Paula Dow

{{Short description|American lawyer (born 1955)}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = | image_size = | name = Paula T. Dow | caption = | order = 58th | office = New Jersey Attorney General | governor = Chris Christie | term_start = January 18, 2010 | term_end = January 10, 2012 | predecessor = Anne Milgram | successor = Jeffrey S. Chiesa | office2 = Essex County Prosecutor | term_start2 = June 30, 2005 | term_end2 = January 18, 2010 | predecessor2 = Donald Campolo (Acting) | successor2 = Robert D. Laurino (Acting) | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1955}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | constituency = | party = Democratic | spouse = | children = | education = Franklin & Marshall College (BA) University of Pennsylvania Law School (JD) | profession = Attorney | signature = | footnotes = }} '''Paula T. Dow''' (born 1955) is an American lawyer and judge. She served as the 58th Attorney General of New Jersey, appointed by incoming Governor Chris Christie. Her nomination to a full term was confirmed by the New Jersey Senate in February 2010. She is the first African-American woman to be attorney general in state history.<ref name=Record>{{cite news |url=http://www.northjersey.com/news/state/politics/121509_Gov-elect_Christie_chooses_Essex_County_Prosecutor_Paula_Dow_as_attorney_general.html |title=Gov.-elect Christie chooses Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow as attorney general |work=The Record (Bergen County) |date=2009-12-15 |accessdate=2010-02-15}}</ref>

On December 12, 2011, Christie announced that Dow would temporarily become the First Deputy General Counsel for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and that he had nominated Jeffrey S. Chiesa, then Christie's chief counsel, to become the new Attorney General. The governor also said he would file a notice of intent to nominate Dow to a Superior Court judgeship in Essex County.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/state/attorney-general-paula-dow-to-be-replaced-by-christies-counsel-jeff-chiesa |title=Attorney General Paula Dow to be replaced by Christie's counsel Jeff Chiesa |author=Tom Hester Sr. |publisher=NewJerseyNewsRoom.com |date=2011-12-12 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120904100915/http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/state/attorney-general-paula-dow-to-be-replaced-by-christies-counsel-jeff-chiesa |archivedate=2012-09-04 }}</ref> Chiesa was sworn in as Dow's successor on January 10, 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_story/push?article--+New+Jersey+officially+has+a+new+attorney+general-%20&id=17076705 |title=New Jersey officially has a new attorney general |author=Ray Smith |newspaper=The Hudson Reporter |date=2012-01-13 |accessdate=2012-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104041708/http://hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_story/push?article--+New+Jersey+officially+has+a+new+attorney+general-%20&id=17076705 |archive-date=2013-11-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Early life and education==

Dow was born in 1955. She was raised in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, located outside of Philadelphia.<ref name=Record/> She graduated from Franklin & Marshall College with a B.A. degree in 1977. She received her J.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1980.

== Career == In 1978, she worked as a summer associate for the Camden law firm Tomar, Parks, Seliger, Simonoff & Adourian. From 1980 to 1987 she worked as a lawyer for Exxon in Texas, New Jersey and New York, advising on environmental and labor issues.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nj.gov/oag/oag/ag_bio.htm |title=Official bio |publisher=Office of the Attorney General of New Jersey |accessdate=2010-02-15}}</ref>

Dow joined the office of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1987, working in the Civil Division until 1994. She then moved to the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, working there from 1994 to 2003. From 2002 to 2003 she served as counsel to U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.<ref name="Record" />

=== Essex County Prosecutor === In 2003, Dow was nominated by Governor Jim McGreevey to be Essex County Prosecutor. She was opposed by some local leaders, such as Newark Mayor Sharpe James.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Holl |first=John |date=2005-07-22 |title=Prosecutor in Essex Has the Job, Permanently |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/22/nyregion/prosecutor-in-essex-has-the-job-permanently.html |access-date=2024-06-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

State senators from Essex County blocked her confirmation, saying that they had not been consulted by McGreevey on the appointment.<ref name="Record" /> After serving as Acting Prosecutor for two years, she was sworn in as Prosecutor in June 2005 by Governor Richard Codey.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.njecpo.org/whatnew.htm |title=What's New at ECPO |publisher=Essex County Prosecutor's Office |accessdate=2010-02-15}}</ref>

