Eleven nominees to the New Jersey Superior Court passed the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, the majority of whom are headed to hard-hit Essex County, where there are currently nine vacant seats.

The committee convened Thursday for the first time since June to advance the nominations of the 11 nominees to the Superior Court, along with considering a number of bills and other confirmations. Meanwhile, the Superior Court vacancies have risen to 67 in that time. If all nominees are approved in a Senate floor vote on Monday that number will fall to 56.

New Jersey State Bar Association President Tim McGoughran commended the state Senate for providing its advice and consent on a highly qualified group of judicial candidates in a statement emailed to the Law Journal.

“Today, the Superior Court has gained 11 exceptional individuals who are prepared to serve the residents of New Jersey fairly and impartially as judges,” McGoughran said. “Their appointments represent an important step in filling the troubling number of vacancies in the Judiciary and restoring it to an equal co-branch of government.”

Here are short bios on the nominees:

Anthony J. Parenti Jr.

Parenti was the first Superior Court nominee to appear before the committee. He is slated to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Judge Karen M. Cassidy in Union County. Before Thursday’s nominations cleared committee, Union was tied with Bergen and Essex for the most vacant seats at nine. He attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers Law School.

“This is an exciting day, I think, for New Jersey,” Sen. Jon M. Bramnick said. “I am a big fan of experience, and you have plenty of it. Police officer, assistant prosecutor, but most importantly, someone with judgment who, when they do make a decision, they can call upon their experience in law enforcement.”

Bramnick said that he spoke with many lawyers who practice criminal defense work and prosecutors who have watched Parenti prosecute, and who confirmed that Parenti is a man of integrity. The senator called the nominee someone from law enforcement who is balanced, smart and experienced.

Wendy A. Reek

Next considered by the committee was Wendy A. Reek, a partner with Leary, Bride, Mergner & Bongiovanni who specialized in insurance defense litigation. Reek will succeed Judge Kathy C. Qasim in Somerset County, which stands at five vacant seats on the bench.

Reek has been practicing for 31 years and formerly served as a deputy attorney general at the Division of Law and Public Safety. She attended Douglass College of Rutgers University and received her law degree from Widener University School of Law and gave special thanks to the Hispanic Bar Association for their endorsement of her nomination to the Governor’s Office in both 2016 and 2018.

“It is extremely humbling for me to be here today,” Reek said. “I do not have a legal legacy to follow or draw upon. I am the only lawyer in my family, immediate and extended. My brother and I were raised in a modest economic environment by parents who worked extremely hard to provide the lifestyle that we had. From them, I learned that I could achieve my goals, whatever they may be, with hard work and good moral character.”

Raquel Vallejo

Vallejo is a partner with Weinberger Divorce & Family Law Group and was nominated to replace Theresa E. Mullen in Union County. Sen. President Nicholas P. Scutari introduced Vallejo and shared that she is a certified matrimonial attorney with experience who is ready for the bench on day one.

Vallejo shared an emotional statement with the committee on how proud she is to be a Peruvian immigrant, raised by a single mother who taught her the value of education, hard work, perseverance and determination.

“Thanks to her sacrifices, I am living proof that the American dream is attainable,” Vallejo said. “And what makes today even more special is to have my 90-year-old mother here in the audience as a witness to this hearing and as a testament to her faith.”

Kelly A. Waters

Waters also appeared before the committee to fill a Union County vacancy left by the retirement of Judge Stuart L. Peim. Waters practices in product liability, is a partner in the New York office of Wood Smith Henning & Berman, and the firm’s managing partner in New Jersey. She attended Rutgers University and holds a law degree from New York Law School.

Scutari noted that Waters is a municipal court judge in Union and Scotch Plains and that she is a strong civil litigator, and comes completely ready for the job.

“While my resume and judicial application reveal the timeline of my professional career in the public and private sector, what is not evident is that the 12-year-old inside of me is jumping for joy,” Waters said.

“We know this process takes a lot of time,” Bramnick said. “We know that it is important that we have judges, and that we have vacancies. But I have to tell you, when you listen to the testimony of the people today, this process works. Some of the finest lawyers are now members of the bench. I understand the concerns, but my hat is off to both sides of the aisle for making sure that the people who get on the bench are just like Kelly Waters.”

Kevin P. Barry

Barry, a solo in Clifton and a certified criminal trial attorney, was nominated to replace retired Judge Sallyanne Floria in Essex County. Barry previously served in the Office of the Public Defender and with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. He attended New England School of Law and Rutgers College.

John E. Bruder

Bruder was nominated to succeed retired Judge Anthony F. Picheca Jr. in Somerset County. Bruder shared that he has experience representing a broad array of clients. He has served as an assistant prosecutor in Middlesex County for five years, represented indigent clients as a pool attorney in Monmouth and Ocean counties, civil plaintiffs in medical malpractice and personal injury cases, and even defended large electrical utility companies.

