Maria D. Noto, Esq.

Maria Noto is part of the 2% of active lawyers in NJ certified by the N.J. Supreme Court as a criminal trial attorney. She is a past member of the N.J. Supreme Court Board on Trial Attorney Certification, and was the 2003-2004 President of the N.J. Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Maria has been named a Super Lawyer by N.J. Monthly every year from 2005 to the present and, in 2005, was also named by N.J. Monthly as one of the top 50 female lawyers. In 2014, she was featured on the cover of NJ Super Lawyers Magazine. Maria has also been recognized by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America as one of the top 100 trial lawyers in New Jersey and was selected to Who’s Who among distinguished Americans of Italian descent by the Italian Tribune News.

In 2020 and 2021, Monmouth Health & Lifestyle Magazine named her one of Monmouth County’s Top Criminal Defense Lawyers. In 2022 she received a “Superb” rating by AVVO and in 2023 continued to be named a “Super Lawyer” by N.J. Monthly Magazine.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Maria Noto was a teacher for several years teaching French, Spanish, and English in Brooklyn NY, Edison NJ, and Cherry Creek CO. As a lawyer, she was able to take the skills she learned as a teacher and used those skills to “educate” the jury in order to convince them of her client’s innocence.

Maria attended Seton Hall Law School, graduating in the top 15% of her class, and while she was in law school worked part-time as a law clerk for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. That experience has proven to be an invaluable part of Maria’s career as she has truly been able to see both sides of the Criminal Justice system.

In 1980, Maria passed the Bar exam on her first attempt. She started her legal career as law clerk to the Honorable Thomas F. Shebell, Jr., who was then the Assignment Judge for Monmouth County. As Assignment Judge for Monmouth County, Judge Shebell decided many civil and criminal Motions filed by attorneys. Though this prestigious clerkship to Judge Shebell, Maria assisted the Court in researching the law and writing Memoranda of Law and gained valuable experience and knowledge in many different areas of the law.

Upon completing her judicial clerkship, Maria started her career as a trial attorney with the Essex County Public Defender’s Office in Newark, New Jersey. As a public defender, Maria started her trial career with a string of victories winning her first 9 cases in a row. Maria has tried many cases including ten homicides, eight of which she won. Maria eventually tried over 200 cases and won around 90% of them.

In 1985, Maria went into private practice and was retained to represent one of 21 defendants in the longest federal trial in the history of New Jersey – U.S. ». Accetturo, et als. After a two-year trial, all 21 defendants were found not guilty. That victory has been memorialized by Robert Rudolph in his book, The Boys From New Jersey (How the Mob Beat the Feds) and the movie, “Find Me Guilty.” Maria was able to enhance her trial skills by trying this case for almost two years with some of the best lawyers in the State of New Jersey and has, since, successfully resolved many federal cases on her own.

In addition to federal cases, Maria also represents people who are accused at both state and municipal levels of the court system and has many satisfied clients from every level of the court system. Although her office is centrally located in Matawan, New Jersey, Maria handles cases throughout the State of New Jersey and has even appeared pro hac vice in other states including federal courts in New York City and West Virginia.

In addition to criminal cases, Maria has successfully resolved many personal injury civil cases and has also tried or settled several complicated civil rights cases including 2 jail suicides and a shooting of a pedestrian by an off duty police officer. Maria has also represented police officers during her legal career.

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