Rabner is the eighth chief justice of the state Supreme Court since the 1947 state constitution. Perhaps the most persistent challenge he faces at the top of the state’s court system is a shortage of judges. Earlier this year, he suspended civil and divorce trials in six counties due to vacancies and Rabner has sounded the alarm about the problem. “People come to the court system to seek justice, and we must do better as a state to give them the attention that they deserve. Make no mistake about it, this problem will not simply go away,” he said during his state of the judiciary address at the New Jersey Bar Association’s annual meeting and convention in May.

Rabner added that the best way to measure the impact of vacancies is by how long a seat has remained unfilled. If left open for a few months, the effect is “relatively modest,” but if a judgeship remains vacant for several years it can cause delays in more than 1,000 cases. Other priorities include a program to link defendants struggling with mental health issues to appropriate resources and services that has started in four pilot counties, funded with the help of a $2 million state grant; a special committee that will develop a series of recommendations to help support the mental health of attorneys, judges and other members of the legal community; and a committee of criminal justice stakeholders that was convened in February to examine data regarding reforms and to make recommendations for areas in need of improvement.

Rabner has served on the high court since being nominated by former Gov. Jon Corzine in 2007. He is a member of the board of directors of the Institute of Judicial Administration at New York University School of Law and a member of the Council of the American Law Institute. He has also been at the center of efforts to implement reforms in the court system to promote more access and fairness and introducing new uses of technology to make the judiciary more efficient. Ultimately, though, Rabner will need all of his persuasive abilities to convince the governor and legislators to make sure New Jersey has enough judges to hear cases.