McGreevey, who last month announced he would resign from office Nov. 15, said he believed the appointment of the Puerto Rican native was part of his legacy to the state.
"However one chooses to measure my accomplishments, I believe the appointment of Roberto Rivera-Soto serves me humbly very well," McGreevey said.
Friends and colleagues at the ceremony, conducted at the Trenton War Memorial, praised the new justice's dogged work ethic and unflinching loyalty to his profession, and Justice Alan B. Handler joked that Rivera-Soto had obeyed traffic laws since his nomination was announced in April. Newspaper reports at the time detailed Rivera-Soto's eight speeding tickets in 10 years and an unpaid surcharge that led to his license suspension in New Jersey in 1995.
Rivera-Soto took the oath of office from Chief Justice Deborah T. Poritz, with his wife, Mary Catherine Mullaney, and two of their three sons by his side. He was privately sworn in on Sept. 1, enabling him to hear his first arguments Monday in medical-malpractice and consumer-fraud cases.
"This is the culmination of a long-held but softly whispered dream for me," Rivera-Soto said.
Contact staff writer Kaitlin Gurney at 609-989-7373 or kgurney@phillynews.com.
