EXPERIENCE
After leaving New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company as staff counsel, Mr. Tort has focused his practice on the defense of Workers’ Compensation claims representing self-insureds, third party administrators, major insurance carriers and municipal, county and state entities.
John has broad experience in municipal government having served as a Township Committee Member (Council Member) and Deputy Mayor of Hanover Township, Morris County for six consecutive terms from 1990 to 2008. He has served numerous years as a Workers’ Compensation Counsel to the Morris Joint Insurance Fund, the Morris Essex Insurance Group and Special Counsel to the County of Morris.
John has extensive experience with municipal organizations having served or presently serving as a member of the Hanover Township Board of Health, Economic Development Advisory Committee, Recreation Commission, Environmental Commission and founder of the Cultural Arts Committee.
Mr. Tort has been honored and selected by his peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyers of America from 2005 to the present. He has also been named as a Super Lawyer by New Jersey Monthly and Law & Politics.
John is well versed in the defense of complex Workers’ Compensation matters including the defense of total disability, Second Injury Fund, dependency and insurance coverage issues. He counsels and lectures to self-insureds, insurance carriers, third party administers and governmental entities on a regular basis.
He is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Workers’ Compensation Law Attorney.
EDUCATION
New York Law School – J.D.
Seton Hall University – B.A. (Honors in Economics)
BAR AND COURT ADMISSIONS
New Jersey
New York
U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court
BAR AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
American Bar Association – Tort and Insurance Law Section
NJ State Bar Association
NJBA Workers’ Compensation Section Executive Committee 2000-2009
Morris County Bar Association
New Jersey Defense Association
Defense Research Institute
HONORS
Best Lawyers of America – 2005 to the present
New Jersey Super Lawyer
Master American Inns of Court (James H. Coleman)
New Jersey Workers’ Compensation – American Inns of Court
CERTIFICATIONS
Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Workers’ Compensation Law Attorney
GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
Committeemen (Councilman) and Deputy Mayor – Hanover Township (Morris County) 1990-2008
Hanover Township Member or Past Member
Recreation Commission
Board of Health
Economic Development Advisory Council
Cultural Arts Committee (Founder)
Environmental Commission
NOTEWORTHY
In the Supreme Court case of Hersh vs. The County of Morris, 217 N.J. 236 (2014) Mr. Tort was successful in overturning the lower court’s decision and modifying the “premise rule” in Workers’ Compensation.
In another New Jersey Supreme Court case of Lapsley v. Twp. of Sparta, A-69/69-20 (Jan. 18, 2022) Mr. Tort successfully argued that an injury sustained by the plaintiff on a parking lot adjacent to her place of work was a “compensable” injury in the state’s workers’ compensation system. Thus, was not able to be raised in a liability action due to the “exclusive remedy” provision in New Jersey’s Workers’ Compensation Act (the “Act”).