Maria comes to the Division of Public Interest Advocacy by way of the Department of Community Affairs, Division of Codes and Standards, where she prepared permits for state properties. Maria ensured accurate entry of weekly project time records, assisted with scheduling inspections of state buildings to comply with safety regulations and mentored new employees.

Maria graduated from McCorristin Catholic High School in 1997. She attended Mercer County Community College to obtain her certification as a Certified Uniform Construction Code Technical Assistant. Maria enjoys performing arts activities, scrap booking/photography, but most of all she loves to spend quality time with her family.

As an Assistant Deputy Public Advocate, Fenix Manning-Bowman provides legal support for the department and conducts legal and policy research and analysis on issues affecting New Jersey residents.

Prior to joining the Department of the Public Advocate, Fenix worked in private sector practice as an attorney with Fox Rothschild, LLP. As an associate in the litigation group, Fenix’s caseload focused on professional liability, real estate and construction litigation, healthcare, labor and employment matters.

Fenix was born and raised in South Jersey and graduated from Rutgers School of Law-Camden in 2003. While attending law school, Fenix was a Marshall Brennan Fellow and taught constitutional law at Jerrothia Riggs High School, an alternative high school in Camden.

Immediately upon graduating from Rutgers, Fenix served as a law clerk with the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, for the Honorable Dennis J. Braitwaite, J.A.D. Fenix received her B.S. from the University of Maryland, College Park, and was a College Park Scholar, with a focus of child advocacy.


 

As a policy advisor, Joe provides legal research and support on the array of issues that the Division of Public Interest Advocacy investigates.

Prior to joining the Department of the Public Advocate, Joe worked in the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General in the Tort Litigation Section.

Joe is a graduate of Duquesne University School of Law (J.D. 2003). While attending  law school, Joe served as the chairman of Moot Court Honor Society and was involved in the Economic and Community Development Clinic. Joe also has a degree in Business Administration (2000) from Duquesne University. 

Before graduating from law school in 2002, Elizabeth Speidel worked in a variety of positions in the child advocacy and education fields. Elizabeth worked in public schools both in Newark and Flagstaff, Arizona.

While in law school, she worked with Legal Aid Society-Juvenile Rights Division, New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and the Institute for Education Law and Policy. 
Elizabeth became a commercial litigator with Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, where, in addition to employment and regulatory work, she assisted in the pro bono representation of Agenda for Children Tomorrow. After leaving S&C, she became the Special Projects and Policy Coordinator Public at Agenda for Children Tomorrow, where she worked on a variety issues including children’s health, language access in the courts, child protection and youth development.  

Elizabeth received her B.A. from Rutgers College and her J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law, Newark.

Lynn has spent her life advocating for fairness. During the 1960s, she attended a large urban high school New Jersey. She and a small group of peers lobbied school officials to adapt the curriculum to make it more representative of the diverse East Orange student population.