James Porfido
Author, Attorney
State of New Jersey since 1995. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Seton Hall University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Bridgeport School of Law (now Quinnipiac University). During Law School he served as a Judicial Intern in the Federal Court of the United States under the Honorable Clarkson Fisher, United States District Court Judge (Trenton). After Law School he served as a Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Ronald B Graves, Judge of Superior Court from 1988-1989. After completing this clerkship, he went on to become an Assistant Prosecutor of Morris County where he was the Chief Prosecutor of sex crimes and child abuse cases and Chief Prosecutor of vehicular homicides. After nearly eight years in the prosecutor’s office he became a junior partner at the law firm of Fullerton and Porfido, P. A. in Succasunna, N.J. He then opened his Law Practice in 2002 in Morristown, N.J. and concentrated on Criminal Defense in Federal, State and Municipal Courts. During those years he was a Legal Analyst on Criminal Cases on Court TV and was a frequent guest of Nancy Grace, Jamie Floyd, Jack Ford and Ashley Bansfield and Lisa Bloom and did commentary on many cases including Robert Blake, Phil Specter, Michael Jackson, O.J. Simpson, and Scott Peterson and Melanie McGuire. He then provided commentary on CNN and most recently on Court TV on the trial of Harvey Weinstein.
In 2023, he closed his office and is now Of Counsel in the Criminal Section of Einhorn, Barbarito, Frost and Botwinick in Denville, N.J.
James has served on Several Boards as Trustee including DARE of New Jersey, The Theresa Wright Promise Foundation, Hope House in Dover (Catholic Charities and the New Jersey Crime Victim Law Center and presently the Bernardsville Law Enforcement Foundation and the Goryeb Philanthropic Foundation since 2002 upon the invitation of his late father in law, Joseph P. Goryeb.
He Serves as an Adjunct Law Professor at Seton Hall University School of Law
He resides in Far Hills, New Jersey with his wife, Lynne and his son Cole.
James' book, Unequal Justice, looks at the practice of law from being a former prosecutor to the running of a successful defense practice. It is focused on the representation on behalf of the prosecution for the state and as a defense counsel representing the accused. It reflects upon the criminal justice system, and the balance of scales on both sides of counsel table in the courtroom. Specifically, it reveals the unfair tipping of scales in favor of the prosecution and against the accused, using real examples.
He discusses the significant constitutional rights associated with the process of prosecution and defense. The book is a reflection on the specific cases in his career and the changes that resonated over that 35-year period.
