Appellate term makes history with all-female bench and first woman of color as presiding justice

March 10, 2023 Robert Abruzzese

The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Term, for the 2nd, 11th, and 13th Judicial Districts made history last month when an all-female bench sat for the first time on Wednesday, Jan. 25. Pictured from left: Hon. Cheree Buggs, Hon. Lisa Ottley, Hon. Wavny Toussaint, Hon. Lourdes Ventura, and Hon. Marina Mundy. Exclusive Brooklyn Eagle photos by Robert Abruzzese.

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DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Term, Second Department, made history with a bench comprising all women and with the appointment of Trinidadian-born Hon. Wavny Toussaint, the first woman and person of color to serve as presiding justice.

The Appellate Term, Second Department, is responsible for hearing appeals from the New York City Civil Court, including its Housing and Small Claims Parts, as well as the New York City Criminal Court.

Upon entering the courtroom and bringing the court to order, Toussaint shared with those appearing before the panel of Justices the historic moment of the court and a brief background about herself and her family migrating to the United States. Justice Toussaint was elected to the New York Supreme Court in 2014 and appointed to the Appellate Term in 2020.

She thanked the Appellate Term’s non-judicial staff and acknowledged the support the justices receive from the “well-versed legal department” in the areas of law that come before the court.

The other members of the bench included Justices Marina Mundy, Lisa S. Ottley, Lourdes Ventura and Cheree Buggs.

From left: Hon. Lisa Ottley, Hon. Cheree Buggs, Hon. Wavny Toussaint, Hon. Marina Mundy and Hon. Lourdes Ventura.

Justice Ottley was the first Black Woman to supervise the Civil Court in Kings County, Justice Ventura was the first Latina to be appointed to this Appellate Term, Justice Mundy was the first woman jurist on the New York Supreme Court, Criminal Term, in Richmond County;

Last May, three Black women justices in New York also created history by hearing cases together from the bench in the Appellate Term, Second Department, in the New York Supreme Court.

The staff of the Appellate Term, 2nd, 11th, and 13th Judicial Districts gathered on Wednesday, Jan. 25 to see history.

Justice Toussaint’s Bar Association and community service include board member of the New York City Supreme Court Justices Association and the Caribbean American Lawyers Association; Nominations Committee Chair of The Judicial Friends Inc.; life member of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association; member of the National Bar Association and its Judicial Council; the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association; the Columbian Lawyers; and the Brooklyn Bar Association. She is a decades-long member of the Association of Black Women Attorneys, previously serving as both president and vice president.

Justice Toussaint said, “This is what makes America great, its inclusivity of all of those who come from whatever place, or those who live here and all those who grew up here.”

In 2008, Justice Ottley was elected to the Civil Court, and was subsequently appointed Supervising Judge in 2010. In this role, she presided over cases in both Civil and Family Court in Kings County, as well as the Trial Assignment Part in Civil Court.

She was the first African American judge to be appointed as Supervising Judge of the Civil Court in Kings County. In 2016, she was elected to the New York Supreme Court, having previously served as an elected judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Queens County.

Justice Buggs, prior to her ascension to the bench, was an attorney in private practice with a focus on elder law guardianship, decedents’ estate matters and litigating mental health cases. She also served as a senior administrative law judge with the New York City Department of Finance Parking Violations Operations, and, later, as an administrative law judge for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the City’s Environmental Control Board.