Our History in Somerville
From the Potter Home at 40 West High Street to the present-day home of Simon Law Group, this building has been part of Somerville's story for generations.
Somerville, New Jersey
Roots in the Somerville community
Long before Simon Law Group was founded, the practice of law in Somerville was shaped by attorneys who understood that legal work is personal, local, and built over time. A reputation in a county this size is not advertised into existence. It is earned one careful matter at a time, through counsel that holds up years later and clients who send their neighbors. That is the standard the building behind us was raised on, and the one we measure ourselves against.
Among those attorneys was William "Bill" Kelleher. Bill built a reputation for thoughtful counsel, meticulous work, and commitment to the people of Somerset County. Even today, we periodically encounter deeds, estate documents, and other records bearing his name, a testament to the lasting impact of his work.
A short walk across the street
From Maple Street to 40 West High Street
When Simon Law Group was founded, our first office was located within the Kelleher & Moore practice on Maple Street. For a young firm, it was an ideal place to begin. We were surrounded by decades of legal experience and a culture that valued careful work, personal attention, and long-term relationships with clients.
Those early years mattered. They helped shape not only how we practiced law, but how we understood our role in the community. A law firm's value is measured not only by the matters it handles, but by the confidence people place in it when the stakes are personal, financial, or deeply important to their families.
As Simon Law Group grew, we moved into our own office at 40 West High Street, just across the street from Kelleher & Moore's longtime home. Over time, John Kelleher began winding down his practice and joined us at our new office, where he continued serving clients and sharing the wisdom gained from a successful career spanning decades.
- 1882 Somerville takes shape
The home appears on T. M. Fowler's bird's-eye map of Somerville, evidence that the structure predates its 1891 photograph and was already a fixture of the streetscape.
- 1891 The Potter Home
The Towns of Somerville and Raritan identifies the property as the "Residence of Wm. S. Potter, Esq." Later sources likewise refer to it as the Potter Home.
- Maple Street A young firm finds its footing
Simon Law Group opened its first office inside the Kelleher & Moore practice on Maple Street, learning the craft of local counsel beside attorneys who had spent decades earning Somerset County's trust.
- Today 40 West High Street
The same building now houses Simon Law Group, connecting a historic Somerville home with the firm's present chapter.
A building that connects generations
The Potter Home and the present chapter
When Simon Law Group moved into its present home at 40 West High Street, we gained more than additional office space. We became caretakers of a small piece of Somerville history.
Historical photographs show the structure standing by at least 1891, when it appeared in The Towns of Somerville and Raritan, a photographic history of the area published that year. The home may be older still. The building also appears to be visible on the 1882 bird's-eye map of Somerville, suggesting that its construction may have begun well before the 1891 publication in which it was later photographed and identified by name.
Long before modern office buildings, electronic court filings, smartphones, email, or digital records, attorneys and counselors in communities like Somerville were doing work that remains familiar today: advising clients, preparing documents, resolving disputes, protecting property interests, and helping families make important decisions about the future.
Then Now The values we carry forward
The tools changed. The need for trusted counsel did not.
The tools have changed. The pace has changed. The law itself has changed in countless ways. But the reason a person walks into a law office has not. They come at a hinge point — a sale, a loss, a new business, a plan for the people they love — and they need someone who will get the details right and tell them the truth about where they stand.
For generations, people in Somerset County have turned to local attorneys during important moments in their lives. They have needed guidance when buying or selling property, planning estates, administering estates, forming businesses, resolving disagreements, and protecting what they have worked to build.
Personal attention to every client.
Careful, detail-oriented legal work.
Relationships built on trust rather than transactions.
A commitment to serving Somerset County for the long term.
Honoring the past while serving the future
One building, two centuries, the same kind of work.
More than a century separates the two photographs. One shows the building as it appeared in the nineteenth century, when it was known as the Potter Home. The other shows it as it stands today, home to Simon Law Group. Between them, counselors in this town did the same essential work we do now: advising people, preparing the documents, and standing with families at the moments that mattered most.
To us, that continuity matters. A law firm is not separate from the place it serves. It becomes part of the community's fabric through the clients it helps, the problems it solves, the relationships it builds, and the standards it chooses to uphold.
Our role is to be stewards of the present chapter: rooted in place, attentive to people, respectful of those who came before us, and committed to serving the community for years to come.
If you would like to put a face to the story, you are welcome at 40 West High Street in downtown Somerville, where office visits are always welcome. To learn who would handle your matter, meet the firm, or request a confidential consultation and we will follow up to arrange a time.