Claudia (Hage) Demitro, ’12, arrived at law school with a supremely practical plan: she would pursue a career steeped in business law.  True, it would divert the former history major from the constitutional questions that resonated with her, but she figured it would lead to more job interviews.

Demitro took a part-time job during her 1L year with a firm that handles asbestos claims, pursued a concentration in Business and Entrepreneurial Law, sailed through business-related courses and sought out opportunities for associateships with big firms. 

But the puzzle pieces refused to fall in place, and Demitro wound up taking a 2L summer internship with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.

Suddenly, the landscape shifted.

Demitro found government service unexpectedly gratifying and the work environment at the AG’s Office surprisingly congenial.  And by the time her 2L summer ended, Demitro had slipped, tripped and found herself head over heels with criminal cases. 

“I did it,” Demitro said. “I fell in love with criminal law.”

The affection only deepened through clerkships with two New Jersey judges, and two years ago, Demitro moved to the Criminal Justice Division of the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, as an assistant AG.

“This is really clicking for me,” she said. “It’s so much more fun.”

Demitro spends most days focused on research and writing, delighted to work in an office that addresses sweeping matters of law, producing policies on the use of tasers and drones and more.  As a member of the Appellate Bureau, she handles a few trial court matters, occasional appearances before the state’s Appellate Court and she’s even argued a couple of times before the Supreme Court of New Jersey – the highest in the Garden State.

In April, Demitro’s appearance before the state Supreme Court for a case involving a traffic stop that led to an arrest for unlawful gun possession put her in the thick of a constitutional matter.  

Demitro waded deep into the Fourth Amendment as she urged the court to allow evidence found when an officer stopped a car that was using high beam lights on a well-lit Newark avenue.

“It’s like a motion picture that’s frozen in time: a cop reaches into the car and gets the gun.  Factually, it can be straightforward, legally, it’s not,” Demitro said. “The Fourth Amendment is so important.  People’s privacy rights are so important. I think it’s worth arguing about.”

Demitro may soon appear before the high court again, if the judges grant her petition to reconsider the permission that an appellate court gave a convicted sex offender to volunteer with a church youth organization. 

Should that happen, Demitro knows from past experience that her preliminary arguments will prove the most nerve-wracking moment of her week. 

But nothing focuses the mind like a panel of seasoned judges throwing out pointed questions.

“Once they start asking questions, I forget where I am,” Demitro said. “I forget who’s behind me. You want to make sure you answer their question and say something coherent.”

Demitro attributes her fast-accumulating courtroom experience to the detour that led her to the public sector.

“There’s no better place than public service to get experience in the courtroom,” said Demitro, who voiced gratitude to Professor David S. Cohen for giving her the courage to revise her original career plans and the determination to honor her dreams.