TRENTON – Governor Phil Murphy today announced his intention to renominate Associate Justice Anne M. Patterson to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

“Today, I am pleased to uphold the practice of reappointing good, fair-minded and qualified justices, regardless of their party affiliation, to our New Jersey Supreme Court. This is a critical tenet of an independent judiciary that I fully intend to fulfill,” said Governor Murphy. “Justice Patterson meets all of the prerequisites, and I am certain she will continue to serve the court and the residents of New Jersey with honor and integrity.”

“We are gratified that Governor Murphy intends to renominate Justice Anne Patterson for our New Jersey Supreme Court and, in doing so, has restored a 60-year tradition that respects the independence of our courts, as the framers of our 1947 Constitution clearly intended,” said New Jersey State Bar President John E. Keefe Jr. “For the past seven years, Justice Patterson has been an exemplary jurist and legal scholar.  She has authored numerous opinions and demonstrated a keen intellect, fairness, integrity and a strong and even-handed application of the law.  We look forward to her continued service to the people of our state.”

Justice Patterson originally was nominated by Governor Christie and was confirmed by the Senate and officially sworn in on September 1, 2011.

She is a magna cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and is a graduate of Cornell Law School. Justice Patterson was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1983.

A former associate of the law firm Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland Perretti LLP, she served as a deputy attorney general and special assistant to New Jersey Attorney General Peter N. Perretti, Jr. She rejoined Riker Danzig, becoming a partner in the firm in 1992 where her practice focused on product liability, intellectual property and commercial litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts.

Justice Patterson has served in several capacities, including as Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association Product Liability and Toxic Tort Section, as an officer and trustee of the Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey, a trustee of the Trial Attorneys of New Jersey and served on the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Character.

She was awarded the William A. Dreier Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Product Liability and Toxic Tort Law and the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism’s Professional Lawyer of the Year Award. Justice Patterson was elected to the New Jersey Fellows of the America Bar Foundation in 2011 and is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at Cornell Law School.