The New Jersey State Bar Association Board of Trustees approved revisions to the manual that guides the association's Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee (JPAC) at its regular meeting on April 20.

The revisions largely address changes made when Gov. Phil Murphy signed the Hughes Compact in March, continuing the non-partisan role the NJSBA has played in reviewing candidates for bench and prosecutors' positions across the state. The new agreement restores a significant role for county bars, outlined in the Compact itself, as part of the confidential candidate review process. It also adds three seats to the committee, to be designated for members from underrepresented groups in the legal profession.

The association has had a Compact with every governor's office to review candidates in a confidential process since 1969, when an agreement was initially outlined with Gov. Richard J. Hughes.

In other business, the trustees approved James Newman to serve in the Monmouth County seat on the Board of Trustees that is being vacated in May when Timothy McGoughran is sworn in as secretary. Newman is a former president of the Monmouth County Bar Association.

In addition, Glennon Troublefield will be representing the association on the American Bar Association's House of Delegates. He takes over the seat from Lynn Newsome, former NJSBA president and current New Jersey State Bar Foundation president, who is the first woman from New Jersey to join the American Bar Association's Board of Governors.

Newsome is among several trustees whose terms will expire in May, and the board took time to recognize all of them at the meeting. In addition to Newsome, they are: Supti Bhattacharya, Anthony M. Carlino, Shanna McCann, Michael L. Testa Jr., Marisa B. Trofimov and Ronald J. Uzdavinis.

The trustee board appointed Mikeisha Anderson Jones to the New Jersey State Bar Foundation's board. They also reappointed others. They are: Kelly Ann Bird, Norberto A. Garcia, Ralph J. Lamparello, Thomas J. Manzo, Brian J. Neary and Kenneth Sharperson.

In other board business, the trustees voted to submit comments on several Supreme Court reports, renew USI as the association's insurance administrator for plans offered to association members and approve an agreement to provide members with discounts on new and leased Audis.