Women’s Bar Association to have lunch with Justice Delores Thomas

September 9, 2020 Rob Abruzzese

Hon. Delores Thomas from the Kings County Supreme Court, Civil Term will sit down with members of the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association on Thursday afternoon via Zoom. Photo: Rob Abruzzese/Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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The Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association will host a virtual lunch with Kings County Supreme Court Justice Delores Thomas on Thursday at 1 p.m. as part of its regular Lunch with a Judge program.

The program gives members of the BWBA the unique opportunity to sit down with judges from the various courts in Brooklyn to get to know them in a relaxed atmosphere. Often the judges involved will talk about their careers, or what their role is within the court system, and members get a chance to ask questions.

There will be no shortage of questions for Justice Thomas, who sits in the matrimonial part of the Supreme Court, Civil Term. If they don’t discuss the ins and outs of her courtroom, members will likely want to hear about her journey, from law school at the University of Georgia to her work with South Brooklyn Legal Services and then to her ascension to the bench.

Justice Thomas first became a judge in 1994 when she was selected to Housing Court. She was the first person of color to win a countywide judicial election for Civil Court in Brooklyn in 2000 and was later elected to the Supreme Court in Brooklyn in 2007.

Last month’s guest at the BWBA’s Lunch with a Judge program was Hon. Heela Capell, who sits in the Kings County Housing Court. Judge Capell explained her path to the bench and talked about the Housing Court returning to in-person hearings for the first time in five months.

“This is my courtroom,” Judge Capell said as she showed off her courtroom last month. “I’m surrounded by plexiglass, the court attorney and the witnesses are surrounded by plexiglass, and everything is spaced out more than 6 feet apart. The counsel tables are spaced out; their witnesses sit behind them. There is a jury box that we can use. There is a list downstairs for everyone who comes in. There are microphone covers, the plexiglass gets wiped between witnesses, the elevators are distanced.”

Thursday’s meeting is free to attend, but is only open to members of the BWBA in good standing. To attend, the BWBA asks people to RSVP on its website by Wednesday.