Associate Justice Alan B. Handler

Justice Handler was born in Newark on July 20, 1931. He attended Newark Academy and Princeton University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and was graduated magna cum laude in 1953. He earned an additional degree at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and studied law at Harvard Law School, where he received his degree in 1956, the year in which he was admitted to the bar.

Justice Handler served as deputy attorney general from 1961 to 1964 and as first assistant attorney general from 1964 to 1968. In November 1967, Chief Justice Richard J. Hughes, then governor, appointed Justice Handler to the Superior Court. The appointment was confirmed by the Senate Dec. 21, 1967. Justice Handler advanced to the Appellate Division of Superior Court in March 1973, and was serving on that bench when he resigned, in 1976, to accept appointment as special counsel to Gov. Brendan T. Byrne. Governor Byrne announced his appointment of Justice Handler to the Supreme Court on Feb. 11, 1977. The Senate confirmed the appointment March 21, 1977 and Justice Handler took his oath two days later. Justice Handler retired from the Court on Aug. 31, 1999. He is a past president of the Harvard Law School Association of New Jersey and served as an associate editor of the New Jersey Law Journal. Justice Handler and his wife, Rose Marie, have five children.

Copyright 1980 Lawyers Diary and Manual, LLC.