Schumer's Brother-in-Law Stirs Controversy in Federal Judicial Nomination

Short Hills resident's nomination stirs controversy
www.NorthJersey.com by Lindsey Kelleher  -  December 27, 2011

Short Hills resident Kevin McNulty was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as U.S. District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey earlier this month.  The nomination, announced by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) Dec. 16, has recently stirred up controversy.  The New York Post reported McNulty, 57, who is Sen. Charles Schumer's (D-N.Y.) brother-in-law, was nominated for this judge position at the last minute by Lautenberg so the two senators would stay politically close and connected. According to the Post article from Dec. 26, 87-year-old Lautenberg is concerned about losing his Senate seat during re-election time in 2014 because of his age. Schumer, who is influential in the Democratic Party, could stop Lautenberg from losing this position, the report continued.  According to Lautenberg's spokesman Caley Gray, information in the New York Post article is untrue.  "The New York Post story is complete fiction from a New York tabloid with a well-known partisan agenda. Sen. Lautenberg always maintains the highest standards in the judicial nominations process, and Kevin McNulty is one of the finest lawyers the senator has ever recommended for the bench," said Gray in a press release.  Gray said in an interview with The Item of Millburn and Short Hills Dec. 27 that former federal judge John J. Gibbons - and not Schumer - recommended McNulty to Lautenberg for the judge position in 2009. According to Gray, in 2009 Lautenberg and members of his staff interviewed McNulty for this position, and he has been on Lautenberg's radar for this position since then.  Gray said that McNulty is ranked as unanimously well-qualified by the American Bar Association, and that Lautenberg nominated McNulty as New Jersey's district court judge for his merits.  In a press release from Sen. Lautenberg's office from October 2011, Lautenberg stated, "Mr. McNulty is an accomplished lawyer with decades of experience in public service and the private sector."  Gibbons, a former Millburn resident who now lives in Maplewood, told The Item Dec. 27 that he recommended McNulty to Lautenberg. Gibbons and McNulty are partners at Gibbons P.C. Law Firm in Newark. According to Gibbons, McNulty has significant trial experiences, and has previously worked in the U.S. Attorney's Office as chief of the appellate section.  "He is an excellent appellate lawyer and a fine writer," Gibbons said. "The public will benefit from his nomination."  According to a biography about McNulty on the Gibbons law firm's website, he has litigated and counseled clients in a wide variety of pharmaceutical, intellectual property, commercial, criminal and appellate matters. McNulty has a B.A. from Yale University and graduated from New York University School of Law, (J.D., cum laude), in 1983.  In an email to The Item, McNulty said he is unable to comment on his nomination.  E-mail: kelleher@northjersey.com