JoEllyn L. Jones Esq.is a mother, daughter, sister, friend, and defense attorney. She is a graduate of Rowan University and Widener Law School. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Restorative Justice from Vermont Law and Graduate School. Realizing the dream of practicing law for was anything but easy for JoEllyn. December of her senior year in high school her brother was murdered. Upon graduating from Rowan, she found out she was pregnant with her daughter Arjai putting a delay on her attending Law School. Although unplanned Arjai has been an amazing blessing to her life. When Arjai turned 1, JoEllyn still had the desire to become a lawyer and applied and was accepted to Widener University. She worked during the day and went to school at night. In 2010, she graduated from Widener and began practicing law in December 2010, her first court appearance was the day after she was sworn into the bar. That day she knew the courtroom was where she belonged. Her first job as attorney was with Adler & Stomel in Bridgeton NJ. She left there only after 11 months and started her own law office. After only practicing law for 4 years, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She had to stop practicing law for 1 year while she underwent surgery and chemotherapy. Not being in the court room was hard for JoEllyn but as soon as the doctors cleared her, she went back to the courtroom. When she returned to the courtroom, she continued working for herself but shortly took a per-diem position with the NJ Office of the Public Defender. After 1 year working as per-diem she took a full-time position with the Office of the Public Defender as a trial attorney. She now serves as a Founding Partner at Jones & Ortiz P.A. She is a member of the Association of Black Women Lawyers of NJ, where she is the Vice President and the Chair of the Community Outreach Committee. She is member of the Cumberland County Bar Association where she is a Trustee and co-chair of the Diversity Committee. She is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers where she is the Co-Chair of the Diversity Committee and a member of the Decarceration Committee. In addition, she is member of the National Association of Public Defenders and Black Public Defender’s Association. She is a 2019 graduate of the National Criminal Defense College where she was awarded the Deryl Danztler Scholarship to attend.