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Justice John E. Wallace, Jr.

Justice Wallace was nominated by Governor James E. McGreevey on April 12, 2003 to serve on the Supreme Court. He was confirmed by the Senate on May 19, 2003 and was sworn in as an Associate Justice by Chief Justice Deborah T. Poritz at a private ceremony on May 20, 2003. On June 4, 2003, he reaffirmed the oath of office in a public ceremony at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey.

At the time of his nomination, Justice Wallace was a New Jersey Superior Court Judge, sitting in the Appellate Division. Appointed to the Superior Court in 1984, Justice Wallace was promoted to the Appellate Division in 1992. As a trial judge, Justice Wallace sat in Criminal and Civil Divisions, as well as the Family Part, in the Gloucester County vicinage.

Prior to being appointed to the New Jersey Superior Court, Justice Wallace was a partner in the law firm of Atkinson, Myers, Archie & Wallace. During that time he also served as the Municipal Judge for Washington Township in Gloucester County. He was also an Associate at the Philadelphia law firm of Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhodes, and an attorney for the Trustees of the Penn Central Transportation Co.

Justice Wallace was born in 1942 in Pitman, New Jersey. He received his B.A. from the University of Delaware in 1964 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1967. Justice Wallace served in the United States Army from 1968 to 1970, attaining the rank of Captain.

Justice Wallace is a member of the Gloucester and Camden County Bar Associations, the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the New Jersey State Bar Association, and the Garden State Bar Association. He has also served on the New Jersey Supreme Court Task Force for Minority Concerns, the New Jersey Ethics Commission, the Judiciary Advisory Committee on Americans with Disabilities Act, the Supreme Court Special Committee on Matrimonial Litigation, and the Appellate Division Rules Committee, and was the Chairman of the Supreme Court Ad Hoc Committee on Admissions.

Justice Wallace has received numerous honors from respected civic and legal organizations, including the Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey (2001); the Orient of New Jersey Dedicated Service Award from the Valley of Camden (2000); the Washington Township Board of Education Appreciation Award (2000); and the Van J. Clinton award from the Garden State Bar Association (2002).

Justice Wallace has also coached Little League Baseball since 1970, and for the last 12 years has volunteered on the football coaching staff at Washington Township High School.

Justice Wallace currently resides in Sewell, with his wife Barbara. The couple has five children.