Noriega worked as an assistant deputy public defender in Essex County for five years, leaving his position there in 2008.[3] He practiced immigration law and criminal law for six years at his own law firm, Noriega & Associates, which was located in Newark. Noriega provided pro bono counsel to the organization Kids in Need of Defense, representing indigent, underage clients who had been subjected to human trafficking and were facing removal proceedings.[7]
Noriega also worked as a partner at Bramnick, Rodriguez, Grabas, Arnold, and Mangan in Scotch Plains,[4] where he specialized in immigration and criminal law.[8] He was an adjunct professor at the Seton Hall School of Law for eight years.[9] As of 2023, Noriega was an active member of the New Jersey State Bar Association and served as chair of the Immigration Law Section.[3]
On May 15, 2023, Governor Phil Murphy announced his intent to nominate Noriega to serve as a justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. There was a vacancy on the court due to the mandatory retirement of Justice Barry T. Albin, who retired on July 6, 2022;[4][5] after Albin's retirement, the seat had been temporarily filled by New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division judge Jack M. Sabatino. In June 2023, it was reported that Noriega had received the support of enough senators to be confirmed, with 19 members of the State Senate having expressed their intent to vote for his confirmation.[10] On June 26, 2023, a hearing was held on his nomination.[11] Later that day, his nomination was advanced out of the Judiciary Committee.[12]
Noriega was confirmed on June 30, 2023 by a 37–0 vote.[13][14] He was sworn in on July 6, 2023.[15] He is the first public defender to ever serve on the New Jersey Supreme Court.[2] In addition, he is the third Hispanic to serve on the court and the first to do so since the retirement of Justice Faustino J. Fernandez-Vina.[5]