=== New Jersey Attorney General === On December 15, 2009, in his first cabinet announcement, then-Governor-elect Chris Christie nominated Dow as Attorney General of New Jersey.<ref name="Record" /> Her appointment made her the first African-American woman to hold the position.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baxter |first=Christopher |date=2012-01-03 |title=N.J. Attorney General Paula Dow leaves office after nearly 2 stressful, sometimes frustrating, years |url=https://www.nj.com/news/2012/01/nj_ag_paula_dow_leaves_office.html |access-date=2024-06-24 |website=NJ.com |language=en}}</ref>

She became Acting Attorney General on January 19, 2010. On February 8, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved her nomination to a full term.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/senate_judiciary_committee_una.html |title=N.J. attorney general nominee Paula Dow is approved by Senate committee |work=The Star-Ledger |date=2010-02-08 |accessdate=2010-02-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/state/senate-committee-oks-dow-as-nj-attorney-general |title=Senate committee OK's Dow as N.J. attorney general |work=Newjerseynewsroom.com |date=2010-02-08 |accessdate=2010-02-15 |archive-date=2011-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714174723/http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/state/senate-committee-oks-dow-as-nj-attorney-general |url-status=dead }}</ref> The full Senate unanimously confirmed her nomination on February 22, and she was sworn in the following day.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.app.com/article/20100222/NEWS03/100222089/Senate-confirms-5-NJ-Cabinet-picks |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102012145/http://www.app.com/article/20100222/NEWS03/100222089/Senate-confirms-5-NJ-Cabinet-picks |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-02 |title=Senate confirms 5 NJ Cabinet picks |work=Asbury Park Press |date=2010-02-22 |accessdate=2010-02-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/paul_dow_is_sworn_in_as_nj_att.html |title=Paula Dow is sworn in as N.J. Attorney General |work=The Star-Ledger |date=2010-02-23 |accessdate=2010-02-23}}</ref> In 2011, Governor Chris Christie named Dow to a position at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/gov_christie_attorney_general.html|title=N.J. Attorney General Paula Dow to take position at Port Authority after stepping down, Gov. Christie says |work=nj.com |date=2011-12-12 |accessdate=2014-01-16}}</ref>

=== Superior Court appointment === In 2012, a New Jersey Senate Committee approved Governor Christie's nomination of Dow to a judgeship on the Superior Court.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/senate_committee_approves_paul.html|title=Senate committee approves Paula Dow's nomination as Superior Court judge |work=nj.com |date=2012-06-28 |accessdate=2014-01-16}}</ref> Dow became a judge in the Family Court Division in Burlington County, where she sat until December 2015, when she was assigned to the General Equity Part.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/directories.htm |title=Judiciary Directories |website=www.judiciary.state.nj.us |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000304193347/http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/directories.htm |archive-date=2000-03-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/directory/judgebiographies.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2014-05-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140507212452/http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/directory/judgebiographies.pdf |archivedate=2014-05-07 }}</ref> As of April 9, 2025 she has since retired.

== Personal life == Dow lives in Lumberton, New Jersey and is a single mother of two.<ref name=Record/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.nj.gov/oag/oag/ag_2010-2012_dow_bio.htm Official bio], Office of the Attorney General of New Jersey

{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{succession box | before=Donald Campolo (Acting)| title=Essex County Prosecutor | years=2003 – 2010| after=Robert D. Laurino (Acting) }} {{succession box | before=Anne Milgram| title=Attorney General of New Jersey | years=2010 – 2012| after=Jeffrey S. Chiesa }} {{s-end}} {{New Jersey Attorneys General}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dow, Paula T.}} Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:Franklin & Marshall College alumni Category:University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Category:District attorneys in New Jersey Category:American women lawyers Category:21st-century African-American lawyers Category:21st-century American lawyers Category:New Jersey attorneys general Category:New Jersey Democrats Category:People from Maplewood, New Jersey Category:People from Yeadon, Pennsylvania Category:21st-century African-American women Category:20th-century African-American lawyers Category:African-American women lawyers Category:20th-century African-American women