“I didn’t set out to become a chair of a state authority in my mid-30s. I certainly didn’t expect that sitting across from a strident adversary in a crowded Senate hearing room would be the moment that lit the fire. But that’s exactly what happened on a summer day in 1992, when I found myself locked in a heated debate over the future of New Jersey Network (NJN), the state’s public television system.”
In the October 2025 issue of New Jersey Lawyer, published by the New Jersey State Bar Association, McCarter partner Scott Kobler reflects on that pivotal experience and how one public hearing ignited a sense of duty that extended beyond his legal career. What began as a legal and policy discussion quickly evolved into a defining moment that underscored the importance of showing up. Not just as a lawyer, but as a citizen.