Before he was a justice (and later chief justice) of the New Jersey Supreme Court, Jim Zazzali served as an Assistant Essex County Prosecutor, attorney general of New Jersey (under Gov. Brendan Byrne) and then chairman of the State Commission of Investigation. In the years when he was not in public service, he practiced law, principally in the area of labor relations. In that endeavor, he gained the universal respect of labor and management, a feat rarely achieved by anyone practicing in that field. Notwithstanding his considerable skill as an attorney and jurist and his enormous personal popularity, Jim’s modesty and lack of pretense have always been among his hallmarks. Along with those characteristics has been an ever-present sense of humor that is well known to all.
Zazzali is probably busier now than he has ever been. He is of counsel to his former firm, Zazzali Fagella Nowak Kleinbaum & Friedman and to Gibbons. His nonlaw hours are largely devoted to his wife Eileen, his five children (one of whom is a Superior Court judge), three grandchildren, his sister Judy and their brother, Andy. If ever a person exemplified why the present mandatory judicial retirement age of 70 is unrealistic, Jim Zazzali does. It is especially fitting that the New Jersey Law Journal has bestowed a Lifetime Achievement Award upon him. We wish Jim godspeed!
