Darren M. Gelber

Darren M. Gelber chairs the Criminal Law Team and has been a shareholder at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A. since 2003. Darren devotes his practice to criminal, white-collar and regulatory litigation, defending clients in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies in connection with charges and claims that range from homicide and street crimes to securities fraud, theft and complex white-collar crimes.

His practice extends into the healthcare field, where he represents physicians, dentists, pharmacists and other licensed professionals in criminal matters, administrative and licensing hearings, audits, and regulatory litigation throughout, including Medicaid/Medicare fraud investigations and defense, and administration actions involving discipline and licensing of professionals.

Darren also represents individuals and companies and their officers and directors in subpoena compliance and in connection with criminal and administrative investigations. Darren’s background and experience are especially useful when he is called upon by corporate and organizational clients to assist in internal investigations. As an accomplished trial and appellate lawyer for more than 25 years, Darren has managed numerous high-profile cases. He has been certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Certified Criminal Trial Attorney since 2006 and is one of just 250 trial lawyers in New Jersey holding such certification. He is a past-President of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey, and has received the Middlesex County Bar Association’s Criminal Practice Attorney of the Year award, and numerous other honors and distinctions. He has consistently been selected for inclusion in New Jersey Super Lawyers list since 2005. He has also been selected for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America list since 2012, including as "Lawyer of the Year" lists in 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2023 for Criminal Defense: White-Collar.

Darren is an active member of the Bar. He has served on several New Jersey Supreme Court committees, including as Chair of the District IX Fee Arbitration Committee. He is a member of the Middlesex and Monmouth County Bar Associations and the New Jersey State Bar Association, where he has served as a member of the Criminal Practice Committee. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of New Jersey Lawyer Magazine. He lectures frequently on issues related to criminal practice, ethical and technology issues involving attorneys. In addition, as editor of the firm’s New Jersey Criminal Law Resource blog, Darren provides insight into New Jersey's criminal justice system and criminal practice and procedures. 

Before entering private practice, Darren served as an Assistant District Attorney in Bronx, NY where he acquired extensive trial experience prosecuting various criminal matters and led homicide grand jury investigations.