Cari Fais serves as the Acting Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs, pending confirmation by the State Senate. As Acting Director, Fais leads a civil law enforcement and regulatory agency of almost 500 employees charged with protecting the safety and well-being of New Jersey residents. The Division pursues this mission through its 51 professional and occupational boards that oversee over 750,000 licensed professionals in the state, its Regulated Business Section that oversees 60,000 registered businesses, and through its Office of Consumer Protection, Bureau of Securities, Charities Section, Office of Weights and Measures, and Legalized Games of Chance Section.
Before assuming leadership of the Division, Fais was Chief of the Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where she directed criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions against corporations, executives, doctors, pharmacies, and others for the diversion of opioids, health care fraud, kickbacks, and the sale of misbranded drugs. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Fais investigated and prosecuted a variety of cases, including sophisticated frauds, crimes against the United States, and violent crimes.
Fais previously worked as a litigation associate at Friedman Kaplan Seiler Adelman & Robbins LLP and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. Her practice focused on commercial litigation, internal investigations, and white collar defense. She also served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Michael A. Chagares of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Newark.
Prior to attending law school, Fais was a victim advocate at Womanspace and at the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, where she launched a program to provide services for domestic violence victims in Trenton Municipal Court. Fais received her B.A.,
summa cum laude, from George Washington University, and received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Notes Editor on the Columbia Law Review and served on the board of the Latinx Law Students Association.
