The Honorable Lisa F. Chrystal (Ret.) joined Brach Eichler after serving 22 years as a Judge of the New Jersey Superior Court. Judge Chrystal concentrates her practice in the areas of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), mediation and arbitration, as well as discovery management. A compassionate and attentive listener known for her legal acumen and her responsible and equitable counsel, Judge Chrystal focuses on civil cases and family law matters, prejudgment and post judgement, as well as custody and parenting time and the resolution of disputes through mediation, typically a more amicable and cost effective approach than litigation. Judge Chrystal also conducts mock trials to assist lawyers in trial preparation.
Judge Chrystal’s clients benefit from her range of experience drawn from her tenure on the bench, her prior civil experience, litigation and family law practice, and her comprehensive knowledge of the myriad issues that arise in civil, equity, and family dissolutions and custody disputes.
Judge Chrystal is a former Presiding Judge in the Family Division, New Jersey Superior Court, Union County from 2014 until her retirement in 2022. While serving in the Family Division, she presided over matrimonial, domestic violence, non-dissolution and children in court cases, including child abuse, neglect, and termination of parental rights. Judge Chrystal decided every aspect of family cases, including custody, parenting time, alimony, child support, equitable distribution, and counsel fees.
Additionally, for over seven years Judge Chrystal presided over cases in the Civil Division, both jury and nonjury, as well as chancery matters, personal injury, tort claims, malpractice, Open Public Records cases, and class actions. As a civil trial judge, she decided thousands of civil motions and conducted settlement conferences on countless cases. Those cases ranged from general liability, tort, personal injury in the fields of medical malpractice, insurance, employment, automobile liability, product liability, standard fall down and assault cases. In non-jury cases, Judge Chrystal decided an affordable housing Mount Laural case, (affirmed on appeal), and estate chancery litigation.
Judge Chrystal is a member of the Supreme Court Committee on Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement, and served on the Supreme Court Family Practice Committee and the FM/FD Subcommittee, 2021-2023. She has served on the Family Subcommittee for Mentoring of New Judges, and frequently trained newly appointed Judges and those transferring to the Family Division in the Comprehensive Judicial Orientation Program “C.J.O.P.” She coauthored the 2019 and 2021 Judge’s “Dissolution Manual.” Judge Chrystal also served as a member of the Supreme Court Civil Model Jury Charge committee, when voir dire changes were adopted in Directive 4-07, May 1, 2007.
Prior to her appointment to the Bench, Judge Chrystal was in private practice in Union County and Essex County, concentrating on civil litigation, chancery practice, tort claims, and guardianship matters. She served as an Assistant County Counsel representing the Union County Jail and various county agencies. Judge Chrystal was also an Adjunct Legal Writing Instructor at Seton Hall Law School, and served as Trustee of the Union County Bar Association.
Judge Chrystal is a member of the Family Law and Dispute Resolution Sections of the New Jersey State Bar Association, The Barry I. Croland Inn of Court, The Justice Virginia Long Hudson County Inn of Court and was a Master of the Richard J. Hughes American Inn of Court. She graduated from Syracuse University and is a cum laude graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law.
In April 2022, Judge Chrystal was the recipient of the prestigious William J McCloud Award from the Union County Bar Association. Since its inception in 1992, in memory of Judge McCloud, the award recognizes significant contributions to the administration of Justice in the Family Part.
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