Sparta welcomes new municipal judge

By Rose Sgarlato
SPARTA — Local attorney Paris P. Eliades was sworn in as Sparta’s Municipal Court Judge at a township council meeting on Tuesday, Jan.23. Eliades, who already serves as municipal judge in nearby Hardyston Township, succeeds retiring Judge John E.Mulhearn.
The Hon. James A. Farber, a retired Sussex County Superior Court judge, conducted the swearing-in ceremony.
"Being sworn in as Sparta's Municipal Court Judge is a professional dream come true,” Eliades said. “I am both honored and humbled. I will do everything within my power to maintain the proud legacy of our court.”
Eliades began his career in 1985, as a law clerk to Sussex County Superior Court Judge Ronald Graves. He soon joined the county Prosecutors Office as an assistant prosecutor, and in that capacity headed up the Juvenile Division.
He next went into private practice in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, but returned to Sussex County in 1990, joined a Sparta-based law firm, became a partner and practiced with that firm for the next 18 years. In 2012 Eliades opened his own law firm in Sparta, the Paris P. Eliades Law Firm, LLC, with the concentration on family law and divorce.
In 2014 Eliades was chosen as the 116th president of the New Jersey Bar Association, becoming only the second Sussex County attorney in the association’s history to attain that post. As association president he spearheaded the creation of the Lawyers in Transition Committee and the Unmet Legal Needs Committee. He was also instrumental in starting Lawyers Feeding New Jersey, a charitable organization of lawyers volunteering their time and money to provide meals for the needy.
In 2017, Eliades was appointed municipal judge for Hardyston.
He lives in Sparta and has for the past 26 years.