She had been hired, then fired. Rehired – then fired again … from her summer job down the Shore at the Fantasy motel, which apparently was everything you would imagine the Fantasy motel down the Shore in the 80s would be.
Then came a truly awful job — cleaning crib mattresses that vacationers used before the glorious invention of the Pack N Play.
“I cleaned up the puke and the Cheerios from the cribs and strollers they rented,” she said.
All of this happened before Attorney General Jennifer Davenport reached her teen-age years. And all of this came out in the opening minutes of a wonderfully delightful fireside chat between Davenport and former Attorney General Chris Porrino — a moment that figures to be one of the highlights of the New Jersey State Bar Association conference currently going on at the Borgata in Atlantic City.
Davenport’s journey to her role is unique.
She may be the first attorney general in state history to have previously worked in the state’s attorney office and for the DEA. Perhaps the only one who had taken (and passed) the State Police exam. And she certainly is the only one who was working on the 9/11 investigation while going to law school.
Davenport talked about wanting to be fair and just in a way that felt more heartfelt than anything pulled from a 1L seminar class.
But it was the way she did it that made an impression on the audience of the 200 or so attorneys, many of whom were not familiar with her personal story.
Davenport was open and honest — and funny — about her obsession with detail and timelines as she was about her annoyance with paper straws. She talked about the challenges of being a working mom and the love she has for her father, despite his role as owner of the aforementioned motel. She shared her dream career: singing and dancing on stage, the product of a musical theater degree she once pined to have.
She was human and the crowd loved it. Such transparency, she told BINJE afterward, has been a key element of every job she’s had.
“It’s the most important characteristic you can have,” she said. “Because if you don’t have your credibility; you have nothing.
“That’s what you show up to court or to a meeting with. It’s not your ideas or your policy. If you’re real, people can trust you. We’re not always going to agree, but you’re always going to get the real answer from me.”
***
Here’s a truth: Becoming an attorney general was not part of Davenport’s career plans when she started at DeSales University.
She admitted she had an interest in criminal justice. That interest intensified when a professor who was a retired FBI agent brought in a former actor-turned-DEA agent for a guest lecture.
It sparked her interest in federal law enforcement — a path Porrino said made her the most qualified attorney general in state history. Her bio bears that out.
First job: She began working as a DEA intelligence analyst in Newark in 1998, specializing in analyzing phones, pagers and calling cards in a pre-internet world. The work brought her into regular contact with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and by watching federal prosecutors, she began to think seriously about becoming a lawyer and a prosecutor herself.
Law school: She had just started at Seton Hall Law — going at night while working full-time at DEA during the day — when 9/11 happened. She was detailed for about six months to what was then called the Pentagon Bomb Task Force, working alongside the FBI and U.S. Marshals to trace terrorist networks through phone records. She admits she barely made class, but she passed.
Clerking: She clerked for Chief Judge John Bissell in the District of New Jersey, gaining early exposure to the federal bench. It also provided her with the best career advice she ever got, but only grudgingly accepted: Go into private practice first; it will make you a better public servant, Bissell suggested.
Courtroom: She practiced at Latham & Watkins and Patton Boggs before returning to public service as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Trenton, where her career briefly intersected with now Gov. Mikie Sherrill. She later became Deputy Chief and then Chief of General Crimes.
More public sector: She left the courtroom to become DEA’s Division Counsel in New Jersey, advising agents and the division on legal issues arising from investigations and enforcement operations. She served more than four years as First Assistant Attorney General, effectively running the Department of Law and Public Safety during an especially intense period, including COVID and major reform efforts.
The big moment: She returned to the private sector, working in compliance at PSEG, when she was asked by Sherrill to return to public service as New Jersey’s Attorney General.
It was a call she wasn’t expecting. As Davenport told Porrino, being asked to serve as attorney general was “bananas” — a surreal, humbling moment after a career spent largely out of the spotlight.
***
Now she’s in the spotlight. Davenport is the top law enforcement agent in the state, one who promises to be “fair and just.” How you define that is complicated.
Davenport said it’s not just about win–loss records. Justice, she said, is measured by whether the result is fair for victims, defendants and the public — and that if her office focuses only on winning, it can lose sight of the right outcome.
She linked that directly to public safety.
New Jersey is already one of the safer states in the country, she said. Keeping it that way is a central goal. At the same time, she talked about racial disparities in the justice system and incarceration, and the need to examine why they exist and change policies and practices to reduce them while still protecting communities.
She also described how she views the Attorney General’s relationship with the federal government — contentious at times, but productive. Her biggest “win” so far, she said, was getting federal funding restored for the Gateway Tunnel.
There are times when New Jersey must sue the federal government, she said, but her office also works closely with federal partners on investigations involving guns, drugs and other threats that cross state lines.
Such as human trafficking.
Davenport talked about building a statewide effort with State Police, county prosecutors and others. And about the added risk that large events like the upcoming World Cup can bring. She said the focus is not only on prosecuting traffickers, but on identifying people who have been trafficked as victims and connecting them with services and support.
And her time in compliance at PSEG, she added, showed her how hard it can be to interpret government guidance. As Attorney General, Davenport said she wants clearer explanations of what the law requires and why, so people and institutions know what is expected and how to meet those obligations.
***
There was enough legalese to satisfy the audience.
But don’t be mistaken, the talk was pure theatre. It had as much ‘Legally Blonde’ and ‘My Cousin Vinny” comedy, as ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ perspective.
That’s what made it personal. That’s how Davenport made it personal.
Which brings us back to paper straws.
The question came in the lightning round: “So pet peeve or peeves, legal or otherwise. Lawyer or not …?” Porrino asked.
Davenport didn’t hesitate: “I hate paper straws,” she said. “I try to do my part as best I can for the environment, but they are useless.”
Porrino’s response landed the bit: “It’s a fair point.”
And a perfect way to sum up a fireside chat that served as both professional and personal profile of the attorney general.
