Obituary of Dennis R Casale

Dennis R. Casale, Esq., 54, of Lawrenceville died Sunday at the University Medical Center at Princeton. Mr. Casale was an attorney and a partner with Pepper Hamilton LLP and co-partner in charge of the Princeton office. He joined the firm as Partner in January of 2001 with the merger of the group from Jamieson, Moore, Peskin and Spicer. Mr. Casale received his B.A. in 1975, graduating magna cum laude, from Montclair State College and received his J.D in 1978, cum laude, from Seton Hall Law School where he had the distinction of graduating first in his class. Mr. Casale focused his practice on banking, legislative and regulatory matters. He provided advice to financial institutions, trust companies, securities firms and their affiliates on regulatory issues, product development and other legal concerns. Mr. Casale was a registered New Jersey legislative agent and was chairman emeritus of the New Jersey Bar Association's Banking Law Section. Before entering private practice, Mr. Casale was Law Secretary 1978-79 to Hon. Nicholas Scalera, Superior Court of New Jersey and from 1979-83 was a Deputy Attorney General for the State of New Jersey and, in that capacity, represented the New Jersey Department of Banking in drafting banking legislation and regulations, litigation, and analyzing and preparing opinions on state law and federal law issues. He also represented the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, advising that agency on such matters as condominium registration and public offering statements, the state's Uniform Construction Code and the new home warranty program. Mr. Casale has given seminars on bank regulatory compliance, predatory lending, interstate banking, bank product development, the impact of privacy regulations on bankers, mortgage foreclosures, unit owner association governance, insurance sales by banks and lender liability claims. He has submitted numerous amicus curiae briefs to trial and appellate courts regarding banking and financial services issues on behalf of a variety of banking trade associations, including the American and New Jersey Bankers Association, the New Jersey League of Community Bankers and the New Jersey Mortgage Bankers Association. Mr. Casale was a member of the American Bar Association's Banking Law and Consumer Finance Committees, and a member of the Mercer County and Princeton Bar Associations. He was a member of the New Jersey League of Community Bankers Mortgage Steering Committee and Legal Committee. Mr. Casale is a past president of the Community Association Institute, New Jersey Chapter (CAI-NJ), which named him ""Speaker of the Year"" in 1992 and, in 1993, presented him with its Special Service Award in recognition of his work with the Chapter's Legislative Action Committee. Mr. Casale formerly chaired the CAI-NJ Legislative Action Committee, and was currently serving as counsel to its Political Action Committee. He was also a member of CAI-NJ's UCIOA Task Force. Mr. Casale was named CAI-NJ's â??Member of the Year"" in 1997, and received the President's Award in 1999 and 2000. He also has received several CAI-NJ Distinguished Service awards and, in 2005, was named to CAI-NJ's Hall of Fame. Mr. Casale also served as president of the Lawrence Township Board of Education for five year s from 1994-99. He was a former coach for many years with the Lawrence Township Jr. Baseball/Softball Association, a team parent with the Spirit Eagles Group Field Hockey Organization, responsible for the coordinating all indoor field hockey events for the Spirit Eagles. He was also a founding member of the American Field Hockey Foundation and its' Board of Directors. Mr. Casale was an avid golfer and a member of the Trenton Country Club. He enjoyed traveling to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and spending days at the Jersey shore with his family. He is survived by his loving wife; Anne Marie Deering Casale, his children, Elizabeth, Matthew and Melissa; his parents, Daniel and Yolanda Casale of Verona, NJ; his brother, Robert Casale and his wife Anne of Mendham; his parents-in-law, John and Virginia Deering of West Milford; his sister-in-law, Lorraine Tooley and her husband Robert of Sparta; his sister-in-law, Eileen Deering and her husband Donald Greenham of Byram; his brother-in-law Stephen Deering and his wife Tara of Morris Plains; his brother-in-law Joseph Deering and his wife Cynthia of Elizabeth, CO; brother-in-law Michael Deering of West Milford, his nieces, Stachia and Delaney Burke, Katey Walker, Melanie Deering, Amy and Julie Casale; and his nephews, Ryan and Sean Tooley, John Walker, Michael, Mark, Morgan, and Marshall Deering and Jake Burke. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday at 12 Noon at St. James Catholic Church, 115 East Delaware Ave., Pennington, NJ 08534. Followed by private family burial services in the Lawrenceville Cemetery. Friends may call on Wednesday from 9:30 until time of Mass at the church. The family would prefer memorial contributions be made to the American Field Hockey Foundation, PO Box 126, Milltown, NJ 08850 www.americanfieldhockey.org.