Brooklyn Bar Association honors Justice Chambers and four others at annual dinner

Four retiring judges also recognized

December 11, 2019 Rob Abruzzese

The Brooklyn Bar Association gave Justice Cheryl Chambers the Vivan Agress Trailblazer Award and honored four others during its annual dinner on Monday. Pictured is president-elect Anthony Lamberti, Aimee Richter, Hon. Cheryl Chambers, executive director Avery Okin and president Frank Carone. Eagle photo by Caroline Ourso

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The Brooklyn Bar Association Foundation held its annual dinner on Monday where it honored Justice Cheryl Chambers and four others during a ceremony at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Foundation is the charitable arm of the Brooklyn Bar Association. The annual dinner is one of the biggest ways that it raises money to conduct charitable deeds. Each year the Foundation gives out scholarships to law school students, holds Know-Your-Rights events for the public, donates to charities, maintains its public law library, and runs a pipeline program among other philanthropic activities.

“Tonight’s dinner with more than 900 people celebrates the Brooklyn Bar Association Foundation, an organization that is dedicated not only to the legal community, but to the people of Brooklyn as well,” said president-elect Anthony Lamberti. “It’s your support of our Foundation that allows us to continue our work to support our members and Brooklynites.”

From left: Gregory Cerchione, honoree Lisa Schriebersdorf, executive director of the Brooklyn Defender Services, and Frank Carone.
Photo by Caroline Ourso

The ceremony was run by Lamberti, who was the chairperson of the committee, with the help of President Frank Carone. The usual cast participated — Sgt. Jessica Hernandez sang the national anthem, Rabbi Joseph Potasnik did the invocation and Hon. Barry Kamins did the judicial introductions.

Justice Chambers, who sits in the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, was given the Vivian H. Agress Trailblazer Award by past president Aimee Richter. Chambers currently sits on the Appellate Division, where she was appointed by Gov. Elliot Spitzer in 2008. Prior to that she sat on the Supreme Court after elections in 1998 and 2012, and she initially joined the bench in 1994 after she was elected to the Civil Court.

“I’m only here because of you, and I stand on the shoulders of the giants that came before me,” Chambers said when she accepted her award.

From left: Hon. Michael Pesce, honoree Justice Desmond Green, administrative judge of the Richmond County Supreme Court, and Frank Carone.
Photo by Caroline Ourso

The other honorees included Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Hon. Desmond Green, Hon. David Vaughan and Lisa Schriebersdorf.

In addition to the honorees, four retiring judges, including Justice Vaughan, were honored as the leave the bench — Hon. Michael Pesce, Hon. John Ingram and Hon. William Miller.

Carone joked that Rep. Jeffries, who wasn’t in attendance, was too busy impeaching President Trump to accept his award. Jeffries has served Brooklyn as a congress member since 2013 and is currently chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. Prior to his election to Congress, Jeffries served for Assembly member for six years.

From left: Anthony Lamberti, Hon. David Vaughan, and Frank Carone. Photo by Caroline Ourso

Justice Vaughan was first elected to the bench in Brooklyn in 1991. He initially had a private practice before he served as chief counsel to the NYS Racing and Wagering Board. A former chair of Community Board 10, he has also taught at Brooklyn College and Wagner College. He was presented with his award by Hon. Michael Pesce.

Justice Green now sits in Staten Island, but he served in Brooklyn since he was elected to the Civil Court in 2004 until his appointment as administrative judge in 2017. Prior to his ascension to the bench, he worked as a solo practitioner and then for the Brooklyn DA’s Office under Elizabeth Holtzman.

Schreibersdorf has served Brooklyn as a public defender for the last 35 years. During her acceptance speech, she recalled starting the Brooklyn Defender Services in 1996, the first legal services organization to specifically serve the borough. BDS now serves approximately 30,000 Brooklynites each year with her leading as executive director.