Michael S. Karpoff is a partner in the Princeton, N.J. office of Hill Wallack LLP and is a member of the firm’s Community Association Group and the firm’s Professional Licensing and Regulation Practice.

Mr. Karpoff is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a civil trial attorney and oversees the Community Association Group’s litigation. He has served as lead counsel for numerous plaintiffs in construction defect cases during the past 25 years.

In addition to community association law and litigation, Mr. Karpoff concentrates his practice in administrative law including professional and occupational licensing and regulation, construction code and zoning matters. Previously, as a New Jersey Deputy Attorney General, he represented professional and occupational licensing boards and other state agencies before entering private practice in 1984.

His practice now includes representing professional and occupational licensees before New Jersey regulatory boards. He also served as the attorney for the Highland Park Zoning Board from 1987 until 1996

Representative Matters

• Mr. Karpoff successfully represented numerous community associations in transition and construction defect litigation as well as other types of litigation.
• He was the defense attorney in Committee for a Better Twin Rivers v. Twin Rivers Homeowners Association, in which the N.J. Supreme Court held that common interest communities may reasonably restrict speech on private property without violating the state constitution.
• He counsels associations on a wide variety of issues, such as rules enforcement, document interpretation, alternative dispute resolution, and local, state and federal rights and obligations.
• Mr. Karpoff represents associations before state and local administrative agencies.
• He successfully represented professional licensees before New Jersey regulatory boards for over 20 years, including physicians, veterinarians, nurses and others.

Leadership

• Member, National College of Community Association Lawyers
• Director, Community Associations Institute – New Jersey Chapter
• Past Chairman, Common Interest Ownership Committee, New Jersey State Bar Association
• Served on Community Associations Institute Amicus Curiae Advisory Group
• Included in the New Jersey Super Lawyers list published by Law & Politics and New Jersey Monthly, for construction litigation in 2010 and 2011

Publications & Speaking Engagements

• Co-author, Community Association Collections: Practice, Pointers and Pitfalls (NJICLE 1993)
• Author, The Right to Speak in Community Associations: Constitutional or Contractual?  Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly  (April 2008)

He has authored numerous articles and papers. Mr. Karpoff is a frequent speaker at seminars and other events.

Mr. Karpoff is admitted to practice law in New Jersey (1980), Pennsylvania (1992) and New York (1989) and before the United States Supreme Court (1987), the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals (1988) and the U.S. District Court for New Jersey (1980). He earned his J.D. from Rutgers Law School, Newark. He received his A.B. degree from Rutgers College and an M.S. degree from Boston University’s School of Public Communication.