Columbian Lawyers honor Brooklyn judiciary during Judge’s Night

December 10, 2018 By Rob Abruzzese, Legal Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn hosted its annual Judge's Night where it honored Brooklyn's judiciary. Pictured are president Joseph Rosato and president-elect Susanne Gennusa. Eagle photos by Mario Belluomo

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The Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn continued its annual tradition of honoring the judiciary of Kings County during its Judge’s Night at Gargiulo’s in Coney Island on Thursday night.

“We host this event every year and it’s simply our opportunity and honor the judiciary and show respect for the bench in Brooklyn,” said President Joseph Rosato. “A judge’s job is not easy, and due to the nature of the job we can’t always properly honor them and this is our attempt to pay respect to the work they do.”

Nearly 300 judges, attorneys and court employees were packed into Gargiulo’s for the event where there are no honorees or speeches, just eggplant rollatini, calamari and pasta.

“It’s a members-only event because we want this to be special for the Columbian Lawyers — particularly our active members — who want to thank and recognize the judiciary,” Rosato said. “We close it off to people who don’t come to our meetings, but merely want to show up to hobnob with some judges without participating in our association.”

Hon. Matthew D'Emic, Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix and Hon. Larry Martin.

From left: Hon. David Vaughan, Hon. Mark Partnow, Hon. Lawrence Knipel and Sara Gozo.

From left: Hon. Michael Pesce, Hon. Betsy Barrios and Steve Bamundo.

From left: Hon. Theresa Ciccotto, Hon. Debra Dowling, Hon. Genine Edwards and Hon. Delores Thomas.

Hon. Susan Quirk (left) and Maria Aragona, president of the Confederation of Columbian Lawyers.

From left: Anthony Lamberti, Bruno Codispoti, Hon. Nancy Sunshine and Hon. Jeffrey Sunshine.

From left: Gregory Lendino, Gianni Tribuzio and Gregory Laspina.

From left: Betsey Jean-Jacques, Hon. Joanne Quinones, Jeffrey Feldman, Susan Iannelli and Margherita Racanelli.

Clockwise from top left: Lucy DiSalvo, Mark Williams, Dawn Sajecki, Susanne Gennusa, Monique Holamon and Kristen Borruso.

Clockwise from left: Hon. Kim Petersen, Hon. Michael Pesce, Annette Scarano and Susan Iannelli.

From left: Hon. Frank Seddio, Hon. Theresa Ciccotto and Hon. Anthony Cannataro.

Clockwise from top left: Joe Caldarera, Dean Delianites, Gregory Cerchione, Lawrence D. Moringiello, Dominic Famulari and Bart Russo.

From left: Hon. Margarita Lopez Torres, Hon. Reginald Boddie, Sara Gozo and Hon. Reinaldo E. Rivera.

While there are no speeches, the master of ceremonies introduces each of the judges in attendance. First they announce the Brooklyn judges, then the judges from outer boroughs and finally all of the judges of Italian-heritage are announced again.

Rosato explained that his favorite tradition of Judge’s Night is the opportunity for the president-elect to step up and play an important role at an event.

“Last year, as the incoming president, I was the master of ceremonies and tonight Susanne Gennusa, who is the incoming president, will be the master of ceremonies,” Rosato explained. “It’s actually one of my favorite traditions, because it’s the start of the transition to the next president.”

Rosato said that the job of announcing the judges is harder than it looks because with approximately 50 judges in attendance it is hard to correctly pronounce all of their names — and some can be sensitive if their job titles are read incorrectly.

“It’s harder than it looks,” Rosato joked. “The trick is that you have to know which judges are more sensitive than others and be sure those are the names you get correct. Usually people just laugh if something goes wrong though.”