Lynn Fontaine Newsome, Past President of the New Jersey State Bar Association, has long been recognized as a leader in the legal community. She has practiced exclusively in the area of Family Law since her admission to the Bar in 1981 and is a Certified Matrimonial Attorney and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Ms. Newsome handles all aspects of family law including divorce, custody, palimony, Prenuptial Agreements, civil unions, appeals and domestic violence. She is an experienced litigator who has tried all types of family law matters. She also is a certified mediator and has mediated and arbitrated many matters in addition to accepting appointments as a discovery master and as a guardian.
In addition to being the Past President of the New Jersey State Bar Association, Ms. Newsome is a former Chair of the Family Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association and a Past President of the Morris County Bar Association. In addition, she is a long-standing member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Family Law Committee. She is a member of the American Bar Association having served in the House of Delegates and sits on the Executive Council of the General Practice, Solo and Small Law Firm Division and is a member of the Family Law and Litigation Section.
Ms. Newsome has been honored and recognized by her peers with some of the highest awards bestowed in the legal profession. She was the recipient of the Saul Tischler Family Law Section Award in 2006 for her lifetime contributions to the advancement of Family Law in the State of New Jersey. In 2009, she was awarded the Samuel Saiber Professional Award by the Essex County Bar Association.
Ms. Newsome is honored to sit on the Editorial Board of the New Jersey Law Journal. She is a frequent and well recognized lecturer and panelist in the area of family law and professional responsibility. She regularly lectures for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education. Her practice includes trial and appellate work as well as mediation. She is a former member of District X Ethics Committee and the New Jersey State Bar Association Ethics Diversionary Committee.
November 7, 2025
A Lifetime Together—But Not on Paper: How New Jersey Law Left One Partner Without Protection After 30+ Years of Cohabitation
They built a life together for more than thirty years. They shared a home, shared bills, shared love, and shared loss. When Jacqueline Gibbons' longtime partner, a disabled veteran, passed away, she did what any surviving spouse might do: applied for the property-tax exemption reserved for veterans' surviving spouses. There was just one problem.
