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NJSBA Annual Meeting NJSBA Annual Meeting Women in Politics and the Law Co-Sponsored by the Women in the Profession Section Moderator/Speaker: Elizabeth Legiec, Esq. Law Offices of Elizabeth Legiec, Mendham Speakers: Justice Jaynee LaVecchia Supreme Court of New Jersey Hon. Harriet Derman, P.J.Ch. (Ret) DeFrancesco Bateman Kunzman Davis Lehrer & Flaum, Warren Assemblywoman Joann Downey (11th District) New Jersey State Legislature Jodi L. Rosenberg, Esq. Law Office of Jodi L. Rosenberg Supreme Court Justice Jaynee LaVecchia Jaynee LaVecchia is a Justice on the Supreme Court of New Jersey. She began her term at the in February 2000. At the time of her nomination by then-Governor Christine Todd Whitman, she was serving as the New Jersey Commissioner of Banking and Insurance since August 1998. Prior to her service as Commissioner, Justice LaVecchia had been the Director of the Division of Law within the Department of Law and Public Safety since August 1984. As director, she was responsible for the legal work of all lawyers assigned to the civil side of the New Jersey Attorney’s Office. Justice LaVecchia also served as Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge for the Office of Administrative Law from 1989 to 1994, and worked in the Office of Counsel to Governor Thomas H. Kean, first as an Assistant Counsel and then as Deputy Chief Counsel. She has also been in private practice and worked as a deputy attorney general in the Division of Law. EDUCATION: Douglas College, B.A.; Rutgers School of Law, J.D. Hon. Harriet Derman Judge Harriet Derman (Retired) concentrates her practice in mediating and arbitrating chancery and probate matters, as well as personal injury, commercial, construction, fiduciary, malpractice, contract and employment litigation matters, and providing special master services. She is experienced in partnership and limited liability law, shareholder oppression, securities, taxation, employee benefits, restrictive covenants, trade secrets, foreclosures, corporate governance, planned real estate development, estate planning and estate administration. Judge Derman served as the Presiding Chancery Judge in Somerset, Warren and Hunterdon Counties from 2006-2009 and was the Probate Judge in Somerset County. She also served as Presiding Judge, Civil Division, in Somerset, Warren and Hunterdon Counties. Judge Derman was Chief Counsel to Governor Christine Todd Whitman in 1996 and Chief of Staff to the Governor from 1996 to1998. Prior to that, she served as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. She was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1992 to1994. She also served as President of the Middlesex County Bar Association. Her professional accomplishments include: Highest Peer Review ranking by Martindale-Hubbell Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Member of the Editorial board of the New Jersey Law Journal Approved federal mediator Member of New Jersey Academy of Mediators and Arbitrators She has a LLM in taxation, is a member of the Academy of Court Appointed Masters, and is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Neutrals. Assemblywoman Joann Downey The daughter of a New Jersey State Trooper, Assemblywoman Joann Downey is a former Deputy State Attorney General who prosecuted cases of child abuse and neglect. She is currently an attorney in private practice. Joann received her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and her law degree from New York Law School. She also holds a Master's Degree in social work from Boston University. As a member of the General Assembly, Joann is fighting to provide real property tax relief to residents and to create a Monmouth County her young daughters will be able to one day proudly call their home. Joann serves on the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee and serves as the Chair of the Human Services Committee. Joann was raised in Freehold Township and resides there with her husband Stephen - a professor of history at Ocean County College - and their two young daughters. Visit Assemblywoman Downey's Legislative Profile to see legislation that she is sponsoring. Elizabeth Legiec AV Rated Trial Attorney with In-House Counsel Corporate, Private Practice, and Prosecutorial Experience Law Offices of Elizabeth Legiec Seton Hall University School of Law Morristown, New Jersey AV Rated Attorney – with experience as a Corporate Assistant General Counsel, a New Jersey Deputy Attorney General in the Economic and White-Collar Crime Unit of the Criminal Justice Division, an Assistant Prosecutor in the Special Enforcement Division of Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, and years of private practice handling a wide variety of complex matters. Spanish and Polish fluency, raised speaking both languages. JODI L. ROSENBERG Jodi L. Rosenberg maintains a solo practice in Millburn, New Jersey, where she litigates, mediates and arbitrates a broad range of disputes, including commercial, matrimonial, custody, employment and municipal matters. Ms. Rosenberg was admitted to practice in New Jersey in 1993 and New York in 1994. She is admitted to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan in 1990 where she graduated magna cum laude. She earned her Juris Doctor degree at the Boston University School of Law in 1993. Ms. Rosenberg serves as Secretary of the Supreme Court of New Jersey District VA Fee Arbitration Committee, after serving as Vice Chair and then Chair of the District VB Fee Arbitration Committee. She served on the Supreme Court of New Jersey Committee on Jury Selection in Civil and Criminal Trials. She is currently on the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey State Bar Association, Past Chair of the Women in the Profession Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association, Past Co-Chair of the Solo and Small Firm Section of the Essex County Bar Association and Past Co-Chair of the Solo and Small Firm Section of the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association. Ms. Rosenberg also performs in musicals at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center with the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. In addition, she served as the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of The Valerie Fund, an organization that assists children with cancer and other blood disorders. Work-life balance is an important issue for Ms. Rosenberg. She received Honorable Mention in the Project for Attorney Retention’s Essay Contest on Work-Life Balance; she lectured at the NJSBA 2010 and 2012 Mid-year meetings on Best Practices for Work-Life Balance; and she is a contributing author of the American Bar Association’s best-sellers, “The Road to Independence: A Woman's Guide to Forming Her Own Law Firm” and “Her Story: Lessons In Success from Lawyers Who Live it.” She lectures frequently for the NJSBA. Ms. Rosenberg is well-known in her hometown of Millburn where she currently serves as Deputy Mayor. She has three children, ages 19, 17 and 13..
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