Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as Civil Trial Lawyer, attorney John Mininno of the Mininno Law Office is dedicated to putting his heart and soul into cases, helping his clients, and giving to the local and greater community.

The award-winning lawyer founded his own law office in January 2005 when he remodeled an old white mansion in Collingswood and started the firm. Previously, attorney John Mininno was the senior litigation partner at the Cahill, Wilinski and Rhodes law firm.

He also served as municipal prosecutor for Collingswood and Audobon. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from West Chester University and graduated with honors from the law school at Rutgers University-Camden.

Who is John Mininno?

Attorney John Mininno sat down with his marketing manager to answer a few questions about becoming a lawyer, working cases and giving back to the community.

- Marketing Manager: Why did you decide to become a lawyer?

- Attorney John Mininno: After I graduated from college, I just wanted to be in a business where I could help people. I was interested in how the law could serve both a public good and a private good. I wanted to help people make things better on a case by case basis, individual basis and a more global basis. I think I can make a difference in many folks’ lives, so that’s how it came about.

- Marketing Manager: When did you first start practicing law?

- Attorney John Mininno: I started off working as a law clerk while I was in law school as early as my second semester of law school. And, I then went to work at a couple of other different law firms as law clerks. That’s what you do when you’re in law school. You basically learn the ropes of a lawyer while you’re going to school. I passed the bar exam in 1993 and started practicing law later that year.

- Marketing Manager: What was your first case like?

- Attorney John Mininno: The first case I settled was for a woman who fell down a step because a handrail came out of a piece of sheetrock. It wasn’t screwed into the stutter. It was screwed into the sheet rock. As the woman was going down the stairs, she puts her weight on the rail. The handrail came out of the wall, and the woman fell and broke a bone. It was a simple case like that. That was a woman that needed a lawyer.

- Marketing Manager: What inspired you to start the Mininno Law Office?

- Attorney John Mininno: As I had more and more cases, I started getting involved with bigger and bigger cases. Not many people want to take on the bigger cases. A lot of lawyers are scared to death of big cases. Many of them don’t want to be involved because of the financial investment, the time investment and the resources that go into each case. Plus, they’re just hard cases. I like big challenges, so I’m not afraid to go after the bigger cases.

- Marketing Manager: How do you choose which cases to take?

- Attorney John Mininno: We are super, super selective. I’d say every minute there’s a potential case, and there’s some lawyer who would be doing a service to a client by taking that case. Since we take such complicated cases and complex cases, we can’t afford to have a lot of cases, because we just don’t have the time.

- Marketing Manager: What is the most rewarding part about the job?

- Attorney John Mininno: The most rewarding part is just trying a case in front of a jury to a successful verdict, which doesn’t happen very often because typically your good cases will settle. Cases that go to trial are the most difficult cases to win, so when you win one, you feel pretty good about yourself.

- Marketing Manager: What’s the hardest part about the job?

- Attorney John Mininno: It’s the realization that you’re never going to get full and fair compensation for a client. No matter what you do, if they could go back in a time machine, every one of my clients would do that and not have to deal with any harm. You’re never going to make them whole. You’re going to get them money and you’re going to somewhat compensate them for it, but there’s no amount of money that can make them whole.

- Marketing Manager: Is that just because the seriousness of the harm in some of the cases?

- Attorney John Mininno: Yes. The system is designed to have money balance the harm, but to some extent, money can’t balance the harm. Even if they got an astronomical sum of money, they’d still rather not have the harm, even if it’s a minor harm. No one would want to sell their health or sell an injury. It just doesn’t work that way.

- Marketing Manager: What are your biggest strengths as a lawyer?

- Attorney John Mininno: I think I work extremely hard at understanding cases. I don’t wing it, I don’t walk on the court unprepared, and I don’t walk into a deposition unprepared. I’m extremely well-prepared and work extremely hard on the cases.

- Marketing Manager: How do you contribute to the local community?

Attorney John Mininno: I’m a big advocate in supporting causes small and large. I think there’s a never-ending list of worthy causes, so you can’t take on every cause. However, I think if everyone contributes a little, that makes a big difference.

- Marketing Manager: Why is giving back so important to you?

- Attorney John Mininno: I think it’s just the right thing to do. I’m very fortunate to have gotten a decent education. I’ve gotten through law school, and now I’m in a position where we have a fairly successful firm. I had a lot of breaks that other people may not have had. I think any success you have to have a lot of luck, and I’ve had that. Because I’ve had that luck, I think it’s fair to share with people who maybe have not been as lucky as I am.

Do you have a question for attorney John Mininno?

We’d be happy to answer any question you have.

Visit our page and contact the Mininno Law Office or call us at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey or (215) 567-2380 in Pennsylvania.