Joseph A. Hayden, Jr. Named “Lawyer of the Year” in Two Specialties for Criminal Defense: General Practice and Criminal Defense: White Collar in the 2025 Best Lawyers® List
Pashman Stein Walder Hayden P.C. is pleased to announce that Joseph A. Hayden, Jr. has been included in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers® list as the publication’s “Lawyer of the Year” for Criminal Defense: General Practice and Criminal Defense: White Collar for the Hackensack region. Only one lawyer in each specialty and location is included as a “Lawyer of the Year,” which is based on the highest overall peer-feedback for that area and region.
About Joseph A. Hayden, Jr.
Joseph A. Hayden, Jr.’s legal career spans over five decades. Most recently, Joe was awarded the 2020 Daniel J. O'Hern Award by the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law. Click here to view the video of Joe’s remarks accepting this award.
Joe began his legal career as a law clerk to the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, and was then appointed deputy attorney general in the Organized Crime and Special Prosecution Section of the Division of Criminal Justice. As deputy attorney general, Joe tried the first wiretap case brought by the state of New Jersey. An esteemed member of the criminal defense bar, Joe was the founder and first president of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey (ACDLNJ), in 1985.
Joe has received accolades and honors for his excellence in trial work. He received the Lawrence A. Whipple Award for Professional Excellence from the ACDLNJ, and, in 2011, received the Rutgers University School of Law-Newark’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. In 2004, Joe was named Professional Lawyer of the Year in the area of Criminal Law by the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law. He is also the recipient of the Trial Bar Award for Professional Excellence from the Trial Attorneys of New Jersey, an organization of civil litigators. In 2014, Joe received the coveted Justice William J. Brennan Award from the Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey, in recognition of his contributions to the profession.
Although criminal defense is a significant part of Joe’s practice, he has also been substantially involved in complex civil litigation in state and federal courts, serving as either trial counsel or local counsel. In Joe's view, a trial is a trial – whether it involves a civil or criminal matter. While he relishes his work on complex, high-profile trials, Joe has said that some of his most significant outcomes were those in which a client was being investigated for wrongdoing but, thanks to his representation, was never charged or civil litigation was never brought.
Joe frequently tries cases that attract national and regional media coverage. He tried the first case in New Jersey with live television coverage by a major network and has tried four other cases with live TV cameras in the courtroom. He has been involved in such high-profile cases as the trial of a former professional basketball star and represented a former Bergen County Democratic Chairman in a federal prosecution. In addition, Joe and the firm were appointed special counsel to the General Assembly in connection with the Legislative Select Oversight Committee, which conducted an extensive investigation of the hiring practices of the transition and office of Governor Philip Murphy arising out of allegations of sexual assault during the campaign.
A lecturer to the bench and bar on the topic of advocacy and trial techniques in high-profile cases, Joe is often asked to provide analysis of legal issues in print, online and broadcast media nationwide. He serves as a trustee for the New Jersey Reentry Services Commission, which provides support services for incarcerated persons, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Integrity House, a prominent New Jersey addiction and mental health treatment facility based in Newark, New Jersey. Joe was profiled on PolitickerNJ.com for his involvement from the 1960s to the present in the civil rights movement and the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965.
Joe enjoys movies and theater. He has been active in athletics all his life as a football player in high school and in his first year at Boston College, and regularly played in football and basketball leagues for many years. He has run more than 10 marathons and works out religiously for one hour a day, including two rigorous boxing workouts a week.
No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
The Best Lawyers list and the Ones to Watch list is issued by BL Rankings, LLC. A description of the selection methodology can be found at https://www.bestlawyers.com/About/MethodologyBasic.aspx