CARMELA L. NOVI PROFILE
Email Address: carmela@wlg.com
Carmela L. Novi began her legal career as a 22 year-old paralegal to a well-known Manhattan criminal defense attorney just weeks after graduating from college. Her exposure to family law began just two years later while she was a second year law student working for an attorney in Fort Lee, New Jersey. During those years before becoming an attorney, she obtained hands-on experience by meeting with clients, conducting legal research, drafting court documents, preparing files for trial, and observing court proceedings.
Ms. Novi made her first official appearance as an attorney by arguing a family court motion at the Bergen County Justice Center just hours after her swearing in ceremony in December of 1996. For the next several years, Ms. Novi regularly appeared in court and litigated cases in the Superior Court of New Jersey and in municipal courts across northern New Jersey. Ms. Novi has successfully handled an extensive variety of family law cases since being admitted to the bar. She has litigated, settled, and mediated for clients engaged in disputes involving parenting time, child support, alimony, college contribution, equitable distribution of assets, and prenuptial agreements. She also has extensive experience in domestic violence matters, both in helping victims obtain needed restraining orders, and in defending those wrongly accused of domestic violence.
Ms. Novi is a trained mediator who has been selected for the Court-approved roster of family law mediators in Morris, Essex and Bergen counties. She also serves on the Early Settlement Panel for the family court in Morris County, where she volunteers her time to assist couples in settling the economic aspects of their divorce disputes. Ms. Novi has also been recognized for her pro bono work on behalf of victims of domestic violence and family law litigants by Alternatives to Domestic Violence of Bergen County; the Bergen County Executive; Partners for Women & Justice; and Volunteer Lawyers for Justice. She was recognized as a "New Jersey Super Lawyers - Rising Star" in 2006 and again in 2007.
Ms. Novi is also active in her local community. She was elected to the Montville Township Board of Education in 2010; is a former board member (and current general member) of the Kiwanis Club of Montville; and is a former member and Chair of the Montville Township Residents with Disabilities Advisory Committee. She is also a co-founder and former board member of the Towaco Civic Association, which sponsors the annual Towaco Jazz & Arts Festival. Prior to moving to Morris County, she was a co-founder of the Mid-Town Children's Fund, a non-profit organization serving children in need in her hometown of Union City, New Jersey.
Areas of Practice:
Family and Matrimonial Law
Divorce and Legal Separations
Visitation and Parenting Time
Child Support
Alimony and Palimony
Division of Assets - Equitable Distribution
Pre and Post-Nuptial Agreements
Adoption and Kinship Legal Guardianships
Children's Educational Needs
Emancipation
Modification of Custody
Modification of Child Support
Modification, Reduction or Termination of Alimony
Enforcement of Custody
Enforcement of Child Support
Enforcement of Alimony
Paternity
Grandparent's Rights
Domestic Violence Matters
Post Divorce Matters
Bar Admissions:
New Jersey
New York
U.S. District Court of New Jersey
Education:
New York Law School, New York, New York, 1996
Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey, 1992
-Member, Mock Trial Competition Team, 1991 and 1992
-Treasurer, Phi Alpha Delta pre-law fraternity, 1990-1992
Professional Associations and Memberships:
New Jersey State Bar Association
Family Law Section
Morris County Bar Association
Past Employment Positions
Casha & Casha, LLC
Associate (2005 – 2012)
Law Offices of Carmela L. Novi
Partner/Owner (2003 – 2005)
New York Life Insurance Company
Compliance Officer (2001-2003)
Seeger Weiss, LLC
Associate (1999-2001)
Law Offices of Susan Servis
Associate (1996-1999)
Paralegal (1995-1996)
Honorable Walter M. Schackman, Supreme Court of New York, Commercial Division
Judicial Intern (1994)
Law Offices of Susan Kellman
Paralegal, 1992-1993