Dan Schmutter Esq.

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Mr. Schmutter concentrates his practice in litigation, with a particular focus on commercial matters, civil rights, and constitutional law. His commercial practice involves a strong emphasis on disputes dealing with real estate and environmental issues. His civil rights and constitutional law practice focuses on First Amendment, Second Amendment, Fifth Amendment, and Fourteenth Amendment matters.

A significant portion of his practice involves the representation of clients in appellate litigation. Mr. Schmutter has argued before high courts such as the New York Court of Appeals and the New Hampshire Supreme Court and has briefed before the United States Supreme Court and the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Mr. Schmutter practices in federal and state courts, before administrative tribunals and in other proceedings in New Jersey and New York. He also represents clients in alternative dispute resolution proceedings, including arbitrations and mediations.

Mr. Schmutter is experienced in contract litigation, franchise litigation, shareholder and partner disputes, creditors’ rights and bankruptcy, commercial landlord-tenant disputes, trademark and copyright litigation, land use litigation, and trust and estate cases. He has represented a broad variety of clients, including real estate developers, manufacturing and industrial companies, international restaurant companies, and other commercial enterprises, including both Fortune 500 companies and small closely held businesses and individuals.

Honors & Awards

Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rated AV® Preeminent (a trademark of Internet Brands, Inc.) (2014 – present)
Super Lawyers (a Thompson Reuters business) (2019 – present)
Member, Order of the Coif

A description of the standard or methodology on which the accolades are based can be found HERE. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Representative Matters

Has represented clients in claims of excessive government regulation, and has appeared on national television and been published in major newspapers in connection with these efforts.
District of Columbia v. Heller/McDonald v. Chicago (Supreme Court of the United States) – Throughout his career, has submitted eight Amicus Curiae briefs to the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and the New York Court of Appeals, including in the landmarks cases District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago, the latter brief having been cited by Justice Samuel Alito.
Bach v. New Hampshire Department of Safety (Supreme Court of New Hampshire) – Successfully argued before the New Hampshire Supreme Court in Bach v. New Hampshire Department of Safety, in which the Court struck down an unauthorized regulation requiring non-resident concealed carry permit applicants to produce a home state permit, something largely impossible for many or even most residents of states such as New Jersey, New York, Maryland, California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts, as well as the District of Columbia.
Knife Rights v. Vance (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit) – Successfully argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Knife Rights v. Vance,obtaining a reversal of the District Court’s dismissal of the complaint and establishing that the plaintiffs challenging New York City’s practice of arresting ordinary individuals for carrying ordinary pocket knives had standing to challenge that practice on the ground of vagueness under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Des Champs Laboratories, Inc. v. Martin (New Jersey Appellate Division) – Successfully argued Des Champs Laboratories, Inc. v. Martin, in which the Court struck down an unauthorized regulation of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) that threatened to significantly increase clean up obligations under the Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA) for businesses using very small amounts of hazardous substances
Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District (Supreme Court of the United States) – Represented New York based think tank The Land Use Institute as Amicus Curiae in support of petitioner Koontz in Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, a significant property rights case in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Takings Clause of the United States Constitution protects property owners against “coercive monetary exactions” by government agencies as a condition of obtaining land use development permits and approvals.
Osterweil v. Bartlett (New York Court of Appeals) – Successfully represented the appellant in a matter before the New York Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court. The Court was asked to consider, in Osterweil v. Bartlett, whether an applicant who has a part-time residence in New York but makes his permanent domicile elsewhere is eligible for a New York handgun permit in the city or county where his part-time residence is located. The Court’s decision struck down a 20 year old rule that had prohibited such part-time New York residents from obtaining handgun permits for their home.
Petro-Lubricant Testing Laboratories, Inc. v. Adelman (New Jersey Supreme Court) – Represented Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press as Amicus Curiae in support of respondent Adelman in Petro-Lubricant Testing Laboratories, Inc. v. Adelman, a significant free speech case in which the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the Fair Report Privilege does not require disclosure of a settlement when reporting a full, fair, and accurate account of a lawsuit and that the Single Publication Rule protects postings on the internet against attempts to circumvent important statute of limitations protections.
Won an Appellate Division victory on behalf of a leading real estate developer, seeking to advance a major project to clean up and develop a former industrial factory site in central New Jersey. The project was opposed by a neighboring supermarket chain, which brought a prerogative writ action in Superior Court to block the project in order to prevent a competing retailer from moving in and competing. The client had obtained a rezoning of the land to accommodate the project, and the plaintiff argued at trial that the zoning ordinance was invalid under the Municipal Land Use Law. The client prevailed at trial, and in the first appeal, the Appellate Division reversed the judgment of the Law Division due to a technical defect in the City’s notice, but wrote approvingly, without explicitly affirming, as to the substantive findings made by the trial court. After the City readopted the ordinance, curing its notice defect, the plaintiff challenged the ordinance again, claiming that it was entitled to whole new trial on the merits and to assert new claims, arguing that the prior language of the Appellate Division was mere dicta and non-binding. The Appellate Division affirmed dismissal of the second lawsuit on the grounds of res judicata and collateral estoppel.
Balsamides v. Perle (Supreme Court of New Jersey) – Was one of two attorneys to litigate Balsamides v. Perle, the leading case in New Jersey on the valuation of closely held corporations under the New Jersey shareholder oppression statute
Scholastic Bus Co., Inc. v. Fairlawn (New Jersey Appellate Division) – Successfully tried and argued Scholastic Bus Co., Inc. v. Fairlawn, a case involving the proper standards to be applied under New Jersey’s Municipal Land Use Law.

More Activities and Experience

Prior to practicing law, Mr. Schmutter worked in corporate finance for Republic National Bank of New York
Mr. Schmutter has volunteered as a guest lecturer teaching Constitutional Law to college, high school, and middle school students in the United States and Europe.

Speaking Engagements

Presenter, Winning Firearms Freedom One Lawsuit at a Time
Sponsor: 2019 Second Amendment Foundation Gun Rights Policy Conference, Phoenix, Arizona, September 21, 2019
Presenter, The Second Amendment in Play: New Jersey Faces the Federal Courts
Sponsor: 2018 New Jersey Second Amendment & Firearms Education Conference, Vineland, New Jersey, September 22, 2018
Presenter, Winning Firearms Freedom One Lawsuit at a Time
Sponsor: 2017 Second Amendment Foundation Gun Rights Policy Conference, Dallas, Texas, September 30, 2017
Presenter, On the Cutting Edge: Wrenn v. District of Columbia and the Right to Carry
Sponsor: 2017 New Jersey Second Amendment & Firearms Education Conference, Princeton, New Jersey, September 23, 2017
Panelist, Guns in America: Understanding the Second Amendment
Sponsor: New Jersey State Bar Association Annual Meeting and Convention, Atlantic City, New Jersey, May 17, 2017
Presenter, Gun Law in New Jersey: Constitutional Components of Firearms Law
Sponsor: National Business Institute Full Day CLE Conference, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, March 10, 2017
Presenter, Gun Law in New Jersey: Constitutional Components of Firearms Law
Sponsor: National Business Institute Full Day CLE Conference, Princeton and Newark, New Jersey, December 8 and 12, 2016
Presenter, Winning Firearms Freedom One Lawsuit at a Time
Sponsor: 2016 Second Amendment Foundation Gun Rights Policy Conference, Tampa, Florida, September 24, 2016
Presenter, Carry Update 2016: New Jersey and National
Sponsor: 2016 New Jersey Second Amendment & Firearms Education Conference, Parsippany, New Jersey, July 30, 2016
Presenter, The Future of Right to Carry in the Courts
Sponsor: 2015 New Jersey Second Amendment & Firearms Education Conference, Vineland, New Jersey, October 3, 2015
Presenter, Winning Firearms Freedom One Lawsuit at a Time
Sponsor: 2015 Second Amendment Foundation Gun Rights Policy Conference, Phoenix, Arizona, September 26, 2015
Presenter, Winning Firearms Freedom One Lawsuit at a Time
Sponsor: 2014 Second Amendment Foundation Gun Rights Policy Conference, Chicago, Illinois, September 27, 2014
Presenter, Taking Gun Rights Cases Through the Courts
Sponsor: 2013 Second Amendment Foundation Gun Rights Policy Conference, Houston, Texas, September 28, 2013
Lecturer, View from the Street: Firearms Law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey
Sponsor: 2012 NRA Firearms Law & The Second Amendment Symposium, October 13, 2012
Presenter, Fine-Tuning Arms Rights in the Courts
Sponsor: 2012 Second Amendment Foundation Gun Rights Policy Conference, Orlando, Florida, September 29, 2012
Panelist, The Dangers Within: An Update on Dealing with Environmental Hazards in the Workplace It’s Not Just About OSHA!
Sponsor: New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association 10th Annual Full Day CLE Conference, September 12, 2012
Guest Speaker, The Second Amendment in the Courts – Issues and Developments Since McDonald
Sponsor: New Jersey Second Amendment Society meeting, May 23, 2012
Guest Speaker, Forty Years of the Second Amendment Civil Rights Movement – From Burton v. Sills to McDonald v. Chicago
Sponsor: New Jersey Second Amendment Society meeting, February 16, 2011
Featured Guest, Impact of McDonald v. Chicago on the Constitutionality of New Jersey Firearms Law
Sponsor: Freedom Watch, FOX Business Network, August 2010