Good Neighbor Podcast: Bergen

Ep # 172 - From Prosecutor To Defender In Bergen County

• Doug Drohan • Season 2 • Episode 172

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If your stomach drops at the words license suspended or criminal record, you’re not alone—and you’re exactly who this conversation is for. We sit down with Fair Lawn trial attorney Josh Reinitz to unpack what really happens when courtroom drama meets real life, from the first flashing lights in your rearview to the moment a judge decides your future.

Josh traces his path from a Bergen County clerkship to municipal prosecution and on to defense, explaining why he traded research stacks for courtroom work and how that shift shaped his people-first approach. We break down the nuts and bolts of New Jersey DWI law—why it’s DWI here, how implied consent works, and what refusing a breath test actually triggers. We also tackle cannabis DUIs without a reliable roadside THC test, the role of drug recognition experts, and what observations hold up when policy changes limit probable cause. If you’ve wondered where hard science ends and legal judgment begins, this is the clarity you need.

We widen the lens to theft cases as big-box retailers deploy AI and facial recognition, changing the evidentiary game in shoplifting prosecutions. Josh explains when technology strengthens the state’s case, where defense can probe weaknesses, and why mitigation often beats a brawl. Above all, we focus on choosing the right attorney: reviews and referrals, price versus experience, and finding a style you trust when your name and future are on the line. Josh’s mantra—law that listens, defense that delivers—runs through practical tips on expungements, handling traffic stops, and aligning strategy with what matters most: work, immigration status, license, and record.

Hit play to get smarter about your rights, your options, and your next move. If you found this useful, subscribe, share it with a friend who could use a steady voice, and leave a quick review to help more neighbors find the show.

Josh Reinitz Law
Josh Reinitz
0-100 27th Street Fair Lawn, NJ 07410
josh@reinitzlaw.com
(201) 345-6262
josh@reinitzlaw.com
reinitzlaw.com

Meet Trial Attorney Josh Reinitz

Intro/Close

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Doug Drohan.

Doug Drohan

Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast, brought to you by the Bergen Neighbors Media Group. I am your host, Doug Drohan. Today we're joined by Josh Reinitz. Josh is a lawyer. He's a trial attorney based out of Fairlawn, New Jersey. Recently went out on his own and started his own practice. So we're going to learn a little bit more from uh from Josh. Welcome to the show. Thanks, Doug. Really happy to be here. Yeah, so um, you know, you've got over 20 years of experience as a trial attorney. Um it's always been in in Bergen County, or where did you get your start?

Josh Reinitz

Um so right out of school, I clerked for a judge uh in Bergen County, uh Judge uh Eugene Austin, um originally from Teaneck, and uh he actually grew up on the same street I did in Teaneck, which uh came up in the interview, which I think may have tipped the scale, which is which is you know ironic. Um and then out of my clerkship, I worked for a firm in uh down the shore for a little bit and got started prosecuting in municipal court like right out of the chute. Um then I worked in Nutley for about 17 years and then worked my way back uh up to Fairlawn and now my office is in Fairlawn.

Doug Drohan

So uh why be a prosecutor? Why, you know, why and you went from being a prosecutor to a trial attorney. So what like what drove you like an early days in law school? Like why did you focus on that um discipline, I guess?

Why Courtroom Work Fit His Style

Josh Reinitz

Yeah, so for me, uh I've always enjoyed um you know, growing up, I played a lot of sports and and and I enjoyed the competitive nature of it, um and a bit of the performative aspect of trial work um and being in courtrooms. Um I enjoy the the social aspect of it too, and and the camaraderie and the uh relationship building. Um and so coming out of my clerkship, the the ability to get on my feet doing you know work in court, you know, at the age of 26 or 27 right away was really attractive to me. And through that, I built up um practicing in municipal court. And then um after about a year or so, um I left that firm and began doing defense work. And so since then I've pretty much mostly done, you know, criminal defense, uh municipal court defense, DWIs, things like that. Got it.

