Judicial Law Section

Hon. Caitlin J. Halligan

Distinguished Jurist Award

To honor a jurist who embodies the highest ideals of the Judicial Section and to recognize judicial excellence and extraordinary commitment to the rule of law.

Hon. Caitlin J. Halligan is an Associate Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals.  In April 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul nominated Judge Halligan to the Court of Appeals, and the New York Senate confirmed her nomination shortly thereafter. Judge Halligan received her A.B. degree from Princeton University in 1988 and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1995. From 1995 to 1996, she clerked for Judge Patricia Wald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and from 1997 to 1998, for United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

Before attending law school, Judge Halligan served as a Princeton-In-Asia Teaching Fellow in central China and as a legislative aide on Capitol Hill. She served in the New York Attorney General’s Office, including more than five years as Solicitor General of New York, as General Counsel to the Manhattan District Attorney, and as a partner at several law firms in New York City. Judge Halligan has taught various courses on public law issues at Harvard and Columbia law schools.

Hon. Juan M. Merchan

Distinguished Jurist Award

To honor a jurist who embodies the highest ideals of the Judicial Section and to recognize judicial excellence and extraordinary commitment to the rule of law.

Hon. Judge Merchan is a Court of Claims Judge and an Acting Justice of Supreme Court, Criminal Term, New York County.  Judge Merchan was born in Bogota, Colombia and emigrated to New York City when he was six years old.  He is a product of the NYC public school system and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Baruch College of the City University of New York.  He earned his Juris Doctor from Hofstra University School of Law in 1994.

Judge Merchan began his legal career in 1994 when he joined the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.  He served in the Trial Division and the Investigations Division until his appointment to the New York State Attorney General’s Office in 1999.  There, he held several positions, eventually rising to Assistant Attorney General in Charge of the Nassau County Region.  As an Assistant Attorney General, Judge Merchan investigated, prosecuted and tried civil and criminal violations of law and defended New York State, its agents, and agencies against lawsuits in State and federal courts.

Judge Merchan was appointed to the Family Court bench in 2006 and was assigned to the Bronx where he presided over juvenile delinquencies and designated felonies.  He was confirmed by the New York State Senate to the New York State Court of Claims in 2009, becoming the first judge of Colombian descent appointed to that Court.  He sits as an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court – Criminal Term in Manhattan where he presides over a felony trial part.  Additionally, he has presided over the Manhattan Mental Health Court since it was launched in 2011 and the Manhattan Veteran’s Treatment Court since 2019.  He earned his Fellowship with the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource Center in 2013 and has been a faculty member of the Judges and Psychiatrist Leadership Initiative since 2022.  Judge Merchan has served on the Office of Court Administration’s State-wide Task Force on Mental Illness since its inception in 2023.

Hon. Elizabeth A. Garry

Advancement of Judicial Diversity

The NYSBA Advancement of Judicial Diversity Award serves to recognize individuals for their efforts to promote diversity on the bench throughout New York State. Recipients embody the New York State Bar Association’s commitment to diversity and inclusion at all levels of the judiciary.

Hon. Elizabeth Garry is the 16^th Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Third Department.  She was appointed as Presiding Justice on January 1, 2018; she had been appointed as an Associate Justice of that court in March 2009. She was first elected to serve on the trial court as a New York State Supreme Court Justice in the 6th Judicial District, encompassing Central New York, in 2006 and was reelected in 2020. She previously had been twice elected and served as Town Justice in the Town of New Berlin from 2002 through 2006.

Presiding Justice Garry graduated from Alfred University and Albany Law School, with honors. She began her legal career as a law clerk to a justice of the New York State Supreme Court and was thereafter engaged in private practice with the Joyce Law Firm, practicing throughout Central New York for roughly a dozen years before taking the bench full time.

