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Attorney Profile
Joel I. Rachmiel
Of Counsel
Phone: (201) 687-9977
Toll Free: (866) 216-5186
33 State Road, Suite A-1
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
PRACTICE AREAS
Joel I. Rachmiel graduated from Newark College of Engineering (now part of N.J.I.T.) in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Mr. Rachmiel then worked as a mechanical engineer for several years before entering Seton Hall Law School where he earned his law degree in 1973.
Mr. Rachmiel served as an Assistant Union County Prosecutor from 1973 to 1979, during which time he prosecuted 75 jury trials. He opened his own law office in 1979, where he now limits his practice to plaintiff's personal injury litigation, criminal defense, and municipal court matters, including DWI/DUI.
Mr. Rachmiel became a Certified Criminal Trial Attorney when it was first offered in 1982 and later became a Certified Civil Trial Attorney in 1987
Education
- B.S., Newark College of Engineering
Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice
- United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, 1973
- United States Supreme Court, 1977
- United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals, 1988
Professional & Bar Association Memberships
New Jersey Bar
Member Since: 1973
Florida Bar
Member Since: 2007
Notable Cases
Connor v. Powell, 162 N.J. 397 (2000), in which the Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Division which had affirmed the trial court's dismissal of a Section 1983 Civil Rights Act suit after Connor presented her case. The Supreme Court held the police lacked probable cause to arrest her as a matter of law and remanded the case for retrial on the amount of damages to be awarded only.
Humanik v. Beyer, 871 F2d 432 (3rd Cir.), certiorari denied, 110 S.Ct. 57 (1989), holding that the diminished capacity statute as written violated the United States Constitution by shifting the burden to defendant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he lacked the required mental capacity to form the intent to commit the crime, reversing State v Humanik, 199 N.J. Super. 283 (App Div), certification denied, 101 NJ 266 (1985), and the New Jersey Supreme Court holding in State v Breakiron, 108 N.J. 591 (1987). Six months later, the New Jersey Legislature amended the diminished capacity statute in accordance with the decision of the federal 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.
Ibarro v. Vetrano, 302 N.J. Super. 578 (App. Div. 1997), reversing the motion judge on leave to appeal holding that a daughter's selection of the verbal threshold in her motor vehicle policy does not apply to her uninsured resident mother.
McDaniel v Lee, 419 N.J. Super. 482 (App. Div. 2011). Mr. Rachmiel filed suit against a truck driver on behalf of McDaniel and his co-worker who were both injured when an 18-wheel truck rear-ended McDaniel's van, forcing it into his co-worker's van stopped in front of him. The trial judge disqualified Mr. Rachmiel from representing both McDaniel and his co-worker. The Appellate Division granted Mr. Rachmiel leave to appeal and reversed, holding that he could represent both McDaniel and his co-worker in their suit against the truck driver and further ruling that the truck driver was legally barred from claiming McDaniel was also negligent.
