Judith WAKSBERG,

Judge in the New York City Family Court

Judith Waksberg is currently adjudicating matters involving custody and visitation of children by parents seeking court orders. In addition, she adjudicates cases in which litigants seek orders of protection in matters involving domestic violence and elder abuse. Prior to her judicial appointment, she was the Director of the Appeals Unit of The Legal Aid Society's Juvenile Rights Practice. She was with the Juvenile Rights Practice for 28 years, as Appeals Director, as a staff appellate attorney, and also as the head of the Special Litigation Unit. She has extensive appellate experience in both child protective and the delinquency areas and has conducted numerous trainings in these areas both in New York and nationally. In 2006, she instituted a Writs and Stays program in the Appeals Unit which was the 2009 recipient of the Juvenile Rights Society’s SOuL Award. She also spearheaded a special pro bono project for juvenile appeals and provided training and supervision for those pro bono attorneys. At Legal Aid, she briefed and argued a number of cases in New York State’s highest Court of Appeals, including representation of the class of children of domestic violence victims in the appeal of Nicholson v. Scoppetta, 3 N.Y.3d 357, 820 N.E.2d 840 (2004). She has written several articles, including Representing Children on Appeal: Changed Circumstances, Changed Minds, 12 J. App. Prac. & Process 313 (2011). She is a board member of the National Association of Counsel for Children. In 2013, she received the Kathryn A. McDonald Award for Excellence in Service to Family Court. She is a 1982 graduate of New York University Law School.