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Valerie W. Haynes has practiced law in New Jersey for over 26 years, and is currently Of Counsel to the Muscente Law Office in Allentown, New Jersey. Ms. Haynes served as a Deputy Attorney General for the State of New Jersey for almost twenty years, retiring in July 2009 as a Senior Deputy Attorney General assigned to the Division of Law, Environmental Permitting and Counseling Group.
At the time of her retirement, Ms. Haynes was completing her eleventh year as Counsel to the New Jersey Pinelands Commission, an independent state agency regulating development in over one million acres spread through seven counties in southern New Jersey. She also served as counsel to the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, a regional agency regulating land use on over 21,000 environmentally sensitive acres in Bergen and Hudson counties in northeastern New Jersey. Early in her tenure at the Division of Law Ms. Haynes was assigned to the Environmental Enforcement Section, where she represented the Department of Environmental Protection on matters involving enforcement of numerous environmental laws, primarily the Water Pollution Control Act, the Solid Waste Management Act, and various land use statutes including the Coastal Area Facilities Act, the Waterfront Development Act, and the Flood Hazard Act, among others.
As counsel to the Pinelands Commission, Ms. Haynes represented the agency in numerous matters in the Superior Court of New Jersey and the Federal District Court, as well as advising the Commission on matters heard by the Office of Administrative Law. She also counseled the agency on all matters within its jurisdiction, reviewed contracts, oversaw outside labor counsel and served as the Commission's principal legal advisor.
Ms. Haynes' work with the Meadowlands Commission included representation of the Commission in its capacity as a redevelopment agency, including serving as the Commission's advisor on a major brownfields redevelopment project involving the acquisition and closure of three orphan landfills. In that capacity she oversaw the work of outside counsel, including some of the largest and most prestigious firms in New Jersey. Other work for the Commission dealt with matters arising from the Commission's role in operating and regulating solid waste operations within the Meadowlands District and representing the Commission in numerous land use matters in the Office of Administrative Law.
Ms. Haynes has extensive experience as an appellate advocate, and has argued cases in the Supreme Court of New Jersey and the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey, as well as numerous motions in the Federal District Court, the trial divisions of the Superior Court of New Jersey and the Office of Administrative Law.
Prior to her tenure as a Deputy Attorney General, Ms. Haynes was employed at the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey and was an Associate in the law offices of Michael A. Pane (Hightstown) and Bennett E. Bozarth (Delran).
Currently, Ms. Haynes is serving as Vice Chair of the Consolidation and Shared Services Study Commission established by Princeton Borough and Princeton Township. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of Princeton Community Housing (PCH), a non-profit that develops, manages and advocates for affordable housing in the Princeton Community. PCH owns and manages 463 rental units in Princeton.
Ms. Haynes attended Michigan State University and Temple University and received her B. A. from Thomas Edison State College in 1976. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers School of Law - Camden in 1984 and was admitted to the bar of the State of New Jersey in 1984.