Doug Drohan

So I think uh obviously what you do is more of what we're used to seeing on TV, you know, Lincoln Lawyer and all these other lawyers. Um I don't know if people, a lot of people that get into law think that's what it's gonna be, and then they end up being stuck in a in a library in a research room, you know, 80 hours a week, and it may not be as glamorous as they thought it would be. So um I guess you're fortunate to follow that, but then also excel at it, because I'm sure it's not for everybody to be kind of up on stage, right? You've got to stand up there and convince the jury that your client is is uh you know not guilty.

Josh Reinitz

Yeah, absolutely. Um it's not for everything. And the nice thing about the law is that it's broad enough, I think, that that there's places you know you can find kind of where you fit. Um for me, um, I really like the the aspect of of helping people with real issues and real problems. Um I I remember one of the first cases I had uh at my first firm um when I was outside the courtroom was I had to to try to settle a dispute between two businesses that were arguing over you know what was a real small amount of money to the two of them. And it was really more of just a fight about them you know not liking each other. And to me, I felt like it was just a giant waste of time. And it I just said to myself that that wasn't what I wanted to spend the rest of my career doing. Um I'm fortunate now that people come to me, you know, with issues and with problems, and and hopefully I can solve them. So that that to me is the the most attractive aspect of it.

Doug Drohan

Is one of the most common ones DUI or DWI? What's the difference between DUI and DWI?

From Prosecutor To Defense Focus

Josh Reinitz

There really isn't. Um New Jersey statute refers to it as driving wild jury, of course, has to be different than just about everywhere else in the country. Um I think 47 out of 50 states, it's DUI and it's criminal. In New Jersey, it's DWI and it's traffic. Um but yes, yeah, so it's it's a little different. But you know, for me, um prosecuting a municipal court when I started, those are the types of cases that I started uh doing and then became more and more familiar with. Um so I do a lot of DWI lately. Um I've had a lot of shoplifting cases. I think um I think there's been a trend in a lot of the local stores, especially the the bigger box stores, that they're adding AI and facial recognition into their security programs. Okay. So they're much uh much more able to quickly recognize someone who may have shoplifted previously or things like that. Um, and it's not like you know, in the old days where there's one security guard trying to figure out what's going on. So um I just make it harder for you to defend.

Doug Drohan

Does that make it harder for you to defend them then if there's like they have proof of facial recognition, or just like any new technology, there are kind of holes in that that you could kind of poke through?

Josh Reinitz

Yeah, I mean, with that, like with anything else, there's there's you know, you're gonna find pros and cons, and you're gonna see um defenses that appear. Um, and a lot of what I do is really mitigating exposure and mitigating risk. Um you know, you're not you know, a lot of you know, if you have a client that that may have taken something from the store, you know, you can't you can't unwind the clock or press rewind. So you got to deal with the facts as they are. You know, it's like when you go to the doctor, you know, if if your arm's broken, it's broken. You can't unbreak it, you gotta fix it, right? So um, so for me, it's if if you if the facts aren't great, it's you know, what's the best result I can do, and how do I tailor that to my client's needs? Got it.

Doug Drohan

So if you get pulled over and the and the officer says we're gonna have to take a breathwiser, can you refuse it?

DWI In New Jersey Explained

Josh Reinitz

So uh in New Jersey, uh when you sign your license and sign the forms to get your driver's license, you sign something called uh an implied consent. Um the implied consent law says that if you drive on the streets of New Jersey, you you're implied to give them consent to take breath samples if they have probable cause to do it. Uh you can say no, uh, you can refuse, but then it's actually a separate uh additional charge that carries additional penalties that um in some circumstances can be run you know consecutive to the DWI if you're convicted of both. Got it.

