John A. Hoffman

John A. Hoffman is Of Counsel at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A. and formerly served as the firm’s Chairman of the Board, President and Managing Director, and Treasurer. Mr. Hoffman is an esteemed member of the New Jersey legal and business communities and has practiced at Wilentz for over 55 years.

Mr. Hoffman has served as general counsel to Middlesex County College for over 50 years and as special counsel to New Brunswick Housing Authority and New Brunswick Parking Authority in major redevelopment projects in the city since the 1970s. He has represented the Middlesex County Improvement Authority and Middlesex County in the acquisition of open space in the County, and the Middlesex County Utilities Authority for over 30 years. He serves on the Board of Directors of New Jersey American Water Company and New York American Water Company. Mr. Hoffman has represented major public utilities in regulatory proceedings for many years and served as co-chair of the Board of Public Utilities Transition Committee for former Governor James E. McGreevey. Recently, he was appointed and served two years as a Commissioner of the State Commission of Investigation, which investigates and issues reports on organized crime and inappropriate actions by public agencies. He previously served as a commissioner of the New Jersey Racing Commission. He is a member of the Middlesex County College Foundation.

In 2017, Mr. Hoffman was honored by the Auxiliary and the Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) University Hospital for his dedicated commitment to the Auxiliary and RWJ University Hospital as a member of RWJBarnabas Health Board of Trustees, and former Chair and current member of RWJ University Hospital Board of Directors. In 2015, Mr. Hoffman received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Boy Scouts of America organization. In 2014, he and his late wife Judith received honors from the American Cancer Society. Mr. Hoffman received the Lawyer Achievement Award from the Middlesex County Bar Association in 2011, and the L’Hommedieu Award from Middlesex County College in 2010. He was presented with the Saint Thomas More Award from the Diocese of Metuchen in 2007, and received the Community Leadership of Distinction Award from the Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2003. The Woodbridge Chamber of Commerce named Mr. Hoffman “Citizen of the Year” in 2000. In 1998, he was presented the “Torch of Liberty” award from the Anti-Defamation League-an honor recognized in a Joint Legislative Resolution of the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly. Mr. Hoffman was named an NJBIZ 2022 ICON Award honoree, the list recognizes New Jersey’s most influential leaders in business over the age of 60. Since 2021, Mr. Hoffman has been ranked by Chambers USA, and selected for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America list since 2001 for Administrative/Regulatory Law and Energy Law, including as "Lawyer of the Year" in 2020 and 2024. He has also been named to the New Jersey Super Lawyers list from 2005-2021. 

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Best Lawyers in America® (https://www.bestlawyers.com/methodology) is published by Best Lawyers.

NJBIZ ICON honorees (https://njbiz.com/introducing-the-2022-njbiz-icon-honorees/) is published by BridgeTower Media. Chosen by a panel of independent judges with experience in business and the justice system, honorees were selected based on their accomplishments as “business leaders over the age of 60 for their notable success and demonstration of strong leadership both within and outside of their chosen field.” 

A description of the selection processes may be accessed via the above links. The aforementioned organizations are private peer review organizations, not court-specific, public certification vehicles. No aspect of this advertisement has been submitted to or approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Mr. Hoffman serves on the Boards of Directors of RWJBarnabas and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. He served as chairman of the  Board of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital from 2009-2012, and as chairman of the Board of Trustees for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Foundation from 2001-2004. In 2012, Mr. Hoffman was named Hospital and Healthcare System Trustee of the Year by the New Jersey Hospital Association. He served on the Board of Trustees, legal and executive committees for the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey from 2003-2009. Mr. Hoffman was a speaker at the Administrative Law Conference of the Public Utility Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) in 1976 and 1978 in connection with regulatory issues. He also attended various meetings of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, New Jersey Utilities Association, and Great Lakes Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners.

Mr. Hoffman resides in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was married to his late wife Judith for 53 years. Mr. Hoffman has two children, John Jay Hoffman, the former Attorney General of the State of New Jersey and now Chief Counsel for Rutgers University, and Beth Driscoll, a teacher in Massachusetts. Mr. Hoffman has four grandchildren, Casey, Aiden, John Stuart, and Margaret Rose.