Meet the five judges confirmed in Somerset and Union counties amid vacancy crisis

The shortage of Superior Court judges in Somerset and Union counties is beginning to ease with the state Senate on Monday confirming two nominees for the bench in Somerset and three nominees in Union.

In all, the Senate confirmed 11 Superior Court judges. As of last week, there were 67 judicial vacancies across the state.

Confirmed by the Senate were:

Somerset County

• Wendy Reek, a partner with Leary, Bride, Mergner & Bongiovanni in Cedar Knolls, will succeed Kathy Qasim. Reek is a graduate of Douglass College of Rutgers University and Widener University School of Law. Following her graduation from law school, she served a judicial clerkship in Middlesex County Superior Court. She served as president of the Middlesex County Trial Lawyers Association in 2014-2015.

• John Bruder, who has a private practice in Bound Brook, will succeed Anthony Picheca, who retired in 2021. Buder, a Seton Hall Law School graduate, serves as municipal court prosecutor in Bound Brook. He previously was an assistant prosecutor in Middlesex County. He also represented indigent clients as a pool attorney in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

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Union County

• Anthony J. Parenti Jr., an assistant prosecutor in Somerset County, will succeed Karen M. Cassidy. Parenti, a graduate of Indian University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers Law School, served as a sergeant and shift commander in Summit before joining the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office.. His late father was police chief in Fanwood and later was director of the Union County John H. Stamler Police Academy , His brother William is police chief in North Plainfield.

• Raquel Vallejo, a partner with the Weinberger Divorce & Family Law Group in Parsippany, will succeed Theresa E. Mullen. She is a graduate of Rutgers University and Seton Hall Law School. Vallejo is volunteer attorney for the Jersey Battered Women’s Shelter and has appeared as an expert on CNN Español and Telemundo.

• Kelly Waters, managing partner of the New Jersey office of Wood Smith Henning & Berman, will succeed Stuart Peim. She graduated from Rutgers University and New York Law School. She serves as municipal court judge in Scotch Plains and Union Township. She is a founder and the former president of the board of directors of the Vanguard Theater Company in Montclair..

"For the past six years, we have remained steadfast in our commitment to ensuring vacancies in our courts are filled by highly qualified individuals who have demonstrated an unwavering devotion to justice, integrity, and the rule of law," Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement after the Senate votes. "I am especially proud that my Administration has worked closely with the Senate to increase the diversity of our judges, ensuring that the bench looks more like the people of our state. Today's slate of 11 new judges, both majority women and majority candidates of color, will undoubtedly make significant contributions to our state’s judiciary."

Murphy has made 15 more judicial nominees still awaiting action.

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner has been sounding the alarm about the condition of New Jersey's judiciary for years. Trials in civil and marital cases in Hunterdon, Passaic, Somerset and Warren counties are suspended because of the lack of judges.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ judge vacancy crisis: Five nominees confirmed in Somerset, Union