PARTNER

Janet B. Coven, Esq.

Janet B. Coven is a partner at Shaw Divorce & Family Law. Over the course of her extensive career, Ms. Coven has successfully guided clients through their legal matters while ensuring they understand each step of the process. Her passion for family law is evident through her unwavering dedication to safeguarding her client’s welfare, whether at trial or through alternate dispute resolution including methods such as mediation, arbitration, and the collaborative process.

Taking a highly personalized approach to her representation, Ms. Coven tailors her case strategies through her deep understanding of her clients’ needs. She listens to her clients’ concerns and identifies their goals, working closely with them to craft the right approach for resolving their matters. Her finely honed negotiation skills and expansive legal knowledge enable her to achieve the best results possible for her clients.

Ms. Coven earned her Juris Doctor from Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law. While attending Law School, Ms. Coven was appointed the Chief Justice to the Moot Court Board and was a member of the National Order of Barristers. She competed in the 1990 Florida Bar National Tax Competition and received the American Jurisprudence Award for Constitutional Law. Ms. Coven served as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Graham T. Ross, former Presiding Judge of the Family Part in Somerset County, New Jersey (now retired).

Ms. Coven is well-versed in all areas of divorce and family law including: child custody, child support, alimony, equitable distribution, and other family-related matters such as grandparents’ rights, domestic violence, relocation cases, summary support proceedings, adoptions, and premarital/prenuptial agreements. She often resolves her clients’ matters outside of the courtroom; however, Janet zealously advocates for her clients’ rights at trial whenever necessary, utilizing forensic accountants, forensic valuation experts, psychologists, appraisers, employability evaluators, and other resources as needed. She has experience in all areas of family law litigation, including contested issues of custody, parenting time, child support, alimony, and equitable distribution of assets.

Ms. Coven is a qualified Family Law Mediator and provides mediation services to assist parties in reaching a mutual resolution of their family and matrimonial issues. She is also trained in the alternative dispute resolution method of collaborative divorce, which is a non-adversarial, settlement-driven process.  She currently volunteers her time as an experienced panelist in the Early Settlement Panel program in the Morris County family court where she assists other attorneys and litigants in reaching amicable resolutions in their matters. Further, Ms. Coven is an adjunct instructor at Fairleigh Dickinson University and has taught Family Law, Ethics, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Family Law, and Legal Research and Writing.  She is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Family Law Section and the Morris County Bar Association. Additionally, Janet has co-authored the published handbook New Jersey Family Practice:  A Practice Guide with Forms.

Through her accomplished practice that has touched on varied matters including civil/commercial litigation, real estate, immigration, foreclosure, collections, municipal and administrative law, and estate planning, Ms. Coven possesses a diverse platform for assisting her clients with their family law matters.