Anne Picker

Biography

In 2019, Anne joined DeCosmo Law as Of-Counsel. Anne has been practicing law for over 30 years. She was employed by the State office of the Public Defender for 32 years (recently retiring) and has tried over 60 cases. She has represented both adults and juveniles in her many years in the Public Defender’s Office. In 1997, she was asked, along with a limited number of other widely respected attorneys, to begin work as part of a statewide committee which was tasked with training newly hired attorneys for the Public Defender’s Office. As a result, she attended several trainings thorough NITA (the National Institute of Trial Advocacy) and organized two three-day intensive trainings for all new hired attorneys.

In 2001, based in part on her prior experience, she was asked to assist in the creation of, and work in, the PCR Unit, a specialized unit in the Office of the Public Defender tasked with representing people on issues defined under the rules of Post Conviction Relief. As a result of that assignment, she became well versed in issues contributing to the ineffective assistance of counsel and conducted numerous in-house trainings on ways to avoid such issues.

In part as a result of the PCR assignment, coupled with a family relationship with the International Rescue Committee and her own family’s history, she became interested in immigration and well versed in the convergence of immigration and criminal law. In 2011, in response to Padilla v. Kentucky, was asked to take on the additional role of one of the 2 in-house immigration specialists tasked with advising all 900+ state public defenders on how best to assist their immigrant clients with navigating the criminal justice system. In 2014, as a result of staffing changes, she became the sole person tasked with this responsibility. From this assignment, she developed working relationships with many pro bono immigration organizations, and numerous immigration attorneys.

Anne is also a 13+ year District IV Ethics Committee veteran. She has served (twice) as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Supreme Court of New Jersey District IV Ethics Committee as well as both prosecuting (presenting) and judging (serving as panel chair) for numerous ethics investigations and hearings. She is also a trained and certified mediator.

She also has familiarity with the French legal system and has worked with an attorney in Lyon, France. She was also invited to lecture on the American Legal System at a symposium sponsored by the Bar Association in Lyon, France.

When not working, she is an avid traveler, loves ancient history and archaeology and works with Hadassah US, the American non-profit organization which supports Hadassah Hospital, a research hospital in Jerusalem, Israel, known for its many breakthrough scientific discoveries and charitable contributions to both Israeli and Palestinian societies.

Education

• Rutgers School of Law - Camden, Camden, New Jersey
  • J.D. - 1985
• Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
  • B.A. - 1982
  • Honors: cum laude
  • Honors: Classical and Oriental Studies

Practice Areas

• Criminal Defense
• Immigration

Professional Associations

• AILA national and New Jersey sub-chapter
• NACDL (through 2017)
• Vice Chair of the District IV Ethics Committee

Bar Admission

• New Jersey, 1985
• U.S. District Court District of New Jersey, 1985
• U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 1985
• United States Supreme Court, 2020

Classes & Seminars

• Numerous CLEs for the Office of the Public Defender on various topics, including ethics, the basics of representing immigrant clients, attorney-client relationships and “Trying Robberies from A to Z”.
• CLEs on Ethics for the Camden County Bar Association
• CLE for Rutgers Camden Law School on ethical issues in criminal cases
• CLE on Immigration for the Burlington County Bar Association
• CLEs on PCR issues for the New Jersey State Bar Association
• CLE for the American Bar Association on ethics and government legal practice
• Asked to assist in several trainings run by the State of New Jersey, Office of the Attorney General Advocacy Institute, on ethics and trial preparation
• Guest lecturer for several classes at Rutgers Law School, including Trial Advocacy, Ethics and Immigration

Honors

• Numerous awards from the State of New Jersey, Office of the Public Defender, for Exceptional Service
• Recognition from the Supreme Court, State of New Jersey, for service to the District IV Ethic Committee
• Recognition from the Mock Trial Committee for service to the Mock Trial Program through the New Jersey State Bar Association

Past Positions

• City Attorney’s Office, City of Camden,, Intern/Paralegal , 1983 to 1985
• ACLU Women’s Rights Division, New York City, Litigation Assistant , 1982
• Tel Gerar Excavation, Israel, Assistant Site Supervisor , 1982

Current Employment Position

• Of Counsel