Crystal L. Cochren currently serves as an Assistant Deputy Public Defender with the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender where she provides legal advice and representation to clients who are indigent.  Ms. Cochren has earned a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate.  Ms. Cochren is an Individual Member of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts.  Locally, Ms. Cochren is a member of the Committee on Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement in the Essex Vicinage and the Equity and Fairness Subcommittee of the Model Court Committee, also in the Essex Vicinage.  Ms. Cochren has also been appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court Family Practice Committee and a District Ethics Committee.

Ms. Cochren was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey.  After graduating from University High School in Newark, Ms. Cochren attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Organizational Behavior and Management.  In addition to pursuing academic excellence at Brown, she was one of the seven charter members of the Mu Kappa chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated and served as the chapter’s first president.

Ms. Cochren received her Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law, in Newark, New Jersey.  While at Rutgers Law School, she was an Editor of the Rutgers Law Review, which published her student note entitled, “Liability for Prosecutorial Misdeeds:  Is Wright Right for New Jersey?” during her third year.

After receiving and answering her call from God to enter into ministry, Ms. Cochren earned a Master of Divinity degree from Drew University Theological School in Madison, New Jersey.

Ms. Cochren’s additional pursuits include sewing, quilting, paper crafting and baking.