TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - After seven years on the New Jersey Supreme Court, Justice Barry Albin received approval for a tenured position Monday.

A 9-4 vote by the state Senate Judiciary Committee advanced his renomination effort to the Senate, which will vote on Thursday, according to a report in the Newark Star-Ledger. Albin can serve 14 more years on the bench until the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Then-Gov. James McGreevey appointed Albin to the court in 2002. Albin would join two other justices (Virginia Long and Jaynee LaVecchia) as the only tenured justices on the seven-member court.

Albin graduated from Cornell Law School in 1976 and started his career as a deputy attorney general in the state's Division of Criminal Justice. He later became a high-profile criminal defense attorney.

"I followed the law as I understood it," he said at the beginning of his four-hour hearing, according to the report. "I am proud of my record and am willing to be judged by it."

From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at john@legalnewsline.com.