Hon. Ellen L. Koblitz, P.J.A.D (Ret.) Featured in Newsletter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts New Jersey Chapter
Honorable Ellen L. Koblitz, P.J.A.D. (Ret.), special counsel in the Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appellate Advocacy, and Family Law practice groups at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, was featured in the January 2023 newsletter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts New Jersey Chapter (NJ-AFCC). Koblitz recently rejoined the NJ-AFCC as a board member and was elected as vice president of the organization. In describing Judge Koblitz’s history with the organization, the newsletter states:
The Honorable Ellen L. Koblitz, P.J.A.D. (Ret.) joined the NJ-AFCC before the group officially became a chapter of the AFCC in 2002, when she was the Presiding Family Judge in Bergen County. She was elected vice-president and remained in that office until she was transferred out of the Family Part. As a sitting judge, she was not permitted to have her name on chapter stationery, nor ever become the president of the organization. Judge Koblitz views becoming vice-president of the NJ-AFCC once again as not only an honor, but also a homecoming.
NJ-AFCC is an interdisciplinary association of mental health and legal professionals, mediators and academics dedicated to improving the lives of children and families through the resolution of family conflict. The mission NJ-AFCC is to facilitate inter-professional communication and collaboration in order to reveal, understand, and educate about the dynamics of the relationships that comprise the legal process by which families are reorganized in divorce, crisis and conflict, such that these transitions become an opportunity for personal growth, closure and healing, focusing on the best possible outcomes for children.
About Judge Koblitz
Judge Koblitz focuses her practice on mediation and arbitration of Family, Chancery and Civil matters. In addition, she advises attorneys and clients on appellate matters, including reviewing appellate briefs and conducting moot court appellate arguments. Judge Koblitz is on the consumer panel of arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association and is a qualified NJ Ct. R. 1:40-12 mediator.
Judge Koblitz joined Pashman Stein in 2020 after serving as a Judge in the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court for 10 years, including two years as Presiding Judge. In the Appellate Division, Judge Koblitz heard appeals from decisions of the trial courts, tax court, and state administrative agencies.
Judge Koblitz began her legal career in the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender and rose to the position of deputy public defender in charge of the Hudson and then the Bergen County regional office.
First appointed to the New Jersey Superior Court in 1993, Judge Koblitz served in the Special Civil Part and Criminal Part in Bergen County. She then served as Presiding Judge of the Family Part from 1998 to 2008, when she was tapped to serve as Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division in Bergen County.
While on the bench, Judge Koblitz served on numerous New Jersey Supreme Court Committees, including serving as chair of the Supreme Court Judicial Education Committee, chair of the Conference of Family Division Presiding Judges, chair of the Children in Court Improvement Committee, and vice chair of the Supreme Court Family Practice Committee.
Judge Koblitz passes her legal knowledge on to others through service as an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University School of Law and presenter of numerous continuing legal education courses, as well as by mentoring lawyers within the firm.