Listen to this articleThe basics:
- Cari Fais appointed magistrate judge for U.S. District Court of NJ
- Fills vacancy after Judge Cathy Waldor’s retirement
- Stepped down earlier this year as NJ Consumer Affairs director
- Served nine years as assistant U.S. attorney in NJ
After stepping down earlier this year as director of the state Division of Consumer Affairs, Cari Fais has been appointed to a full-time magistrate judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
In a Sept. 4 notice to the bar, the federal court said Fais fills a vacancy left in the wake of Magistrate Judge Cathy Waldor’s retirement.
Up until May, Fais led the DCA. After she was named acting director in May 2022, the state Senate confirmed Fais to the post in October 2024. At the time, making her the first Latina to oversee the state’s consumer protection agency.
Prior to that, Fais spent nine years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
The George Washington University and Columbia Law School alumna’s background also includes positions as a litigation associate at Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP, law clerk for Chief Judge Michael Chagares of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and litigation associate at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.
Before attending law school, Fais was a victim advocate at nonprofit Womanspace and at the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
Looking back
After an informal swearing in earlier this month, Fais assumed her duties in the Frank R. Lautenberg U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in Newark. A formal investiture ceremony will take place at a later date, according to the federal court.
When the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office announced Fais’ departure last spring, it said she was leaving “for an opportunity outside of the Department of Law and Public Safety.” Additionally, the office named Bureau of Securities Chief Elizabeth Harris as acting director of the DCA.
[Cari Fais praised as] an indispensable partner in carrying out our Department’s consumer protection work.
– Attorney General Matthew Platkin
Under Fais’ leadership, the DCA took action against social media companies for conduct that it said harms New Jersey’s children, obtained settlements against corporations that failed to safeguard consumers’ personal data and secured reforms from technology companies that misrepresented their data privacy and security practices, according to the AG’s office.
The agency also used its enforcement powers to halt predatory lending practices, protect elderly investors from securities fraud and financial exploitation, and hold national discount retail chains accountable for targeting underserved communities with deceptive business practices.
In a statement at the time, Attorney General Matthew Platkin praised Fais as “an indispensable partner in carrying out our Department’s consumer protection work.” He went on to say, “We will miss her steady hand and leadership, and I am grateful for her outstanding service to our state.”
