We congratulate our friend and partner Natalie S. Watson on her appointment to the Superior Court of New Jersey. Natalie was confirmed by the New Jersey Senate on Monday, January 8 following her nomination by Governor Phil Murphy and will sit in Monmouth County. Though we will miss her, we are very happy for this next stage in her career.
For two decades, Natalie has been a trial attorney handling “bet the company” litigation for McCarter’s clients. Most recently, she has been one of the lead trial attorneys defending companies against claims for natural resource damages arising out of emerging contaminants.
Natalie has been recognized repeatedly for her legal work and community leadership, including her selection by the New Jersey Law Journal in 2015 as a New Leader of the Bar* and by the Tri-State Diversity Council’s 2021 LGBTQ+ Leadership Award*. A member of the Steering Committee of the firm’s Women’s Initiative and a member of its Diversity Committee, Natalie actively worked to strengthen McCarter’s use of diversity in serving its clients. Her efforts led McCarter to become one of the first law firms in the country to offer a “gross-up” policy for its LGBTQA employees, to remedy the disparate treatment that existed in the tax code in the years before Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015). She also ran the Firm’s pro bono name change clinic assisting transgender individuals.
Natalie has a proven record of service to the legal community. Appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court to serve as its Secretary for the District VA Ethics Committee, Natalie was responsible for reviewing all grievances submitted against attorneys practicing in the District VA and, when appropriate, docketing those investigations. She also served on the statewide Diversity Committee of the President of the New Jersey Bar Association, identifying and addressing issues impacting diverse attorneys throughout the state.
In addition to her distinguished legal career, Natalie has devoted significant time to her community, serving as a Trustee of Brookdale Community College, a former trustee of the Alumnae Association of Bryn Mawr College, and former president of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
Please join us in congratulating her on this achievement. For more about her appointment, see related Law360 article (subscription required).
*No aspect of this or any advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. For ranking methodologies, please see here.