Anne C. Singer, former assistant U.S. attorney, devoted public advocate, and author, has died at 77

Anne C. Singer, 77, of Cherry Hill, former assistant U.S. attorney, dedicated New Jersey public advocate, ethics jurist, author, and world traveler, died Monday, Sept. 26, of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at her home.

Ms. Singer was an outspoken expert on many legal issues, and her family noted in a tribute that her “highly engaged, educated, and unwavering point of view” made a difference in the lives of many. “There was never a political or legal discussion she shied away from,” her family said.

Determined that indigent and mentally ill defendants had capable courtroom representation, Ms. Singer engaged in and improved the framework that connects defendants with qualified attorneys. She spent 1974 to 1978 as a public advocate in New Jersey’s Office of the Public Defender, was a longtime member of the Criminal Justice Act panel that provides private lawyers for federal criminal proceedings, and handled many such cases herself as a private attorney.

Her husband, David Berengut, said Ms. Singer’s empathy for others and devotion to justice led her to look beyond a person’s background and circumstances. “She found some humanity in everybody,” he said.

She was also serious about maintaining professional standards and served on an attorney ethics committee for Burlington County and on an advisory ethics committee and the disciplinary review board for the Supreme Court of New Jersey. She was an assistant U.S. attorney in Newark from 1978 to 1990, worked for several large firms afterward, and founded her own practice later in Haddonfield.

As a writer and editor, she published Mental Health Law in New Jersey: Theory and Practice in 1981 and was on the board and wrote editorials for the New Jersey Law Journal. Members of the Law Journal board called her a “bright light” in a tribute and applauded her “powerful voice for ethics and justice in law and society.”

She served as the first female editor-in-chief of the Law Review at the University of Cincinnati in 1972 and ’73, and her written legal opinions drew praise from judges and other attorneys. She was active with the Institute for Continuing Legal Education and chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s criminal law section in 1994 and ‘95.

She spoke out against capital punishment and supported women’s rights and the separation of church and state. She mentored other attorneys, and, showing the compassion that drove her daily, invited former prisoners and struggling clients to her home for dinner and fellowship.

“The law was not just her vocation,” her husband said. “It was her avocation, too.”

Born Oct. 26, 1944, in New York, Anne Carol Rosenzweig grew up in White Plains, N.Y. She cleaned nearby stables as a young girl so she could ride the horses and rode as much as she could for the rest of her life.

Both her parents were lawyers, and she, interested in mental health issues, graduated from the University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in microbiology in 1966 and the University of Alabama with a master’s degree in biology in 1969.

She added her law degree from Cincinnati in 1973 and clerked for Judge Robert Clifford of New Jersey’s Supreme Court in 1973 and ‘74. She married Richard Singer after college, and they had daughters Laurel and Karyn. After a divorce, she married Berengut in 2002.

Ms. Singer embraced travel and made memorable journeys with her husband and others to South Africa, Switzerland, Italy, Peru, and elsewhere. She was a welcoming hostess, liked to negotiate with vendors at street markets, collected coupons, and filled her home with art from around the world.

She liked to cook and ski, bought lots of books for her grandchildren, and left daily to-do lists for her husband. When her family members needed a pick-me-up, they routinely told each other: “I’d love me some Anne Singer.”

She was diagnosed with ALS in 2021 and, not wanting to lose her contributions, colleagues on committees and panels accommodated her by meeting online. In a tribute, coworkers recalled Ms. Singer’s intellect, smile, wit, and dedication. “But most of all,” one said, “we will miss her kindness for all.”

In addition to her husband, daughters, and former husband, Ms. Singer is survived by three grandchildren, one brother, and other relatives.

Services were Sept. 29.

Donations in her name may be made to the ALS Association, 1300 Wilson Blvd., Suite 600, Arlington, Va. 22209, and the ALS Hope Foundation, P.O. Box 40777, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107.