Former Morris County first assistant prosecutor joins Wilson Elser

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Former Morris County First Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Zelante has joined Wilson Elser in Florham Park as of counsel.

Zelante will be a member of the firm’s complex tort and general casualty practice, according to a Jan. 13 announcement.

“His experience as a prosecutor and in private practice as a litigator will benefit our litigation practice greatly and bring value to our clients,” said New Jersey Regional Managing Partner Carolyn O’Connor in a prepared statement.

Zelante was the first assistant prosecutor at the Office of the Morris County Prosecutor from September 2007 until December 2020, serving under three county prosecutors. He’s the longest serving first assistant prosecutor in the history of the office.

In his prior position, Zelante helped supervise an office with more than 160 employees. He managed the financial crimes unit, the insurance fraud unit, the bias crimes unit, the juvenile unit, the missing persons unit and the victim witness unit, and was in charge of all civil litigation involving the office.

Prior to public service, Zelante was a partner in the law firm of Bowkley & Zelante PC in Randolph. There, he specialized in litigation, governmental practice, insurance defense, land use and real estate.

Zelante has also served as special counsel, borough attorney and zoning board attorney for several New Jersey communities, and was appointed to state authority, educational and taxation agency roles by New Jersey Govs. Jim McGreevey and Richard Codey.