Nicole DiGiacomo recently opened the doors to her own law practice in New City, NY, where she practices family law and domestic relations.
This new chapter of her career follows her service as a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Rockland County where she worked since 2017.
“A former teacher recently asked me to come to speak to his class as a female entrepreneur for Women’s history month,” Nicole says. “I was like, ‘Wow, I am one, aren’t I?’ It’s pretty cool.”
A criminal justice class in high school piqued Nicole’s interest in law and she knew then and there that she would pursue it as a career. She chose philosophy as her major on the pre-law track at St. Thomas Aquinas College.
“I think it was a good foundation because philosophy is all about learning how to think deeply and question everything, two very important skills in the law,” she says, adding that she was fully supported in achieving her goals by faculty members like Dr. Ellen Chayet and Dr. Staci Shultz. “They both made me feel that they believed in me and my goals and were willing to do anything to help me get there.” Nicole says she also benefitted from STAC’s law courses, like Constitutional Law and Criminal Law, that are taught by practicing professionals.
A two-year accelerated program with Pace Law School made it possible for Nicole to earn both her bachelor’s degree and her Juris Doctorate in just five years.
Currently, she is a member of the Rockland County Bar Association and a team member of the Rockland County Family Treatment Court. Aside from getting settled into her new office and teaching as an adjunct at Rockland Community College, Nicole spends most of her time in the courtroom. One of her favorite parts of the job is representing children.
“Often the children are in a hard place and your goal is to be there for them and have their voices heard even when they aren’t present in the courtroom,” she explains. “The most fulfilling cases are usually adoptions. They’re the happy endings to difficult cases.”
Nicole grew up in Nanuet down the block from her grandparents and says she had a “great childhood.” Her younger brother Alex is her best friend, next to her puppy named Moose, a “Pointador”—a mix between Labrador Retriever and a German Pointer. She is currently reading the Harry Potter series and, in her spare time, enjoys listening to the music of her favorite band, Taking Back Sunday, and watching the show, “One Tree Hill.”
Nicole’s advice to today’s students? “Make connections in the working world, don’t be afraid to switch paths, and if you want to continue your education, just go for it!”