Faculty Profile (Back to Menu)

Hon. Deborah T. Poritz

Visiting Jurist Emerita-in-Residence

The Honorable Deborah T. Poritz retired in 2006 as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey after 10 years in the position. Her many accomplishments on the bench included supervising the unification of the court system after state funding was implemented and increasing the diversity of the judiciary workforce. 

Justice Poritz is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. On graduation, she joined the office of the New Jersey Attorney General as a Deputy Attorney General in the Division of Law, Environmental Protection Section. She later was named Deputy Attorney General in charge of appeals and chief of the Banking, Insurance and Public Securities Section, and subsequently served as Assistant Attorney General and Director of the Division of Law. Chief Justice Poritz was appointed chief counsel to Gov. Thomas H. Kean. When he left office, she became a partner at the law firm of Jamieson, Moore, Peskin & Spicer where she remained until her appointment as New Jersey’s first woman Attorney General. On July 10, 1996, she took the oath of office as the first woman Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Chief Justice Poritz was appointed Visiting Jurist Emerita-in-Residence at Rutgers School of Law–Newark and Rutgers School of Law–Camden. Beginning with the Fall 2010 semester at Rutgers–Newark, she will teach courses on the New Jersey Supreme Court in alternating semesters at the two schools. She also will deliver special lectures, consult with faculty on areas of common scholarship, and complete a book on the importance of state courts.