Joseph A Fortunato

Joseph A. Fortunato is a highly effective and dedicated attorney. His integrity, focus and knowledge are his strong suits. Mr. Fortunate is extremely patient listening to and answering client concerns. He has provided legal counsel and representation for me over the decades and has also successfully... represented friends and family, on matters both large and small.

Mr. Fortunato is utterly untrustworthy and fails to fulfill even the most basic duties as a lawyer. Once you pay him the retainer, he will simply abandon your case. I hired him to send a response letter to the opposing party to establish legal representation, but after three months, he had done absol...utely nothing. When I followed up, he didn't even remember who I was. He took no action and completely cut off communication regarding the retainer. He may have the title of lawyer, but in my experience, he is nothing short of a thief. I strongly advise against hiring him for any legal matters.

It is unpleasant for me to think about my experience with Joe Fortunato, but I feel honor-bound to write this as a public service. When people hire an attorney they are often doing so in order to address an abusive situation in their lives. They don’t need more abuse from the attorney they hire, an...d this is what I encountered with Mr. Fortunato. Problems began immediately as he indicated he would have the case ready to file in about 30 days after I engaged him. Six months later, nothing had been done, and in discussion it seemed like he even forgot what my case was about. The case was finally completed and filed in a panic, as the statute of limitations was about to expire. Then he did some good work. My case had two defendants, and they filed a motion for summary judgement and motion to dismiss, respectively. Mr. Fortunato’s responses beat both of those motions, and the first defendant settled with us quickly. However, the second defendant was unwilling to settle. We had a meeting and still no settlement. At this point, Mr. Fortunato began to neglect the case. He said he did not want to go to trial because he felt the case was weak. When things dragged on and on he explained that he had an emotional block against working on my case because he didn’t like it. He felt it was weak. This is not what a client wants to hear after paying a retainer fee, but it seemed like he actually expected me to be sympathetic. He directed me to find a mental health professional who would be willing to testify, thereby making the case stronger. I went to several sessions with a psychologist. Mr. Fortunato never contacted the psychologist. A year later he gave me a HYPAA form to sign, and then he still never contacted the psychologist. Time dragged on. The court dropped my case. Mr. Fortunato had the decency to file a motion to restore, which was accepted. Communications with Mr. Fortunato were difficult. He didn’t seem to receive mail, whether certified or regular mail. He often ignored e mails, and rarely answered his phone. It was impossible to leave voicemail because his message bank was always full. When we did manage to connect, he became abusive, on one occasion actually screaming at me over the phone. He indicated I was a “difficult client”, and bragged about having more important matters to attend to. Finally the court dropped my case a second time. Mr. Fortunato refused to take action, and so I paid a $50 filling fee to file my own motion to restore, pro se. My motion was denied, and that was the end of my case. Justice was not served. The best advice I could give to anybody looking for an attorney in northern New Jersey is this: Do not hire Joe Fortunato.