Presiding Justice Garry has been highly engaged in several recent court and bar initiatives seeking to enhance rural access to justice, including development of Rural Pathways, a summer internship designed to introduce law students to opportunities in our rural areas. She is a member of the Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal (CCJSCA) and currently is the Chair of the Communications Committee. She is a founding Co-Chair and current Commissioner of the Richard C. Failla LGBTQ Commission of the New York Courts. She has served as a Board member of the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges and is a past President of its Foundation, established to support the Judge Paul G. Feinman Scholarship. Presiding Justice Garry is also a Trustee of Albany Law School and was a founding member of a chapter of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York. She has served on various other boards, community and cultural organizations and professional associations throughout her career and has been widely recognized for her contributions.

Hon. Llinét M. Rosado

Advancement of Judicial Diversity

The NYSBA Advancement of Judicial Diversity Award serves to recognize individuals for their efforts to promote diversity on the bench throughout New York State. Recipients embody the New York State Bar Association’s commitment to diversity and inclusion at all levels of the judiciary.

Hon. Llinét M. Rosado is an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department. Justice Rosado attended SUNY Albany for her undergraduate degree, and then obtained her Juris Doctor from Albany Law School in 1997, after which she began her career at the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society as a staff attorney.  She subsequently worked at the Children Law’s Center representing children. Justice Rosado served as a court attorney to several judges.  In 1999, Justice Rosado began her tenure as an adjunct professor at Hostos Community College where she has taught various law courses.

On November 6, 2012, Justice Rosado was elected to the Civil Court, Bronx County and assigned to Bronx Family Court January 2013.  In 2016, she was transferred to Bronx Supreme Court, Civil Term and designated a hybrid judge.  On January 6, 2017, she was designated Acting Supreme Court Justice and presided over matrimonial cases, personal injury actions, mental health proceedings, and over arraignments in Bronx Criminal Court.

On November 6, 2018, Justice Rosado was elected Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Justice Rosado presided over various and diverse matters in both Civil and Criminal Terms of the Supreme Court until July 28, 2023 when Governor Hochul appointed her to the Appellate Division, First Department.  In 2024, Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson appointed Justice Rosado Co-Chair of the Hon. Betty Weinberg Ellerin Permanent Commission on Women in the Courts.

Justice Rosado, a lifelong community servant, continues to serve her community by speaking to local schools regarding the law as well as participating in programs and panels focused on enlightening the community. She has served as a coach to elementary and high school mock trial competitions leading the St. Angela Merici 8th graders to the Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial competition championships twice. Judge Rosado accepts interns from high schools, colleges, and law schools. On June 7, 2019, Justice Rosado, with the consent of the Superintendent of Schools of the Catholic School Region Northwest/South Bronx in the Archdiocese of New York, was declared an honorary alumnus of St. Angela Merici School for her commitment and dedication to the elementary school. In May 2020, All Hallows High School named an annual award the “Hon. Llinét Rosado Award for Mock Trial” in honor of Justice Rosado’s years of service to All Hallows’ Mock Trial Team. One of her favorite roles of being a judge is her ability to officiate weddings, and she is proud to note that she has officiated over 57 weddings thus far!

Justice Rosado regularly lectures at the Judicial Institute and serves on the New York State Bench Book Committee.  She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated; Bronx Bar Association; Bronx Family Court Bar Association; Bronx County Catholic Guild; the Dominican Bar Association; the New York City Family Court Judges Association, the Puerto Rican Bar Association, the Association of Supreme Court Judges of the State of New York; the Bronx Women’s Bar Association; and the Latino Judges Association.  She is the First Dept, Vice President of the New York Women Judges Association.   In 2020, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore appointed Justice Rosado a Commissioner of the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission and a member of the New York State Judicial Committee on Women in the Courts.

Justice Rosado’s success and contributions have been recognized by numerous individuals, institutions, and organizations, including but not limited to the Bronx Family Court Bar Association; the Bronx Women’s Bar Association; the Dominican Bar Association; the Puerto Rican Bar Association; and NAWJ-NY.  On March 27, 2024, Albany Law School presented Justice Rosado with the prestigious Kate Stoneman Award.  On June 5, 2024, the Latino Judges Association Foundation recognized Justice Rosado for her achievements.