“If I am afforded the opportunity to serve as a Superior Court judge, I will ensure that for each case before me, each litigant from the greatest to the least, will have a level playing field,” Bruder said.

“Many of us were called to ask about a lawyer who wants to be a judge,” Bramnick said. “Every time I asked someone about you, they didn’t say good guy, they said great guy. And those are people who worked with you in the Middlesex Prosecutor’s Office, and people who were defendants when you were a prosecutor in a local town. Your reputation is stellar and the state of New Jersey is lucky to have people like you.”

Sherwin G. Campbell

Campbell appeared before the committee on his nomination to replace Judge Marlene Lynch Ford, who retired from the Ocean County bench. Campbell is the chief judge of the East Orange Municipal Court and a partner with McDonald & Campbell. He attended Rutgers University and earned his law degree at Touro College Jacob B. Fuchsberg Law Center. Campbell will fill one of two vacancies in Ocean County.

“My parents and I migrated to this country from Jamaica, West Indies,” Campbell said. “They came here to pursue the American dream. While doing so, my mother and father instilled in me the importance of education, the value of hard work, and a sense of responsibility that I have to make a meaningful impact on our new home.”

Campbell said he has the privilege of working in his family’s law firm in East Orange, where they have collectively, for the last 50 years, served the needs of the surrounding community. He also served as a per diem public defender in the East Orange Municipal Court for 15 years in addition to managing a private practice through the years.

Kimberly S. Casten

Casten, a Family Court mediator and domestic violence hearing officer in the New Jersey judiciary, was nominated to fill a vacancy left by retired Judge Wendel E. Daniels in Ocean County. Casten attended Bucknell University and Seton Hall University School of Law. She previously served as a municipal prosecutor in Jackson, Brick and Lake Como.

“I wanted to be a lawyer because I was taught by my parents to help people,” Casten said. “I ran for office because I wanted to help people. I want to be a judge because I want to continue to help people. Being a judge would be the apex of both my extensive and varied legal and public service.”

Ana P. Esteves

Esteves was nominated to fill the seat of retired Judge Martin G. Cronin in Essex County. She currently serves as a municipal judge in Newark. She received her law degree from New York Law School and formerly served as assistant corporation counsel for Newark.

“If confirmed, I would be the first Portuguese woman on the bench because, at the age of 3, I immigrated to Newark with my family, where I currently live and have lived since I was 3,” Esteves said. “We fled poverty and a dictatorship.”

Esteves shared that she is grateful for the experience of serving on the Newark Municipal Court for seven years, and that the experience has given her an understanding of the importance of easy access to the courts.

Leonardo A. Hernandez

Hernandez was nominated to the Essex County bench to replace Judge Thomas R. Vena following his retirement. Hernandez is a graduate of Rutgers University and Rutgers Law School. While working as a probation officer, Hernandez attended law school and earned his J.D. Most recently, he served as an Assistant Prosecutor with the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office in major crimes and homicides. Previously, he worked for the U.S. Department of Justice serving in an overseas capacity in Mexico City.

“As we sit listening to prospective judges, and judges for reappointment, it is one of the first times in a long time that you cannot tell a Democrat from a Republican,” Bramnick said. “What you hear is the same type of love for their family, the same type of love for justice. It is a great day in New Jersey when you cannot tell the difference between Democrat and Republican.”

Roslyn D. Holmes Grant

The final nominee for the Superior Court before the committee Thursday was Holmes Grant, currently a Newark Municipal Court judge. She was nominated to fill the Essex County vacancy left by the retirement of Sharifa R. Salaam. Holmes Grant is also the wife of Administrative Director of the Court Glenn A. Grant.

Holmes Grant shared that she was the youngest of four children and she grew up in Patterson, where her mother was a secretary and her father drove an 18-wheeler. It was there that her father instilled in his children the importance of commitment and gratitude to the community, Holmes Grant said. That community, she said, looked like all of the people present in the committee meeting with mixed races, ethnicities and cultures.

“So when we moved to another area and we became victims of violence, it did not falter my commitment to service and my commitment to the community,” Holmes Grant said. “I continued in local organizations and international organizations. And more importantly, I decided to go to law school.”

All nominees passed the committee Thursday and are set for a full Senate floor vote on Dec. 11.

However, the NJSBA is not completely satisfied with the progress on judicial vacancies across the state. McGoughran said that the NJSBA continues to urge that state leaders—the governor and the state Senate—fulfill their constitutional duties and act swiftly to approve more qualified candidates to the judiciary.

 ”With today’s appointments, the Superior Court still has 56 empty judge seats, equivalent to roughly 12% of the entire bench,” McGoughran said. “Come January that number will again increase when more retirements occur.

“The Senate has several days in this lame-duck session to push through another 20 to 30 judges that have been fully vetted in a historic move to get the judiciary at a vacancy level that is manageable for the people of New Jersey,” McGoughran added.