TARVER REAPPOINTED TRUSTEE OF NEW JERSEY STATE BAR FOUNDATION

Margaret Leggett Tarver has been reappointed as a trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting law-related education and giving all New Jersey residents a basic understanding of the legal system.

Before pursuing her legal career in 1982, Tarver had a long career in the sciences working as a research scientist in the biochemistry department of Howard University's Medical School, a science consultant in the Washington, D.C. public school system, a science instructor at the Technical Training Project in Newark and as senior learning partner at Project Mercury for the State University of New York at Albany. For 26 years, Tarver served as forensic scientist for the New Jersey State Police and also served as technical director at three state laboratories, retiring as laboratory director at the South Regional Laboratory in Hammonton.

Now a solo practitioner in Willingboro, Tarver concentrates her practice in estate planning and administration. She is also a public arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and was an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's School of Health Related Professions, where she taught forensic identity testing in the molecular diagnostics course.

Tarver is a past president of the Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey; a past vice president, treasurer and trustee of the Garden State Bar Association and a past chair of the Jurisprudence Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, where she has achieved the status of fellow. She served on the Board of Directors of both South Jersey Legal Services, Inc. and the Garden State Bar Association. Within the New Jersey State Bar Association, she is a member of the Bylaws committee, which she formerly co-chaired, and holds appointments to the Diversity and Judicial Administration committees. She was co-chair of the Pipeline Diversity Task Force; and previously served as the NJSBA's representative on the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Minority Concerns. Tarver is also a member of the National Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Burlington County Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Recognized by the NJSBA for her participation in the 911 Pro Bono Program, Tarver received the 2011 Empowerment Award from the Association of Black Women Lawyers of NJ, Inc. and was honored by the St. Mary's Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star for outstanding service to the community, church and family. Tarver's biography appears in Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in the East, Who's Who in American Law and Who's Who in America.

A graduate of Talladega College, Howard University and Seton Hall University School of Law, Tarver resides in Willingboro.