Profile: Carnevale ’06 Builds Her Profession and Community

Proud to call herself a “neighborhood attorney,” Alisandra Carnevale ’06 manages her own firm in a building she owns on Main Street in historic Pennington, N.J. Her focus is on family law, real estate, wills, and municipal court representation in traffic and criminal violations.

“You get to see people through their lifetime, sometimes generations,” she says. “It is the best way that I can serve the community by taking an interdisciplinary approach.”

Community and family have always been strong values for Carnevale, who grew up in Princeton, where more than 50 years ago, her father, aunt, and grandparents emigrated from Pettoranello, Italy, Princeton’s sister city.

A member of the board of Pennington Business and Professional Association for five years and current secretary, she has helped the organization grow from a small core to more than 100 members. She is also a Conflict Public Defender for Hopewell Township.

A singer and performer, she was a member of Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers as an undergraduate, and is now in her church choir. She is a volunteer acting coach at her alma mater, Villa Victoria Academy, where she starred in many productions.

Carnevale’s ties to Pettoranello became the basis for her honors thesis in history and anthropology & sociology. The project combined her interests in folklore, Italian culture and religion, and her heritage.

With a J.D. from Pace University, Carnevale says that her mock trial team experience was invaluable preparation for law school. “It’s law but also a kind of theater—learning how to impeach a witness, preparing a witness for direct and cross examination, building a case, and working with peers as co-counsels.”

“Lafayette creates people who are well-rounded, not afraid to accept challenges or go out on their own. Every experience you have, even if it seems unrelated to your future career, informs you as a person and how you can better serve others.”

Besides helping strengthen her local community, she also is involved in building Lafayette connections in her area through hosting Lafayette–Lehigh game telecast parties and Wine 3/9.

“Sometimes the best things are right in your backyard. Look on your own main street, and you’ll find everything you need.”

—Sharon Sanders