Issue Date: October 29, 2013
Trenton, NJ – The members of the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association (NJWLA) extend their heartfelt gratitude to Justice Helen E. Hoens for her remarkable service and dedication to the law, to the State of New Jersey and to our legal community.
Justice Hoens’ distinguished judicial career began in 1994 with her appointment to the New Jersey Superior Court. She was elevated to the Appellate Division in 2002. On September 21, 2006, Governor Jon Corzine appointed Justice Hoens to the New Jersey Supreme Court, where she served with honor and distinction, leaving a legacy of thoughtful and well-reasoned legal opinions.
She has been a strong role model for women, not only as a brilliant legal scholar, but as a mother who credits her autistic son, Charlie, for teaching her everything she needed to know to be a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey, most notably, patience, compassion, strength and courage. In the words of her former colleague, retired Justice Virginia Long, “She’s thoughtful, she’s sensible, she is a great writer, and she is exactly the kind of person to whom we should be happy to repose the obligation of deciding the fate, the lives and the fortunes of our fellow citizens.”
An extraordinary jurist, praised and respected by fellow Justices, her departure from our state’s highest court will leave behind a legacy hard to match. On October 26, 2013, Justice Hoens stepped into the next phase of her remarkable career, with grace and dignity, having taught us all many lessons in law and life.
About New Jersey Women Lawyers Association
Our mission is to retain women in the legal profession through education and activism, to promote our members to the highest levels of law firm, government, academic, community and corporate positions and to endorse qualified female attorneys for appointments to the state and federal judiciary. NJWLA will foster leadership among its members by promoting professional activities, mentoring, educational programs and networking functions. NJWLA will create task forces to study and advise our membership on gender equity challenges and other issues unique to women in the profession, including “glass ceiling,” “maternal wall,” “daughter track”, pregnancy, caregiver discrimination, and sexual harassment as well as on additional racial and ethnic barriers that women of color in the legal profession face. NJWLA will be the voice on all issues of importance to women engaged in the practice of law in the state of New Jersey.