Guardians Ad Litem- How They Work & How to Get Appointed

Presenters

Hon. James J. DeLuca, J.S.C. (Ret.)

Harwood Lloyd, LLC

is counsel at Harwood Lloyd LLC in Hackensack and Ridgewood, New Jersey, and New York City, and brings 45 years of legal experience to the firm’s Alternate Dispute Resolution and Mediation Group. He focuses in mediation and arbitration services, and also manages complex litigation, including serving as a Special Discovery Master and Special Fiscal Agent and/or Receiver. Appointed to the New Jersey Superior Court in 2015, he served in the Law and Chancery Divisions and sat in Hackensack, New Jersey, prior to his retirement.

Judge DeLuca is admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York and North Carolina. Prior to being appointed to the bench, he was a Partner in Okin, Hollander & DeLuca, LLP, where he represented clients in commercial litigation, bankruptcy, arbitrations and mediations. He is a frequent lecturer on chancery and probate matters.

Judge DeLuca is a graduate of Queen’s College (City University of New York) and Notre Dame Law School.
(9/23)

Hon. Robert T. Lougy, A.J.S.C.

Mercer County Civil Courts Building

was appointed Assignment Judge, Mercer Vicinage, in September 2021 and sits in Trenton, New Jersey. He was formerly Presiding Judge, Chancery Division, Mercer County. Prior to his transfer to the Chancery Division Judge Lougy was assigned to the Law Division, Civil Part, for a short time, and prior to that he sat in the Family Division, handling primarily the FM docket but with additional experience in the FD and FV dockets. He was appointed to the Superior Court in June 2016.

Judge Lougy spent most of his career in the Department of Law and Public Safety. After three years in the Essex Adult office as a public defender, he worked with Attorneys General Farber, Rabner, and Milgram in several capacities as a Deputy and Assistant Attorney General from 2006 through 2009. From 2010 through 2015, Judge Lougy served in the Division of Law as an Assistant Attorney General and Deputy Director. In 2015, he joined the executive staff of Attorney General Hoffman as Chief of Staff and then as First Assistant Attorney General, and served as Acting Attorney General for a brief period before his judicial appointment.

Judge Lougy received his undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University and his J.D. from Columbia Law School. He clerked for Chief Justice Deborah Poritz (2002-2004).
(9/23)

Shawna A. Brown, Esq.

Mandelbaum Barrett PC, Roseland

is Counsel to Mandelbaum Barrett P.C. in Roseland, New Jersey, in the firm’s Elder Law, Trusts & Estates and Special Needs Practice Groups. She focuses her practice in estate administration and litigation, including contested and uncontested probate, administration and accounting proceedings.

Ms. Brown is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York. Prior to joining the firm she was an associate at a New York City law firm for more than eight years, where she counseled the Public Administrator of New York County, a city agency which administers the estates of decedents, in connection with estate administration. She has lectured for ICLE and community organizations.

Ms. Brown received her B.A. from Rutgers College, Rutgers University, and her J.D. from New York Law School.
(9/23)

Lori M. McNeely, Esq.

McNeely McGuigan & Esmi, LLC, Moorestown

is a Partner in McNeely McGuigan & Esmi, LLC in Moorestown, New Jersey, where she concentrates her practice in estate planning and administration, probate, guardianships, Will contests and related litigation, residential real estate and small business formation. Ms. McNeely frequently receives appointments from the Courts and private clients to serve as trustee, administrator of estates, guardian for incapacitated persons, and counsel for alleged incapacitated persons. She is also on the roster of certified foreclosure mediators with the Administrative Office of Courts in New Jersey and provided pro bono real estate representation to residents impacted by the Mount Holly Gardens litigation.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court, Ms. McNeely has been a member of the New Jersey State, Mercer County and Burlington County Bar Associations, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) and the Guardianship
Association of New Jersey. She served as Co-Chair of the Real Property and Probate Committee of the Burlington County Bar Association for six years. She has been a lecturer for CLE seminars sponsored by the Mercer and Burlington County Bar associations and lectured at the Guardianship Association of New Jersey’s Annual Conference in 2011.

Ms. McNeely received her B.S. from Duke University and her J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law-Camden, where she won the 1995 Hunter Moot Court Competition and represented Rutgers in the National Moot Court Competition in Washington, D.C. She was also the recipient of the Excellence in Litigation, Women’s Law Caucus and Hunter Moot Court Awards.
(9/23)

Richard I. Miller, Esq., CELA

Mandelbaum Barrett, PC, Roseland

Certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation, is a Shareholder in Mandelbaum Barrett P.C. in the firm’s Roseland, New Jersey, office. Chair of the firm’s Elder Law Practice and Co-Chair of its Special Needs Practice, he concentrates his practice in elder law, guardianships, probate litigation, planning for individuals with special needs, estate planning and estate administration. Mr. Miller provides fiduciary services and serves as executor and administrator in complex estate matters, as guardian for disabled individuals and as Trustee for Supplemental Needs Trusts. He is also a court-approved mediator for probate litigation matters.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York and Colorado, Mr. Miller is Chair of the Passaic County Bar Association Elder Law Section and a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Elder Law and Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Sections. He is a past President and Trustee of the Passaic County Bar Association, a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) and the Academy of Special Needs Planners, and has served on the District XI Ethics Committee.

Mr. Miller is a frequent lecturer on elder law, government benefit planning and guardianships for professional, community and financial groups. He is the recipient of the 2015 Distinguished Chancery/Probate Practitioner of the Year award bestowed by the Passaic County Bar Association (PCBA) and the 2011 Professional Lawyer of the Year award from the PCBA and the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law.

Mr. Miller received his B.A., with honors, from Rutgers College and his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law-Newark.
(9/23)

Kristi Jasberg Robinson, Esq.

Chief, Civil Practice Liaison, Administrative Office of the Courts

serves as Chief, Civil Practice Liaison, Civil Practice Division of the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts in Trenton, New Jersey. Her responsibilities include overseeing the New Jersey Judiciary Guardianship Monitoring Program and serving as AOC staff to several statewide Judiciary conferences and committees devoted to probate, chancery and civil litigation issues. Prior to joining the AOC in August 2011, she worked as an attorney in private practice and in her most recent role as a staff attorney at Dechert LLP in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, managed large-scale electronic discovery review and production in mass torts and product liability matters.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Ms. Robinson has been a member of the National and Mid-Atlantic Associations for Court Management. She has served as a panelist for continuing legal education courses on guardianship and other topics, and was a workgroup member and contributor to the National Association for Court Management’s 2013-2014 Adult Guardianship Guide.

Ms. Robinson received her undergraduate degree from Hofstra University and her J.D. from Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law, where she was a member of the Moot Court Board.
(9/23)