Seymour Chase | Bruce Evan Chase | Marc Alan Chase

Bruce Evan Chase

Hackensack New Jersey Lawyer

Family Law, Commercial, Real Estate

Bruce E. Chase has extensive experience representing divorcing and separating spouses in a wide spectrum of Family Law cases. Bruce also handles many different types of commercial transactions involving the purchase and sale of small businesses, commercial buildings, business leasing, and advising business clients. Following his boyhood dream, Bruce was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1978, immediately joining his father’s legal practice, as the firm’s only associate.

Over the past several years, Bruce has tried Family Law cases involving contested divorce, child custody, shared custody, equitable distribution of property, palimony, the ability of a malingering spouse to earn income, and the right of an underemployed husband to seek alimony from his higher salaried wife.

Bruce serves as a Chairperson of an early settlement panel that voluntarily dedicates its time to review settlement proposals and to meet with litigants and their attorneys to resolve contested divorce cases. For the past seven years, Bruce has served as Co-Chair of the Family Law Committee of the Bergen County Bar Association. After extensive review and evaluation of his experience, ability, and ethics, and after satisfactorily completing a State and Federal written examination, Bruce was admitted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers in 1996 and now serves on the Board of Governors of its New Jersey chapter. For six years, Bruce also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Bruce has authored numerous articles in the area of Family Law that have been published in The Barrister, the official publication of the Bergen County Bar Association and in the New Jersey Family Lawyer. He has lectured extensively for the BCBA, the AAML, and the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education.

Bruce is proud of his selection to "Super Lawyers in New Jersey" in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Bruce co-wrote the Brief to the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of the New Jersey District Court Officers, challenging the right of the New Jersey Supreme Court to promulgate a rule change permitting service of legal papers by mail upon litigants in the Special Civil Part of the Law Division of the Superior Court.

Bruce’s extensive trial experience includes:

• All divorce and family law related issues including custody, alimony, palimony, responsibility for children’s college expenses, emancipation of adult children and equitable distribution
• Breach of contract
• Domestic violence
• Partition of real property
• Interference with economic relations

A recent family law case that Bruce tried, involving the custody of three teenage children, required the testimony of seven expert witnesses, eight fact witnesses, and lasted 17 days.

While Family Law is Bruce’s primary focus, he believes that his active commercial and business practice and the skills required to maintain that practice, provide him with a special edge in handling Family Law cases. Bruce’s commercial practice includes:

• Purchase and sale of small businesses
• Purchase and sale of liquor licenses
• Commercial leasing
• Commercial real estate transactions
• Disputes between co-owners of businesses
• Buy-outs of co-owners

Bruce has advised and represented both buyers and sellers of restaurants, nightclubs, liquor stores, catering businesses, convenience stores, new-used car dealership car detailing businesses, commercial buildings, multi-family residential housing, and other assets.

Practice Areas

• Family law
• Commercial and business law transactions
• Municipal law

Admissions

• 1978, New Jersey and U.S. District Court, District New Jersey
• 1983, U.S. Supreme Court

Law School

• George Washington University Law Center
• Rutgers University School of Law, J.D., 1978

College

• American University, B.A., magna cum laude, with honors, 1975

Memberships

• Bergen County Bar Association
• President, 1997–1998
• Member, Finance Committee, 1994–1995
• Chairperson, Monthly Dinner Meetings, 1978–1985, 1985–1996
• Chairperson, Annual Golf and Tennis Outings, 1985–2000
• Member of Annual Dinner Committee, Activities Committee, and Ad-Hoc Committee for refurbishing of Bar Headquarters
• Member, Bench-Bar Liaison, Monthly Meetings with Assignment Judge, 1993–1998, 2002–
• Member, Judicial Selection Committee, various terms
• Member, Judicial Appointments Committee, various terms
• Co-Chairperson, Family Law Committee, 1991-1992, 2001–
• New Jersey State Bar Association
• Trustee, Bergen County, 2000-2006
• Family Law Section, Executive Committee, 1998–
• Member, General Counsel, 1980–Current
• American Bar Association
• The Association of Trial Lawyers of America
• American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
• Fellow, 1996
• Member, Board of Governors, 2004–
• Member, Nominating Committee and Annual Form Committee, 2008–
• Bergen County Legal Services
• Director, 1979–1985
• Treasurer, 1985-1988
• Chairman, 1988–1997
• Fellow, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, New Jersey Chapter

Biography

• Listed, Who's Who in American College and Universities, 1975
• Co-Author, Matrimonial Law Section, Digest Day Publication, 1986
• Pro Bono, Public Defender Oakland 1983
• Public Defender, Woodcliff Lake, Oakland, and Montvale, 1983–1986
• Author, Bergen Barrister, BCBA's Official Publication
• Speaker:
  • BCBA Continuing Legal Education Program:
    • Case information statements
    • Early Settlement Panels
    • Trial Techniques
    • Court Rule Amendments
  • Family Part Bench-Bar Conference, 2001
  • Hot Tips, Family Law, 2003, 2004, and 2007
  • NJSBA, Annual Meeting 2006, Family Law Section presentation: Kean v. Commission and Gac v. Gac
• Association of Trial Lawyers of America
  • Convention, Family Law, 2004 Lecture: "Attorney's Fees"
• Bergen County Bar Association
• Associate, Law Office of Seymour Chase, 1978–1981

Born

• Rantoul, Illinois