Brick School District Attorney Out, New Firm Appointed for Upcoming Year

Gavel (Credit: Brian Turner/Flickr)

The attorneys who have represented the Brick school district for nine years will not return following the appointment of a prominent local firm to replace them for the new school year.

Montenegro, Thompson, Montenegro & Genz, strongly aligned with the county’s Democratic establishment, will be replaced by Rothstein, Mandell, Strohm, Halm & Cipriani, which is generally aligned with communities represented by Republicans. Though school board elections are technically non-partisan, it is common for slates of candidates to be supported by one major party or the other. The Montenegro firm, which also represents the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority, was appointed as legal counsel for the board in 2016 as part of what became known at the time as the “Thursday Night Massacre,” where a slew of professionals were replaced at the first meeting chaired by a new board majority aligned with the Democrats, supplanting a bipartisan group. The current board majority is held by Republican-aligned members, including GOP mayoral candidate Madeline Colagiovanni Iannarone, who is running for mayor this fall.

The district was primarily represented in person at board meetings by either Nicholas C. Montenegro or his nephew, Benjamin A. Montenegro. No attorney was present at the July 29 board meeting where the new firm was appointed. In most instances where the firm represents a public body, attorneys Jean L. Cipriani – who previously served as Brick Township municipal attorney – or partner Robin La Bue appear at public meetings to provide legal advice on the spot and handle legal questions from members of the public.

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Former Brick Board of Education President John Lamela (left) and former board attorney Nicholas Montenegro. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The new firm, according to a contract reviewed by Shorebeat, will charge the district the identical hourly rate as the previous firm, at $145. In 2024, the Montenegro firm had its contract capped at 1,084 hours, while the Rothstein firm will have its hours capped at 874 hours. The new firm also offered the same hourly rate for the 2026-27 school year should the board vote to extend the contract.

District Business Administrator James Edwards said the Montenegro firm was not considered despite submitting a bid to retain its appointment.

“We had multiple responses,” he said. “Unfortunately, the incumbent attorney had an issue with their response and had to be deemed non-compliant, so we could not include them in the process. They had a technical difficulty.”

Edwards did not elaborate on the nature of the technical difficulty.

Board members Victoria Pakala and John Henry voted against the appointment. The remainder of the board voted in favor of the change, for a 4-2 result.