The New Jersey State Bar Association Board of Trustees approved revisions to the manual that guides the association’s Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee (JPAC) at their meeting on April 20.
The revisions largely address changes made when Gov. Phil Murphy signed the Hughes Compact in March, continuing the non-partisan role the NJSBA has played in reviewing candidates for bench and prosecutors’ positions across the state. The new compact restores a significant role for county bars, outlined in the Compact itself, as part of the confidential candidate review process. It also adds three seats to be designated for members from underrepresented groups in the legal profession.
In other business, the trustees approved James Newman to serve in the Monmouth County seat on the Board of Trustees that is being vacated in May when Timothy McGoughran is sworn in as secretary. Newman is a former president of the Monmouth County Bar Association.
In addition, Glennon Troublefield will be representing the association at the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates. He takes over the seat from former NJSBA President and current New Jersey State Bar Foundation President Lynn Newsome, who is the first woman from New Jersey to join the ABA’s Board of Governors.
Newsome is among several trustees whose terms will expire in May, and the board took time to recognize all of them at the meeting. In addition to Newsome, they are: Supti Bhattacharya, Anthony M. Carlino, Shanna McCann, Michael L. Testa Jr., Marisa B. Trofimov and Ronald J. Uzdavinis.
The trustees also appointed Mikeisha Anderson Jones to the New Jersey State Bar Foundation’s board. They also reappointed several people to serve on the board of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. They are: Kelly Ann Bird, Norberto A. Garcia, Ralph J. Lamparello, Thomas J. Manzo, Brian J. Neary and Kenneth Sharperson.
In other board business, the trustees voted to submit comments on several Supreme Court reports, renew USI as the association’s member benefit program and approved an agreement to provide association members with discounts on new and leased Audis.