Somerset County Bar Association Gets New President

On Oct 8, 2015

Jeralyn L. Lawrence, a member of the Bridgewater-based law firm Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A., was installed as president of the Somerset County Bar Association (“SCBA”) at their installation dinner on September 25.  She previously served as president-elect.

The Somerset County Bar Association was founded over one hundred years ago. The association is dedicated to public service and the enhancement of the legal profession by providing programs, such as continuing legal education and legal referral services. Association members have included many prominent judges, legislators and attorneys who have served New Jersey and Somerset County with distinction. The association promotes the highest standards of practice and encourages its members to contribute their time both within the legal community and the community at large.

Lawrence said, “During my term, I am honored and excited to lead the SCBA and hope to increase membership and professionalism among my colleagues.”

A resident of Watchung,Lawrence devotes her practice to matrimonial, divorce and family law, and collaborative law.  She is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney.  She is a trained Family/Divorce Mediator, admitted to the rosters of Mediators for Economic Aspects of Family Law Cases and of Custody and Parenting Time Cases for Somerset County; certified by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers as a Family Law Arbitrator; and a graduate of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.  She has worked with clients whose needs lie in all areas of matrimonial and family law, including divorce litigation and mediation, custody and parenting time, alimony and child support, separation and property settlement agreements, adoption and guardianship, domestic partnership matters under the Domestic Partnership Act, domestic violence and sexual abuse, and palimony.  She takes great pride and care in helping her clients make it through these difficult personal matters.

Lawrence is Immediate Past Chair of the Family Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA), and Senior Editor of New Jersey Family Lawyer, the official publication of the Section.  She works with the State Bar’s Military Legal Assistance Program, providing pro bono legal assistance to New Jersey residents who have served overseas or on active duty in the armed forces after Sept. 11, 2001. She serves on the Board of Managers of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the preeminent family law association in America.  Lawrence was appointed to the Somerset County Domestic Violence Working Group as a representative of the Somerset County Family Law Section.  She is a member of the New Jersey Association of Justice, New Jersey Women Lawyers Association, New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators, New Jersey Collaborative Law Group, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, Central New Jersey Inns of Court, and the NMM Women’s Forum Steering Committee. She serves on the New Jersey Supreme Court Matrimonial Certification Committee, which oversees the statewide matrimonial attorney certification process, and on the New Jersey Supreme Court Office of Attorney Ethics, District XIII Attorney Ethics Committee.

Lawrence was honored with the 2013 New Jersey State Bar Association Distinguished Legislative Service Award for her cumulative and diligent efforts on alimony reform, as well as open adoption records and electronic monitoring on domestic violence.  In 2007, she received this annual award for the first time for her efforts to incorporate “irreconcilable differences” as grounds for divorce under New Jersey law. Lawrence was also selected as a 2015 Attorney of The Year Finalist by the New Jersey Law Journal for her work with New Jersey Alimony Reform.

Lawrence was selected as one of the TOP 10 Family Law Attorneys in New Jersey by The National Academy of Family Law Attorneys (NAFLA). In 2011, she was honored as one of New Jersey’s Best 50 Women in Business for her dedication and contributions to New Jersey business and community.  She was selected as the 2009 Kean University Distinguished Alumna, the highest award for alumni, by the Kean University Alumni Association.  She was also honored as an Outstanding Woman in Somerset County for 2008 by the Somerset County Commission on the Status of Women.  She was selected by her peers as one of New Jersey’s Top Ten matrimonial lawyers under the age of 40, and recognized by the New Jersey Law Journal as one of 40 accomplished and promising attorneys in the State of New Jersey under the age of 40.  For several years, Lawrence has been listed among New Jersey’s Super Lawyers, which rates her among the top 5 percent of New Jersey lawyers.  She has been selected as one of the Top 100 New Jersey Super Lawyers and one of the Top 50 Women New Jersey Super Lawyers. She is listed in The Best Lawyers in America under Family Law and Family Law Mediation and was named the Best Lawyers 2016 Family Law Mediation “Lawyer of the Year” in the Woodbridge New Jersey, Metro Area. In 2007, she received the Young Lawyers Division’s Professional Achievement Award from the New Jersey State Bar Association.

To complement her practice, Lawrence involves herself in professional engagements outside the firm.  She frequently serves as a speaker and panelist at divorce and family law programs and seminars.  She serves as an attorney volunteer at the Resource Center for Women and Their Families in Somerset County.

Lawrence earned her bachelor’s degree from Kean College and her law degree from Seton Hall, where she graduated second in her class.

 

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