As someone who somehow managed to be a managing partner, a mentor to the next generation, a leader in professional organizations and one of the most accomplished litigators and trial attorneys in the state, it’s hard to imagine anyone in the legal field having more energy than Diana Manning.
That’s why she was so surprised and thrilled to learn that seemingly everyone at McCarter & English matched her gusto. And a big reason why she left Bressler Amery & Ross after more than 25 years there.
“It just seemed like there is a tremendous energy at McCarter right now — and that it’s a good place to be,” she told BINJE.
Manning, a certified Civil Trial Attorney in New Jersey with more than three decades of experience representing clients in complex commercial litigation, legal ethics and professional liability matters, will join the firm’s litigation group.
She’ll certainly fit right in.
Manning, despite serving as managing partner at Bressler, kept an active appellate practice. She has argued nine times before the New Jersey Supreme Court.
The fit is personal, too.
Manning said she has known many attorneys from McCarter over the years — so much so, that moving firms has not been an issue.
“The firm is filled with so many familiar faces,” she said.
And that energy.
Manning, 57, admitted she was not necessarily looking to leave Bressler, where she had worked since 1999.
Conversations with McCarter started organically, more than a year ago. Eventually, she said she realized it was a perfect match.
“I’ve really been wanting to focus more on my practice and where I wanted to take it between now and the end of my career,” she said. “This opportunity just seemed like one that was just too good to pass up.
“I realized, as we started talking, just how many people that I’ve known there for a long time — in some many different capacities. And they all talked about what a great place it is and how collaborative it is — and what an expanded platform the firm has.
“When I really got to talking to two people whose judgment I really trust, Judge (Jose) Linares and Justice (Jaynee) LaVecchia, I knew it was the right fit.”
Manning will not serve on the management committee — and she’s more than fine with that.
But she will continue to serve on some key outside organizations — she’s on track to be the head of the N.J. State Bar Association in 2028.
Both of those items helped make McCarter the right call, she said.
Then there’s this: While McCarter does have a national footprint, it obviously has an incredibly strong New Jersey connection.
“I was always a little bit of a square peg in a round hole at Bressler,” she said. “There are a lot of the groups in New Jersey who really aren’t New Jersey-centric. So, I’m proud of what I accomplished in terms of building out litigation in New Jersey and all of those things, but to go somewhere where there’s a real core of folks who are centered on New Jersey, is very exciting.”
Energizing, you might say.
“I was born and raised in New Jersey,” she said. “I’m a Jersey girl. I’m a proud alum of the Rutgers-Newark School of Law, and now I’m with McCarter & English. That’s pretty cool.”
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More on Manning: She dedicates a significant portion of her practice to advising attorneys and law firms on ethics and compliance issues, including conflicts of interest, litigation conduct and attorney advertising compliance. She also represents lawyers facing disciplinary charges, ethics investigations, and other complaints.
An active leader in the New Jersey legal community, she currently serves as Second Vice President of the New Jersey State Bar Association. She served on the District XA Ethics Committee for 10 years, including serving as chair from 2017-2019 after being appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Manning is a past president of the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association, the Trial Attorneys of New Jersey, the Morris County Bar Association and the Morris County Bar Foundation.
Manning regularly presents and writes on business litigation, legal ethics and professional liability topics. She is the author of the New Jersey Chapter of The Law of Lawyer’s Liability: Fifty-State Survey of Legal Malpractice (ABA/First Chair Press), which provides an overview of the laws governing attorney malpractice in each state.
