Michael F. O’Neill, J.S.C. (Ret.) was appointed to the Superior Court bench in February 2013.  As the sole civil judge assigned to Hunterdon County Superior Court from 2014 to 2023, Judge O’Neill oversaw all civil matters filed in the county. Additionally, he was assigned to case-manage all environmental filings in Vicinage XIII, as well as complex insurance coverage disputes.  He served as the designated Probate Part (Chancery Division) judge for Hunterdon County and as the Presiding Judge of the Special Part in Vicinage XIII (Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren counties). 

During his tenure in the civil division, Judge O’Neill’s docket included class actions, prerogative writ actions, probate matters, legal and medical malpractice suits, a wide array of employment discrimination and contract claims, as well as all types of personal injury suits.  He case-managed complex bodily injury and property damage matters, as well as related “long-tail” insurance coverage disputes. In the land-use field, he presided over cases covering a range of zoning and development rights issues.   In the class action arena, Judge O’Neill presided over suits involving personal injury, alleged securities law violations, and consumer fraud claims.  In 2022, he approved the multi-million-dollar settlement of a class action filed on behalf of inmates at the Edna Mahon Correctional Facility for Women. From 2020-2023, he served on the New Jersey Supreme Court Civil Practice Committee. 

Prior to serving in the judiciary, Mr. O’Neill was in private practice with the Bedminster, New Jersey law firm of Purcell, Mulcahy, O’Neill & Hawkins. (“Purcell”).  He was a senior partner at the firm for over 25 years, handling a variety of civil litigation. Commencing in the late 1980s, Mr. O’Neill chaired the firm’s insurance coverage practice group. From the late 1980s through the early 2000s, Mr. O’Neill and the Purcell firm served as lead counsel to The Hartford Insurance Group of Insurance Companies in complex environmental insurance coverage disputes filed in state and federal courts. 

In 2005, Mr. O’Neill became co-chair of the firm’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) practice group.  He was also on the roster of approved mediators for New Jersey’s state-wide civil mediation program. He was certified as a Civil Trial Attorney by the New Jersey Supreme Court Board on Attorney Certification (2004-2013) and was recognized as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” (2006–2013). 

Mr.  O’Neill is a 1975 graduate of St. Francis College (PA). He earned his J.D. (cum laude) from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1980, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Seton Hall Law Review.  Upon graduation from law school, he served as law secretary to the Honorable Mark A. Sullivan, Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court (1980-1981 term).

Experience in mediating sexual abuse lawsuits 

Since retiring from the New Jersey Superior Court bench in February 2023, Judge O’Neill has developed a specialization in the mediation of claims involving alleged sexual abuse of minors. Many of those lawsuits involve related complex insurance coverage disputes. To date, he has successfully mediated cases filed against several religious organizations, boards of education and other non-profit organizations.  He has successfully mediated lawsuits filed in New Jersey against the Leonia Board of Education, Madison Board of Education, Edison Board of Education and Hillsdale Board of Education, and is currently serving as mediator in consolidated lawsuits involving claims pending against the Diocese of Metuchen, the Diocese of Paterson, the Roman Catholic  Archdiocese of Newark, and the Diocese of Trenton.

JudgeONeill@sidebarsolutions.legal

908-963-2236

Billing Address:
120 Carriage Hill Way
Branchburg, New Jersey 08853