Tanenbaum Keale LLP is pleased to announce Isabella M. Smith and Patrick L. O’Hara have joined the firm as associates in the Newark office. Both attorneys add depth to the well-rounded litigation services, specifically in commercial, product liability and mass tort matters.
“We look forward to incorporating the perspectives and skill sets of two bright and energetic legal professionals who will enhance our client service,” Tanenbaum Keale Chair James H. Keale said. “Tanenbaum Keale remains committed to efficiently and effectively handling complex matters while providing a broad range of advocacy and counsel beneficial to mitigating risk and exposure.”
Smith began her legal career in 2018 as a legal assistant to a solo practitioner handling personal injury, workers’ compensation, real estate, wills and estates, municipal court and landlord-tenant matters. While in law school, she completed multiple externships, internships and summer associateships, including with the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor’s Law Division, the New Jersey Attorney General: Division of Law for the New Jersey Transit Section and The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Most recently, Smith completed a judicial clerkship with Hon. Jeffrey R. Jablonski in both the New Jersey Appellate Division and Hudson County Superior Court. Her experiences inform an intentional dedication to vigorously defending clients up to and through trial and appeals, when necessary.
After completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California, Smith earned her law degree from the Seton Hall University School of Law.
O’Hara’s broad private practice focuses on risk identification and mitigation in providing thoughtful and strategic defense strategies, aimed at reducing legal, financial and reputational exposure while fully prepared to use all available forms of dispute resolution to achieve a favorable outcome for clients.
Prior to joining Tanenbaum Keale, O’Hara served as a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Douglas H. Hurd in the Mercer County (New Jersey) Superior Court in New Jersey. He also spent nearly three years in the Division of Law for the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, specifically gaining valuable experience in the Tort Litigation & Judiciary Section, which was beneficial to his current private practice.
As a Deputy Attorney General, O’Hara served as lead counsel in defense of personal injury and civil rights claims for NJ TRANSIT, the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the New Jersey Department of Corrections.
O’Hara completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Colorado. He later earned a law degree from the Stetson University College of Law and an LLM in Trial Advocacy from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.