The New Jersey Supreme Court has censured a Bergen County Superior Court judge for continuing to administer a client’s estate after taking the bench.
In imposing a censure on Mary Thurber, a judge in the Civil Division, the court opted for the strictest form of punishment available short of a suspension from office.
By continuing to serve as fiduciary while sitting as a Superior Court judge, Thurber violated Canon 5, Rule 5.8 of the Code of Judicial Conduct, which bars judges from serving as executor, administrator, trustee, guardian or other fiduciary, except for the estate or trust of a member of the judge’s family, according to a stipulation in the disciplinary case.
Thurber also violated canons requiring judges to observe high standards of conduct and to avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.
In an answer to the charges that was filed in February, Thurber admitted the facts alleged in the complaint but denied that they constituted violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct, the stipulation said. But she conceded when she filed the stipulation that her conduct violated the code, the stipulation said.
Thurber, who became a judge in 2009, continued to serve as administrator of the estate of Isabel McKinley until February 2022, when she resigned that position, according to the stipulation of discipline by consent.
Between 2009 and 2022, Thurber continued to receive and review bank statements at her home address, showing interest income for McKinley’s estate,...
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