Anne M. Ronan

Anne was born in Hoboken, attended the Academy of the Holy Angels in Demarest and received a B.A. in English, magna cum laude, from Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City.   She earned a J.D., cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law in 1986 and an LLM in Environmental Law from Pace University.  Her master’s thesis argued for strict constitutional scrutiny of state inspections of domestic property, growing out of our work on a seminal privacy case, Huber v. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 213 N.J. 338 (2013); see also Huber v NJDEP, 562 U.S, 1302 (2011) (Statement of Justice Alito, joined by Roberts, Scalia and Thomas, pursuant to denial of certiorari).  Also inspired by Huber, Anne authored two books for non-lawyers about legal privacy in New Jersey and New York.  The books are based on the belief that citizens need to understand their basic civil rights in our heavily regulated society.

During law school, Anne interned for the United States District Court (Judge Frederick Lacey)  and the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Judge Leonard Garth).  After Fordham, she was a law clerk for the Hon. Marie L. Garibaldi, the first female Justice on the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and a senior litigation attorney at Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy (now Milbank LLP), one of the world’s largest law firms.  Her work at Milbank involved motions, discovery, trials, appeals and settlements in state, federal and international disputes of all sizes and subjects.

After working her way through college and law school, Anne learned through her early legal work, especially at Milbank, about the litigation advantages enjoyed by high net-worth clients.  At DEL, she works with that sophisticated awareness and the exceptional teamwork of our attorneys and para-professionals to even the playing field.  Vagueness and cynicism have no place at DEL, and the goal is always excellence.  In this vein, every client relationship begins with clear and thorough conversation: we listen, research and fully analyze each client’s unique situation and, just as important, explain in comprehensible language the legal issues as we read them.  This leads to confidence, cooperation, and creativity; and it is the bedrock of our exceptional record of litigation success.

In this connection, Anne is especially proud of the $17.5 million settlement that we recently achieved for homeowners with polluted groundwater in Sutton v. Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., 245 N.J. 251 (2021) (denying leave to appeal from a trial court order granting class certification, which was affirmed by the Appellate Division).  Class action work is a new and exciting area of our litigation practice, one which expresses some of our highest aspirations.

Among other civic and service engagements, Anne has served on the Zoning Board of Adjustment for the Borough of Alpine, the Board of Regents of Saint Peter’s College and the Board of Governors for of Englewood Field Club.  She currently is Corporate Secretary and on the Board of Governors of the New York Cardiac Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing scientific research and education.  She is also a certified yoga instructor.

Anne is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts in New Jersey and New York, as well as the United States Supreme Court.   She lives in Alpine and Spring Lake.

Questions

Q. What inspired you to become an environmental lawyer?
A. I like to correct injustice and clarify confusion.

Q. What excites you most about your work?
A. I am excited to be vindicating the rights of a large group of homeowners whose properties have been adversely affected by groundwater pollution coming from the former industrial head quarters of a big pharmaceutical firm.

Q. What are your interests outside of the office? (hobbies, activities)?
A. I am interested in just about everything, and my hobbies change all the time. Right now I am enjoying a lot of time at the Jersey Shore.

Q. How do you connect with your clients?
A. I believe their claims and appreciate their desire for a result that is proper as well as practical.

Publications

Legal Privacy Rights in New Jersey: A Guide for Non-Lawyers Real People’s Guide®

Legal Privacy in New York: A Guide to Civil Rights for Non-Lawyers Real People’s Guide®