GOODGOLD WEST & BENNETT - Key Persons
April Katz Israeli, Esq., comes to us with nearly 30 years of experience in Divorce and Family Law. April is a zealous advocate and passionate litigator for many families in the State of New Jersey. April received her Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1992, where she was an Associate Editor of Law Review. April is admitted to practice law in both New Jersey and New York and is a member of numerous Bar Associations, at both the State and County level. April is also the recipient of many honors and awards, including NJ Law Journal 2019 Professional Excellence Honoree - Mentor of the Year, Best Lawyer for Families in 2019, 2020 & 2021, Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers List for Excellence in Practice, Titans of Industry - The American Lawyer, Appointed to NJ Supreme Court District VC Fee Arbitration Committee, Essex County - West Essex, Appointed to serve on the Guardianship Monitoring Program, Team Mentor - Domestic Violence Project - Seton Hall Leadership Fellows Program, Founding Member - NJ Chapter - AACFL - American Academy of Certified Financial Litigators and Certified Mediator pursuant to R.1:40 & Court Approved Mediator for Economic Aspects of Family Law Cases.
Before going into private practice in 1993, April served as Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Thomas P. Zampino, J.S.C. (Ret.), Superior Court of New Jersey, Essex Vicinage, Chancery Division, Family Part. April has also served as a Panelist for Matrimonial Early Settlement Panel Programs in Essex, Morris, Passaic and Union Counties; a program made up of experienced family law attorneys, who volunteer their time to assist the courts in resolving family law cases prior to trial. April has lectured at seminars throughout the State of New Jersey, on a wide range of topics related to Family Law. Since 2018, Ms. Israeli has been a supporter of Eva's Village, a comprehensive recovery community center, and numerous other charitable organizations. April was named the Savvy Ladies Gala Committee Ambassador & Member and has acted as a Volunteer Judge in the Vincent J. Apruzzeese High School Mock Trial Competition. In addition to all of this, Ms. Israeli has hosted two podcasts relating to mental health and the law as well as the pitfalls to representing yourself in a divorce.
April is devoted to her career and brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and compassion to her client.
Job Titles:
- Founding Member of the New Jersey Collaborative Divorce Alliance
Dean T. Bennett, Esq. is a Member in our Family Law Department and as an Estate Litigator in our Estates & Trusts Department concentrating his practice on issues including divorce, custody, guardianship and chancery litigation.
A pioneer in the growing field of collaborative law practice, Mr. Bennett is a founding member of the New Jersey Collaborative Divorce Alliance NJCDA.ORG and a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals. He is a qualified mediator in family and civil matters, and an active member of the New Jersey State, Essex County and American Bar Associations. He has served with distinction as a public defender for the City of Summit Bar Foundation from 1995-2004.
Job Titles:
- Managing Member
- Co - Managing Member of Goodgold Feinberg
Jonathan S. Goodgold, Esq. is the Co-Managing Member of Goodgold Feinberg & Bennett, LLC since its founding. In addition to managing the firm and actively promoting the firm as a whole and the attorneys within it, Jonathan is an active networker and speaker. He previously has written for the New Jersey Law Journal on employment law matters and has been a repeat speaker for the National Business Institute and Lawline on topics concerning collection law.
Jonathan is a business lawyer through and through and is a go to resource for other law firms and business owners. Leading the firm's collection work in all areas and industries allows Jonathan to directly counsel business owners and their operations personnel on the most important item of business, the bottom line. He has counseled clients and negotiated and litigated on their behalf in order for their accounts receivables to become accounts payable. In addition, he regularly counsels clients and litigates on behalf of his clients with respect to employment law and contractual matters.
Jonathan had his own law firm for over seven years focusing on civil litigation, and employment and collection law matters. Prior to having to joining his own practice, Jonathan practiced at a leading labor and employment law firm in New Jersey and a civil litigation firm in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Jonathan graduated Binghamton University, State University of New York, magna cum laude and with the distinctions of graduating Phi Beta Kappa and with Honors in History. Jonathan earned his law degree (JD) from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and then clerked for the Honorable W. Hunt Dumont in the Superior Court of New Jersey.
