Justice Mastro presented with the 49th annual Rapallo Award by Columbian Lawyers Association
As the Hon. William F. Mastro stood on the stage of the Grand Ballroom in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, he began to reflect on his life. Standing in front of some of the most influential judges and lawyers in the state, and about to receive the Rapallo Award, what stood out in his head the most was his grandmother, Louise Gori.
“My grandmother was the one that had the biggest hand in raising me and my sister,” Mastro said. “She taught me how to treat people with compassion and she truly was the one that influenced me the most.”
That influence led Mastro to begin a career in law. Mastro, a graduate of New York Law School, began a private practice after passing the New York State bar. Shortly thereafter Mastro was appointed as a staff attorney to the now Mental Hygiene Legal Service and later became a law assistant to Hon. Michael Pesce. Mastro was elected to the bench in 1982, and has worked as an Associate Justice in the Appellate Division, Second Department, since 2002. At present, he is the Senior Associate Justice of that court.