Arthur T. Vanderbilt

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Arthur T. Vanderbilt (July 7, 1888-June 16, 1957, born Newark, N.J.) was Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1948 to 1957. He also was a noted attorney, legal educator and nationally known proponent of court modernization.

Vanderbilt was the first Chief Justice under the revamped New Jersey court system established by the Constitution of 1947, in which the Supreme Court replaced the old Court of Errors and Appeals as the highest court. Many of Vanderbilt's ideas for court reform were incorporated into the judicial article of the Constitution^[1]. One of the those innovations was the designation of the Chief Justice as the administrative head of all courts in the state, replacing the previous system of almost completely autonomous courts. As Chief Justice, he created the first state Administrative Office of the Courts in the nation.

Vanderbilt was President of the American Bar Association in 1937-38. He also served as Dean of New York University Law School, currently housed in a building that bears his name. Vanderbilt was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1936, 1940 and 1944. He authored two books, The Challenge of Legal Reform and The Doctrine of the Separation of Powers and Its Present-Day Significance.

Preceded by First Chief Justice under 1947 Constitution

Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court 1948-1957

Succeeded by Joseph Weintraub