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Katherine D. Hartman has been
named a New Jersey Super Lawyer
In the April issue of the New Jersey Monthly Magazine, Katherine D. Hartman was
named a Super Lawyer in the area of employment law.
In order to achieve a ranking as Super Lawyer, an attorney goes through a
rigorous screening process.
New Jersey Law and Politics mailed a ballot to 35,000 active lawyers in New
Jersey who have been in practice for five (5) years or more. This ballot asked
for lawyers to nominate the best attorneys that they have personally observed in
action. The nominees are grouped into more than fifty-five (55) practice areas
and the nominees with the highest point totals from each practice area are
invited to serve on the Blue Ribbon Panel. Each Blue Ribbon Panelist reviews and
scores a list of nominees from his or her primary practice area. The research
team evaluates prospective candidates on indicators on peer recognition and
professional achievement. Civic service and pro bono activities are also
considered. Each candidate’s record is reviewed by the New Jersey Office of
Attorney Ethics website for any evidence of Disciplinary Hearing.
Father Knows Best
Author: Linda Wondoloski BCT staff writer
lwondoloski@phillyBurbs.com
Excerpted from Burlington County Times (Willingboro,
NJ)
Grown children recall their dads' advice
Investing time and effort in others, having compassion for people who are less
fortunate is their father's hallmark, said Frances A. Hartman and Katherine D.
Hartman, who share their Moorestown law offices with dad, Francis J. Hartman.
"One of the most important and valuable lessons our father taught us is that
every human being has dignity and it's important to protect that dignity," said
Katherine, or Katie, Hartman, 41.
Francis "Frank" Hartman believes in helping people who are less fortunate and
"less able to have a voice," said Fran Hartman, 45. The law firm does "a lot of
pro bono work," she said, "something he has always done and also his reason for
being a lawyer."
Her father "believes nothing is more important or more valuable than education,"
said Katie Hartman, and he made sure "every one of his eight children went to
college."
A third lawyer daughter, Deirdre K. Hartman, works for the state Public Employee
Relations Commission.
Frank Hartman also supports employees who want to further their education by
enabling them to adjust their work hours to accommodate class schedules and in
some cases, reimbursing tuition, said Katie Hartman.
Her father, too, is always pursuing knowledge and views his cases as
intellectual challenges, Katie Hartman said. "In each case, you learn a great
deal about something," she said.
The daughters, who are both married and each have two children, mentioned some
other practical advice from Dad: Never take a check from a forger; never take
cash from a counterfeiter.
Excerpted from Burlington County Times (Willingboro,
NJ)
June 19, 2005
Copyright, 2005, Burlington County Times
Record Number: 2967673
Businesses are family affairs
Author: EILEEN STILWELL
Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ)
Attorneys Hartman in Moorestown a father-daughter experience
Workplace issues like sexual harassment, age
discrimination and the generic hostile environment created by bully bosses were
not part of Francis "Frank" Hartman's legal lexicon when he graduated from the
University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1956.
Hartman, 74, of Moorestown, made his mark as a criminal defense lawyer.
His daughters, Frances, 45, and Katherine, 41, have carved out other niches,
namely employment and personal injury law to avoid irksome comparison with their
distinguished dad.
All three work together as equals in a firm simply called Attorneys Hartman on
Lenola Road.
On a recent, pre-Father's Day interview, the three Hartmans talked about the
joys of working together as a professional family and some of the bumps along
the road.
Arthur Silver, director of the family business program within the William J.
Rohrer Center for Management and Entrepreneurship at Rutgers University, said
making the transition from father to boss, or daughter to colleague can be
challenging.
"If you can't trust somebody in your family, who's left? On the other hand, if
grown children decide they want to leave the family firm and go elsewhere, how
will that affect the next Thanksgiving dinner?"
While the positives far outweigh the negatives, Silver said a common fault line
in family businesses is to wind up with all chiefs and no Indians.
"Can you fire a family member? Who is the face of the business? Who gets the
glamour jobs and who gets the dirty work," Silver asked.
"Younger people tend to be more tech savvy, while the patriarch might resist
buying computer equipment. These are some of the areas that can be more
difficult to navigate when everybody's related," said Silver.
For the senior Hartman, who honed his trial skills working 80 hours a week,
hiring his daughters meant more vacation time, an opportunity to prolong the
"good will" associated with his name, plus the chance to teach -- his second
calling -- and to learn from the next generation of lawyers.
"I didn't know a damn thing about employment law until Katie developed her
practice and I knew less about computers. I'm a long way from proficiency on the
computer, but I'm getting better," said Hartman, who doesn't plan to retire
until he "starts making a fool" of himself.
Then, the daughters will tell him "it's time," according to a pact the three of
them made.
Frances Hartman has the toughest spot on the firm's letterhead because she even
bears her father's name.
"I struggled to be independent when I was younger and my dad was very
controlling. I didn't come here until eight years ago. Now, when clients treat
the three of us as one person, or interchangeable parts, I see it as a good
thing."
There are no slackers in the office, according to Frances; nor is anybody likely
to stew silently about too much of this, or not enough of that.
"My parents raised a family of eight really hard workers," Frances said.
"We tend to be very forthright, even blunt. And my sister and I are united in
our feelings that our own families come first. Don't get me wrong. I like to
make money, but I'm happy to be compensated less to meet family needs," said
Frances, the mother of two teenagers.
Katie Hartman recalled that adjusting to the arrival of her older sister at the
firm was tougher than working in her Dad's shadow.
"We're in a great place right now," Katie said. "We have absolute confidence in
each other.
"My father is such a bright, curious man, it's like having our own personal Yoda
around," Katie continued. "He's a lawyer first and businessman second and never
kept billable hours in his life. So we've had to browbeat him a bit to use
standard business practices," said Katie, who also has two children.
Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ)
June 19, 2005
Reach Eileen Stilwell at (856) 486-2464 or estilwell@courierpostonline.com
Copyright (c) Courier-Post. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission
of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.
Record Number: chr22672624
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