Matthew S. Rogers has over 30 years of litigation and land use experience. His practice has focused in the area of land use, development and real estate related matters, employer and employee relationships and criminal defense in the Federal District Courts, Superior Courts and Municipal Courts in New Jersey. His extensive background in land use and development law stems from his representation of Municipal Planning and Zoning Boards and developers and applicants before various boards throughout the State for over 35 years. Matt's full service practice also includes motor vehicle violations, business formations and transactions, residential and commercial real estate, employment/severance, civil litigation, and wills and probate.
He has been the attorney for the Village of Ridgewood in Bergen County, since 2006.
He is associate counsel to the New Jersey League of Municipalities and is a former member of the M.L.U.L. Drafting Committee. He holds a Diplomate in Municipal Law from the Rutgers University School of Government Services which he earned in 1996.
He spent his first 4 years as an attorney as an Assistant Prosecutor in the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office where he was the Assistant Trial Chief and the head of Arson Investigations. In those positions, he prosecuted the most serious of criminal charges, including murder, armed robbery, aggravated arson, sexual assaults and CDS distribution among others. Since that time, he has continued to represent and handle the defense of criminal defendants before the Superior Courts in this State, the Federal District Court in New Jersey and the Southern and Eastern District Courts of New York. His representation includes clients charged with white collar crimes and all violations of the New Jersey Criminal Code, the Motor Vehicle Statutes in New Jersey, and Municipal Ordinance Violation. He has also served as a Municipal Prosecutor in Bergen County for over 12 years.
Matt has extensive litigation and negotiation experience in employer and employee relationships. He has lectured for the National Business Institute, Lorman Educational Services, institutes and various other organizations on the topics of discriminatory practices in the workplace; avoidance of frivolous lawsuits; and handling harassment complaints. He has extensive trial experience in the Superior Courts of New Jersey in this field, successfully trying his first sexual harassment law suit in 1985.
He's a former partner in the law firm of Contant, Shuber, Atkins, Rogers and Fede in Hackensack and Price Meese Shulman D'Arminio in Woodcliff Lake. Since 2009, he's been a solo practitioner in Ridgewood.
Matt is a former Trustee of the Bergen County Bar Association and served as its delegate to the American Bar Association. He is a former Trustee of the Bergen County Legal Services, a member of the New Jersey Institute of Municapal Attorneys and former member of the District II B Ethics Committee.
Matt has been very active in his home town as chairman of several civic organizations and committees. He's a former member of the Board of Trustees for West Bergen Mental Healthcare, a regional mental healthcare provider to Northwest Bergen County towns. Matt is a former President of the Ridgewood Junior Football Association, former trustee of Ridgewood Baseball and Softball Association, and coached for many years. In the last 10 years, he and several other Ridgewood residents initiated a youth Rugby program for elementary school boys and girls and U-16 and U-19 rugby team made up of high school players from throughout Bergen County. Matt was Co-Chairman of Dad's Night, a 72 year old tradition in Ridgewood which raises funds for two elementary schools in Ridgewood. He presently serves on the Board of consultants for St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale.