John F. Gelson, a 1981 Drake University Law School graduate, doesn’t change clothes in a phone booth or leap tall buildings in a single bound, but he’s twice earned the title of super.
Gelson recently was named “Super Lawyer of New Jersey” for the second consecutive year. Each year, “Law & Politics” magazine asks active lawyers in the state or region to nominate the best attorneys they’ve seen in action. Gelson, a partner in the law firm of McLaughlin Gelson LLC in Wall Township, N.J., was one of only 5 percent of lawyers in each state or region to be named a Super Lawyer.
“It’s always nice recognition to be awarded by your fellow lawyers with whom you’ve worked for years,” Gelson said.
Gelson has been practicing law for almost 25 years, and serves as chairman of McLaughlin Gelson’s litigation department. He’s been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a court appointed mediator, serves on the boards of several alumni and charitable organizations. He is also a guest lecturer at Georgian Court College, in Lakewood, N.J., on business law and computer law.
Gelson graduated from the University of Notre Dame and attended the University of Notre Dame Law School at the London School of Economics before earning his law degree from Drake University Law School.
Gelson participated in Drake’s prosecutor intern program between his second and third years at the law school. The internship allows students to try court cases in Polk County and neighboring counties, under the supervision of instructors and acting prosecutors. Gelson said the internship was one of his most valuable pre-career experiences.
Gelson was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1981, and is licensed to practice in the state and federal courts in New Jersey as well as before the U.S. Supreme Court.