Women in Law Section

2023 Ruth G. Schapiro Memorial Award Winner

Hon. Edwina G. Richardson

Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives, New York State Unified Court System

In 2017, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Edwina Richardson was appointed to head the newly expanded New York State Unified Court System’s Office for Justice Initiatives, tasked with ensuring meaningful access to justice for all New Yorkers in civil, criminal, and family courts, regardless of income, background, or ability. In service of this mission, the Office for Justice Initiatives administers Help Centers, self-help services, pro bono attorney and other volunteer programs, and many other resources designed to serve unrepresented court users.

Judge Richardson directs several youth and family justice initiatives, including the Unified Court System’s Child Welfare Court Improvement Project, emerging adult justice, and the ongoing implementation of the seminal law raising the age of criminal responsibility in New York State. Additionally, she is responsible for programmatic oversight of the Judiciary Civil Legal Services grant and administers the state’s more than 300 problem-solving and accountability courts, including groundbreaking opioid courts, drug courts/judicial diversion parts, veterans’ treatment courts, mental health courts, human trafficking intervention courts, domestic violence courts, integrated domestic violence courts, juvenile treatment courts, community courts, and impaired driving courts.

Judge Richardson also leads the court system’s Equal Justice in the Courts Initiative, implementing the recommendations contained in the October 2020 Report from the Special Adviser on Equal Justice examining racial bias in the state court system, as well as the November 2020 recommendations made by the New York State Judicial Committee on Women in the Courts to enhance gender fairness in the state courts. In 2023, the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, the court system’s longstanding office tasked with promoting opportunities for equal employment and ensuring a diverse workforce, joined the Office for Justice Initiatives.

Judge Richardson was appointed to the Court of Claims in 2017 and remains active on that bench, while also serving in Supreme Court Criminal Term, New York County. Previously, she presided over New York County Supreme Court’s Youth Part, hearing cases of youth charged as adults.

Judge Richardson first joined the court system as a Court Attorney-Referee in Queens County Family Court, after representing clients in New York City Housing Court, Family Court, and Supreme Court. She later became a Family Court Judge in 2003, the Queens County Supervising Family Court Judge in 2008, and a year later, was elevated to Administrative Judge of all New York City Family Courts.

Judge Richardson is a graduate of CUNY Law School, whose motto is “Law in the Service of Human Needs.” She also holds a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the City University of New York Graduate Center and has been an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Hofstra Law School.

She maintains active membership and leadership positions in bar associations and court committees advancing professional development and system improvement in the delivery and quality of justice services, and lectures nationwide to share New York’s access to equal justice practices and protocols with other jurisdictions.

2024 Kay Crawford Murray Memorial Award Winner

Josie Sheppard Wilson, Esq.

Of Counsel, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP

Josie Wilson is Of Counsel in the commercial litigation group at McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP, with a particular practice focus in construction and surety, toxic tort, products liability, premises liability, and personal injury. Her prior experience includes representing companies, municipalities, and individuals in breach of contract disputes, complex commercial litigation, personal injury matters, discrimination lawsuits, unfair labor practice claims and municipal procurement litigation.  In 2023, Josie Wilson was a recipient of The Rochester Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 Award.  In 2022, Ms. Wilson was listed in the prestigious Power 50 Law List published by Rochester Business Journal and Daily Record. From 2020 to the present, Ms. Wilson has been listed in the annual Edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch. In, 2015, she received the Daily Record’s Up & Coming Attorney Award. As a result of her dedication to pro bono work, Ms. Wilson was the sole recipient in New York State for the 2015 New York State Bar Association President’s Young Lawyer Award, as well as a recipient of VLSP’s William E. McKnight Award. Ms. Wilson has been consistently named a New York State Bar Association Empire State Counsel Honoree.

Ms. Wilson is also very active with the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys (GRAWA), and served as the President of GRAWA from 2022-2023. Ms. Wilson serves as a Board of Director for the Volunteer Legal Services Project (VLSP) and member of the New York State Bar Association, Monroe County Bar Association (MCBA), and Rochester Black Bar Association (RBBA). She previously served as a Board of Director for RBBA, and Trustee Board Member for the MCBA.

Ms. Wilson graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a Bachelor’s of Science in Real Estate and Land Use Economics. She earned her Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Ms. Wilson is admitted to practice in the State of New York, U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York and U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York.