Amy Sara Cores, Esq. graduated from Florida State University (FSU) with a B.A. in History and a minor in Music. Amy is a classically trained cellist and also plays the guitar and sings. After focusing on music performance for many years, she was inspired after hearing a lecture by Elie Wiesel. She applied to the Master’s Degree program at FSU to concentrate her studies on Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust.
During her graduate studies at FSU,she worked with several highly respected professors. Her research focused on Jewish armed resistance in clandestine organizations. Her thesis entitled “Jews in the Armia Krajowa” provides a contrary perspective of the ability of Jews to rise up against the Final Solution. Specifically, Amy was able to interview several former members of the Armia Krajowa (then residing in Israel) who related their personal history and experiences to her.
Prior to completing her Ph.D.,Amy decided to relocate and pursue a career in the law. She attended law school at Rutgers-Camden School of Law (Camlaw). After graduating from Camlaw, Amy accepted a judicial clerkship with the Hon. E. Benn Micheletti, J.S.C., Monmouth County. In 2012, Amyestablished Cores & Associates, L.L.C. located in Howell, New Jersey. Her peers regularly referredher the most complex and high conflict litigation cases all over New Jersey.
Amy was an active participant in state and local bar associations. She was honored to receive the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) Young Lawyer of the Year Award in 2009. She was selected for inclusion in the Rising Star Super Lawyers each year from 2008-2013. She was selected as a Super Lawyer each year from 2014 to present. In 2015, she was featured in the Super Lawyer’s Magazine.
She is also an experienced appellate attorney. Amy has three published decisions and dozens of unpublished decisions with the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division. She has also made applications to both the United States Supreme Court and New Jersey Supreme Court. Amy also served on the amicus committee for both the state chapter and national American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.In the 2024 case Moschella v. Hackensack Meridian, a case that she lost at the appellate division overturned the New Jersey Supreme Court and her arguments ultimately prevailed.
Amy successfully represented a parent whose child had been kidnapped from Turkey in the published decision of F.H.U. v. A.C.U. in 2012. This is the first appellate division decision in New Jersey which directly addresses the application of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Moreover, the case holds that despite a finding that a child is well settled in his new location the child can be returned to his home state in furtherance of the policy of the Convention. This landmark case was handled pro bono. This case has been cited to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Amy is licensed to practice in federal court in the Supreme Court of the United States, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the Federal District Court for the District of New Jersey. She is also a member of the bar in New Jersey, New York, and Tennessee.
She was Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney (2010-2026). She was certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in Family Trial Law in 2016. Amy is also a Fellow of the prestigious American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and a former Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers.
In 2021, Amy ended her litigation practice. After many years of handling high conflict matters, countless trials and evidentiary hearings, and dozens of appeals, Amy now brings that expertise to other lawyers by providing them with private coaching, ghost writing of pleadings and appeals, and strategic litigation planning. She accepts only a limited number ofclients at a time.
In 2022, Amy received her second Master’s Degree, with honors, in Music Business from the prestigious Berklee College of Music. She returned to law school in 2022, to pursue an LLM in Intellectual Property Law. Her focus is on music and entertainment law, along with the law relating to privacy, blockchain, AI (artificial intelligence) and other cutting edge legal issues.
In 2023, she opened MadJam Music & Entertainment Law, LLC. Amy brings the same personalized and client focused approach to her artistic clients that she has done for her litigation clients over the last 20 years.Amy is focused on providing legal services to musicians, artists, authors, independent record labels, small businesses, and others that simply cannot afford the large firm lawyers. She also provides years of business experience in coaching up and coming artists to protect their rights and get paid. The firm also does general IP work in trademark prosecution, chain of title searches, licenses, recording contracts, copyright registration and terminations, and other related matters. In addition, Amy continues to consult on international child abduction cases and work with lawyers who are seeking to close their firm or retire.
Amy is married and resides in Monmouth County with her husband and children. You can catch her on nice days riding her Harley Davidson and on other days putting googly eyes around town with her son. Her daughter is currently attending Berklee College of Music.
