Rivera-Soto settles into life at Ballard Spahr

"Still fat and ugly, how are you?" is how Roberto Rivera-Soto answers the phone at his new job at the law firm Ballard Spahr.

Rivera-Soto, who just finished a seven-year term as a New Jersey Supreme Court justice, has used that line for 20 years, he says, because most people aren't really listening when they ask, "How are you?"

He is used to saying what he wants.

In December, he wrote an opinion that the seven-member court's seating of a long-term temporary justice was unconstitutional, and said he would abstain from participating in cases. He later modified his position to participate in cases in which the temporary justice would not affect the outcome.

But he took heat from colleagues and faced calls for impeachment from the Legislature. The controversy made the likelihood that he would be renominated for a tenured position slim, and he notified Gov. Christie in January that he would leave the bench when his term ended in September.

"I still think my position was correct," Rivera-Soto said.

The Haddonfield Republican gave a brief interview about the experience this week from his office in Cherry Hill, where, Ballard Spahr said, he will handle appellate work, construction dispute resolution, casino work, and complex commercial litigation. The firm employs other former public officials, including former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

Despite the harsh words he and some of his fellow justices exchanged in opinions about the constitutionality of having a long-term temp on the court, Rivera-Soto described his relationship with them as friendly.

Several colleagues wrote in December that Rivera-Soto was needlessly politicizing the decision by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner to temporarily fill the spot that had been held by Justice John Wallace with Appellate Judge Edwin Stern. Rivera-Soto retorted that their statements were "prattle" unworthy of a reasoned response.

This week, he said, "Most of the decision-making process in a court of more than one person is no different than a family that may have disagreements, but you're still related and you still sit down for Thanksgiving together. You disagree with the point, but you don't necessarily disagree with the individual."

Rivera-Soto dissented in more cases than his fellow justices did.