The Bergen County Bar Association’s Board of Trustees and Professionalism in the Law Committee are pleased to bestow the 2025 Honorable Peter Ciolino Professional Lawyer of the Year Award to Jessica A. Gomperts, Esq.
Jessica A. Gomperts served as an Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor from September 2000 until retiring on January 1, 2024. During her tenure, she worked in the Appellate, Juvenile, Grand Jury, and Trial Sections of the Office. In January 2011, she was assigned to the Domestic Violence Squad and, in 2013, was appointed its Chief. When Ms. Gomperts retired, she had held that position for 11 years, making her the longest-serving Domestic Violence Chief in the Office’s history.
Ms. Gomperts obtained her law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, with a double major in psychology and philosophy and a minor in ethics and public policy. Before employment at the Office of the Bergen County Prosecutor, she was a law clerk to Justice Virginia Long, first in the Appellate Division in 1998-1999, and then in the Supreme Court in 1999-2000. During her 23+ years at the Office of the Bergen County Prosecutor, Ms. Gomperts handled literally thousands of cases, including attempted murder, aggravated sexual assault, interference with custody, kidnapping, aggravated assault, child sexual abuse and exploitation, etc.
Ms. Gomperts is a frequent lecturer on the topics of domestic violence and dating violence; sexual assault and abuse; elder abuse; intimate partner violence in the LGBTQ community; arrest, search, and seizure; courtroom testimony; and constitutional law. She is both a New Jersey Office of Continuing Legal Education and Police Training Commission-certified instructor and has taught extensively to police officers, attorneys, judges, and students from middle school through college. While at the BCPO, she served as the Domestic Violence Legal Advisor to all 72 municipal police departments in Bergen County. Ms. Gomperts was a lead instructor at the Bergen County Law and Public Safety Institute (Police Academy) for 15 years, teaching both the week-long Arrest, Search, and Seizure class and the Domestic Violence class. Ms. Gomperts has served as a trustee on the Bergen County Bar Association Board of Trustees since 2020.
Ms. Gomperts co-chaired the Bergen County Domestic Violence Working Group and served on the Statewide County Domestic Violence Liaison Working Group. Ms. Gomperts has taught innumerable Continuing Legal Education classes on domestic violence at the Attorney General’s Office Annual Domestic Violence Symposium, the County Prosecutor’s Association Annual College, the New Jersey State Bar Association Annual Meeting, the New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk Seminar, the New Jersey Association for Justice Meadowlands Seminar, the Bergen County Bar Association, and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
In 2023, Ms. Gomperts received the Gladiator Award from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, which recognizes an assistant prosecutor or detective who has “demonstrated extraordinary commitment and zeal to ensure that the criminal justice system treats victims with compassion and dignity during the prosecution process.” In 2022, she received the Law Enforcement Hero award from the Center for Hope and Safety, which recognizes a “committed, impassioned and steadfast advocate” for victims and survivors of domestic violence.
Ms. Gomperts will receive the award on Thursday, November 6, 2025, at the Annual Professionalism Dinner at Seasons, in the Township of Washington.