Amy Sara Cores, Esq., Candidate for At-Large Trustee - New Jersey ...

Amy Sara Cores, Esq., Candidate for At-Large Trustee
About Amy
Amy has been a small firm attorney since she started her career. Following in the
footsteps of her mentors, she immediately became involved in bar activities. In a short
time, she has built a successful practice while devoting countless hours of service to the
NJSBA. Amy served on the Family Law Executive Committee for several years and on
several sub-committees, including the Family Lawyer Editorial Board as an Associate
Managing Editor, as the CLE Coordinator, and the Annual Retreat Committee.
Amy was recruited into the Young Lawyers Division to revive Dictum, the newsletter.
She single-handedly revived the publication. However, she recruited several members of
the NJSBA to serve on the editorial board in an effort to bring diversity to the publication
and recruit more members to take an active role.
Amy has served on the Appellate Practice Committee of the NJSBA since 2009. She is
currently on the Amicus Committee for both the National and state chapter of the
American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She has also served on the Appellate
Division Pro Bono Pilot Program since 2007.
Amy previously served as the editor of the Women in the Profession Section Newsletter,
on the editorial board of the New Jersey Lawyer Magazine, and on the Children’s Rights
Committee. Amy currently serves on the board of the Certified Attorneys Section.
Amy has been an active writer for State Bar publications, authoring more than a dozen
articles and columns. She has moderated and spoken at seminars for the NJSBA, NJICLE,
Inns of Court, and the NBI Institute.
Amy is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and Certified by the
Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Lawyer. She received the NJSBA Young
Lawyer of the Year Award in 2009. She has been designated as a Rising Star Super Lawyer
every year since 2008. She has twice received the Award of Merit from the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children for her services.
Amy also volunteers for many activities for her daughter. She is currently the ‘class mom’
for her daughter’s class at school. She has previously been a commissioner for her
daughter’s soccer league. She and her husband volunteer for her daughter’s dance recital
each year.

Amy Sara Cores, Esq., Candidate for At-Large Trustee
Amy’s Platform
I seek to represent not only the women of the NJSBA, but also the small firm/solo
practitioners and other people of diversity. There is a gross under-representation in our
leadership of people of diversity. The majority of the Nominating Committee this year
was comprised of men and past-presidents of the Association, who declined to nominate
women and other people of diversity, except to those limited spots specifically designated
for these groups. We further saw the only remaining diverse member of the Executive
Committee removed by the same Nominating Committee.
Time is ripe for change in our Association. We have the unique opportunity to elect two
officers and a trustee. I suggest that we need to put into these positions members who
represent the masses, as opposed to the few. We have the opportunity to change the
future of this Association and take it back for the small firm and solo practitioners who are
in fact the rank and file members. We have the opportunity to challenge the leadership to
select those candidates of diversity who seek to serve us, when the qualifications of the
diverse candidate are the same or superior to a non-diverse candidate. The decisions of
the Nominating Committee reflect that the past leadership wants our association to remain
in the past, rather than move forward.
As a trustee, I will work to de-mystify the decisions made by our leadership and the
process through which those decisions are made. Publishing the minutes of the meetings
of the Board of Trustees and seeking more transparency in the process by which we
conduct business. Someone must question the financial decisions, including the choice to
move the annual meeting at the last minute which could have activated a contractual
provision to pay liquidated damages which could be up to $300,000 and continuing to
approve a mid-year meeting at expensive destinations. The Officers and Board of
Trustees, with consultation of the Executive Director, have approved or ratified decisions
that directly impact on our membership and they appear to have little accountability.
With over 16,000 members, we have the ability to accomplish much more, if leadership
positions were made available to more members. Currently we have the same people
serving on multiple committees, who are essentially patronized by current or former
Officers. While they may be dutifully serving, there is clearly room for the involvement of
the many – rather than the few. As a trustee, I will urge the president and Executive
Director, who advises on the appointment of Committees, to appoint a more diverse
population to the Committees.
The NJSBA cannot move forward if we continue to adhere to the policies of the past. With
the changing face of the bar, we need leaders who are focused on the goals of the many,
the young, and the diverse. I will be that Trustee and I will be accountable to the general
membership.