He resides in West Caldwell with his wife and three children.
Peter A. Greene has a B.A. and an M.S. degree from Columbia University as well as a J.D. degree from Rutgers Law School. He is a certified civil trial lawyer, and is a member of the New York County Lawyers Association and the New Jersey Bar Association. He was a Deputy Attorney General of the State of New Jersey for five years, representing the State Board of Medical Examiners and other professional boards. He was also a staff attorney for Ralph Nader's Health Research Group in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C. bars. He has authored a chapter in a text on nursing malpractice defense. He has tried over 150 jury cases to a conclusion including 80 medical malpractice actions. He has also tried fire cases, ambulance and auto cases, as well as insurance coverages cases.
Job Titles:
- of Counsel
- Counsel in the Law Firm of Goodgold Feinberg & Bennett LLC
- Dean T. Bennett
- Trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Association
Robert J. Brass, Esq. is a Of Counsel in the law firm of Goodgold Feinberg & Bennett LLC, a multi-practice law firm located in Millburn, New Jersey, which is capable of assisting clients in most areas of the law.
Mr. Brass is an "AV Preeminent" attorney. This is the highest peer rating by Martindale-Hubbell. This rating signifies that a large number of Mr. Brass' peers rank him at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.
On September 12, 2022, Mr. Brass was honored by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education of the State Bar Association, when he was presented with the Distinguished Service Award for Excellent in Continuing Legal Education. This award is presented to attorneys and judges, who volunteer their time and expertise to teach their colleagues in the profession.
Mr. Brass is admitted to practice before the Courts of the State of New Jersey, before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Brass concentrates his practice in the area of federal and state white collar criminal defense litigation, as well as other criminal and civil litigation in federal, state superior and municipal courts. His white collar criminal defense practice includes all aspects of fraud allegations and official misconduct/corruption allegations.
Mr. Brass has served as a Trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Association, and as the Trustee Liaison to the Criminal Law Section and the Anti-Trust Section, from 2008 to 2014; and, is a Past Chair of the State Bar Association Criminal Law Section. He served as the New Jersey State Bar Association's representative on the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Model Criminal Jury Charges; a member of the New Jersey State Bar Judicial Administration Committee; a member of the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education Advisory Committee; and, as the Chair of the State Bar Association Senior Lawyers Special Committee. Mr. Brass presently serves as a mentor to young lawyers with the State Bar Association's Mentoring Program; and, serves on the State Bar Association's Meetings and Planning Committee.
From 1996 through 2022, Mr. Brass has been a moderator and speaker at the New Jersey State Bar Association's Annual meeting, which is held in Atlantic City, on topics covering White Collar Crime, Insurance Fraud Defense, General Criminal Practice and the Annual Criminal Bench-Bar Conference.
Mr. Brass has been on the faculty of the National Association of Attorneys General "White Collar Crime Trial Program", at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri; and, from 1999 thru 2008, taught trial advocacy courses to Deputy Attorneys General from Criminal, Civil and Gaming Enforcement Division of the New Jersey Attorney General's Office and Assistant New Jersey County Prosecutors for the New Jersey Attorney General's Office Trial Advocacy Institute. In 2019, Mr. Brass moderated and spoke on a panel on "Criminal Motion Practice" from the defense perspective, at the Annual New Jersey Prosecutor's Association College, in Atlantic City.
Mr. Brass has been qualified in the Superior Court of New Jersey as an expert in the field of polygraph examinations and was a former supervisor of the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Polygraph Unit. He has lectured on the use of polygraph in law enforcement at Seton Hall and Rutgers Law Schools, as well as at national polygraph seminars, continuing legal education seminars and at training seminars to law enforcement officers.