Former Fed Prosecutor Takes Leadership Role in NJ AG's Public Corruption Department
"The cases prosecuted by the Corruption Bureau tend to be high-profile, high-stakes, and complex," Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. "The prosecution team frequently finds itself in the spotlight as it holds powerful individuals and institutions accountable."
October 29, 2024 at 01:55 PM
4 minute read
GovernmentThe New Jersey Attorney General's Office has added a co-director to the corruption arm of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, which is responsible for prosecuting the George Norcross criminal enterprise case.
In a news release issued Monday, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced that Eric L. Gibson, a former partner at Post & Schell in Philadelphia who previously served as a federal prosecutor, will join the Corruption Bureau as a co-director alongside the department's current bureau chief, Jeffrey J. Manis.
"The cases prosecuted by the Corruption Bureau tend to be high-profile, high-stakes, and complex," Platkin said in the release. "The prosecution team frequently finds itself in the spotlight as it holds powerful individuals and institutions accountable. Having these two individuals and their long histories dealing with those challenges, including at the Department of Justice, will be a tremendous asset to the people of New Jersey."
Following a decision to shake up the office's executive leadership team, the move marks another significant leadership change for the Attorney General's Office in recent weeks, this time in the OPIA's Corruption Bureau, which is responsible for investigating and prosecuting white-collar public corruption and government fraud cases.
The Norcross case has garnered significant attention and criticism over the nature of the allegations and the people named in the indictment. One former federal prosecutor told the Law Journal in June that the prosecution will face an uphill battle in proving that the tough negotiation tactics used in the Camden waterfront development rise the the level of criminality.
Recent motions to dismiss the case, filed by two law firm partners named in the indictment—William M. Tambussi, a partner with Brown & Connery, and Philip Norcross, managing shareholder and CEO of Parker McCay—accused the Attorney General's Office of attempting to criminalize the practice of law.
The attorney general's latest hire most recently chaired Post & Schell's internal investigations and white-collar defense practice group. Gibson and Manis will oversee the attorneys and investigators who prosecute cases involving public corruption, official misconduct, bribery, election fraud and other betrayals of public trust, according to the release.
Gibson holds a law degree from Temple University's James E. Beasley School of Law and a bachelor's degree from Villanova University. He is also an adjunct professor in Villanova's Sociology and Criminology Department.
Before joining Post & Schell in January 2023, Gibson served in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as an assistant U.S. attorney and deputy chief of the Corruption and Civil Rights Unit.
Manis is also a former commercial litigator with Day Pitney and an assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey. Until this announcement, he served as the Corruption Bureau chief, a position he will now co-direct with Gibson.
The OPIA is led by Executive Director Drew Skinner. In June, Skinner signed the indictment of New Jersey power broker George E. Norcross III and five others on charges of their alleged involvement in a purported criminal enterprise. The 111-page indictment was unsealed in June.
In the release, Skinner said Gibson and Manis bring substantial prosecutorial public corruption experience to their new roles.
Skinner has only helmed the OPIA since April, when the department's founding director, Thomas J. Eicher, retired. Eicher had served in the role since the department was created to combat public corruption in 2018.
This is the second shake-up at the attorney general has announced since September, when a number of changes to the executive leadership team were made, including the departure of Shirley Emehelu, the executive assistant attorney general, and Jonathan Garelick, the chief of staff.
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