Hon. Paul D. Nieves is a judge for the Vicinage 12 Superior Court in Union County in New Jersey. He was appointed to the bench by Governor Phil Murphy in 2021.
After his appointment, Roberts was assigned to the Family Division in Union County.
Before joining the bench, he was an assistant section chief in both the Tort Litigation Section and the Employment Counseling Section of the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, where he had worked since 1995. In the Employment Counseling Section, Nieves was tasked with representing and counseling management in disciplinary and labor disputes.
He was certified as a Civil Trial Attorney by the New Jersey Supreme Court in May 2018.
Nieves received a bachelor’s degree in political science and government from Mercy College. He went on to complete a J.D. at Seton Hall Law School. As a law student, Nieves was vice president of the Latin American Law Student Association.
He was admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York.
He served as a major in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps in the United States Army Reserves. He began his more than twenty-two years of service in 1996, during which time he served as the Fort Dix prosecutor for three years, advising the Commanding General at the 353rd Civil Affairs Command. Nieves was also deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, with the 18th Airborne Corps. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters and the Army Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters.
After graduating from law school, Nieves began his legal career as a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Hector E. DeSoto with the New Jersey Superior Court (1994 to 1995).
He has held memberships with the Union County Bar Association, the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey (Region 6 Trustee), and the Richard J. Hughes Inn of Court (master).
From a civic standpoint, Nieves has been involved with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 335 and the Knights of Columbus (second-degree member).
He was born and raised in the Bronx. Nieves and his wife have one daughter.