Walter M. Luers

Walter Luers joined Cohn Lifland in 2020, and leads the Firm's Open Public Records Act ("OPRA") and the Open Public Meetings Act ("OPMA") practice. In addition to OPRA and OPMA, he enjoys a successful practice in the areas of wage and hour law, construction law, civil rights law and commercial litigation.

Walter regularly appears in Court and the Government Records Council on behalf of OPRA requestors. He has argued OPRA cases before the New Jersey Supreme Court on behalf of OPRA requestors or amicus curiae parties six times, and has represented the interests of OPRA requestors before the Appellate Division in dozens of cases. Mr. Luers’ track record of success includes some of the most important OPRA cases in the history of New Jersey, including Asbury Park Press v. County of Monmouth, 201 N.J. 5 (2010) (access to settlement agreements); Paff v. Galloway, 229 N.J. 340 (2017) (access to electronically stored information); Verry v. Franklin Fire District No. 1, 230 N.J. 285 (2017) (access to Fire District records); C.E. v. Elizabeth Public School District, 472 N.J. Super. 253 (App. Div. 2022); and L.R. v. Camden City Public School District, 452 N.J. Super. 56 (App. Div. 2017) (access to student records).

In addition to litigation OPRA cases, Walter counsels individuals and companies regarding access to public records, and he frequently speaks on CLE panels about OPRA.

Walter also focuses on representing individuals and corporations in matters involving New Jersey’s wage and hour laws, New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, construction litigation, civil rights laws, and other civil litigation in New Jersey’s State and Federal courts.

Prior to joining Cohn Lifland, Walter clerked for the Honorable Milton Pollack, U.S.D.J., in the Southern District of New York from 2000 to 2001. From 1999 to 2000 and 2001 to 2007, Walter was an associate at a major litigation law firm based in New York City, and he practiced as a sole practitioner from 2007 to 2020.