Eric S. Pasternack

Eric S. Pasternack is a Member with Cohen, Placitella & Roth, and focuses his practice on class action and environmental litigation.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Pasternack was an associate with Ricci Tyrrell Johnson & Grey, where he represented major corporations in products liability, premises liability, maritime, and environmental litigation.

Before entering private practice, Mr. Pasternack served as a Deputy Attorney General for the State of New Jersey. In that capacity, he litigated enforcement and cost recovery actions on behalf of the Department of Environmental Protection in actions brought under the Spill Compensation and Control Act, the Site Remediation and Reform Act, the Underground Storage of Hazard Substances Act, and the Industrial Site Recovery Act. He also advised the Department of Environmental Protection in complex, multi-district litigation involving hazardous substances such as MTBE.

Mr. Pasternack has also counseled and represented various state agencies in actions concerning an Attorney General Directive authorizing the use of police body cameras, the regulation of the medical profession, the Attorney General’s managerial prerogative, and New Jersey’s election laws. In two of those cases, he successfully opposed petitions for certiorari before the Supreme Court of the United States. He also briefed and argued cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, including:

• Goodwin v. Conway, 836 F.3d 321 (3d Cir. 2016) (argued)
• Zitter v. Petruccelli, 11767 F. Supp. 3d 698 (D.N.J. 2016)
• Doe v. Governor of New Jersey, 783 F.3d 150 (3d Cir. 2015)
• Balsam v. Secretary of State of New Jersey, 607 Fed. Appx. 177 (3d Cir. 2015)
• King v. Governor of New Jersey, 767 F.3d 215 (3d Cir. 2015)
• Robinson v. N.J. Mercer County Vicinage, 562 Fed. Appx. 145 (3d Cir. 2014)
• Nichols v. Sivilli, 130 F. Supp. 3d 912 (D.N.J. 2015)

Mr. Pasternack is a J.D./M.B.A. graduate of Rutgers Law School and Rutgers School of Business. While in law school, he served as an editor of the Rutgers Law Journal, a Governor’s Executive Fellow with the Eagleton Institute of Politics, and a Dean’s Academic Excellence Scholar. Upon graduation, the faculty of Rutgers Law School awarded him the Albert P. Blaustein Memorial Award for his note, HIPAA in the Age of Electronic Health Records, 41 Rutgers L.J. 817 (2012).

Mr. Pasternack clerked for the Honorable Joseph L. Yannotti, P.J.A.D. of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.

Mr. Pasternack is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

In his spare time, Mr. Pasternack serves as the Co-Chair of the John S. Bradway High School Mock Trial Competition Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division. He also enjoys participating in the Guest Chef Program at the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House.