Alan Brodkin Handler (July 20, 1931 – May 23, 2024) was an American judge who served as a

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases cha ...

Justice from 1977 until 1999.

Early life

Handler was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, on July 20, 1931. He attended

Newark Academy Newark Academy is a coeducational private day school located in Livingston, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in sixth through twelfth grades. It was the first school in New Jersey to offer the International Ba ...

and then

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, graduating with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

degree from the

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (''abbrev.'' SPIA; formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of c ...

in 1953. After receiving an

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1956, he entered private legal practice in Newark."Justice Alan B. Handler To Retire From the Supreme Court"
, New Jersey Judiciary, June 4, 1999. Accessed April 26, 2008.

Career

Handler served in the Office of the

New Jersey Attorney General The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confi ...

as First Assistant Attorney General from 1961 until 1964 and as First Assistant Attorney General from 1964 to 1968. He was appointed to the

New Jersey Superior Court The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with statewide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The New Jersey Constitution of 1947 establishes the power of the New Jersey courts: under Article Six of the State Consti ...

in 1968 by Governor

Richard J. Hughes Richard Joseph Hughes (August 10, 1909December 7, 1992) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. A Democrat, he served as the 45th governor of New Jersey from 1962 to 1970, and as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1973 to ...

. He was assigned to the Appellate Division in 1973. In 1976 he resigned from the bench to serve as counsel to Governor

Brendan Byrne Brendan Thomas Byrne (April 1, 1924 – January 4, 2018) was an American attorney and Democratic Party politician who served as the 47th Governor of New Jersey from 1974 to 1982. Byrne began his career as a private attorney in Newark and Eas ...

. In March 1977, he was appointed Associate Justice of the

. Handler retired from the court in September 1999. He went on to serve

Of Counsel Of counsel is the title of an attorney in the legal profession of the United States who often has a relationship with a law firm or an organization but is neither an associate nor partner. Some firms use titles such as "counsel", "special couns ...

at the

Woodbridge, New Jersey Woodbridge Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in northern Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is a regional hub of transportation and commerce for Central Jersey, central New ...

, firm Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer until 2016. Official bio
, Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer. Accessed April 26, 2008.

Personal life and death

Handler lived in

Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey Delaware Township is a township in Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Part of the township is on the Hunterdon Plateau, while the southern portions are in the Amwell Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's ...

, and was predeceased by his wife, the former Rose Marie Kudroch, in 2011. He had three daughters. Handler died on May 23, 2024, at the age of 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Handler, Alan B. 1931 births 2024 deaths Lawyers from Hunterdon County, New Jersey 20th-century New Jersey state court judges 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Justices of the Supreme Court of New Jersey Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumni Harvard Law School alumni Newark Academy alumni People from Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey Lawyers from Newark, New Jersey Place of death missing