Doug Drohan

Now, uh a couple of maybe a year back, uh the Wyckoff police department came to the Wyckoff chamber and talked about with new marijuana laws that police were not allowed to um, I mean, there's DWI, right? That it used to be drinking. I mean, it's driving while intoxicated. Were there uh, you know, are there still laws that prevent New Jersey police from um suspecting somebody's high and giving them a breathalyzer? Or are there breathalyzers that determine whether or not your you know your THC levels a certain spot?

AI, Shoplifting, And New Evidence

Josh Reinitz

So there they're no matter what the drug well, so with marijuana, um, there are restrictions from the attorney general's uh guidelines and and and um and through the new laws that they passed, uh legalizing um you know possession level marijuana that that restrict police and some of the things they can do um in terms of what gives them probable cause to continue you know an investigation. Um but you're not so the way the the statute is is you is um you know driving under the influence of uh a narcotic and a hallucinogen or other habit forming um drugs, right? Those are the three things. And if you can if you can define what a narcotic actually is, you'll be the first person I know that does, because it's the definitions all over the place. But you you you know, and the other the other unfortunate thing is there's no good test available in the state that's been approved right now that can tell you, okay, this person like like alcohol, right? Um this person is uh you know has you know 35% marijuana in their system, therefore they shouldn't be driving. So it comes down to observations of the officer and then um confirming tests, whether urine or blood, and and also um they have experts uh that they rely on at trial called uh drug recognition evaluators, and they come in and they have a certain protocol that they use to try to um determine if someone's under the influence. Um I did see an article within the last week that certain other states are rolling out like portable tests to try to establish levels and things. I think that's coming, but it it hasn't, it's not here yet. Yeah.

Doug Drohan

Well, maybe if you put a plate of brownies in front of them and then they like devour the brownies, it's fantastic. You know. Uh Robin Williams Robin Williams had a stand-up routine where he talked about this is going back in the Olympics where a snowboarder was uh had his metal strip because he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, and it was marijuana. And he's like, the only way marijuana is performance enhancing is if they have a plate of brownies at the bottom of that race. Otherwise, you know, yeah. It's funny. So, what are the like misconceptions you think people have with you know trial attorneys? Because again, I I just refer back to TV and movies. Um, is there anything that uh like it was kind of eye-opening for you, or what do you feel like you have to educate your clients on that maybe there's some misconceptions?

Mitigating Risk When Facts Are Bad

Josh Reinitz

Well, I think for the general public, I think the hardest thing to understand is that people, well, at least the way I feel is that people should not be judged by their worst worst moment or by their mistakes, right? And we've all made mistakes, and you know, sometimes you get away with them without consequences, other times you know, you get arrested, right? So um, just because someone's been charged with something or they made a mistake doesn't necessarily make them a bad person. And a lot of times there's there's a lot of underlying reasons for that, you know, with the state of our um, you know, mental health system um and substance abuse treatment, and there's a lot of things that trigger people to do things that that they wouldn't do otherwise. So one of the things I always try to caution people on is that you have to take everyone as they are and really look to see what's you know what's behind things and and try to treat every case different because everyone's got a different need and a different result. Um I think the biggest misconception well, I would say one of the you know, getting back to your, you know, um example you know, your your your your TV, you know, Lincoln lawyer, um, or um, you know, my cousin Vinnie to go back to back when I had hair. Um you know, the the um the there's not one way, and there's not one type of lawyer. So I'm I'm certainly not for everyone. Um I believe in building relationships, I believe in um, you know, being prepared and you know, talking to my clients and outcomes. There's other attorneys that you know are very combative and have very different styles and and you know, they believe in you know, this is their job. And you know, so I I think I think choosing an attorney is a very personal decision because you're putting, you know, in a lot of ways, you're putting outcomes that affect your life in this person's hands.

