Smooth Moves 2025: AI and Diversity Bias CLE Panel

Smooth Moves 2025 & George Bundy Smith Award Ceremony

“AI and Diversity Bias.” 

This program is free for NYSBA members

June 5, 2025

United States District Courthouse (Southern District of New York)

500 Pearl Street, New York, New York

CLE Program: 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Reception & Award Ceremony: 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Please join us for the 2025 Smooth Moves Diversity & Inclusion CLE and The Honorable George Bundy Smith Pioneer Award Ceremony, honoring and celebrating the Honorable Michael J. Garcia, Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.

This year’s panel will explore and discuss the legal and practical issues raised by the increasing use of AI in the legal and other fields and the potential danger of AI-related diversity bias. 

The Commercial & Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association will be bestowing The Honorable George Bundy Smith Pioneer Award (the “Pioneer Award”) to the Honorable Michael J. Garcia, Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. The Section presents the Pioneer Award annually to an attorney or jurist whose career accomplishments exemplify the high standards set by the Honorable George Bundy Smith, the late judge of the New York State Court of Appeals. The award, which celebrates the hallmarks of Judge Smith’s career — legal excellence, community commitment and mentoring — was established in 2007 in recognition of his work as a Freedom Rider during the Civil Rights Movement, and his unwavering commitment to social justice during his 30 years of public service as a judge.

Judge Garcia is a true pioneer who exemplifies Judge Bundy Smith’s commitment to justice, public service, and community. Early in his career, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Judith S. Kaye on the New York Court of Appeals. Prior to his appointment to the Court of Appeals in 2016, Judge Garcia served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1992 to 2001. For his work in a number of high-profile terrorism investigations and trials, he received two Attorney General’s Awards for Exceptional Service and the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service. In 2001, Judge Garcia became Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement in the Bureau of Industry and Security, and in December 2002, he became Acting Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) at the United States Department of Justice. In that role, he led the transition of the agency into the United States Department of Homeland Security. From March 2003 to August 2005, Judge Garcia served as Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Department of Homeland Security. And from 2005 to 2008, Judge Garcia was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.