The Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association (BWBA) recently hosted its monthly “Lunch with a Judge” series on Thursday, Feb. 15, featuring Hon. Cheryl Chambers from the Appellate Division, Second Department.
The event, overseen by Hon. Genine Edwards, who chairs the BWBA’s Lunch with a Judge Committee, provided an invaluable opportunity for legal professionals to gain insights from esteemed members of the judiciary, including Hon. Lillian Wan and Hon. Janice Taylor.
During the session, Justice Chambers shared her journey to the Appellate Division, emphasizing that her path wasn’t part of a master plan but rather a combination of natural progression, strategic positioning, and a bit of luck.
“I also think that I was better suited to being a judge than I was being an advocate,” Justice Chambers said. “In order to win, sometimes you have to step on the line or step over the line, and that wasn’t just for me. It was easy for me to say that I wanted to be an umpire instead of a litigant.”
She recalled her initial reluctance to pursue a judgeship due to her lack of political connections, highlighting the support she later received from notable figures such as former New York Secretary of State Basil Paterson and former Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, each of whom played a pivotal role in her nomination and subsequent election.
“I always did bar work, in fact, at one point, I actually did a lot of work with the BWBA,” Chambers said. “I was Hon. Deborah Kaplan’s program director when she was president and I was in the DA’s Office. I was also active in the City Bar and a member of the Criminal Courts Committee so I often sat as a subcommittee member of the judiciary. Within that responsibility, I had the opportunity to see many applications and judicial interviews. It put me in a good position to figure out what was required to qualify to be a judge.”
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