Seymour Chase | Bruce Evan Chase | Marc Alan Chase

Seymour Chase

Hackensack New Jersey Lawyer

Family Law, Zoning, Board Certified Family Law Mediator

Seymour (Sy) Chase is a distinguished trial lawyer, recognized as a favored lecturer and writer on the forefront of New Jersey developments in family law. Over the years, he has been actively involved in bar associations, having held the following positions:

• President of the Bergen County Bar Association
• President of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and National Delegate
• Chairman of the General Council of the New Jersey State Bar Association and Member of its Executive Committee
• Fellow International Academy of Matrimonial Attorneys

Recognizing his experience and knowledge, Governor Christine Todd Whitman nominated him to serve as the divorce lawyer member of the State Parents Education Program Advisory Committee, which produced New Jersey’s Parents Education Course.

Sy has served in numerous municipal and county positions, serving as municipal attorney, board attorney, prosecutor, and municipal court judge. Prior to the 1971 Divorce Reform Act, and in addition to civil and criminal trial experience, Sy developed a sizeable caseload of divorce and family law matters. Thereafter, he increasingly focused more of his time and talent in the ever-expanding field of family law.

Sy served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War as a training squadron commander. Upon his honorable discharge in 1954, he was hired by Macy’s New York as a talent coordinator for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and then as its first branch store public relations director in Flatbush.

Sy was admitted to the bar in 1958. In 1960, Sy started his own practice in Hackensack, renting office space in the building he ultimately purchased and still occupies. Today, he is a Board Certified Family Law Mediator and concentrates his practice in Family Law as well as Land Use and Zoning. While Family Law and Zoning Law may not appear to have much in common, Sy’s unique background, history, and experience provide the perfect combination. As he says, “I help people go on with their lives and help property transition into new lives.” He drafted the zoning code for Hackensack during his service as city attorney.

Large marital estates and complex family issues fill his trial calendar, and he is regularly called upon to negotiate and draft pre-nuptial agreements. However, Sy’s most rewarding moments are when fellow attorneys choose him, as is often the case, to represent or advise them in their own divorce matters.

Practice Areas

• Matrimonial Law
• Zoning, planning, and land use
• Real property
• Municipal law

Admissions

• 1958, New Jersey and U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
• 1978, U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Tax Court

Law School

• New York Law School, LL.B., 1958

College

• Rutgers University, B.A., 1952

Memberships

• Bergen County Bar Association
• Past President, 1978
• Trustee, 1965-1981
• Chairman, General Equity Committee, 1993
• Co-Chair, General Equity Committee, 1994–
• Family Law Committee, 1981–1991
• Judicial Selection Committee, 1991–1993
• New Jersey State Bar Association
• Member, General Council Delegate
• Former Chairman, Senior Lawyers Committee, 1994–1996
• Chairman, General Council, 2000
• Executive Committee, 2008
• American Bar Association
• New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
• President, 2004–2005
• State Delegate 2004-2008
• New Jersey Trial Lawyers Association
• International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers

Biography

• Recipient, Lawyer Achievement Award, Bergen County Bar Foundation, 2002
• Certified Divorce Mediator, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, November 1, 1995
• Certified Divorce and Family Mediator, New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators, March 1, 1998
• Lecturer, American Trial Lawyers Association and Institute of Continuing Legal Education Seminars and Symposia
• Institute of Continuing Legal Education Lecturer, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2000
• City Attorney, City of Hackensack, 1965–1967; Reappointed, 1975–1977
• Prosecutor, Borough of Maywood, 1967–1972; Reappointed, 1977–1984
• Attorney: Teaneck Redevelopment Agency, 1973–1975
• Bergen County Housing Authority, 1971–1974
• Special Counsel to Tax Assessor, City of Garfield and Borough of Maywood, 1972–1973
• Borough Attorney
• Borough of Emerson, January-November, 1978
• Borough of Maywood, January, 1987
• Special Counsel: Borough of Little Ferry, 1981
• Judge, Hackensack Municipal Court, September 17, 1984–September 30, 1985
• Johnson Free Public Library, Hackensack
• Judge, National Arbitration and Mediation, 1990–
• On the Roster of Mediators Established by the Judiciary of the State of New Jersey for Civil, General Equity and Probate Cases and Economic Issues in Family Law Cases
• President Seascape Condominium Association, W. Hampton Beach, New York, 1980-1986
• President, 1983-1989 and Director, 2008–, Hackensack Chamber of Commerce
• President, Camelot Condominium Association, 1984-1990
• Regional Director, Bank of New York, National Community Division, 1990–1997
• State Parents Education Program Advisory Committee
• Divorce Attorney Member, 1991
• Director, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Foundation, 2002–2004
• Board of Governors, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 2005–2008
• Fellow: American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
• Fellow: International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
• Recognized for over 50 years of loyal service to the Bergen County Bar Association, 2008
• Received "Distinguished Citizen" award in 2009 for over 50 years of public service to the City of Hackensack and for being an exemplary resident and professional based in the city

Reported Cases

• Sunday Closing case, Vornado v. The City of Hackensack, et als, 77 N.J. 347 (1978) Lead Counsel, New Jersey Supreme Court
• Attorney of Record in New Jersey Dist. Court Association v. New Jersey Supreme Court, 205 N.J.Super. 582 (1985), 104 N.J. 386 (1986), 479 U.S. 1086

Born

• Hackensack, New Jersey