With Justice Carol Edmead, who has been serving as acting Surrogate Court judge in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Eagle has learned that Hon. Bernard Graham will serve as the next acting Surrogate Court judge.
Graham, who graduated from Brooklyn Law School, first joined the bench in 2005 when he became a New York City Civil Court judge. He joined the Brooklyn Family Court in 2008 and eventually became acting Supreme Court justice in 2011. In 2013, the judge was officially elected to the Kings County Supreme Court, which is where he has sat since.
Graham, who lives in Park Slope, is an active member of many local community groups and bar associations and has recently participated in the Brooklyn Bar Association Mentorship Committee programs and he lectured at the Bay Ridge Lawyers Association meeting this past October.
There are two Surrogate Court judges in Brooklyn. One is Hon. Rosemarie Montalbano and the other is technically Hon. Harriet Thompson. Thompson is currently under suspension from and has a lawsuit against the Office of Court Administration for the State of New York.
Thompson, who was suspended for more than a year for allegedly making racist and discriminatory comments about courthouse employees, has agreed to resign from the bench for medical reasons, according to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. She will reportedly make her resignation official on March 1, 2023, and she will be allowed to keep her judicial pension.
Thompson has been effectively replaced by Edmead, however, Edmead officially retired on Dec. 31.
