For nearly three decades, Vincent Cino has been one of New Jersey's - and the nation's - most successful employment defense attorneys. The 59-year-old Newark native is in a unique position to effectively defend virtually all kinds of employers. He is a Partner and National Director of Litigation of the national employment law firm Jackson Lewis LLP. Further, he sits on the firm's 8-member executive committee - a key post at a firm with 670 attorneys and 46 offices across the nation. Sharply observant and shrewd, Cino brings natural competitive instincts to trial law. Law was not a direct course for Cino. He pursued a graduate degree in government ("Delaying entry into adulthood") and later worked as a trainee in a bank prior to law school. Banking "wasn't for me." After Rutgers Law, he clerked for Judge Jacob Triarsi, which led to Cino's tenure at the Union County Prosecutor's Office - "the best experience I could have had." He tried scores of criminal cases, and by the early 1980s teamed up with two Bergen County attorneys focusing on civil litigation. (He defended a television producer and movie studio when participants in the well known "Scared Straight" movie felt their civil rights had been violated. Cino's clients prevailed.) In 1987, he was tapped to head litigation at the Essex County Counsel's Office, a post that began seeing more and more employment cases, including civil rights claims and wrongful termination claims. Three years later Cino was recruited by Jackson Lewis - then beginning its ascent in the fast-growing field of defending employers against their increasingly litigious workers. Today the Morristown office of Jackson Lewis has grown to 34 attorneys. What's more, the firm has hundreds of clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to smaller employers looking for direction - and protection - on employment law matters. Over the years Cino has represented employers throughout the country, even in remote places like Butte, Montana and Cheyenne, Wyoming. ("Juries are less prone to give money away, outside of the Northeast.") He supervises teams of attorneys, and enjoys mentoring younger attorneys. His door is always open to associates to give practical advice on cases - advice they could not learn in law school. Associates of the New Jersey office are always eager to work with him. Mr. Cino has lectured extensively on trial advocacy and personnel issues pertaining to the workplace.

He has been awarded the highest accolade in Martindale-Hubbell - an AV rating. Ever busy - "we're seeing more demand for our services every year" - Cino appears primed to be a leader in the field for years to come. Cino, a lifelong Giants and Yankees fan, lives in Milburn, New Jersey with his wife. They have two sons, Robert, an assistant prosecutor and Christopher, an art director.