much to so many lawyers and their clients.  They'll have everything I can give this year."

 "Kevin Costello Named a "2008 Super Lawyer" by Super Lawyers Magazine."

The Super Lawyer designation is independent of, and not approved by, the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey, nor by the Bar of the State of New Jersey.  No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court.

"Labor Trial Lawyer Deborah Mains Joins the Firm!" - "I'm thrilled to announce that my long time friend and now law partner, Deborah Mains, has joined the firm as a partner," Kevin announced proudly.  "She'll be concentrating on labor and employment trial work, and assisting with our Federal and Class Action Practice."

"Kevin Costello Named Co-Chair of the Meadowlands Employment Seminar for ATLA-NJ" - "I always learn, even as I teach," says Kevin, responsible for putting together the Employment Program for the Seminar, which expects 500 of the state's trial lawyers.

"Kevin Costello Lectures on Civil Practice for the New Jersey State Bar." - Kevin's regular Fall gig is as a panelist for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, teaching Civil Trial Preparation to newly admitted attorneys.  "It's fun, I get to do it with other great members of the bar, and I feel like I'm making a contribution to the future of the profession."  Kevin frequently lectures for the American Trial Lawyers Association, the Camden County Bar Association, and the State Bar.

"Kevin Costello Appears on the Morning Show with Mike and Juliet to Advocate for Education Equality" - Kevin appeared on the Fox National Broadcast of the popular morning show to discuss the discriminatory decision by the Evesham, NJ Board of Education to ban a film supportive of alternative families.

"Historic Class Action Filed Against Orleans Builders." - Orleans, one of the region's largest builders, has been called upon to answer for alleged violations of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which governs the payment of, among other things, overtime.  The suit alleges that three sales positions were not paid proper overtime.  The firm and associate counsel have consolidated the cases in Federal Court in Pennsylvania.  Stay tuned for further news."

"Kevin Costello Named to the Top 5% of New Jersey Lawyers by Super Lawyers Magazine."

The Super Lawyer designation is independent of, and not approved by, the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey, nor by the Bar of the State of New Jersey.  No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court.

"Kevin Costello Speaks Out Against Educational Discrimination in Evesham, NJ" - Shocked and dismayed over the decision by the Evesham Board of Education to ban a film supportive of alternative families, including those involving same sex parents, Kevin spoke out at the Board's August meeting, facing down a hostile crowd.  "I'm amazed at the level of ignorance and bigotry in this community," Kevin said to local news broadcasters, "It's my hope that, little by little, we can erase some of that bigotry.  Raising enlightened kids means an enlightened generation."

"Kevin Costello Named a Top Lawyer Under 40" by Super Lawyers Magazine."

The Super Lawyer designation is independent of, and not approved by, the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey, nor by the Bar of the State of New Jersey.  No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court.

"Kevin Named to Board of Governors of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America - NJ" - "I'm proud to be a trial lawyer, and I'm proud to help steer this organization, which advocates exclusively for justice for the American worker and consumer against corporations, insurance tyranny, big medicine and other interests intent on undermining that justice.  ATLA fights that battle every day."

"Kevin Costello Named a Champion of Equality" by Garden State Equality." - For his advocacy on behalf of GLBT rights in New Jersey, and for his supportive work in Lewis v. Harris, the New Jersey equal marriage rights case, Kevin was given the award at a ceremony this winter.  "I didn't expect it, and I'm deeply honored," Kevin says.  "I'm disappointed that every straight person doesn't feel as I do, that injustice anywhere - including a denial of equal marriage rights - is something for which we should all work."