Get to know members of the NJAJ Women Trial Lawyers Caucus. 

Candice E. Iheme, Esq. is a first-generation American. In 2015, while in college, she began working for a Fortune 500 insurance company. She spent summers and winters there, transitioning full-time and eventually leaving the company in 2018 to begin law school.  Ms. Iheme graduated cum laude from Rutgers University-New Brunswick, with a Bachelors in Economics (minor in Psychology).  She attended Rutgers Law School in Newark. While there, she served as a Graduate Resident Assistant, Chair of the Moot Court Board, a LexisNexis Research Assistant, and as a Clinical Law Student with the Rutgers Education and Health Law Clinic.

Ms. Iheme graduated with over 600 pro bono hours. She also completed internships at the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and in the Superior Court- Criminal Division. She was selected as the 2021 Commencement Speaker at Rutgers Law School in Newark and awarded for excellence in work on behalf of women and children. She graduated with two offers, one for a clerkship at the Essex County Superior Court in the Criminal Division. The second at an AMLaw100 Firm, to serve in its Litigation Department. Subsequently, she joined a smaller boutique firm in personal injury. In 2024, she began her own firm, practicing in New Jersey and New York, handling personal injury, civil rights, and criminal defense cases.

Q: What year did you join NJAJ?
A: 2024 but a former colleague was a member, so I found out about NJAJ in 2023.

Q: Why did you join NJAJ?
A: Because I wanted to join an organization dedicated to personal injury practice and there were so many learning opportunities available.

Q: Why did you become involved in the WTLC?
A: One of the tough things about being a solo is not having a lot of other lawyers to bounce ideas off of. The WTLC has been so helpful in providing guidance, feedback and advice on tough or wonky cases.

Q: Why did you become a lawyer?
A: While working at a Fortune 500 insurance company, they rolled out “recorded statements” where we adjusters were incentivized to make BI offers to pro se claimants and to get them to do a recorded release of all future claims. I was lauded for closing out so many cases (I grew up working in sales), but started doing more research and realized that indigent people were accepting minuscule offers like $2000 when they were zero tort cases and they could have gotten much more. Of course, we were not allowed to tell people to get attorneys, and once the case was settled, all contact with those people ceased. I began studying for the LSAT not long after the recorded statement roll out happened.

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: Hang out with my husband and dog. I am slowly getting back into reading mystery novels. I love bingeing shows (currently watching Severance) and I love the spa!

Q: Who are your personal heroes? Why did you choose them?
A: My parents. Both of them immigrated from Nigeria and sacrificed so much so that we could have a better life. I would not be the woman I am without them. My late father was a civil engineer and my mom is a certified public accountant. Their work ethic inspires me so much and I work my hardest because in everything that I do, I remember how much they sacrificed for me to be where I am.

Fav Quote:  “You have to be odd to be number one” - Dr. Seuss