Ms. Zarych has been practicing criminal defense and DWI/DUI defense for close to 10 years. She was recently awarded the prestigious Judge Benjamin A. Rimm Award as Outstanding Young Lawyer of 2013 by the Atlantic County Bar Association. She has represented hundreds of clients in criminal cases involving charges of homicide, sexual assault, child abuse, drug distribution, theft, computer crimes, casino crimes and weapons offense. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Villanova University School of Law. At Villanova, she volunteered with Homeless Advocacy Project and won her first trial as a student in the school’s Juvenile Justice Clinic. Prior to law school, Ms. Zarych graduated cum laude from Fairfield University in Connecticut in just three years with two majors, English and Religious Studies. Stefanie is an active member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, American Bar Association, Atlantic County Bar Association, The National Trial Lawyers, Cape May County Bar Association, and the New Jersey State Bar Association. Ms. Zarych was honored for her excellence in academics and community service by being inducted into Alpha Sigma Nu, the National Jesuit Honor Society. She is also registered as an EMT-Basic. Ms. Zarych describes the American criminal justice system as one that is “inundating to the poor, the uneducated and the unrepresented. The ease with which innocent people are accused of crimes and the stigma that immediately attaches to them solely because of those accusations is shocking. We have a good system that is imperfect. As such, the criminal defense lawyer must be both a diplomat and a warrior.” Stefanie uses the advocacy skills she honed as an attorney to speak on behalf of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. Never one to run from crisis she traveled to the Haitian border days after the devastating earthquake of 2010 that claimed close to 300,000 lives where she helped care for patients in a field hospital. She is frequently invited to speak about conditions in the nation of Haiti and returns to the country several times a year. Additionally, she speaks French creole.
Bar Admissions
- New Jersey, 2004
Education
- Villanova University School of Law, Villanova, Pennsylvania
- J.D.
- Fairfield University in Connecticut
- Honors: cum laude
- Honors: Alpha Sigma Nu
- Honors: National Jesuit Honor Society
- Honors: National English Honor Society
- Honors: National Religious Studies Honor Society
- Major: English
- Major: Religious Studies
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Atlantic County Bar Association, Member