Still early in her career and already a partner at the prestigious firm of Fox Rothschild, Eliana Baer has emerged as one of New Jersey's leading young divorce lawyers. Indeed, it's been a remarkably fast ascent for Baer, who joined Fox Rothschild while in law school as a summer associate. In less than a decade, she made the transition from subordinate to supervising attorney, a tricky task for any young lawyer, especially for female attorneys facing the classic challenging demands of balancing time for both their career and their family. But peers say that Baer has successfully navigated it, if not seamlessly, then certainly with a characteristic maturity and poise.

Consider also that Baer, who married while in law school, is a mother of two. For Baer, there's a straightforward explanation for all the early accomplishment: "I have three brothers, and my parents always taught me to never expect to be treated differently." It also helped that her modern Orthodox Jewish family

encouraged high achievement and had a strong sense of social justice; her father, Daniel Baer, enjoyed a long career in the New Jersey public defender's office. "His values as a lawyer were always to be candid, honest, and to have integrity. That all set an example or me." (Her mother is a retired nurse; two of her brothers are medical doctors.)

Growing up in Teaneck, Baer bussed down the Turnpike to the all-girls Bruriah High School in Elizabeth, in Union County, and later graduated at the top of her class from Stern College, the women's college affiliated with Yeshiva University in Manhattan. She majored in political science with a focus on Middle Eastern affairs, with law school "always in the back of my mind." With some determination - "career counselors would discourage the legal profession, classifying it as too demanding for women" - yet Baer still applied to law school.

After her second year at Seton Hall Law, Baer accepted a summer position at Fox Rothschild, and while there, worked with Mark Z. Segal, the widely respected divorce lawyer in the firm's Lawrenceville office; "Mark immediately had confidence in me, and trusted my work," says Baer today. Segal's approach to the practice appealed to Baer immediately: "He cared about his clients, gave them a hug when he saw them, and everything he did was based on trust: his word was his bond. You just can't say that about some lawyers today."

Baer also grew to appreciate matrimonial law as "a balance between the human and legal sides of the profession." For many new lawyers it would be easy to get lost in an 800-attorney national firm, but Baer took on responsibility quickly at Fox Rothschild, while gaining early litigation experience. "I consider myself a litigator today - I'm in court regularly. What we do is certainly not for the faint of heart."

Clients will find her focused and attentive, and like many good lawyers, comfortable with addressing complex issues. It is expected that Baer's profile will continue to rise in the years ahead, especially in the firm's 30- lawyer (and multi-state) family-law department: "Fox Rothschild has a great culture - the firm maintains first-class standards and is progressive with women's issues in general. I think that makes our firm unique; - I would not want to work anywhere else."

Away from the office, Baer is focused on her family (her husband owns a software company based in Linden) and she is an enthusiastic runner and hiker, getting outdoors often. She says: "I like to remind my sons to have a sense of adventure."