Doug Drohan

So I want to just talk about that for a second. So if you're in a situation where I need a lawyer, you know, I'm kind of in a bind. And it's not like I'm gonna be I have time to shop around. You know, like I can interview you and maybe I feel good about you, but maybe I maybe I want a real pit bull, you know, Roy Cohn. Um, like that's the channel, like you know, somebody one friend of mine was a lawyer, she's like, nobody likes lawyers until they need one. Um but uh like how do you um you know well let me go back. So, you know, what how does somebody find you? They usually come to you from a referral. Like, so say I, you know, I need a criminal attorney or I got pulled over for you know DWI, like how would I find you?

Implied Consent And Refusals

Josh Reinitz

So you know, it's it's funny, like it's something that I grapple with a lot, and you know, if if and I try to put myself in that position, like if I needed an attorney to to do a will, I got no problem posting on Facebook, hey, does anybody know an attorney? Right, but if I just got arrested, I mean I want to put that out on Facebook. So um it's a lot of times, um, you know, in the old days, a lot of criminal defense attorneys would would try to build relationships with bail bondsmen and people like that. And but now with with no cash bail, that you know it doesn't exist anymore. Um it's like uh you know uh injury attorneys that that have really built relationships with chiropractors and other and doctors and things like that. So I rely primarily on referrals from prior clients um or from other attorneys. Um a lot of them, you know, a lot of people these days will have immigration issues, they'll go to their immigration attorney, and the immigration attorney will have me deal with the criminal issue and they'll deal with the immigration thing. Um or or you know, the internet. The internet's become you know everyone's market. This is the yellow pages, you know. Right, right, right. Yeah, I mean a defense. My kids have no idea what I'm talking about if I say yellow pages. So I mean yeah, and then so you try to have third-party validators, right? So I try to have clients that are happy with me put up good reviews on Google. So if someone searches attorney, they see that. I mean, it's it's it's difficult.

Cannabis DUIs And Testing Limits

Doug Drohan

Yeah, yeah. But you know, it is like you're catching somebody probably the most vulnerable time of their lives, you know, depending on what the case is. So, you know, having that trust. Um, you know, there's a saying in advertising or in a lot of different things, people buy from people that they know, like, and trust. Yep. And um, you know, when it comes to having a lawyer represent you and save you from either jail or some huge fines, uh, having that trust is is key. Um, and I guess to your point, having reviews but and having your you know referrals from somebody who already hired you is is key.

Josh Reinitz

Yeah. And and you know, and I tell people all the time that when they, you know, if I refer them to other attorneys and they just don't vibe for whatever reason, uh and I say to people, look, like if if you're perceiving a red flag or if this person isn't responding the way you want, there's plenty of other attorneys out there. Like you can find somebody that makes sense for you, but you have to be really comfortable. And you also have to be really honest with yourself as to what's important to you.

Doug Drohan

And is it um kind of you get what you pay for? I mean, if you're hiring a lawyer that's $500 an hour, are they necessarily better or somebody that's you know $5,000 retainer or whatever it is?

Josh Reinitz

I think I think generally uh price often reflects experience more so than competency. Um and but because New Jersey's so saturated with attorneys, I think you can find lawyers at every price point for just about everything you have. And that's why to me, I think you obviously want and and most attorneys will find a way to work with you um if you know if if if there's a fit. Um but I think that's why to me, you know, finding finding the right attorney is one of the most personal decisions there is to people. And I think that you should put that above, you know, a couple hundred dollars here, a couple hundred dollars there.

Doug Drohan

Yeah, exactly. It's kind of like um, you know, you have cancer. I could go to Sloan Kettering, uh, it's a little too far. I'll just go to the regional hospital, and you know, it's like okay, but you know, you're talking your life.

Josh Reinitz

Maybe you should look if you got a speeding ticket, it's one thing, right? I mean, there you may want to say, okay, well, you know, if and maybe I tell people all the time, like, uh, you know, if you have a speeding ticket or something that's low level, like to me, I look at it like a landscaper, right? Like I can cut my own lawn, but I pay someone else to do it because I know they'll do it better, and I don't want to do it. So if I get a speeding ticket, you go into it knowing that maybe I could resolve it myself, but I'll pay somebody else who knows what they're doing a little bit more so they get it done. So I think you know, it must be interested. That's a good point.

