Ex-Fed Prosecutor Paul Fishman Returning to the Fold in New Jersey as U.S. Attorney

Paul Fishman, an ex-federal prosecutors has unquestionably been a formidable opponent for the government as a defense attorney. Now the government is bring him back on its side. Couldn’t hurt.

By Joe Ryan
Newark Star-Ledger

Paul Fishman for N.J. U.S. Atty. — Paul Fishman

NEWARK — In 2001, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark held a press conference trumpeting the arrests of three Chinese immigrants, saying their company stole software from Lucent Technologies in a major instance of high-stakes corporate espionage.

Yet after prosecutors spent four years working the case, it ended with a whimper. Charges were dropped against two of the men, including one represented by Paul J. Fishman, an ex-federal prosecutor with a reputation as one of New Jersey’s most erudite and aggressive attorneys.

“Paul was certainly a very, very important part of that defense team,” said Robert Fettweis, an attorney who worked alongside Fishman on the Lucent case. “He is a very smart lawyer.”

After 12 years as a white-collar criminal defense lawyer, Fishman is poised to become a prosecutor again. President Obama nominated him June 4 to become U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, and the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on his confirmation within weeks.

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