Four Distinguished Members of the Bench To Receive Judicial Section Awards at the New York State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting
12.8.2025
Four acclaimed members of New York’s judiciary will be honored at a Jan. 16 luncheon at the New York Hilton Midtown during the New York State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting.
The association’s Judicial Section will recognize Associate Judge Caitlin J. Halligan of the New York State Court of Appeals, and Court of Claims Judge Juan M. Merchan, an acting justice of the Supreme Court, Criminal Term, New York County. Both will receive the Judicial Section’s Distinguished Jurist Award.
Presiding Justice Elizabeth Garry, New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, and Llinét M. Rosado, associate justice, New York State Supreme Court, First Department, will receive the Advancement of Judicial Diversity Award.
“These four esteemed jurists strive to ensure that all New Yorkers are treated fairly. Their wisdom, insightfulness and leadership represent the very best in our justice system. Their jurisprudence is admired and emulated,” said New York State Bar Association President Kathleen Sweet.
Judge Halligan was the solicitor general of New York and was general counsel to the Manhattan District Attorney. She clerked for Judge Patricia Wald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1995 to 1996 and for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer from 1997 to 1998. Judge Halligan is a former partner at several New York City law firms. She also served as a Princeton-In-Asia teaching fellow in central China.
Justice Merchan, who was born in Colombia before emigrating to New York City when he was 6, joined the New York State Court of Claims in 2009. He was the first judge of Colombian descent appointed to that court. He has presided over the Manhattan Mental Health Court since it was launched in 2011 and the Manhattan Veteran Treatment Court since 2019.
Justice Garry, who will also be honored with the Vincent E. Doyle, Jr. Award for Outstanding Judicial Contribution in the Criminal Justice System, is a member of the Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal and is the founding co-chair and 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. Justice Garry, a previous recipient of the New York State Bar Association’s Robert L. Haig Award for distinguished public service, is also a trustee of Albany Law School and was a founding member of the Del-Chen-O chapter of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York.
She helped launch the Rural Pathways program this summer. The pilot project provides incentives for young, outgoing law students to move to areas of the state that don’t have enough lawyers.
Justice Rosado was appointed co-chair of the Hon. Betty Weinberg Ellerin Permanent Commission on Women in the Courts by Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson in 2024. She is the First Department vice president of the New York Women Judges Association. Justice Rosado has served as a coach to elementary and high school mock trial competitions and twice led the St. Angela Merici 8th graders to the Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial competition championship.
She accepts interns from high schools, colleges, and law schools and in May 2020, All Hallows High School named an annual award the “Hon. Llinét Rosado Award for Mock Trial” in honor of her years of service to the school’s mock trial team.
“Judge Halligan and Justice Merchan embody the highest ideals of the Judicial Section and have demonstrated judicial excellence and an extraordinary commitment to the rule of law,” said Justice Brian D. Burns, presiding member of the Judicial Section. “Justice Garry and Justice Rosado are outstanding jurists who have dedicated themselves to ensuring that all New Yorkers are treated equally.”
The Judicial Section, founded in 1924, is the New York State Bar Association’s oldest section. The section laid the groundwork as an early voice for public outreach, developed speakers’ bureaus to educate the public about our judicial system, and has advocated for a code of judicial conduct and continuing education for judges.
Honoring attorneys who render extraordinary service to the public and the profession is part of NYSBA’s Annual Meeting tradition. This year’s event promises to be dynamic and informative, featuring a wide range of sessions and activities tailored to the diverse interests and needs of lawyers practicing in New York. Annual Meeting takes place Jan. 13 to 16 at the New York Hilton Midtown.
Highlights of Annual Meeting include the Presidential Gala celebrating the association’s 150th Anniversary. The gala is on Thursday, Jan. 15, from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., at The Plaza Hotel. The association will also celebrate its past presidents in honor of the milestone anniversary.
The Presidential Summit, the marquee event of the New York State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting, is on Wednesday, Jan. 14, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Panelists will discuss “The Case for Constitutional Failure,” focusing on whether the three branches of government have relinquished their Constitutional duties.
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jack Rakove of Stanford University and Sonia Mittal, former Assistant United States Attorney and January 6 prosecutor, Associate Research Scholar in Law and Co-Director of the Peter Gruber Rule of Law Clinic at Yale law School, will lead this important, timely conversation. Lawrence O’Donnell, the MSNOW television anchor and commentator, will moderate the discussion.
For more information on NYSBA’s Annual Meeting, click here. Media are invited to attend programs, but please notify Susan DeSantis at sdesantis@nysba.org or 201-575-5756.