Doug Drohan

Yeah. Yep. So on your website, your uh kind of tagline is law that listens, defense that delivers. So do you find that maybe a lot of lawyers don't really listen well to their clients? Like is that something that you feel like differentiates you?

Josh Reinitz

I I think that's part of it. I think I think I'm very interested in learning about my clients and what animates them and what put them in the situation they were in, and also, excuse me, more importantly, what they need, right? Because every client needs a different result depending on their situation and being able to tailor my strategy on how to defend them based on what they need um is really important to me.

Doug Drohan

Yeah, yeah, that is that is key. So, Josh, how do people like what's the best way for people to find you, reach you?

Myths About Lawyers And TV Tropes

Josh Reinitz

Uh, so my uh telephone-wise would be uh 201-36. No, I see him getting I don't even know my own number. Uh 201-345-6262. Uh or anyone can email me, Josh at rhinitzlaw.com, R-E-I-N-I-T-Z-L-A-W dot com. Uh, we're also on all the socials. Uh there's cringy videos of me on TikTok and all over the place. So what whatever I can do to embarrass my kids, I'm happy to do.

Doug Drohan

So yeah. What what's the content on your videos? Like, what are you talking about?

Josh Reinitz

So um it's it's right now they're all about 15 to 20 seconds, maybe a little more, um, just answering questions that people um give mostly about um what to do if you're pulled over. Um the one that's gotten the most um uh views is is about expungements and um the new clean slate expungement that New Jersey has and how you can expunge things now that you weren't able to expunge previously. Um to get things off your record. So those kinds of things, you know, how do you just philosophy? Right, right. So I'm gonna no one's asked for my reviews of uh lawyer movies or TV shows yet.

Doug Drohan

So yeah, no, okay, okay. Yeah, years ago I got a traffic ticket in Manhattan. Um I was trying to make a right-hand turn onto 10th Avenue, and 10th Avenue is like four lanes, and the guy in the right lane was going straight, but he was stopped. So I tried to go in the middle lane and make my right turn, and at that point the light was turning yellow and it was gridlock, you know, it's Manhattan. So I tried to back up because the light turned red, and then a cop on the other side said, just keep going. And I'm like, okay. So I kept going. Then he pulled me over and he gave me two tickets, one for going through a red light and two for making an illegal turn. And I was like, son of a gun. So I actually fought it. And I remember it was like eight months later, I had to drive into Manhattan, it was down like near ground zero, and I'm sitting there waiting for my and I didn't hire a lawyer. Um, and I'm just sitting there waiting for my turn, and all these other guys that are going up before the judge have all these like you know, histories of offenses, and I I don't know, I have a clean record. And then the the the officer from like eight months ago gets up there and pleads his case, and I had a whole list of what I was gonna say, and the judge basically says, case dismissed. I paid the one fine for going through a red light, but I was oh no, making the illegal term, but I wasn't gonna pay. I was fighting the red light. I was like, he told me to go, you know. So actually, I had this whole thing planned, and the judge looked at me and said, case dismissed. I was like, ah, cool, that's good.

How To Choose The Right Attorney

Josh Reinitz

They always say the best thing, and I won. Yeah, well, they say the best thing to learn as a lawyer, especially a trial lawyer, is when to sit down and shut up. So, you know, sometimes if you're gonna win, let you, you know, don't steal uh defeat from the jaws of victory.

Doug Drohan

Yeah, yeah, good point. So, Josh, thanks very much for joining us. We're gonna uh just take it out here with Chuck, and then you and I will be right back. Thank you. Thank you, Doug.

Intro/Close

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpbergen.com. That's gnpbergen.com or call 201 298 8325.