Labor Legal Team

Matthew D. Areman, Esq.

Mr. Areman is a partner in the New Jersey and Philadelphia offices of Markowitz and Richman. For years, Mr. Areman has fought to protect and improve the rights and benefits of FOP members throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He has successfully handled hundreds of cases on behalf of FOP Lodges and members, as counsel to the New Jersey FOP Labor Council, on behalf of the New Jersey State Lodge and as counsel to a number of individual FOP Lodges. Mr. Areman specializes in grievance arbitration, interest arbitration, unfair labor practices, disciplinary matters, civil rights litigation, pension disputes and workers’ compensation.

Mr. Areman has previously served as a National Negotiator for the National Treasury Employees Union in Washington, DC, and has also worked in the legal departments of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the American Federation of Teachers. Mr. Areman received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College in 1996 and his law degree from the George Washington University National Law Center in 2003.

Civil Legal Team

John M. Vlasac, Jr. Esq.

Mr. Vlasac has won millions of dollars for his clients as an established and aggressive trial attorney who has handled personal injury and other civil matters in virtually every county in New Jersey. He is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney, a designation achieved by only 2% of all practicing attorneys in New Jersey. For more information on the qualifications on a Certified Civil Trial Attorney, please visit New Jersey Board on Attorney Certification, www.njbac.org. In 2005 Mr. Vlasac was lead plaintiff’s counsel before the New Jersey Supreme Court in a matter that changed the way commercial automobile polices would be written from that point forward. In 2010 Mr. Vlasac received the 11th highest award in the State of New Jersey achieved for an injury victim and is consistently in New Jersey’s top reported awards.

He has been admitted to practice law by the New Jersey Supreme Court and by the United States Federal District Court. He is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, New Jersey Association for Justice and the Middlesex County Bar Association. He also serves on the Foundation Board of Directors for Robert Wood Johnson – Hamilton.

Mr. Vlasac is the head of all civil litigation at Vlasac & Shmaruk and handles a wide range of personal injury cases including auto, truck and motorcycle accidents, construction, slip and falls, product liability (defective products), medical malpractice, and work related accidents. He also handles residential real estate, real estate litigation, commercial litigation, municipal court, and toxic/mass tort matters.

Jack graduated from West Virginia University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and was a Sigma Chi fraternity member. He went on to receive his Juris Doctorate from Quinnipiac University School of law in 2000, where he was a member of the Moot Court Honor Society and was awarded the Deans Awards for Outstanding Legal Scholarship and Service to the University.

Boris Shmaruk, Esq.

Boris founded Vlasac & Shmaruk with John M. Vlasac, Jr. in 2006. He works primarily out of the Metuchen office and is the head of the workers’ compensation department at the firm. He is admitted to practice law in New Jersey, District of Columbia, New York, by the New Jersey Supreme Court and by the United States Federal District Court. Boris is a graduate of Fair Lawn High School, where he lettered in baseball.

In 1996, Boris graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science. Following graduation, Boris was employed as a paralegal with the firm of Thacher, Proffitt & Wood in New York City, working primarily on civil litigation issues. While attending New York Law School, Boris interned in the Rackets Division of the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, New York. In 2000 he received his Juris Doctorate from New York Law School.

Boris Shmaruk is a proud member of the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association.

Boris’ practice consists of all aspects of workers’ compensation, Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA), Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), construction, slip and falls, medical malpractice, and municipal court matters. Boris is an avid supporter of the New Jersey Association for Justice and the New Jersey Association for Justice – PAC.

Boris was Born in Kiev, Ukraine, and immigrated to the United States in 1979 and is active in the Russian community in New Jersey.