Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Wan, others named to Appellate Division

May 20, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

The NYS Appellate Division, Second Department, on Monroe Place in Brooklyn Heights. Wikimedia photo by Beyond My Ken

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Four New York State judges — including Brooklyn’s State Supreme Court Justice Lillian Wan — have been appointed to the state’s Appellate Division, Second Department, headquartered in Brooklyn.

“Appointing upstanding and experienced judges is one of our first lines of defense against injustice,” Hochul said. “I am confident these judges will continue their impressive public service records and uphold the sanctity of the law.”

Judge Wan is currently a justice of the Kings County Supreme Court, a position she has held since January 2022. Before she was elected to the Supreme Court, she was a judge for the New York State Court of Claims from 2018 to 2021 and a New York City Family Court Judge from 2012 to 2018.

Judge Wan is the co-chair of the Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, the immediate past president of the Asian American Judges Association of New York, and a board member of the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association.

Judge Wan is also an adjunct professor at Cardozo School of Law, teaching lawyering and legal writing to first-year law students.

Hon. Lillian Wan, newly appointed to the Appellate Division, Second Department. Photo courtesy of Cardozo Law School

Before joining the bench, Judge Wan worked for the Administration for Children’s Services in the Family Court Legal Services Division. She also served as a court attorney referee in the Kings County Surrogate’s Court. She graduated from Binghamton University and then Albany Law School.

Hon. Janice Taylor has served as a Supreme Court justice in Queens County since 1998. From 1995 to 1997 she was a judge for the Civil Court of the City of New York. She is also the former president & current chair of the board of directors of the Macon B. Allen Black Bar Association.

Hon. Helen Voutsinas has, since 2019, served as a Nassau County Appellate Term judge for the 9th and 10th Judicial Districts. Previously, she was a Nassau County district court justice and was elected to be a Nassau County justice in 2018. Prior to being a judge, she was the principal law clerk to Justice Steven Jaeger of the New York State Supreme Court.

Hon. Barry Warhit has been appointed to the Second Department, Appellate Division. Judge Warhit has served as a Westchester County Supreme Court justice since 2019. He was also a judge for the Westchester County Court from 2010 to 2018, as well as an acting justice for the Village of Tarrytown from 2006 to 2010. Judge Warhit is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Justice Brandeis Law Society.

The Judicial Screening Committee for the Second Department, Appellate Division reviewed the applications and conducted interviews of dozens of applicants. Only those applicants deemed “highly qualified” by the committee were submitted to the governor for her consideration, according to the Governor’s Office.