Mitchell Portnoi earned his B.A. from University of Miami in 1981 and his J.D. from Seton Hall Law School in 1985. He served as a law clerk in Middlesex County for the Hon. Thomas Mannion, Erminie Conley and Amy Piro Chambers in 1985-1986. He is admitted to the New Jersey State Bar and is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, the New Jersey Association for Justice (NJAJ), the Executive Committee of the Union County Bar Association and the Middlesex County Bar Association. He is a master of Richard J. Hughes Inns of Court and a speaker on Hot Topics in Personal Injury Law. He is also on the Union County Civil Practice Committee and a member of the New Jersey Advisory Council on Safety and Health.

Mitchell has been a volunteer with the District VII Ethics Committee and the District XII Fee Arbitration Committee and volunteered with Trial Lawyers Care (TLC) in assisting victims of the 9/11 World Trade Center tragedy in receiving awards from the Victims Compensation Fund.

In his spare time, Mitchell enjoys outdoor sports including tennis (he is a tennis instructor), skiing, bicycling, running, and golf, and also loves to travel. He has been married to his wife for 28 years and together they have 3 children and one one dog; Wally.