The Hammonton Gazette 04/13/16 Edition | страница 5

St. Joe High School Class of ‘08 boasts 5 law clerks working in the area
Page 4 • Wednesday, April 13, 2016 • The Hammonton Gazette

Louis A. Casadia
LAW, from Page 1

respective judges, are as follows
(judges named parenthetically):
Louis Casadia (Hon. John C.
Porto), Gina DeAnnuntis (Hon.
Mark Sanson), Kasi Gifford (Hon.
Jane Savio), Allison Nickels
(Hon. Joseph Marczyk) and
Jessica rodio (Hon. Nelson
Johnson). Casadia clerks in Cape
May, DeAnnuntis is in Mays
Landing, while Gifford, Nickels
and rodio are in Atlantic City.
All five of the clerks were
interviewed by The Gazette,
inlcuding four (DeAnnuntis,
Gifford, Nickels and rodio) who
were interviewed together at the
offices of The Gazette on April 4.
During the interview the law
clerks discussed their connection
to St. Joseph High School and
what it was like to have five
members of the same high school
class clerking at the same time.
they also commented on how St.
Joseph High School prepared
them for their future careers as
attorneys.
“it’s nice to work with so many
people from my high school.
there’s a real small-town vibe.
it’s really nice to have my actual
peers be people i know and have
a relationship with,” rodio said.
rodio,
of
Hammonton,
graduated from the University of
Delaware and received her law
degree from rutgers UniversityCamden Law School. She said her
interest in the law began with a
criminal justice class at SJHS.
Nickels said the law clerks who
are SJHS alumni are able to add to
the number of milestones they
have achieved together since high
school.
“One of the coolest things was
when we were sworn in together
when we passed the bar. each
person’s judge gave the oath to the
New Jersey Bar. this happened in
2015. St. Joe is a very familyoriented school, and all of the
families were all there,” Nickels
said.
Nickels, a Mays Landing
resident, recalled a forensics class
at SJHS as a great influence on her
and cited principal Lynn
Domenico as the reason the class
existed at that time.
“She was progressive in her
approach to the curriculum. One
of the classes i took that gave me
an interest in the law was
forensics. i remember a field trip
to the courthouse in Atlantic City.
Mr. Sullivan taught forensics, and
Mr. McBride taught criminal
justice. Having attended Catholic
school from K-12, one of the
things that shaped us was writing,
grammar and history,” Nickels, a
graduate of rutgers UniversityNew Brunswick and Vermont
Law School, recalled.
rodio noted that having a
“Christian/Catholic” background
was also key to kindling a desire
to serve the public interest.
DeAnnuntis, a resident of

Winslow twp., said the SJHS
alumni law clerks always find a
way to connect with each other.
“even though we don’t work in
the same building, there are a lot
of events for law clerks. i always
gravitate toward them [the SJHS
alumni]
and
feel
more
comfortable to be around people i
grew up with,” DeAnnuntis said.
A star softball catcher in high
school, DeAnnuntis said her
athletic and academic experiences
at St. Joseph continued to aid her
when she went to Chestnut Hill
College and law school at
Villanova University.
“the thing that shaped me the
most was softball. it taught me
discipline and very strong values.
it helped me through law school
... i was a criminal justice major,
and that criminal justice class at
St.
Joe
propelled
me,”
DeAnnuntis said.
Gifford, of Galloway, received
her undergraduate degree from the
University of Delaware and her
law degree from Widener
University Delaw &R