Joined at a press conference by Senate President Steve Sweeney, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie today announced a bipartisan agreement to move forward the stalled nomination of Morris County resident Anne Paterson as an associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme court. On May 10, 2010, Governor Christie nominated Patterson, following through on his pledge to rebalance and set a new direction for the state’s highest court.
“I’m pleased that we’ve come together in a bipartisan way to bring an end to the impasse of the last year and move forward with the confirmation process for a much deserving and highly qualified nominee for the Supreme Court. In Anne Patterson, we have a future associate justice of the highest character, legal intellect and compassion, who I believe will serve the people of New Jersey extraordinarily well,” said Governor Christie. “As the confirmation process moves forward for Anne, I believe it is inevitable that the Senate reaches the same conclusion about her as I have. I want to thank Senate President Sweeney for being a willing partner in finding a path forward today on this nomination and for subsequent future nominations to the Supreme Court.”
Governor Christie will formally withdraw Anne Patterson’s nomination and resubmit it for the seat being vacated by Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto. Senate President Sweeney has agreed to move swiftly to afford Patterson a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and an up-or-down vote by the full Senate during the month of May. Upon her confirmation, for the first time, New Jersey would have a female majority on the Supreme Court, and become only the fifth state in America to have that distinction. Further as part of the agreement, the Senate President has agreed to provide the same expedited process in 2012, holding hearings for Governor Christie’s nominees in sufficient time to have them seated by March of 2012, if confirmed.
Anne Patterson, 52, is a partner with the law firm Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti, LLP, has received a rating of “highly qualified” from the New Jersey State Bar Association. There she practices primarily in the areas of product liability and commercial litigation in state and federal courts, class actions involving product liability and pharmaceutical pricing, intellectual property litigation, restrictive covenant litigation, closely held corporation litigation and appeals.
Patterson has been a member of the New Jersey bar for 27 years and has practiced before the state's Supreme Court, appellate and trial courts. In 1989 and 1990, Patterson served as a Deputy Attorney General and Special Assistant to then-New Jersey Attorney General Peter N. Perretti, Jr.
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