Herbert Jay Stern

Herbert Jay Stern (born November 8, 1936) is a trial lawyer, with a national practice in civil and criminal litigation, as well as mediation and arbitration.

Earlier in his career, Stern served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and as the United States Judge for Berlin.

He presided over a hijacking trial that was the only case ever tried in an American court in the occupied American Sector of West Berlin.

He was part of the team that successfully handled several major corruption and organized crime trials in New Jersey.

Born on November 8, 1936, in New York, New York, He attended Hobart College.

After graduating with honors in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, he was also awarded The Ford Foundation National Honor Scholarship for three years and went on to earn a Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 1961.

He was admitted to the New York bar in 1961 and the New Jersey bar in 1971.

Stern served from 1962 to 1965 as an assistant district attorney, New York County, assigned to the Homicide Bureau during which conducted the grand jury investigation of the assassination of Malcolm X.

In January 1966, was appointed Special Attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the United States Department of Justice in the state of New Jersey.

He conducted a Special Grand Jury and uncovered corruption and other wrongdoing both in municipal government, including the then Mayor of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, and the trade union movement.

(United States v. Colonial Pipeline Co. et. United States v. Peter Weber) through 1969.

In December 1970, Stern became The Acting United States Attorney for New Jersey.

From 1971 to 1973, he served as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, pursuant to the appointment of the President of the United States.

He personally conducted / supervised  several major corruption and organized crime trials in New Jersey, including the Mayors of Newark, Jersey City and Atlantic City; two successive State Treasurers and Secretaries of State of New Jersey, as well as U.S. Congressman Cornelius E. Gallagher.

Stern was nominated by President Richard Nixon on December 7, 1973, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey vacated by Judge Leonard I. Garth.

He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 19, 1973, and received his commission on December 28, 1973.

In a published opinion, United States v. Tiede, 86 F.R.D. 227 (D. Berlin 1979), Stern held that even though the case involved prosecution of German citizens in an unusual forum outside the United States, the defendants were still parties to an American criminal proceeding and entitled to the United States Constitution's guarantee of trial by jury.

Stern later authored Judgment in Berlin, a book about his experiences in the Tiede case which was made into a motion picture starring Sean Penn and Martin Sheen, who portrayed Stern.

After his resignation from the federal bench, Stern entered private practice as an attorney.

He is the founding partner of his own law firm Stern, Kilcullen & Rufolo, LLC.

located in Florham Park, New Jersey.

Judge Stern has been the recipient of numerous honors and other positions

Judge Stern has received numerous civic awards, among which are:

Judge Stern has written numerous articles, treatises and books including:

Judge Stern has served in numerous arbitrations under the American Arbitration Association, the International  Court in Paris, private mediations, the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber  of Commerce, and the London  Court  of International  Arbitration (LCIA).

Sampling is as follows:

His service terminated on January 4, 1987, due to his resignation.

During his thirteen-year tenure on the bench, Stern presided over a variety of civil and criminal cases.

However, his judicial service is best remembered for the unique case of United States v. Tiede, an aircraft hijacking prosecution that was the sole case ever tried in the United States Court for Berlin, over which he was specially designated to preside by the Secretary of State.