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CHRISTINE M. HEER & THERESA A. LYONS, PARTNERS
CHRISTINE M. HEER
Prior to graduating from Rutgers School of Law in Camden, Ms. Heer practiced as a Clinical Social Worker for over 20 years, specializing particularly in victims’ rights and related treatments. Ms. Heer is a well-known expert in domestic violence. She has authored several articles and has appeared in many media specials on the subject, including “Domestic Violence: Faces of Fear” with Diane Sawyer. Ms. Heer is a sought after trainer in the areas of Domestic Violence, Ethics for Mental Health Professionals, Conflict Resolution, and Diversity in Relationships. In addition to practicing family law and serving as a founding member of the firm, Ms. Heer also currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at Seton Hall University and Essex County College, and in the past has taught at the Rutgers Graduate School of Social Work in New Brunswick. Ms. Heer is a skilled mediator who, by using her social work experience, maintains a sharp focus on the practical needs of her clients and the benefits of real life solutions for real life problems. In keeping with her holistic approach to the law and helping people resolve problems, Christine continues to provide clinical social work services on a part-time basis with Bunker Hill Consultation Center.
As of September 15th, 2005, Christine has been appointed to serve as a member of the Legal Defense Fund Board of the National Association of Social Workers, Inc. (NASW) located in Washington, D.C. She is currently chair of the National Association of Social Workers, New Jersey Chapter, Committee for Professional Review.
THERESA A. LYONS
Terry graduated from Rutgers School of Law with High Honors. She also has a Master’s Degree in Social Work. Ms. Lyons enjoyed a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Peter G. Verniero of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Ms. Lyons has authored and published numerous articles on a wide variety of topics like family law, the admissibility of expert testimony in federal courts, and free speech on the Internet. In addition to practicing matrimonial law and being a founding member of the firm, Ms. Lyons serves as a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University in the Graduate School of Social Work in New Brunswick where she teaches, “Law and Social Work,” a course dedicated to informing social work students about the law, including the parameters of client confidentialities, how to respond to subpoenas, and how to testify in Court. In her personal life, Ms. Lyons is a foster and adoptive parent to New Jersey’s abused and neglected children, and she has ongoing contact with the Courts and the Division of Youth and Family Services in that regard.
ANNETTE R. DEFAZIO, ASSOCIATE
Prior to graduating from Seton Hall School of Law in 2005, Ms. DeFazio worked as a marketing executive in the children’s book publishing industry. She graduated magna cum laude from the W. Paul Stillman School of Business as a marketing major and psychology minor. While at Seton Hall School of Law, Ms. DeFazio participated in the Seton Hall Center for Social Justice, Family Law Clinic, where she represented indigent clients in family law matters and served as a teaching fellow tutoring first year law students.
Ms. DeFazio enjoyed a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Sallyanne Floria, lead children in court judge in Essex County. During her clerkship, she oversaw the Essex Vicinage Post-Termination Project and played an integral role in achieving permanency for the approximately 1,500 Essex County Legal Orphans.
SCOTT JAMES ANDINO, ASSOCIATE
Scott James Andino is a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, CT and Rutgers University School of Law in Camden, NJ. While in law school, Mr. Andino was a two year member of the Rutgers Civil Practice Clinic during which time he provided essential legal services to poor and indigent members of the Camden Community. Mr. Andino is also a past Andrew K. Ruotolo Scholarship winner and was fortunate to study Restitution under Peter Birks and Comparative English Legal Theory under Jeffrey Hackney while at Oxford University in 1998. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Andino entered into a clerkship for the Honorable Graham T. Ross A.J.S.C. which position included responsibilities in both the Civil and Family Parts. Additionally, Mr. Andino has served in the Family Part as a clerk to the Honorable Paul W. Armstrong, J.S.C. while at the historic Somerset County Courthouse in Somerville, New Jersey.
Mr. Andino joined the firm as an associate in October of 2006. He is a current member of the New Jersey State Bar and Somerset County Bar Association as well as a past member of the Hunterdon and Morris County Bar Associations. Mr. Andino primarily focuses his practice in the realm of divorce litigation fully handling both pre- and post-judgment matters. Additionally, Mr. Andino has prior legal experience in both Real Estate Matters and Civil litigation.
While practicing matrimonial law Mr. Andino has developed a special interest in the impact that technology has had, and continues to have in ever changing ways, upon divorce in the State of New Jersey and upon overall matrimonial law in America. Specifically, Mr. Andino has explored the data mining potential and practices of litigants when engaged in complex or acrimonious divorce litigation. He received his B.A. in American Studies and has published on the subject in the Matrimonial Strategist.
Mr. Andino is a certified mediator in the State of New Jersey and member of the American Bar Association-Family Law Section. He is a past Family Law Litigation Group member and young lawyer section chair of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
DEVAN THEILER, ASSOCIATE
Devan Theiler attended Lafayette College in Easton, PA where she graduated with a Government and Law major and qualified for minors in Religious Studies and German. Devan the attended Rutgers School of Law – Camden, graduating in May of 2007. While in law school she volunteered for the Rutgers Domestic Violence Project and participated in the Domestic Violence Clinic, a program which allows third year law students to represent indigent men and women seeking final restraining orders and other protections from abuse. During her last semester in law school, Devan was invited to join the Advanced Domestic Violence Clinic and continued working with more challenging domestic violence cases. Upon graduation, Devan was awarded the Lisa and Kolin Pimental Award for excellence in the study of domestic violence law and a Pro Bono Service Award for her efforts.
Devan clerked with Heer & Lyons the summer before her third of law school and joined the firm full-time in September of 2007.
CASSANDRA CANTWELL, SUMMER ASSOCIATE
Cassandra Cantwell attended Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA and graduated in 2003 with a degree in Psychology with a concentration in Child Psychology and Developmental Disabilities. During her junior and senior years of college, she conducted a study on the differential diagnosis of Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, the results of which were published in The Journal of Physical and Developmental Disabilities in December 2005. Prior to attending law school, she was a preschool teacher for two years. Cassandra now attends Rutgers School of Law-Newark, where she is the co-chair of the Rutgers Moot Court Board, an Associate Editor of the Rutgers Computer and Technology Journal, and a volunteer for the Domestic Violence Advocacy Project. She will be graduating from Rutgers in January 2009.
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