Hon. Bonnie J. Mizdol, formerly the Assignment Judge of Bergen County for eight years, joins the firm’s alternative dispute resolution and corporate investigations practices. Appointed to the Superior Court in February 2006, Judge Mizdol served as Presiding Judge of the Family Part of Bergen from 2008 through April 2015. In both capacities, Judge Mizdol accumulated vast experience in a wide spectrum of matters, ranging from matrimonial to probate, condemnation, and OPRA cases. Judge Mizdol presided over scores of proceedings, including bench trials and emergent actions in all phases.
Judge Mizdol actively participated in judiciary committees, councils, and the like. She chaired numerous Supreme Court Committees, including the Judiciary-Surrogates Liaison Committee; the Working Group on Elder Justice; the Working Group on Pro Bono Assignments; and the Special Committee on the Non-Dissolution Docket. She also served on the Judicial Council. She served as a member of the Judicial Council Labor Relations and Personnel Committee, the Judiciary Budget and Planning Committee, and the Management and Operations Committee.
During her tenure as Bergen’s Family Part Presiding Judge, she chaired the Conference of New Jersey Family Part Judges, the Supreme Court Family Practice Committee, and the Ad Hoc Committee on Arbitration of Family Matters. Judge Mizdol also served as the New Jersey Designated Representative for the International Hague Network of Judges from 2017 through her retirement.
Judge Mizdol was in private practice for 24 years before her appointment to the Superior Court. While in private practice, she also served as a Municipal Court Judge for 15 years before her appointment, and as President of the Bergen County Municipal Judges’ Association. Before joining the Superior Court, Judge Mizdol focused on matters in the family, estate, and probate dockets. In addition, she handled personal injury matters, commercial and residential real estate sales, purchases, leases, and land use and development.
Before her service in the judiciary, Judge Mizdol actively participated in the New Jersey and Bergen County Bar Associations, where she served as President of the Bergen County Bar Foundation, Chair of the District IIA Ethics Committee, Co-Chair of the Bergen County Family Law Committee, and member of the New Jersey Family Law Executive Committee.
Judge Mizdol was graduated from Seton Hall Law School and Montclair University.