The law firm of Foy & Seplowitz, located on Main Street in Hackensack, is marking its fifth year of service to Bergen County and the surrounding communities. The firm is a boutique law firm dedicated to representing individuals accused of crimes or serious motor vehicle offenses in the state and federal courts of New Jersey and New York. Over the past five years, Foy & Seplowitz has successfully represented hundreds of clients in a variety of cases, including murder, fraud, drugs, drunk driving, assault, weapons, racketeering, theft, disorderly conduct and other related charges. Their 2013 merger allowed clients access to their combined 35 years of practice in criminal law.
Jason Foy grew up in Englewood and has resided in Teaneck with his family for the past 20 years. He began his legal career serving as a prosecutor for the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. In 2001 he opened his criminal defense practice in Hackensack. In addition to his practice, Foy is an executive officer of the Bergen County Bar Association (BCBA) and co-chair of the BCBA Criminal Practice Committee. Foy holds the distinction of being the first African-American executive board member over the course of the 120-year history of the BCBA. Foy was honored to be the keynote speaker at the 2017 Bergen County NAACP Freedom Fund Gala.
James Seplowitz grew up in Westchester and has resided in the Teaneck community with his family for the past 14 years. After law school he clerked for a judge in the criminal division of the Bergen County Superior Court. He had practiced criminal law exclusively at a Hackensack law firm for nine years before partnering with Foy in 2013. In addition to his law degree, Seplowitz holds a master’s degree in criminal justice. Seplowitz serves on the BCBA Board of Trustees and as co-chair of the BCBA Municipal Court Practice Committee. He is also serving a four-year term as a member of the District II-B Ethics Committee, which investigates ethical grievances filed against local attorneys.
Foy and Seplowitz met through their active participation in the Bergen County Bar Association and through their representation of clients in the same courts. In their leadership roles in the BCBA, they coordinated continuing legal education (CLE) seminars and became friends through the process. They soon realized they were generally on the same page regarding criminal justice, so that when Seplowitz proposed forming a partnership, Foy agreed and the partnership was formed shortly thereafter.
As diverse as their backgrounds seem, their similarities far outweigh their differences. Both are devoted family men. Foy is the proud father of two daughters, currently college students, who attended Bergen County and Teaneck public schools where they studied alongside diverse student populations. This open-minded educational experience was reinforced in their home where Foy and his wife, Karla, also an attorney, taught their girls about different perspectives and beliefs.
Seplowitz and his wife, P’nina, are the parents of two sons and a daughter who attend local yeshiva day schools. The Seplowitzes are concerned and involved members of their community through their children’s schools, their shul and various community projects.
Foy & Seplowitz LLC has sponsored local sports teams, including a Teaneck Baseball Organization (TBO) team and currently a flag football team in the Teaneck Junior Football League. They have also sponsored adult sports teams in local softball and ice hockey leagues.
Foy and Seplowitz value diversity and bridging gaps between communities. Seplowitz noted how one of the highlights of his son’s bar mitzvah was when Foy spoke at the reception in the shul. Among other things, the speech focused on the strong foundation of support available within and outside the Jewish community for his son. To this day, Seplowitz receives extremely positive remarks about Foy’s speech at the bar mitzvah from his family and friends who were in attendance.
Consistent with their commitment to community outreach, Foy and Seplowitz LLC has provided internship opportunities for students from local high schools, colleges and law schools. Some of the schools represented include Teaneck High School, Torah Academy of Bergen County (TABC), Rutgers College, Syracuse University and Rutgers Law School. Foy and Seplowitz have also been invited to speak at local Bergen County schools, such as Dwight Morrow High School, Bergen County Technical High School, Ma’ayanot, TABC and Teaneck public schools.
What makes the partnership successful? According to Foy and Seplowitz, their partnership has flourished because their diverse perspectives and joint commitment to justice enable them to best serve their clients. The success of their partnership is fundamentally based on their trust in one another and in their ability to work as a cohesive team in serving the interests of their clients.
To contact Foy & Seplowitz and learn more about their services, visit www.foyseplowitz.com.
By Pearl Markovitz
