Brandon D. Minde, Esq.

Legal Work & Experience

Mr. Minde’s practice focuses on representing individuals and businesses charged with criminal offenses or undergoing criminal investigations, defending physicians and hospitals charged with medical malpractice and professional board investigations, and handling complex civil-litigation matters.

Representing a vast array of businesses and individuals in high-stakes civil matters, as well as those investigated and charged with federal and state crimes, Mr. Minde uses the techniques and strategies he learned as a former prosecutor to swiftly resolve his clients’ cases. Mr. Minde is often able get the charges against his clients dropped without the need to move through the litigation process. However, when this is not possible, Mr. Minde works quickly and tirelessly to achieve the most advantageous outcomes possible for those he represents. Though he endeavors to help his clients avoid the expense of going to trial, Mr. Minde is an aggressive courtroom litigator who is relentlessly focused on winning favorable verdicts. 

As a former assistant prosecutor in Essex County from 2006 to 2010, Mr. Minde handled many criminal prosecutions and jury trials. While serving in the Corruption Unit, Mr. Minde managed investigations and conducted prosecutions of corruption, fraud, government misconduct, and other white-collar crimes. During his tenure as assistant prosecutor, Mr. Minde was also appointed as a special-deputy attorney general to lead a joint investigation into widespread election fraud through absentee voter ballots. The investigation culminated in several convictions, including some high-level government officials, and at the time was the largest voter fraud case in the history of New Jersey.

Mr. Minde served as assistant counsel to Governor Chris Christie from 2010 to 2013, where he provided advice and counsel to Governor Christie and the Chief Counsel to the Governor on a wide array of legislative, legal, regulatory, and policy initiatives. During this time, Mr. Minde also served as assistant counsel in the Governor’s Authorities Unit, as an executive-branch representative on the NJ Sales and Use Tax Review Commission, and as the governor’s representative on the board of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority. In 2013, Mr. Minde worked as the executive director of the New Jersey Government Records Council, the state agency that adjudicates complaints filed under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) concerning denials of access to government records.

Prior to his time in public service, Mr. Minde worked in the securities litigation, government relations, and white-collar defense group of New Jersey’s largest law firm.

Mr. Minde is certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a criminal-trial attorney, a designation less than 3% of New Jersey attorneys obtain. To achieve this certification, an attorney must have taken a large number of cases to trial, be a member of the state bar in good standing for at least five years, engage in regular continuing education, demonstrate substantial involvement in preparation of litigated matters, prove he has an unblemished reputation through a substantial compilation of character references, and pass a comprehensive written exam. 

During his time as a prosecutor, Mr. Minde received training in economic crimes and financial investigations from the National White-Collar Crime Center and in cyber-crime and computer forensics from the National Computer Forensics Institute.

• Certified Criminal Trial Attorney, New Jersey Supreme Court

• U.S. Healthcare Compliance Certificate Program, Seton Hall University School of Law

• Training in economic crimes and financial investigations, National White-Collar Crime Center

• Training in computer forensics, National Computer Forensics Institute 

• JD, The George Washington University Law School

• BA, Muhlenberg College

In 2016, Mr. Minde was selected for the “Forty Under 40” list developed by NJBIZ, New Jersey’s premier business news publication. Mr. Minde has been named as a “Rising Star” by New Jersey Super Lawyers magazine each year since 2015. The designation, which is given to less than 2.5 percent of New Jersey attorneys, recognizes the best attorneys in the state who are 40 years old or younger or have been practicing for 10 years or less. In 2015, Mr. Minde was one of 50 lawyers to be named a “New Leader of the Bar” by the New Jersey Law Journal publication. The year prior, Mr. Minde was given the NJSBA (New Jersey State Bar Association) Young Lawyers Division Professional Achievement Award.

• New Jersey Rising Starts (Super Lawyers Magazine 2015-2019)

• “Forty Under 40” (NJ BIZ Magazine 2016)

• New Leaders of the Bar (NJ Law Journal 2015)

• Professional Achievement Award (NJSBA YLD 2014)

Speaking Engagements & Articles

A sought-after speaker and active member of the legal community, Mr. Minde is a regular lecturer at the Practising Law Institute as well as at various law conventions and seminars.

• “NJ Criminal Trial Preparation” (Practising Law Institute, New Jersey CLE Marathon, May 2019)
• “Hot Topics in Criminal Law” (Criminal Law Section of NJSBA), April 2019
• “The ABC’s of Civil and Criminal Trial Preparation in NJ” (Lawline, February 2019)
• “Trial by Instagram: Use of Social Media in a Criminal Trial” (Richard J. Hughes Inn of Court, April 2018)
• “Handling a Criminal Case in NJ” (Practising Law Institute, New Jersey CLE Marathon, May 2018)
• “NJ Criminal Trial Preparation” (Practising Law Institute, New Jersey CLE Marathon, May 2017)
• “How to Keep Your Company in Business when Facing Criminal Charges or Regulatory Action” (NJSBA Annual Meeting and Convention, May ’16)
• “Handling Official Misconduct Cases” (New Jersey State Bar Association CLE, September 2015)
• “White Collar Crime – the Pen is Mightier Than the Sword” (NJSBA Annual Meeting and Convention, May 2015)
• Government Records Council (“2013 Annual OPRA Seminar”, August 2013)
• Law Enforcement Seminars (“OPRA for Law Enforcement Agencies”, Union County Police Academy, Sept. 2013) (“OPRA for Law Enforcement Agencies”, Monmouth County Police Academy, July 2013)
• New Jersey State Bar Association (“Litigating an OPRA Case”, Annual Convention, May 2013) (“Avoiding Common Mistakes in and out of Court: Your Guide to Ethics & Professionalism”, Annual Convention, May 15, 2009) (“Direct & Cross Examination: Focusing on Trial Preparation”, April 2009)
• New Jersey State League of Municipalities (“A Review of the Open Public Records Act”, Annual Conference, Nov. 2013) (“A Review of the Open Public Records Act”, June 2013)

Articles

• The Role of Public Safety Assessment in Pretrial Detention (New Jersey Lawyer Magazine, June 2019)
• The Use of Social Media in Preparation For and During Trial (New Jersey Lawyer Magazine, April 2019)
• Using Expert OPRA Advice To Increase Transparency and Save Money (New Jersey Law Journal, August 2014)