Judge Chambers and NYC Corp. Counsel Hinds-Radix honored by Network of Bar Leaders

January 24, 2023 Rob Abruzzese

The Network of Bar Leaders installed its officers and honored Cheryl Chambers, associate justice of the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, and Sylvia Hinds-Radix, the New York City Corporation Counsel. Pictured is Network President Eve Guillergan (left), of the New York City Bar Association, presenting an award to Justice Hinds-Radix. Eagle photo by Robert Abruzzese

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The Network of Bar Leaders held a meet and greet reception at the Federal Court in Manhattan where it honored two of Brooklyn’s most distinguished jurists and installed its officers for the 2022-2023 term on Jan. 11.

Hon. Cheryl Chambers, an associate justice of the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, and Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix, New York City’s Corporation Counsel, were honored by the group not just for their impact in the courts, but also for their work within the legal community to become bar association leaders and mentors.

Prior to the awards ceremony, the group held an installation for its new president, Eve Guillergan, and the rest of the officers. Hon. George Daniels, a federal district court judge for the Southern District, served as the officiant.

The other officers included First Vice President Yacine Barry-Wun, Second Vice President Margaret Ling, Treasurer Michael Kohan and Secretary Natoya McGhie.

Members of the Executive Counsel who were sworn in included: Gloribelle J. Perez, William F. Dahill, Domenick Napoletano, Ronald Katter, Inie Park, Hon. Jeffrey Levin, Anthony Perroto, Denisse Mira. Immediate Past President Meredith Miller was not in attendance, but will join the Executive Counsel.

From left: Ravi Cattry, president, Queens County Women’s Bar Association, Susan Mauro, president, Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association, Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix, NYC Corporation Counsel and president of the Caribbean American Lawyers Association, and George Zapantis, president of the Hellenic Lawyers Association. Eagle photo by Robert Abruzzese

After the ceremony, Guillergan and Ling introduced Justice Chambers, who could not be in attendance, and talked about her worthiness for the award. Yvette Hinds Wills then introduced Justice Hinds-Radix.

“Justice Chambers has served the NYC courts for more than 20 years,” Ling said. “She never hesitates to find time for things of importance despite her busy docket. She is vice president of the New York Bar Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the New York State Bar Association, she is also a member of the State’s Bar house of delegates. Since 2010, she has been a member of the State Bar’s Committee of Diversity and Inclusion, which advocates for diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.”

“Just over a year ago she was nominated and later appointed to her current position as Corporation Counsel,” Hinds Wills said of Justice Hinds-Radix. “In that role, she represents the mayor, the city counsel, the mayoral agencies and the city of New York. She has the distinction of being the first Caribbean American woman to hold that office. With her experience, don’t be surprised if her next gig is somewhere near 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Hon. George Daniels swears in the 2022-2023 slate of officers of the Network of Bar Leaders. Eagle photo by Robert Abruzzese

Justice Hinds-Radix talked about her role in creating the Caribbean American Lawyers Association, which she is the president of. She said that prior to that bar association’s creation, Brooklyn had a hole in the legal community.

“It’s a pretty young organization that started in 2020 during the pandemic,” Hinds-Radix said. “Yvette and other Caribbean American lawyers approached me and said, ‘why don’t we start a bar association?’ Of course, having been a bar leader and having been a part of the Caribbean community for a long time I jumped at the idea. We learned a lot about Zoom, but in just over two years we already have almost 100 members and we have been able to focus on what we find most important, which is to give out scholarships.”

Justice Hinds-Radix places a lot of importance on not only mentorship, but scholarships as well. In December, she helped CALA give out scholarships to eight students. In October, she helped the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association to raise more than $100,000 in money that will be used by its Foundation for other scholarships.

Officers and board members of the Network of Bar Leaders (pictured from left): Domenick Napoletano, Yacine Barry-Wun, Michael Kohan, William F. Dahill, Hon. George Daniels, Eve Guillergan, Inie Park, Denisse Mira, Natoya McGhie, Margaret T. Ling, and Howard Shafer. Eagle photo by Robert Abruzzese

The Network of Bar Leaders is a citywide bar association that is a collection of distinguished members of other bar associations. There are currently approximately 60 bar associations included within the Network. After the ceremony, representatives from nearly half of those bar associations were on hand to briefly discuss their associations.