Who We Are
For more than 100 years, Greenbaum has helped shape how New Jersey works, representing and counseling businesses, public entities, and individuals based in New Jersey or with interests in the Garden State. We are known for understanding the “ins and outs” and inherent complexities of handling legal challenges in New Jersey, and have a network of longstanding business, legal, and government relationships throughout the state, both of which translate directly into an advantage for our clients.
Our long history has built the foundation that we stand upon today, and we honor the many accomplishments that define our first one hundred years. As a 21st century enterprise, we also embrace modern tools and processes to maximize efficiency, security, and accessibility, including generative AI, cloud-based practice management, and encrypted communication channels.
Whether we are retained to structure a transaction, serve as strategic counsel, or represent a client in a dispute or litigation, we pride ourselves on our commitment to helping mid-sized companies, Fortune 500 firms, start-ups, family-owned businesses, public entities, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and individuals overcome challenges, capitalize on opportunities, and maximize results.
Our areas of expertise are diverse and comprehensive in scope. Because many legal challenges do not fit neatly within a single discipline, Greenbaum brings together attorneys across practice areas to provide coordinated advice - allowing clients to address complex, interrelated issues within a single firm.
We are committed to fostering a culture of respect, where our professionals can thrive in an inclusive environment with equitable pathways to opportunity and growth. We value collaboration and encourage a breadth of perspectives and experiences essential to delivering creative and robust solutions for our clients. We are also dedicated to being a positive force in both our business and personal communities, with many of our attorneys sharing their time and expertise, whether serving on boards of directors or taking on leadership roles in professional, civic and community groups.
Across industries and across borders, Greenbaum delivers results. Our practice is rooted in a century of New Jersey legal leadership, yet our reach is broad-based. Whether navigating local complexities or coordinating with counsel in other jurisdictions, we provide the steady, sophisticated advocacy our clients have relied on for over 100 years.
How We Got Here
The firm was founded in 1914 by William L. Greenbaum, a self-made entrepreneur who received his law degree from New Jersey Law School, a predecessor of Rutgers School of Law. “WL” established and built his solo practice in his hometown of Newark, representing local business owners, trade associations, building and loan associations, as well as friends, neighbors, and individuals in the community. His sons, Robert and Arthur, were raised with a solid appreciation for the value of hard work and an unwavering sense of fairness, with both following in their father’s professional footsteps.
Following his service in the Navy during WWII, Robert S. Greenbaum received his law degree from Columbia Law School in 1948 and joined his father’s practice the following year. Arthur M. Greenbaum earned his J.D. at Rutgers Law School in Newark, joining the family practice in 1950.
In addition to his law practice, WL was a principal in a small FHA mortgage company. Robert and Arthur assumed responsibility for overseeing the company’s operations, enabling the brothers to meet and cultivate relationships with builders, brokers, bankers, and other professionals involved in real estate development. The Greenbaum firm had stepped firmly into the world of New Jersey real estate, and throughout the 1950’s, father and sons continued to grow the family business, adding real estate transactions to the firm’s growing business law and litigation practice.
In 1962, a gifted young lawyer named Paul A. Rowe joined what was then a five-attorney firm. A recent graduate of Columbia Law School, he quickly proved to be an indispensable asset, and soon became a partner. Driven by Paul’s ability to win cases, coupled with the Greenbaums’ ever-increasing prominence within the real estate sector, the firm flourished throughout the 1960s.
To meet the needs of an ever-expanding and increasingly diverse client base, the firm continued to expand, eventually moving to its current location in the Iselin Metropark complex and opening a second office in Roseland. Over the next 30 years, owing in part to numerous strategic mergers, dozens of preeminent and highly qualified lawyers joined the firm’s ranks, including name partners Wendell A. Smith and Alan E. Davis. This organic, need-based growth also significantly broadened the firm’s legal offerings in the areas of litigation, corporate law, tax and estate work, family law, healthcare, land use and redevelopment, and environmental law.
The firm further expanded its footprint into Monmouth County in 2021, opening an office in Red Bank, its third New Jersey location. We additionally established a presence in midtown Manhattan to support clients with New York–based and multistate operations.
We have come a long way since our humble beginnings in Newark, but we have never lost sight of the values that shaped the firm from the start: hard work, a strong sense of integrity, and a deep commitment to relationships and client service. Those principles continue to guide how the firm operates today - shaping its culture, client relationships, and long-term approach to practice.