Chief Justice Stuart Rabner
    Preliminarily, expect funny comments during oral argument, if any, to come from Chief Justice Rabner.  He has a calm demeanor and is comfortable with creating a chuckle.  He must treat his law clerks well (or shower them with gifts) because they are very loyal to him.  
    Chief Justice Rabner graduated summa cum laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1982.  In 1985, he graduated from Harvard Law School and there thereafter clerked for United States District Court Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise.  In 1986, Chief Justice Rabner joined the United States Attorney's Office as an Assistant United States Attorney.  From 2006 until being sworn in to the Supreme Court of New Jersey, Justice Rabner served as the Attorney General for the State of New Jersey.  Governor Jon S. Corzine nominated Justice Rabner to the bench.  He was sworn in on June 29, 2008.  Below is his formal Judiciary portrait.
                  

Justice Virginia Long 
    Justice Long is really nice during oral argument.  Being nice, however, does not make her questions any easier to answer.  So, be prepared (which you should be before arguing before any court).  Her colleagues call her "Ginny", but I suggest you never do that.
    Based on my research, she was born in New Jersey.  Not sure where, but I think Elizabeth, New Jersey.  Justice Long graduated from Dunbarton College of the Holy Cross in 1963 and Rutgers Law School in 1966.  Justice Long served as a Deputy Attorney General.  Similar to Justice Hoens, she also worked at Pitney, Hardin, Kipp and Szuch (I also worked there!  Now Day Pitney.  A nice place to work).  Justice Long also served as Director of the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs and Commissioner of the (former) NJ Department of Banking.
    In 1978, Governor Brendan T. Byrne appointed her to the Superior Court, which is the trial court in New Jersey.  In 1984, she was elevated to the Appellate Division, where she became a Presiding Judge in 1995.  Governor Christine Todd Whitman nominated Justice Long to the Supreme Court, and she was confirmed in 1999 by the Senate.
   Regretfully, Justice Long will fall victim to mandatory retirement during the term of Governor Chris Christie.  Below is her formal Judiciary portrait. 
                  

Justice Jaynee LaVecchia 
    Justice LaVecchia is not as vocal as the others during oral argument, but don’t be fooled.  She too can hit you with a tough question.
    Based on my research, she was born in Patterson, New Jersey.  She graduated from Douglass College in 1976 and Rutgers Law School (I teach there!) in 1979.  Justice LaVecchia worked as a Deputy Attorney General and served as the Director of the Division of Law within the Department of Law and Public Safety.  She also served as the NJ Commissioner of Banking and Insurance.  From 1989 to 1994, she worked in the Office of Administrative Law.  She, at various times at the OAL, was both a Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge.  She also worked in the Office of Counsel to Governor Thomas H. Kean.
    Governor Christine Todd Whitman nominated Justice LaVecchia to the Supreme Court, and she was confirmed by the Senate in 2000.  Below is her formal Judiciary portrait.
                

Justice Barry Albin

     Justice Albin is smart, . . . really smart.  For years he has been the most vocal justice during oral argument though recent addition Justice Anne M. Patterson is also very vocal.  Mess with Justice Albin during oral argument and he will crush you (in a professional, respectable way).  Therefore, you should be prepared to spar with Justice Albin.
    Justice Albin, contrary to recently ex-Justice Rivera-Soto, seems to view New Jersey as a unique, individual state with its own issues, its own citizens, and its own State Constitution.  Granted, Justice Rivera-Soto is well-aware of the State Constitution and well-aware that it affords those in New Jersey with greater rights, in part, than its federal counterpart.  Justice Albin, however, seems to view the State Constitution and state law as more expansive and as evolving, and Justice Albin appears more amendable to making New Jersey the trendsetter.  
    Based on my research, he was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He graduated from Rutgers in 1973 and Cornell Law School in 1976.  His legal career started in the NJ Office of the Attorney General.  He was a Deputy Attorney General in the Appellate Section of the Division of Criminal Justice.  From 1978 to 1982, he served as an Assistant Prosecutor (although unusual, he served in both Passaic and Middlesex Counties).
    In 1982, he joined the NJ firms of Wilentz, Goldman and Spitzer.  From 1987 to 1992, he served on the NJ Court Criminal Practice Committee.  From 1999 to 2000, he served as the President of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of NJ (I am a Trustee!  Great organization to be a part of.).  In 2000, he was named in the publication “Best Lawyers in America”.
    Governor James E. McGreevey nominated Justice Albin to the Supreme Court in 2002, and on September 12, 2002 the Senate confirmed him. 
               
 
Justice Helen E. Hoens 
    Justice Hoens does not ask many questions during oral argument.  However, she, too, is subject to asking a tough question, so be prepared.  Her questions seem to focus on solutions.  She will likely remain silent during your entire argument and then hit you at the end with a request from you to provide the court with a solution.  "What are you asking us to do?"
    Justice Hoens was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  She graduated from the College of William and Mary and Georgetown University Law Center.  She served as a law clerk to Judge John J. Gibbons of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  She then worked at Dewey, Ballantine and then with the Law Office of Russel H. Beatie, Jr. (in NY).  Similar to Justice Long, she too worked at at Pitney, Hardin, Kipp and Szuch (I also worked there!  Now Day Pitney.  A nice place to work).   She also worked at Lum, Hoens, Conant Danzis & Kleinberg (her father was a founding partner).
    Justice Hoens became a Superior Court judge and, in 2002, she was elevated to the Appellate Division.  In 1994, Governor Christine Todd Whitman nominated Justice Hoens to the Supreme Court. 
    During the term of Governor Chris Christie, Justice Hoens will come up for tenure.  Below is her official Judiciary portrait.
                    

Justice Anne M. Patterson
    Justice Patterson is the most recent addition to the Court.  She is very vocal during oral argument.  She presents herself as very knowledgeable in criminal cases, which shows just how prepared she is for oral argument, as her immediate past work experience was for a large law firm that primarily handles commercial accounts.
    Justice Patterson was born in Trenton and lived in Hopewell Township and in Princeton.  She graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1980.  Justice Patterson graduated from Cornell Law School in 1983.  After law school, she joined Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti LLP.  From 1989 to 1992, she worked as a Deputy Attorney General and Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey.  She handled both civil litigation and criminal appeals at the Attorney General's Office, which helps explain her knowledge of criminal law.  She then went back to the law firm where she practiced primarily product liability, intellectual property and commercial litigation.
    Governor Chris Christie nominated her for the Supreme Court of New Jersey.  After political issues held up her nomination, she was finally sworn in as a Justice on September 1, 2011.  Her official Judiciary portrait is below.
                    
My hope is that she becomes the first Justice to cite to New Jersey Appellate Practice in an opinion from the Supreme Court of New Jersey.