A New Jersey native, Mr. Byrne graduated from New Jersey Institute of Technology with a B. S. in Industrial Engineering and worked as an engineer in the aerospace industry for three years before joining the Peace Corps. He served in the Peace Corps as a schoolteacher in Liberia for two years before entering law school.
After graduating Cum Laude from Seton Hall Law School he served as law clerk to Middlesex County Chancery Court Judge David D. Furman, before becoming an associate with Murray, Meagher and Granello, Esqs., where he practiced public sector labor law. Mr. Byrne then joined the Public Defenders Office, where he served for twenty-seven years. During that time he headed the Morris County and Ocean County regional Public Defender offices, and tried nearly one hundred jury trials, including five capital murder trials.
Mr. Byrne served as President of the Middlesex County Bar Association, as trustee for the Middlesex County Bar Foundation, and for twelve years as a trustee for the Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys of New Jersey. The Middlesex County Bar Association recognized him as Lawyer of the Year in 1996, and the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law recognized Mr. Byrne as Professional Lawyer of the Year for Middlesex County in 1997. The Martindale Hubbell Law Directory has awarded Mr. Byrne an “AV” rating.