Stefanie Zarych Esq. - Northfield, NJ

Overview

Ms. Zarych has been practicing criminal defense and DWI/DUI defense for over 13 years. In 2013, she was awarded the prestigious Judge Benjamin A. Rimm Award as Outstanding Young Lawyer of 2013 by the Atlantic County Bar Association. She has represented hundreds of clients in criminal cases involving charges of homicide, sexual assault, child abuse, drug distribution, theft, computer crimes, casino crimes and weapons offense. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Villanova University School of Law. At Villanova, she volunteered with Homeless Advocacy Project and won her first trial as a student in the school's Juvenile Justice Clinic. Prior to law school, Ms. Zarych graduated cum laude from Fairfield University in CT in just three years with two majors, English and Religious Studies.

Ms. Zarych was honored for her excellence in academics and community service by being inducted into Alpha Sigma Nu, the National Jesuit Honor Society.

Ms. Zarych is an invited menber of both the The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Criminal Defense Lawyers - NJ and the National College of DUI Defense. Further, she is an active member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, American Bar Association, Atlantic County Bar Association, Cape May County Bar Association, New Jersey State Bar Association.

Ms. Zarych describes the American criminal justice system as one that is "inundating to the poor, the uneducated and the unrepresented. The ease with which innocent people are accused of crimes and the stigma that immediately attaches to them solely because of those accusations is shocking. We have a good system that is imperfect. As such, the criminal defense lawyer must be both a diplomat and a warrior."

Stefanie uses the advocacy skills she honed as an attorney to speak on behalf of some of the world's most vulnerable people. Never one to run from crisis she traveled to the Haitian border days after the devastating earthquake of 2010 that claimed close to 300,000 lives. At that time she was a registered EMT. In the border town of Jimani, DR, she helped care for patients in a field hospital with volunteer medical staff from around the world. She speaks Haitian creole. She participated in five additional aid trips to Haiti in the years that followed. She has spoken to many community groups about the socio-economic conditions in Haiti, made worse by that catastrophic earthquake.