PARTNER: KENYATTA STEWART, ESQ
Kenyatta K. Stewart joined Hunt, Hamlin & Ridley (HHR) as a staff attorney in October of 2008 and in August 2012, Mr. Stewart became the firm’s first unnamed partner. He is a member of the New York and New Jersey State Bars.
Kenyatta Stewart is a native of the great city of Paterson, New Jersey. He is a graduate of William Paterson University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. I n 2007, he earned his Juris Doctor degree from Hofstra Law School i n Hempstead, New York. During his legal education, he interned with the Honorable Patricia P. Satterfield of the Queens, New York Supreme Court, the Honorable Ronald Hedges, former District of New Jersey Magistrate Judge, the Queens District Attorney’s Office and the Cochran firm. He was also a member of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) and the Hofstra Moot Court Association.
In September of 2007, Kenyatta began a clerkship under the supervision of the late and Honorable Stephen H. Womack, in the Family Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Passaic Vicinage. He completed his clerkship with the Honorable Rudolph Filko of the Family Division.
At the firm, Kenyatta practices various areas of law. He represents clients who have been charged with such crimes as homicide, aggravated assault, robbery and various drug related charges on the state and federal level. He also handles family, employment and Civil Rights matters. He also played a pivotal role in the firm’s representation of Paterson where the firm provided legal advice to the city on more than 50 cases, saving the city millions of dollars in liability costs. Mr. Stewart also gives legal advice to the East Orange Housing Authority and the Ryan White Foundation of Passaic and Bergen County.
Kenyatta has had great success in the courtroom. Some of his achievements include: In January 2013, he and other members of the firm were awarded $427,000 in damages and attorney fees in an excessive force case filed in Federal Court against the New Jersey State Police. In August 2013, Mr. Stewart and another member of the firm received a Not Guilty verdict for a client that was held in the Passaic County jail for four (4) years on an Attempted Murder on two Paterson police officers. In 2014, Kenyatta received a Not Guilty verdict in the “Urban Dictionary” possession of a weapon case, filed against the brother of a NFL star. In December 2014, Mr. Stewart represented Plaintiffs in a Dram Shop case where more than $800,000 was awarded.
Kenyatta lead the investigation in the 2010 Paterson Election on behalf of Councilman Kenneth McDaniel, where the individuals involved were arrested and convicted for voter fraud and witness tampering. Mr. Stewart also played a pivotal role on the “Dream Team’s” defense preventing the prosecution from taking Paterson Councilwoman Vera Ames-Garner’s position in her criminal case.
In 2015, Kenyatta made national news when the New York Times covered a story about him and 5 other Paterson residents that brokered a truce between 3 rival gangs.
Kenyatta’s love for the youth and education is a driving force in his practice of education law on behalf of several school districts. His love of sports and his knowledge of the law allow him to render personal advice to professional athletes in the NFL, NBA and boxing industries. He also reviews and negotiates contracts for a wide range of clients.
Kenyatta has been featured i n several newspapers, including, but not limited to; the N ew York Times, Star Ledger, Herald News, Bergen Record, Paterson Pulse and Passaic County Pulse. He makes giving back to his comm unity a part of his professional and personal agenda. He mentors kids throughout the state and speaks for different forums/platforms such as; churches, schools and scholarship events.
In 2015, Kenyatta was awarded the Caribbean Bar Association’s Young Trail Blazer Award. I n 2016, Kenyatta Stewart was a recipient of the Rising Stars award in the Super Lawyers Magazine. Kenyatta is a proud member of the Delta M u Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi fraternity. U p until June, 2015, Kenyatta’s greatest and dearest accomplishment was donating a kidney to h is father in June 2006. I n June, 2015, Kenyatta married the love of his life, LaToyia and in May, 2016, Kenyatta Stewart J r. was born.
Kenyatta gives all credit to God, his pa rents and mentors, for, without them, he would n’t be able to be the quintessential Renaissance Ma n that he is today.
